Essential holiday tips
There can’t be many people in the world that don’t love a good holiday, however, due to the global recession many people have had to put their holiday plans on hold because of lack of money and concerns over job security. But just because there is less money left in the pot at the end of each month doesn’t mean you can’t afford a week away from the stresses and strains of everyday life. Here are a few ways for you to save money on holiday.
First and foremost buy travel insurance. Although strictly speaking this won’t save you money, as you obviously have to buy it, however, if you don’t buy it and then have an accident on holiday you will have to fork out hundreds if not thousands on emergency treatment, doctors’ bills and hospital care. A good online insurer is AA Travel Insurance – they offer holiday insurance for families and single parent families.
One way to save money abroad is to use a debit card that won’t charge you a fee to withdraw your own money from an ATM. Nationwide has been doing this for a while on all of its current accounts and now Santander is offering the same deal with its Zero Current Account. Some banks charge you up to 2.75% on withdrawals. This means you won’t have to take loads of foreign currency on holiday. This leads on to the next point.
If you do want to take foreign currency away with you, and it is advisable to have a ‘starter’ amount with you for airport transfers, cups of coffee etc, then make sure you get it commission free. Both Travelex and the Post Office offer commission free buy back if you do order too much as well as 0% on foreign currency.
If you are flying with a low-cost carrier and let’s face it, if you really want to save money you will be, then only take hand luggage. If booked online for example, Ryanair charges £15 for 15kg of checked luggage and easyJet charges £9 for 20kg each way of course. However, they don’t charge anything to take carry-on baggage only and you can carry up to 10kg in the hold with you. This is more than enough for a week on the beach and will not only save you money but time at the airport.
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