The funny thing about a falling currency is that someone will always stand to benefit.

Take sterling. With the pound falling to its lowest-ever level earlier this month to reach near equity with both the dollar and the euro, there has been much consternation that the cost of living in the UK could soon go through the roof.

Indeed, Tesco’s standoff with consumer goods giant Unilever, which makes everything from Bertolli and Persil to PG Tips and Cif, came about because the devalued pound effectively meant Tesco was paying less for the goods Unilever sold it.

Had the supermarket chain agreed to pay the 10 per cent extra Unilever was reportedly seeking, there is little doubt it would have sought to recoup the sum at the checkout.

Yet while our pounds are buying considerably less overseas than they were a year ago, with a euro’s worth of spending costing 74 pence on 1 October 2015 and 87 pence on the same day this year, anyone looking to book their 2017 summer holiday now could actually stand to save themselves significant sums of cash.

Although those who favour do-it-yourself style holidays will find the cost of booking travel and accommodation has instantly shot up, with a €500 hotel room now costing £435 compared with £370 a year ago, those choosing package deals are unlikely to be hit in the same way.

The reason, according to a spokesperson for travel agency Thomas Cook, is that the big operators buy currency on a rolling basis so that the sterling price they charge their customers is not affected by large exchange rate movements.

“As a tour operator, we’re better able to protect our holiday prices from movements in currency,” he said.

“Our financial planning teams buy foreign currency months ahead, which means our prices remained unchanged for 2016 and won't be much impacted in summer 2017 either.”

For anyone looking to book now that brings a level of certainty and, so long as the pound doesn’t appreciate significantly, ensures they are getting a good deal.

Flights and hotels are only one part of the holiday equation, however, and if sterling depreciates further over the rest of this year and start of next year travellers may find their pounds don’t go too far once they have reached their destination.

Sally Francis of consumer advice website Money Saving Expert noted that when it comes to spending abroad “you can't do much about [exchange] rates but you can ensure you're not throwing money away by using methods that cost far more than they need to”.

Top of the what not to do list is buying currency at the airport, where rates are generally far more onerous than anywhere else because, said Ms Francis, “bureaux know you're a captive customer and take advantage”.

A better option, she said, is to take advantage of services that allow customers to order currency in advance because there would be no obligation to actually buy it until it is clear there is not a better rate available elsewhere.

“If you are concerned about currency rates for a future holiday, the terms and conditions of some bureaux such as Tesco, Travelex and Sainsbury’s will let you order currency in advance and lock it in at that rate, but then cancel before you travel if the rate gets better,” she said.

“You won’t get the best rates available, but it does allow some extra protection against further drops.”

One way to minimise the risk that further currency drops will eat into holiday spending money is to go for an all-inclusive deal, something the Thomas Cook spokesman said is proving ever-more popular.

“We’ve seen a big increase in all-inclusive holidays over the years and it’s got a lot more popular - around 60 per cent of our package holidays are all inclusive,” he said.

“At the moment all-inclusive deals are the best value around.”

Indeed, Association of British Travel Agents spokesperson Sean Tipton noted that rather than putting British families off booking holidays, the tumbling pound is instead making them “think about the type of holidays they will book”.

“What we are going to see is people buying more all-inclusive holidays because if you’re worried about exchange rates it’s not really so much of an issue if you book those, particularly for families,” he said.

However, beating the exchange rate appears to be a by-product of rather than the driver for booking well in advance, with Mr Tipton noting that most people are booking now for next year to ensure they get the holiday they want rather than to have certainty over what it will cost.

“People are booking further in advance - our stats show that bookings for next summer are already 10 per cent up year on year,” he said.

“Bookings for this summer were already really healthy and a massive number of bookings were for Spain and Portugal but some people left it late to book and found it hard to find the holiday they wanted plus it was more expensive than they wanted.

“That’s probably more why we’ve seen that increase.”