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Today is the best day of the year to buy your travel money, according to research carried out by Currency Online Group, a travel money and payments specialist. The findings suggest that January is the least volatile month for currency exchange rates. Anyone in need of Euro’s or Dollars for their summer holidays should buy early to avoid uncertainty when rates start moving rapidly later in the year, with August being the worst month to buy.

Holidaymakers are often caught out with bad deals when they’re getting ready to travel as they usually leave it until the last minute to get their cash. This means that they can get stung as markets shift rapidly in the high summer months due what traders call their “sell in May then go away” strategy of cashing in their portfolios for the year, which then leads to high price swings.

Currency Online Group found that early January is usually calm in the currency markets with political and economic events yet to get back up to their normal pace. This doesn’t mean that January is when currency rates are at their most positive for buyers, but it does mean anyone looking to buy a large amount of foreign currency later in the year won’t be stung by falling rates suddenly as they prepare for their trip .

Some more focused travellers wait for the markets to move more and buy when the Euro rate goes highly in their favour, for example. However, this can be a very high risk strategy as knowing when this will happen is very difficult to predict, especially as Brexit heads towards its conclusion.

The reason that buying currency in the summer months is normally so unpredictable is because most people in North America and Europe are on holiday, this leads to less trading and therefore big price swings.

Currency Online Group CEO, Paul Brewer, said “The currency market can be very volatile but we were intrigued to know what, on average, was the best day of the year for our customers to buy currency. It turns out that January is the best month, with the 7th being the best day to buy historically. Summer is our busy time but travellers shouldn’t necessarily leave it to the last minute as you can never second guess what way the market is going to move so we advise our customers to buy early when they know what their travel plans are”.

1 – If you’re worried about travelling to a place that doesn’t have the best reputation for pickpockets and the like, then taking a mixture of cash and prepaid card will set you at ease. If you do lose your cash the card is always there. Even if that goes missing, you should be able to contact the issuer who can provide alternative means to access your cash.

2 – Order with enough time to spare. We see many of our customers anxiously waiting at the door for the delivery of the money on the day they are actually travelling. Whilst we all let things slip until the last minute, you really don’t want to have your money still at home as you set off to the airport. This ends up with you paying twice and much more expensively at an airport bureau.

3 – We always try to give you a mix of notes with your travel cash but if you have any specific requests just get in touch with us and we’ll do our very best to make sure you get what you need.

4 – Our rates are our rates. We are very very competitive therefore the rates we offer on our travel cash are absolute, there is no room for going better. We always offer the best rate we possibly can and make sure that it’s giving you the best deal we can.

5 – Lots of people don’t realise they can sell their unused currency back to us. We can’t buy it back at the same rate that you bought it – that all depends on the market at the time you want to sell it but we till give you the best deal we possibly can. After all, we want you to come back and use us again next time.

6 – Be sure to check any country-specific requirements around currency before you go. Some countries that use the dollar don’t accept certain notes or denominations. We can advise the best we can but be sure to check.

7 – If you’re buying a property abroad you will usually need to transfer funds abroad for the transaction. Because of our nimble setup, we can offer bank beating rates on international money transfers too. Call our team who will give you a great quote within minutes.

8 – If a note if ripped slightly or has marks it is still completely legal and usable. It is, of course, the choice of a retailer in each country if they wish to accept it however. Whilst we never give notes that don’t conform to legal standards, there may be occasions where they aren’t in brand new condition. If you want to swap them get in touch with us.

9 – Become a student of the markets. The best way to get the best rate is to keep your eye on the forex market and political events. Whilst there is never any guarantee which way a currency will move and over what time, you can save yourself a few quid just by buying at the right time.

10 – Try to spend any coins you have whilst still travelling. Once they are brought back with you it’s very difficult to get them changed up again without it being very expensive.