Understanding Foreign Currency Exchange Rates

The rates of exchange of a foreign currency determine how much of your local money you will need to purchase, equivalent to the amount in foreign currency.
The most common method of displaying exchange rates, such as that in a bank, hotel, or travel agent, might look like this:

Sample Foreign Currency Exchange Rates

£ 1 =

Australia / 2.243
Austria / 1.366
Bahamas / 1.623
Barbados / 3.177
Belgium / 1.366
Bermuda / 1.623
Canada / 2.118

(Source: http://www.thisistravel.co.uk/travel/tools/exchange_rates.html)

This decimal system, as seen above, displays how much foreign currency from each of these countries you can get for £1 on the date of publication. For example, £1 in Canada is equal to 2.11 Canadian Dollars.

Remember that although this is the exact exchange rate, but you will often have to pay a fee to change the money, so factor this in to your calculations.

Different establishments such as banks, travel agencies and post offices, offer foreign exchange services, and each of these have varying fees, as well as services.