Brits squander £1bn in airport lounges

Extravagant Brits spend a total of £1 billion in foreign airport lounges in attempts to use up their unused foreign currency, new statistics have revealed.

According to figures from Abbey, the average Brit spends £65 per year on last-minute departure lounge purchases.

The practice is more widespread among men, the survey showed, with 9.6 million admitting to having offloaded their cash in this way compared with just 6.6 million women.

Steve Shore, head of banking at Abbey, attributed the practice to holidaymakers looking to occupy themselves while waiting for flights.

"With little else to do in the departure lounge, shopping helps kill the dead time between checking-in and boarding a flight. But it's amazing how much people are prepared to waste.

"Even with a commission fee, converting the money back into sterling is far more cost effective than splurging it on things you don't need," he said.

The most popular way to use up holiday spending money was buying snacks and refreshments, followed by snapping up gifts for friends and family back home, Abbey's study showed.

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