International Currency Exchange (ICE), the travel money and prepaid currency card provider, has seen an 800% increase in the total volume of US dollars travellers are loading to their ICE Travellers Cashcard, compared to the same period last year.

The total amount of euros being bought has also jumped dramatically, by 256% in February 2013 compared to February 2012.

It has been a volatile time for sterling after it fell to its lowest level for nearly three years against the US dollar yesterday and hit a 16-month low against the euro on the back of the UK losing its AAA rating.

The pound hit a low of $1.5073 in Monday’s trading, before climbing off lows to trade just above $1.51.

Stewart Cowley, head of fixed income at the fund manager Old Mutual Global Investors, predicted sterling could fall even further from here versus the dollar as the UK’s credit rating downgrade erodes confidence in the currency.

He said while sterling will not tumble quickly against the dollar, it is very possible it could work its way down to $1.40.

With commentators also suggesting the pound will reach parity with the euro for the first time since 2008, those planning to travel overseas are hedging their bets and looking for ways to secure against further falls in the rates of exchange.

Tom Johnson, head of ICE’s online business said: “We’ve seen unprecedented demand for the ICE Travellers Cashcard over the past month – orders for the euro card are up 547% while those for the US dollar card are up an astonishing 1050%.

“No-one knows for certain how the exchange markets will fair over the next few weeks but if you think the value of the pound is going to continue to fall, then buying currency now and loading it to a fee free prepaid card like the ICE Currency Cashcard will offer some budgeting certainty at a pretty uncertain time.”

Although the latest dip in the value of the pound is bad news for holidaymakers, there are still ways to get the best value for money when travelling to the US or Europe.

Andrew Brown of Post Office Travel Money said: “Holidaymakers using Post Office bureaux get a better exchange rate when they change over £500 and more still for a transaction worth £1,000. It is worthwhile taking that bit extra rather than falling short abroad and changing money at an overseas ATM where they will get a worse rate and also incur further charges.

“The one positive of a weakened pound is that anyone who is hoarding leftover foreign currency could find they will get more pounds in their pocket if they exchange it back into sterling now.”

Asda Money is running an online and phone rate sale from today until 1 March on ten popular currency destinations including Canadian and US dollar, euro, Mexican peso, South African rand and the Czech koruna.