Just 87 CENTS for your pound
That’s the holiday euros ‘rip-off ’ at one airport as sterling plunges post-Brexit
HOLIDAYMAKERS are being hit by airport currency firms exploiting the rock-bottom value of the pound against the euro and charging punitive exchange rates.
In the worst example, tourists flying to Europe are being offered just 87 cents to the pound – though the actual exchange rate is €1.11 to £1.
The woeful deals – offered as thousands of families fly out for their summer holidays – have been condemned as a rip-off.
Last night, Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable called for firms to be investigated.
He said: ‘Holidaymakers heading abroad this weekend are being ripped off. Their week in the sun is already 20 per cent more expensive due to the weak pound caused by the Government’s damaging insistence on an extreme Brexit, but these operators are cashing in by giving as little as 87 cents in the pound.
‘These firms should be investigated by the Competition and Markets Authority whose job is to stand up for the consumer in the face of unscrupulous practices of this kind.’
At Cardiff Airport’s Forexchange outlet, travellers yesterday were getting €87 after changing up £99.60 – or the equivalent of 87 cents to the pound after they had paid a £4.99 commission.
At a Moneycorp booth at Stansted Airport, Essex, £100.66 would buy you just €90 – equal to just 90 cents for £1 – after a £4.99 commission was paid. By comparison, on the Post Office website, holidaymakers who order more than £500 can get €1.09 for every pound.
Apprentice hairdresser Victoria Willis, 16, of Harwich, Essex, who was heading from Stansted to the Greek island of Rhodes yesterday with her family, changed just over £75 at the Moneycorp counter and was shocked to get just €66.
She said: ‘I left changing my money until the last minute. I feel a little bit ripped off. I only earn £4.05 an hour so I have to watch every penny.’
Teacher Ben Simmonds, 26, of South London, received €70 for just under £80 from the Stansted Moneycorp counter before he jetted off to Thessaloniki, Greece, for a week. He said: ‘To be fair, the guy behind the counter said, “Brace yourself” before he told me what I would get.’
According to Moneycorp’s 2015 accounts, the company made posttax profits of £11.6million.
James Daley, managing director of consumer group Fairer Finance, said: ‘Things have got as worse as ever just at the beginning of the summer holidays.
‘It feels like they’re putting the squeeze on customers just when demand becomes the greatest.’ A Forexchange spokesman said: ‘We are currently working closely with Cardiff Airport to improve our currency rate strategy.’
Pauline Maguire, of Moneycorp, said: ‘The reason for our higher airport rates is the significant cost associated with operating there. An easy and more cost-effective way for customers to buy travel money is to pre-order online and collect at the airport.
‘We always encourage our customers to do this.’
‘They put the squeeze on as demand goes up’