When is the ‘best time’ to exchange?
There is no set answer for this, as the foreign exchange market is too big to predict. However, we do recommend starting to plan 2 months in advance, and changing your currency at lease few days before your trip.
This is simply give yourself more time to compare and budget your spending, as well as avoid high fees at airport.
To compare, you could look up the historical data to see the trend. And make your own prediction of going up or down in the future. But it will be no guarantee that the trend will continue. Something could happen all the time and make impact to the market, hence result in exchange rates.
Why do the exchanges rates change all the time?
The foreign exchange market is massive market. It is determined by supply and demand. And there are lots of things can affect the exchange rate for a currency. Such as, interest rates, political change, economic factors, etc. Any of these factors can make certain currency more or less popular in demand in the market, and it will affect the exchange rate of that currency against the currency you want.
Foreign Currency Explained
There are over 180 currencies recognised in foreign currency market. Most of them are tradable, refer as BUY and SELL, by large companies, financial organisations, and governments. The BUY and SELL price are set based on Exchange Rate.
What is an 'Exchange Rate' ?
Exchange Rate exists is simply because not all currencies are accepted by all countries. Thus, an exchange rate is the price of a nation’s currency (Domestic Currency) in terms of another currency (Foreign Currency). In a direct quotation, the price of a unit of foreign currency is expressed in terms of the domestic currency. In an indirect quotation, the price of a unit of domestic currency is expressed in terms of the foreign currency.
