Despite an increasing number of countries accepting card payments from tourists and holidaymakers, many people are still inclined to take foreign currency with them when they go on holiday – carrying cash around to pay for meals, drinks, and souvenirs.

But as is the case anywhere in the world, whether a mile from your home or thousands of miles overseas, carrying cash comes with risks.

In this blog, we’re sharing 5 top tips on keeping your money safe when travelling. These tips will ensure that you have access to the money you need for the duration of your trip (and with cash left to exchange back into British pounds when you return home!).

1. Use a travel belt instead of pockets or handbags

If you’re going to invest in anything for your next holiday, make it a travel belt.

These belts are the perfect place to store money, your mobile phone, and any other small valuables. Keeping these close to your person, covered by a top or jumper, as opposed to in a bag, which is more vulnerable, or pockets, which are exposed to pickpockets, is one of the best things you can do to protect your cash and other items.

2. Store cash in a few different locations

If you decide to take a small amount of cash out during each day of your trip and leave the rest in your hotel room or accommodation, then be sure to split your money between a few different spots in your room.

A few recommended spots to hide money include inside the pockets of your bag, between the pages of a book, rolled up in your socks or other underwear, and even in a false bottom inside your suitcase.

3.  Have a backup card available

If disaster strikes and you find that you have lost or misplaced some cash, it’s crucial that you have a backup card to ensure safe onward travel.

While using a card is not advisable due to transaction fees overseas, if you do lose your cash, you will be incredibly thankful for the backup payment option.

4. Travel with a selection of bills

You might think that travelling exclusively with large bills is easier in terms of storage, as higher bills mean storing and carrying fewer individual notes.

However, imagine losing the equivalent of £100 or more in a single note. It doesn’t bear thinking about. Not to mention, if you pull out a wad of high-value notes everywhere you go, you will soon draw attention to yourself and to how much cash you are carrying around, making you more of a target for pickpockets.

That’s why, when it comes to both stashing cash and carrying it around on various day trips and adventures, we recommend having a selection of bills which span small amounts and larger amounts.

5. Get the best value by exchanging currency before you arrive at your destination

This tip is less about keeping physical cash safe when travelling and more about protecting the value of your travel money – by ensuring that you can access the best possible exchange rate before and after your travel.

Put your hand up if you are one of those travellers who view foreign currency as a bit like monopoly money. Let’s be honest, foreign currency doesn’t look or feel real, does it? This can cause many travellers to overlook the importance of the exchange rate. 

This means that many will lose out on financial value when they exchange foreign currency back into pounds at the airport at a poor rate.

However, we’re here to tell you that the exchange rate does matter—and that the rate they’re offering you at the airport is highly likely to be unfavourable for you as the traveller. Instead of exchanging cash at the airport, protect your leftover holiday funds and get the best bang for your buck by exchanging currency through the online Leftover Currency service.

What is the best way to keep cash safe?

1.      Store cash wisely while abroad!

2.      Access a leading provider like Leftover Currency to turn your cash back into British pounds when you get home.

Waiting until you return home and then sending your money off to Leftover Currency to be transferred back into your bank account in pounds is the best way to ensure that anything you didn’t spend on holiday is accessible in your local currency as quickly as possible.

Leftover Currency offers holidaymakers a quick and convenient service, inviting them to input their foreign currency into the online calculator as part of one big sum and determine the total value in British pounds. This cash can then be sent directly to Leftover Currency to sort, whereby the value will be transferred to your chosen bank account or gifted to a charity of your choice – whichever option you choose.

Find out more about Leftover Currency and how we work to make currency exchange quick and painless via our website FAQs. Or you can contact us directly to discuss the process and chat about all things currency!