Holiday rip-offs revealed

From sky-high travel taxes to extra fees for single people, we reveal five holiday rip-offs and show you how to keep costs down this summer.

With the kids breaking up from school in a couple of weeks, millions of Brits will soon be heading on their annual two-week holiday – those who can afford it, that is.

Unfortunately, your holiday could end up costing more than you’d planned if you fall prey to any of these common holiday rip-offs.

1. Travel taxes

British passengers are paying hundreds of pounds more in travel taxes and fees than people in the rest of Europe, research from Sainsbury’s Finance has revealed.

Whether or not you class this as a rip-off probably depends on your attitude to taxes. However, most holidaymakers could probably do without this extra expense.

Imagine you were taking a trip to Cape Town. According to the research from Sainsbury’s, you’d typically pay £460 in taxes and fees alone if you flew from London. Those flying from Paris, however, would pay £318, which equates to a massive price difference of £142.

2. Using the wrong credit card

Most credit and debit card providers charge customers fees to use their cards overseas – often in the region of 2.5% or 3% of the transaction’s value.

Frequent travellers could potentially cut costs by taking out a card that waives these charges. For instance, Halifax’s Clarity Credit Card doesn’t impose any fees on borrowers who make a purchase or withdraw cash outside of the UK.

Sainsbury’s Gold Credit Card allows interest-free purchases and cash withdrawals outside the UK. Although there’s a £5 monthly fee, this card also includes insurance for two adults and up to six children.

3. Plastic bags at the airport

As frequent travellers probably know, passengers can only take liquids of less than 100mls onto a plane and these must be carried in a separate, re-sealable plastic bag.

If you forget to bring a plastic bag, a number of airports will sell them to you at a cost of £1 – how very generous of them.

If you want to get your holiday off to a frugal start, remember to be prepared when you head to the airport.

4. Travelling alone

If you’re unattached or fancy some time away from your other half, you might be tempted to go on holiday alone. Unfortunately, this option could prove significantly more expensive than if you were in a couple.

This is because holiday companies often impose a ‘single supplement’ on solo travellers, arguing that most holidays costs are based on the assumption that two people share one room.

Singletons who would prefer to avoid these extra costs could consider a booking through a holiday company that specialises in solo travellers.

5. Using your mobile

We’ve all heard stories of foreign holidaymakers being hit with massive bills after using their mobile phone abroad.

In extreme cases, these charges may be hundreds (or even thousands) of pounds. However, this situation may be about to improve when new EU price caps come into effect.

From July, making a call within the EU will cost a maximum of 29 cents (23.5p) and the cost of using the internet be capped at 70 cents (57p). These caps will be followed by further reductions in 2013 and 2014.

**This material is for information purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. We strongly encourage our readers not to rely solely on this content, but to seek independent advice when making financial decisions.**

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