When to exchange money for travel - Get the best bang for your buck for your summer travel plans

May 24, 2023

You’ve done the research into where you want to travel, but have you considered when to buy currency for your trip?

The reality is that most Canadian travelers don’t think about buying foreign currency in advance of their trip, so they often leave this important step to the last minute just before they leave. With some planning and understanding of how to get more value for a currency exchange, you can increase the value of your Canadian Dollar if you plan your foreign currency needs in advance.

Given the volatility of the market, knowing when to buy foreign currency can be tricky unless you have some type of benchmark of value. We’re sharing how to spot a good currency deal when it comes to popular vacation destinations:

When is a good time to buy the Japanese Yen?

When Japan fully opened its borders to all visitors again in October 2022, the pent-up demand to visit drove tourists again to this popular and culturally rich destination. Japan is a visa-free country for Canadians who can freely visit for up to 90 days for the purpose of tourism.

Since the opening of the border, surprisingly, we have seen a decrease in the value of the Japanese Yen, and this is a perfect example of how market volatility can lead to some great and surprising deals on currency exchange.

Historically, a Canadian Dollar would purchase approximately 80 Japanese Yen. However, due to recent weakness in the value of the Yen, a Canadian Dollar can purchase as much as 100 Yen and, as we’ve seen in some cases, almost 105 Yen. Over the last short while, the Yen had weakened to approximately 95 for a Canadian Dollar, however even at that level, there has never been a better deal in recent memory to plan a trip to Japan.

Even if you’re not planning on travelling to Japan right away, you can purchase Yen at these great levels and hold onto it in anticipation of going.

Using the VBCE Cash converter tool on our website, we would check what $1 CAD converts to during an exchange in JPN revealing $1 CAD = .99.68 Japanese YEN (JPN) with the rate of .010032. If this amount approaches 100 Yen (JPN) then you can consider this a good time to plan your exchange.

Our cash currency converter rate is an indication rate for smaller transactions, meaning that because the currency market changes on a daily basis, your best bet is to call or come into a location to confirm the rate at the time you’re ready to purchase.

For larger transactions your best bet is to call us to work with one of our Traders directly.

Getting the best exchange rate for US Dollars

One of the top questions we get asked is “When should I buy USD?” This is a great question and can depend on the timing of your need, and what is happening in the US. The best time to exchange Canadian Dollars to US Dollars is when the US dollar weakens against the Canadian Dollar. This happens typically when there is uncertainty in the US due to economic conditions like inflation, policy changes, or financial crisis.

Right now, we see the US dollar strength is shaky due to the US Federal Reserve raising interest rates, regional banks in distress and the ongoing US Congress debt-ceiling debate. Due to this uncertainty the market fluctuations are favorable for those looking to exchange CAD to USD.

Because the USD is a strong currency against the CAD we look for signals that lead to weakening, this can be observed when exchanging one Canadian Dollar gets closer to par, or $1 USD where the currencies are equal in value.

In our Cash Currency Converter example below from Mid-May we see that $1 CAD exchanged into $0.73 USD. This rate changes daily and throughout the day but if we review the last twelve months, we see fluctuations between $0.7154 USD and $0.7989 USD for the CAD/USD exchange rate for $1CAD.

When to buy Euros for your trip to Europe

European destinations tend to be popular destinations with Narrative Research reporting that more than half of Canadians plan to travel in 2023 and 20% of them are planning on going to Europe which is just behind the numbers to the US (25%.)

While popular destinations such as Paris, London, Venice and Rome are always in the lead for holiday plans, younger travelers influenced by social media are visiting places tied to filming locations of favourite films and TV shows are trending on Tik Tok such as Scotland, Tropea Italy, Belfast Northern Ireland and Budapest Hungary according to a recent article by Drift Travel.

Regardless of which destination you plan to visit in Europe you’ll want to know when best to buy Euros. With the invasion of Ukraine and the associated economic slowdown the Euro has been depreciating. As the Euro weakens and the Canadian dollar holds its strength, there is an opportunity to get better value in the CAD to EUR exchange.

Recently we saw the Euro weaken 2 cents which put it at a rate range of 1.47 to 1.5 which is a good deal for Canadians. Currently $1 CAD buys 0.67 Euros with a rate of 1.4866. It’s a good time to buy Euros if you’re planning a summer vacation.

Bucket list destinations to Southeast Asia and other dream vacation spots

In addition to having a benchmark to the value of your needed currency, you also want to ensure the availability of your needed currency. If you are traveling to an exotic Southeast Asian destination such as Indonesia (lucky you!) you will need to exchange funds into the Indonesian Rupiah (IPR), and this is a currency that most banks won’t carry.

You will want to visit a currency exchange firm established enough to have this currency in stock and readily available so your dream trip to Bali can start off on the right foot. VBCE keeps stock available for popular destinations, including Indonesia.

The best time to exchange funds

You can order currency ahead of time, or you can walk into a currency exchange location such as VBCE and change money in person. Similar to a bank, if you visit a VBCE retail location keep in mind the time of day and check the google trends for that location for the best time to visit. Below is our VBCE Pender Street location where Google shares how a typical Friday looks in the spring:

We encourage our customers to plan ahead to avoid line-ups in our retail branches. We aim to keep the lines moving well but we do know that it can be frustrating to wait when you have other important things to do before your trip. Taking advantage of the tips for planning ahead for currency needs will also save you more when the exchange rates are more favourable.

Bon Voyage!

About VBCE

Vancouver Bullion & Currency Exchange (VBCE) is the leading private foreign exchange company in Western Canada. In business since 1989 we proudly handle over five billion dollars in transactions annually through our retail locations in the Lower Mainland and our VBCE online platform for recurring transactions. We have locations in downtown Vancouver, South Granville, Richmond and Metrotown Mall in Burnaby. Our competitive exchange rates are better than those of many other foreign exchange providers and commercial banks, saving our customers millions of dollars a year.

Image credit: Photo by DreamLens Production