Do you have some travel money left over from an overseas trip? Join the club! Lots of Aussies do, according to research. So, is it best to save it for the next adventure or currency play? Let’s have a look.
After having just returned from holidays and wondering what to do with the balance on my travel card, I was interested in new research from ALL – Accor Hotel’s booking platform and loyalty programme.
It showed Australians are sitting on a potential $1.04 billion in unspent foreign currency, with almost seven in 10 (68 per cent) international travellers admitting to having leftover holiday money tucked away at home.
Libby and I have a US dollar balance left over and I’ve been wondering whether to:
- transfer it back to one of our bank accounts,
- keep it there for a future trip to the US or,
- use it to pay for offshore online shopping in US dollars.
Given the strength of the US dollar, I’m leaning towards keeping the money in the travel card.
Hanging on to cash
The Accor research also revealed that one in seven (14 per cent) returned travellers are holding on to at least $300 in foreign currency, while a third (34 per cent) have the equivalent of $49 squirrelled away.
A surprising 97 per cent of Australians are still opting to carry physical cash in the destination currency when travelling abroad, despite the plethora of cashless travel money cards available. Money-savvy Aussies are carrying cash to avoid international card transaction fees (43 per cent), as well as trips to the local market (60 per cent), food and drink purchases (68 per cent) and other small purchases (73 per cent). Aussies are also a generous bunch, with two in five (43 per cent) admitting that they carry cash to tip locals.
Nostalgic about money
When it comes to how we exchange our money, traditional currency exchange methods remain the most popular, with 56 per cent of Australians visiting currency exchange stores and 38 per cent heading to their local bank. Surprisingly, even the digital native generations (Gen Z and Millennials) prefer traditional banking (35 per cent) over apps (19 per cent) for acquiring their holiday money.
It seems we’re a sentimental bunch when it comes to our travel money. Nearly half (49%) of Australians travelling abroad admit to holding on to leftover foreign currency after a trip, hoping they will use it when returning to that country.
The top five most popular currencies to hold on to were USD (37 per cent), euro (33 per cent), Singapore dollar (21 per cent), British pound (20 per cent) and NZ dollar (20 per cent).
