Hilary Osborne 

Post Office resumes selling travel currency as UK lockdown eases

Next-day delivery or collection from 11,500 branches on offer for those going on holiday
  
  

People queueing for a branch of the Post Office near London Bridge, London
People queueing for a branch of the Post Office near London Bridge, London. Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA

Post Office has resumed selling travel currency, as the easing of lockdown rules allows Brits to start planning for overseas trips.

Post Office, which handles one in four currency transactions in the UK, suspended sales in late March, but said that as resorts in Europe reopened it was time to start again.

It will offer next-day delivery or collection from 11,500 branches for customers who order via its Travel Money website. From 1 July some branches will offer same-day collection for online orders.

However, the weakness of the pound means customers will get fewer euros for their sterling than this time last year.

Anyone buying £500 worth of euros at Post Office will get a rate of £1 to €1.0774 – 1.7% less than a year ago, meaning €8.49 less to spend.

With the possibility of a second wave of coronavirus leading to lockdowns, customers are advised to keep their receipts, because if holidays are cancelled Post Office has said it would offer a full refund.

Nick Boden, the head of Post Office Travel Money, said: “With the reintroduction of flights by leading airlines and the reopening of resorts in Europe, we feel that it is appropriate to resume our travel money services so that we can accommodate those who want to start planning trips abroad in the coming months.

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“We’re following FCO advice closely and we advise holidaymakers to do the same.”

Currency bureaus at airports remain closed, but some firms including Travelex, are offering a delivery service.

Thomas Exchange, which often offers one of the best exchange rates to customers who book their money online and pick it up from its London stores, has started to reopen its shops.

 

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