Where SHOULD you buy holiday cash?

Those brightly coloured currency booths are so convenient; simply buy your euros, explore duty-free, then head for the departure gate.

But an Escape investigation shows that the premiums you pay for buying currency at an airport can be staggeringly high.

This week, branches of Moneycorp and Travelex, two giants of UK airport currency exchange, were offering a mere ¤0.96 to £1 at Heathrow and Gatwick airports, while other options — from the old-school (Post Office) to the innovative (online ‘currency cards’, on which you can preload cash) — were advertising rates as high as ¤1.16 to £1.

We compared Moneycorp and Travelex, two giants of UK airport currency exchange, with other high-street brands and less well publicised sources 

It all renders those big, ‘zero commission’ signs redundant — and means shopping around has never been more rewarding.

Here are some Escape top tips on how to get the most out of your holiday money . . .

DON’T BE AFRAID TO BRANCH OUT 

Reassuring as it may be to entrust tried-and-tested High Street brands such as your bank or the Post Office, the best exchange rates are almost always from less well publicised sources.

If you want to avoid online options and are based in London, try a branch of Best Foreign Exchange (there are around a dozen spread throughout the capital) for a superior High Street rate on most currencies.

If you live outside London, you could try department stores, such as Debenhams, or shops including Marks & Spencer.

TRY BUYING IN ADVANCE

Perhaps the airport currency exchange companies aren’t all bad. Travelex, for example, offers customers the chance to buy currency in advance and cancels the order should sterling fluctuate. Customers can then buy the money again at the new, better rate.

LOYALTY PAYS OFF

Supermarket loyalty schemes aren’t only for getting a few pence off your next weekly shop. Some also offer preferential rates on currency exchange.

Sainsbury’s Bank, for example, offers a better rate to its Nectar card holders who wish to exchange money, with £1 currently buying ¤1.13, compared with ¤1.12 for those without a card.

Travel smart: An Escape investigation shows that the premiums you pay for buying currency at an airport can be staggeringly high

Travel smart: An Escape investigation shows that the premiums you pay for buying currency at an airport can be staggeringly high

CHECK ‘MASTER’ RATES

Get a true sense of what rates really are at any given time by going to xe.com, which updates every world currency every minute.

It’s the system used by traders and banks. You should consider this the ‘base’ level and, from here, find the provider who will offer the rate closest to what you see on this site.

GET YOUR TIMING RIGHT

If you’re not sure just how far in advance to buy your holiday money, some companies (including FairFX) will send you an email notification when sterling rises or falls beyond certain levels.

This should give you fair warning on whether today is a good — or terrible — time to exchange your pounds.

… And here’s where your £££ go furthest 

SOUTH AFRICA: Political instability means that South Africa continues to offer outstanding value for British visitors, with the local currency (the South African rand) currently running at around 18.60 to the pound.

‘That exchange rate should more than make up for local inflation, which hovers around 5 per cent,’ says Emma. ‘In Cape Town, you’ll pay around £2 for a beer and £27 for a meal for two.’

BULGARIA: Resorts around the Black Sea coast offer real value against sterling — and the exchange rate this week is barely different to this time last year.

‘This results in peace of mind as well as superb value,’ says Emma Coulthurst, from holiday price comparison site travel supermarket.com. ‘Expect a three-course meal to set you back around £10, and a beer £1 to £1.30.’

Resorts around Bulgaria's Black Sea coast offer real value against sterling — and the exchange rate this week is barely different to this time last year

Resorts around Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast offer real value against sterling — and the exchange rate this week is barely different to this time last year

TURKEY: Five years ago, £1 bought around 3.50 Turkish lira (TL). By 2017, £1 was worth around TL 4.8. And this week, £1 gets you around TL 7.9. ‘Alanya and Antalya and resorts around them, such as Side and Icmeler, are the most-searched for beach destinations for a package holiday via Travel Supermarket in the past six weeks,’ says Emma.

‘We’ve seen a 273 per cent increase in interest compared with this time last year, as Britons look to holiday there.’

TUNISIA: After a few years in the tourism wilderness, following the 2015 beach attacks in Sousse, confidence in the tiny North African nation is on its way to making a full recovery. And prices are falling. Expect to pay little more than £10 for dinner for two. A beer is around £1.

SINGAPORE: A stay in this tiny city state may still be more expensive than Thailand or Indonesia, but the gap is closing.

‘The Chinatown district of Singapore is especially interesting,’ says Emma. ‘The cost of eating and drinking there is down by as much as 21.5 per cent compared with last year.’

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk