Handling money-related issues for festivals can be challenging
With Glastonbury called off this year, thousands of music-lovers will disperse across Europe and beyond in search of the best live performances during festival season.
With a wealth of options including Exit Festival in Serbia, Benicassim in Spain and the Ultra Music Festival in Miami it is hardly surprising that ABTA is expecting more UK music fans than ever to look abroad for festivals.
The appeal is even greater when you consider that you would be paying upwards of £200 for a Glastonbury ticket whereas a three-day pass for Spirit of Burgas in Bulgaria is available from around £85.
American Express offers the broadest array of travel solutions for consumers. To help festival goers get the most value for money for their trips this year, Terry Perrin, Director at American Express Foreign Exchange Service recommends the following tips:
1. Do your homework: Familiarise yourself with the local currency and denominations ahead of the trip to ensure that you do not get ‘unwittingly’ short changed at the burger van.
2. Don’t get caught out: Familiarise yourself with your airlines suitcase size and weight policy, if your tent doesn’t fit within these you could incur additional costs. You might want to consider buying or renting your tent abroad.
3. Travel light: If you are travelling on a no frills airline you could save money by taking your festival wellies in hand luggage and not incurring additional costs for holdall bags.
4. Don’t get conned: There are plenty of ticket touts who will try and sell you fake tickets. Make sure you purchase yours from a reputable source before you go.
5. Soak up the local culture: Travel midweek and experience a little of the local area before you head to the festival as you are more likely to pick up good deals on flight and hotel rates.
6. Know the rules: It’s tempting to stock up in duty free on the way home but make sure you check the restrictions before you leave to ensure that you don’t buy goods that you are unable to bring home.
7. Take expert advice: If you are travelling to an unusual destination, don’t be fooled into thinking you can only buy the local currency on arrival as this may prove more costly. Change your cash before you travel with a service such as, TravelMoneyNow that allows you to exchange your money to all available currencies commission free. Not only this, it enables festival goers to pre-order this currency to be collected at a selected airport as little as four hours from time of purchase, for all major currencies.
8. Have a backup: Safeguard against currency fluctuations by taking advantage of the American Express ‘Buy Back Guarantee’. For just £3 American Express will buy back your unused currency commission free, and at the same rate purchased, when you return.
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