Now your holiday money will go further

You could be set for a holiday of indulgence and luxury, because new research has revealed that over the past year, the pound has strengthened against four of the five most popular holiday currencies: so this year you'll get more for your money on holiday.

The study, by Sainsbury's Travel Money, found that one of the biggest rises was against the Turkish Lira - which is up 16% in the past year and 49.3% in three years. This is partly because earlier this month, the ruling Justice Party and Development lost its parliamentary majority for the first time in 13 years. The political shock took the Lira to an all time low against the pound.

Turkey is already a popular destination for bargain hunters. Kayak is currently showing the lowest price for a week's trip to Turkey at the beginning of September at just £129 per person - including flights and the hotel.
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The euro

For most travellers, the most important news is that the pound has also risen 10.9% against the euro - which is used in around three quarters of all holidays from the UK.

A survey by the Post Office this year named the Algarve in Portugal as the cheapest beach destination in Europe. Kayak is showing the cheapest deal for a week at the beginning of September at £229 per person. When you're getting 10% more for your money on top, you can afford to splash out on all the golf and garden ornaments you like while you're there too.

Further afield

The pound is also up 13% against the Australian dollar. This is a useful boon for what has been an increasingly expensive destination. However, it's still not somewhere that's terribly accessible on a budget. The cheapest holiday to Australia that Kayak has for the beginning of September will still set you back £775 per person to Melbourne.

The pound is also up 6.4% against the Canadian dollar. However, again, the distances involved mean that according to Kayak you'll need to spend at least £760 per person for a week in Winnipeg at the beginning of September.

In fact, the only one of the top five most popular currencies that has seen a fall over the past12 months is the US dollar. You're getting 7% less for your money than this time last year. It means that if you have the flexibility, you might want to put off your US holiday for a while, and cash in on one of the more favourable exchange rates instead.

And, of course if you want to take full advantage of the gains the pound has made against these currencies, you need to shop around for the best rate possible. Ian Hughes, Chief Executive of Consumer Intelligence said: "We need to shop around for travel money just as much as we do for car insurance or mortgages or we will lose out. People think that the price of a Euro is fixed, it isn't different people sell it for different prices."

His research found the top five best exchange rates available for £500 of euros were Moneycorp, FairFX, Ramsdens, Tomas Cook and Asda. However, it's always worth checking for the best available deals on the day.

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