Published at 14:07, Friday, 06 July 2012

Admit it. We’ve all been there. You’re standing outside a shop while on holiday abroad thinking about whether to buy something.

Before you do, you try converting the price back to pounds, but are you coming up with the right figure once you’ve done your sums?

There’s a fair chance you aren’t if research this week is anything to go by – potentially with some big differences.

As people start turning attention towards their summer holidays and getting their spending money together, it has emerged that many of us could be getting confused with our conversion rates.

A study by Sainsbury’s Bank Travel Money has found that almost a quarter of Britons think one euro is worth more then one pound.

But some reckon the euro is worth only 40p, while others are unsure which countries are in the eurozone, the poll showed.

As many as 23 per cent of the 2,000 people surveyed were under the impression that one euro was worth more than one pound, with 2.4 per cent valuing the euro at just 40p.

Those polled were five times more likely to believe that Croatia used the euro than the existing currency of the kuna.

About 20 per cent thought Turkey and Switzerland used the euro, while 2.2 per cent reckoned Spain still used the peseta.

Overall, 23 per cent overestimated the value of other currencies against the pound and thought they were being ripped off.

Sainsbury’s Bank travel money manager David Barrett said: “It is surprising that there appears to be so much confusion about the value of the euro and also around which currency is used in a number of countries.

“We would urge anyone planning a holiday to swot up on the local currency before they go.”

It isn’t just while you are on holiday that you need to be careful with your cash, however: Ensure you bag a bargain before you go.

Another set of research has found that consumers are not always getting the best price when they book time-limited “hurry” holidays.

Consumer group Which? looked at 30 adverts for hurry-before-it-goes holidays and then checked again when the closing date for booking had passed.

It found that in 13 of the adverts the holiday could be booked at the same price or lower, “suggesting there may have been no need to hurry after all”.

Which? said it believed travel companies were doing three things that could be considered misleading:

Extending deals beyond the advertised deadlines;

Cutting prices after the hurry-deal offer had finished;

Repeating hurry deals one after another.

Which? said one cruise company sent out an email encouraging consumers to book a “dream cruise” in an offer “only available for five days” and three-and-a-half weeks later started a six-day sale that offered even better prices on the same cabins.

Which? executive director Richard Lloyd said: “No one likes finding out that someone on the same holiday paid less for it. But it’s even worse if you bought your holiday in a rush because the ads told you the prices would be available only for a short time.

“It’s unacceptable that holidaymakers are hurried into making decisions that might not give them the best value for money. Travel companies understandably have to adjust prices up or down according to demand but they shouldn’t kid consumers that the prices on offer won’t be around for long.”

There continues to be strong competition between traditional travel agents and their online rivals.

Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk