Departures: Fair exchange

THE Gods of Foreign Exchange Rates are finally smiling on British travellers. Sterling is making welcome gains against the main holiday currencies. And there are signs that the improvements could continue, so it would be sensible to delay changing your money until the last minute.

For example, this week the pound hit 8.70 French francs, a long way short of the heady 9.72 that prevailed a year ago. Sterling is trading at around 190 against the Spanish peseta, and this week the Italian lire rate was more than 2,300.

The pound has suffered against the dollar, But even at the current rate of around dollars 1.50, America offers very good value.