Service updates, seasonal trends and practical tips from the team behind UK Exchange Network. A plain-spoken look at where Britain's holiday pounds are going — and how to make yours travel further.
From this week, every next-day order we send travels on Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed by 1pm — and we've absorbed the upgrade rather than passing it on. Place an order before 3pm on a working day and your currency is counted, sealed and on its way the same afternoon, ready to land before lunch the next day.
It's a small change with a big payoff for anyone with an early flight. A tracked, signed-for parcel that arrives by 1pm gives you the whole afternoon before departure to check your notes, set aside what you need for the airport transfer, and pack the rest. No more refreshing a tracking page at the gate, and no nervous wait by the letterbox.
Larger orders over £750 still ship free, and our London and Manchester desks remain open for click and collect if you'd rather pick your cash up in person. As always, every parcel is insured from our counting room to your doorstep, so the only thing you need to plan is the holiday.
Every spring we take a quiet look at what travellers are ordering, and the early summer picture is in. The euro is, predictably, still the runaway favourite — roughly half of all currency leaving our counting room is bound for the Mediterranean, with Spain, Greece and Italy doing most of the heavy lifting. Britain's love affair with a fortnight in the sun shows no sign of cooling.
The more interesting story is further down the table. The UAE dirham has climbed steadily as Dubai cements its place as a year-round city break, and the Thai baht has had a notably strong season as long-haul confidence returns. The US dollar holds firm in third, propped up as much by Orlando family trips as by New York city breaks. Beyond the top four, we've seen healthy demand for the Japanese yen and the Turkish lira.
None of this is a forecast, and rates move for reasons no order book can predict. But it's a useful reminder that the smart move is the same wherever you're headed: lock your rate before you fly rather than gambling on what the airport bureau is offering on the day. The figures above are drawn from our own illustrative demonstration data.
The bureau de change in the departure lounge knows it has you cornered. You're past security, your flight is boarding, and that wall of glowing rates is the only game in town — which is exactly why those rates are so poor. The good news is that a little planning saves you the lot.
First, order ahead and have your currency delivered before you leave home, so you walk through the airport with cash already in your wallet. Second, lock your rate the moment you book rather than waiting for a "better day" that rarely comes. Third, avoid changing money at the airport on the way back too — sell leftover notes by post instead. Fourth, take only what you'll realistically spend in cash, and lean on a card for the rest. Fifth, watch for the dreaded "0% commission" sign that hides a dismal rate underneath; commission-free means nothing if the exchange rate has been quietly padded.
Do those five things and the airport bureau becomes somewhere you simply walk past. Our own orders are commission-free with the margin built fairly into the rate, posted to your door so the only queue you join is the one for the plane.
Our range has grown past the forty mark this spring, with six new currencies joining the shelf in response to where you've been telling us you want to go. Alongside the staples — euros, dollars, dirhams and baht — you'll now find a wider spread of long-haul and off-the-beaten-track destinations, all held in stock and ready to post next day.
The bigger news is on the way back. Selling your leftover holiday money is now entirely post-free: start a sell-back order online, print the pre-paid, tracked label, and drop your notes in the post. Once they reach our counting room we pay the agreed sterling amount straight to your bank, usually within one working day. No envelope to buy, no postage to claim back, no jar of foreign coins gathering dust on the windowsill.
It's all part of the same idea: a bureau de change without the bureau, where the rate stays sharp because there's no high-street rent to cover. Whether you're buying for the next trip or clearing out the last one, it should take a couple of minutes from the sofa.
Lock today's rate, pick your delivery, and we'll have your travel money on the doormat in time for the off. Coming home with spare notes? Post them back to us, free.
