Certain London airport bureaux de change are now returning less than €1 for each pound offered, underlining how the slide in the value of the sterling since the 23 June Brexit referedum vote is already hitting holidaymakers in the pocket, reports The Independent.
MoneyCorp at Stansted this week offered a rate of €0.9915 and ICE at Luton offered €0.990, according to Caxton FX.
The pound is currently trading at €1.1513 against the euro, its lowest since the summer of 2013, but still 17 per cent higher than the exchange rate offered in these airports.
A Caxton FX spokesperson told The Independent that there is no fixed “spread” between the market exchange rate and the rate offered by airport bureaux de change, but that the discount normally varies by between 10 and 13 per cent.
The spokesperson added that the rate will often vary between the booths of the same money changing company in different airports, suggesting managers are making pricing decisions based on what they estimate the captive market of potential customers in different locations will bear.
Caxton said the best London airport euro exchange rate was on offer at Gatwick, where ICE exchanged each pound for €1.05.
Airport money changers have previously come close to the €1/£1 threshold since the Brexit vote – but this is the first time they have crossed it since the 23 June referendum.
Simon Calder, The Independent‘s Travel Editor, has advised holidaymakers to sort out their money before arriving at the airport for their break.
“While an airport bureau de change generally provides the worst possible rates to walk-up customers, if you pre-pay for euros online and pick up the cash at the airport, they offer some of the best deals” he has said.
The pound is also trading at its lowest level against the dollar since the mid-1980s at $1.3005 in the wake of the Brexit vote, hitting UK tourists heading to America.
As recently as last November the pound was trading at €1.4645 and against the dollar it was at $1.5180.
