Buy Travel In NZ Dollars To Avoid Currency Sting

12 July 2006

Buy Travel In NZ Dollars To Avoid Currency Sting

Travel agents are urging travellers to cover as much of their travel costs in New Zealand dollars as possible before they leave the country, to counter the effects of the falling New Zealand dollar.

Flight Centre general manager Sue Rennick said the drop from US71.5 cents in December to little more than US61 cents today meant the cost of buying travel services in certain countries, particularly the US and Europe, had increased significantly.

“On the positive side, a large amount of this increase can be offset by organising and paying for as much as possible in New Zealand dollars before leaving.

“While the NZ dollar has dropped, often the price of accommodation, car rental, tours and transfers for international travel hasn’t caught up, and real bargains can be found through prebooking.”

Ms Rennick said even Australia had become slightly more expensive, but almost every type of travel product in Australia could be booked previously in New Zealand dollars.

FCm Travel Solutions general manager Christian Casbolt said booking as much as possible in New Zealand currency was an important cost saving technique for the company’s business travel clients, and something that was highly recommended.

“Business travellers always have to think about the bottom line, and there are many savings to be made when booking things like airport transfers and accommodation in New Zealand when the currency is in a lower part of it’s cycle.”

Ms Rennick said despite the currency fluctuations, there were always still going to be places where the New Zealand dollar went a long, long way.

“Big growth areas such as South East Asia and China and certain parts of the Pacific such as Samoa offer real value for money.

“And NZ$1 buys around $10,000 Vietnamese Dong, so there’s definitely some favourable exchange rates out there.”

ENDS

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