Protect Your Travel Money with Rate Guard

You’re days away from leaving for a holiday and it’s time to get those last few things sorted – packing your bags, getting your passport out and sorting your foreign exchange. You’ve been watching the rates for the last few weeks, and it’s been holding steady, so you know it’s a good time to get bang for your buck.

Or is it?

What if the rate suddenly improves after you purchase your foreign exchange? If you had waited just a little longer, you would have gotten more foreign currency for your Australian dollars! Huge bummer!

There’s nothing worse than being caught out by a change in exchange rates – especially AFTER you’ve exchanged your cash. But what can you do about it except maybe yell a little in frustration?

Generally, there’s nothing you can do. Except if you purchase your foreign exchange from Travel Money Oz! To protect our customers from sudden changes in exchange rates, we offer Rate Guard.

What is Rate Guard?

Essentially, it’s a 14-day exchange rate guarantee. If you purchase certain foreign currencies (including USD, GBP, EUR, NZD, IDR, FJD & THB) from one of our stores and the rate improves within 14 days of your purchase, we’ll pay you the difference*!

Why is Rate Guard so Important?

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Well, let’s look into that in a bit more detail, shall we?

Changing Exchange Rates

Exchange rates are constantly fluctuating up and down because most of the world’s currencies are bought and sold on the foreign exchange market. Notoriously difficult to predict, the market is based on a system of flexible (or floating) exchange rates. This means prices go up and down based on the supply and demand of currency.

The supply and demand of a currency is tied to a number of factors, including a country’s economic and monetary policies, inflation, interest rates, political conditions, and all that jazz. And while currency fluctuations in the foreign exchange market mainly affect banks, big businesses and governments, the impact eventually trickles down to travellers.

If you’d like to understand more about how exchange rates work, read our blog post Foreign Exchange Explained.

How Does Rate Guard Work?

In a nutshell, Rate Guard is a way for you to protect yourself from any changes in exchange rates that would ultimately impact your travel money.

At the time of making your purchase, you just need to agree to add Rate Guard to your transaction (it’s free, you just need to provide your personal details for the transaction). Then, if the rate improves, you just go back to the store you originally made your purchase from (bring your bank details with you), and submit your Rate Guard claim by showing your receipt with your Rate Guard reference number on it.

Your Travel Money Oz FXpert will process your claim for you, and the difference will be paid into your nominated bank account in Australian dollars within 5 business days. It’s that simple!

There are a few details you should keep in mind though:

• Rate Guard is only available when you purchase the following currencies: US dollars, Euro, British Pounds, New Zealand dollars, Indonesian Rupiah, Fijian dollars and Thai Baht
• It is only available to foreign currency purchases done in store, and at the advertised rate
• It is unfortunately not available with online transactions
• If you have purchased multiple currencies, Rate Guard will apply to any or all of the eligible currencies you’ve purchased
• It’s FREE – it doesn’t cost anything to process a claim.

What Are the Benefits?

It’s a win-win situation really.

You buy a currency and the rate goes down – you win because you already purchased your currency at the better rate. Yay for you!

You buy a currency and rate goes up – if you have Rate Guard, you get paid out the difference when you process your claim. Yay for you again!

In all seriousness though, there are quite a few benefits to adding Rate Guard to your transaction:

• You don’t have to leave your foreign exchange to the last minute just because you’ve been waiting to see what the rates will do
• You don’t need to give yourself a headache trying to read historical charts, watching the news, and trying to predict if the exchange rates will go up or down.

All in all, it’s less stress and ultimately more money for you if the rates improve within the 14 day timeframe. And that’s why we offer Rate Guard – to try an eliminate some of the confusion and frustration that comes with exchanging your travel money.

If you have any more questions about Rate Guard, or if you need help deciding on what travel money options are best for you, our FXperts are available to help! Visit your nearest Travel Money Oz store today.

_{*Terms and Conditions apply. Please read the full Terms and Conditions here. ^Exchange rate data available on www.travelmoneyoz.com/foreign-currency on 5 March 2017. Historical rates were available for foreign exchange transactions on the Travel Money Oz website on 1 March 2017 and 23 February 2017 respectively. Rates instore may have differed.}

_{This blog is provided for information only and does not take into consideration your objectives, financial situation or needs.  You should consider whether the information and suggestions contained in any blog entry are appropriate for you, having regard to your own objectives, financial situation and needs.  While we take reasonable care in providing the blog, we give no warranties or representations that it is complete or accurate, or is appropriate for you.  We are not liable for any loss caused, whether due to negligence or otherwise, arising from use of, or reliance on, the information and/or suggestions contained in this blog.}