At what exchange rate should I pay the ticket?
Currency and exchange rates have recently become an invariable part of the life of every citizen. Any tourist traveling abroad is forced to purchase currency. That is why the term “currency jump” causes us genuine fear, because the rate “jumps” and the amount spent on the purchase of currency, can increase, and may decrease.
However, relatively recently, the “jump” of the currency began to have a different impact on the tourism market. If before the tourist thought only about “where” and “how” to exchange their money for currency for travel, now we need to think about “how much will change the cost” of travel due to the “jump” of currency, as well as in “what currency” is best to buy a ticket.
How much will the cost of travel change?
The issue has become relevant relatively recently. In 2014, tourists were faced with the fact that tour operators recalculated the cost of the purchased tour package based on the change in the exchange rate that occurred during the period from the purchase of the tour package to the date of the trip itself. In this regard, travelers had to pay extra for the tourist product they bought or completely refuse to travel.
Disputes over the legality of such actions of tour operators do not subside until now. Some citizens considered the actions of the operators justified, the other part simply refused the tour or defended their position in court. But the court, considering each claim separately, could take the side of both the tourist and the tour operator.
Despite judicial precedents, similar issues continue to arise among tourists. However, the practice of 2014 helped tourists and tour operators to better understand the specifics of the sale of a tourist product, which reduced the likelihood of such situations in the tourism industry.
As a result, tour operators began to stipulate in the contract for the provision of tourist services a clause relating to currency fluctuations. The price of the tourist product can be revised unilaterally by the tour operator with an increase in the rate of more than 5%.
The relevant provision allows you to revise the price as already fully paid tourist package, so paid in installments tour. The introduction of a rule regulating the price of a tour package when currency fluctuates guarantees the protection of not only the tour operator, but also the tourist. After all, it allows the traveler to be ready for a change in the exchange rate and a possible increase in the amount of the tourist product.
In what currency should I pay the ticket?
When considering the issue of currency fluctuations, another question arises: Is it not more profitable to buy a tourist trip in currency? If it is more profitable, in which case?”
To begin with, the tour operator needs to clarify several questions:
In what currency the tourist product is formed by the tour operator;
In what currency the tourist product is sold by the tour operator;
- Does the contract provide for a clause "change in the exchange rate".
Let's look at all the points. The first question is very important, because the answer will depend on the currency and the rate at which the tourist product will be sold to the final buyer (the second question).
Each tour operator forms a tourist package based on the services and prices of the service provider and, accordingly, in the currency of the supplier.
When the tour package is collected, the tour operator offers the package to the tourist in the national currency of the country of sale. But the sale of a tourist package in national currency does not mean that the contract cannot specify the price of the package in the currency of the service provider. Every tourist has the right to know the price of the purchased package before it is transferred to the national currency.
Currently, it is difficult to say in which currency it is better and more profitable to buy a tourist product, since it is difficult to predict how the currency will behave in the near future. Naturally, it is better to buy a tourist product in the currency of the service provider, which is prescribed in the contract and pay 100% in order to avoid the need to change the national currency to the supplier’s currency at the new rate.
As already mentioned, the issue of currency and its exchange rate can be provided in the contract of sale of the tour, but often there is only the total amount of the ticket in national currency and, accordingly, the amendment to change the rate, the buyer remains unaware of the original cost of the tour.
In this case, you need to know a few rules:
1. If the contract specifies the amount only in national currency. The tourist must be required to specify in the contract in a separate paragraph the actual amount of the ticket in the currency of the service provider, as well as references to the item “change in the exchange rate”.
2. If the tour operator refuses to additionally specify the cost of the tour in currency, then the tourist has the right to demand to remove from the contract the item “change in the exchange rate” and indicate the fixed amount of the tour package, which, accordingly, will not be affected by the change in the exchange rate.
3. To avoid unforeseen situations, pay for the tour in full or as soon as possible.
If you know these three points, you can protect yourself from unexpected changes in the cost of the tour or eliminate them altogether.
Text: Elizaveta Tsarenko
Photo: bitnovosti, profi.travel, tvc