Martin's top ten holiday hacks
The big summer getaway is here, but before you jet off our Money Saving Expert, Martin Lewis, is here with his 10 holiday hacks to save you a bundle while you’re away and ensure your trip stays pocket-friendly. For full information and ways to save on every element of your holiday see Martin’s full 50 tricks to slash holiday costs.
1. Always turn your sun cream bottles around
Do this, and you should spot a little number on the back which could save you big. Many automatically buy new bottles of sun lotion every time they jet off, but there's often no need to shell out - open bottles can still be effective for up to two years. The number you should find on the back of the bottle is a Period After Opening (PAO) number, which tells you how long you can keep using it for.
It'll normally look like a jar with an open lid and a number next to it (eg, 12 or 24) - that's the number of months after opening it during which it should be OK to use. And do check out pound stores, many sell sun cream and in general, as long as there’s a UVA logo and SPF factor, it should be fine.
2. Beat USA roaming charges using your UK tariff there for free
Roaming in Europe is pretty cheap, but if you’re going to the USA it can be horrendous, even the cheapest data pack on O2 is £120 for 200Mb – which isn’t that much – and others aren’t a lot better.
So instead, if you’ve an unlocked phone get yourself a free PAYG Three Sim. It’s free online or £1 in store (unless you top up and then it’s free). Then convert the PAYG credit into an add-on package. As an example, you could get 300 minutes, 3000 texts and unlimited data for £15 to use in Three’s “Feel at Home” promotion, where you pay the same as you would in the UK in 18 countries including USA, Australia and more.
3. The answer is "I'll pay in euros"...
If you're in a shop or at a cash machine overseas and are asked if you want to pay in pounds or the local currency, pay in the local currency (ie, so if it’s pounds or euros say euros). This way your plastic does the conversion and that, even for the worst cards, is better than overseas banks or shops doing it (even if they say 0% commission).
4. Play the Easyjet flight refund trick
If you've booked with Easyjet, check the flight price now - if it's dropped, you could claim the difference back. The airline’s little known price promise guarantees that if you do find the same flight for less after booking, you’ll get the difference back as a voucher. This only works if you have booked direct with Easyjet and excludes sales prices. You can only claim by calling Easyjet's customer service department on 0330 365 5000 and you must use the voucher within six months.
5. Don't be fear-sold car hire excess insurance - get it 90% cheaper now
When you’ve booked cheap car hire, when you get to the desk to pick it up, you’ll be fear-sold up to £20 a day car hire excess cover – usually with dire warnings of “even a scratch can use your £500 excess” if you don’t.
So to avoid this, instead get standalone cheap excess insurance before you go for as little as £2/day. The MoneyMaxim comparison site can find you a cheap policy. Though if you do book this way, you’ll need a credit card as the car hire company will often want to put a €600+ deposit on the card – and they may also say you don’t get breakdown cover.
6. Check that your EHIC card is still valid, 5m are out of date – but it’s not an alternative to travel insurance
The European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) gives you access to GPs or state hospitals in the EU at the same price as a local. Yet 5m+ cards are out-of-date and invalid so check the expiry date – point 9 - on the bottom right of your card now.
If it's already expired, or is about to, renew it now by applying on the EHIC website, or by calling 0300 330 1350.Yet DON’T pay for an EHIC – they’re free and any site charging you is a con – even if promising a fast track. Generally, it'll take about seven days for it to come through. Kids must have their own cards.
Never think of it as a substitute for travel insurance either, that’s a totally different thing and you need both.
7. Turn your smartphone into a free sat nav
If it's got GPS, you can convert it into a free sat nav for 28 countries, including Spain, France and the US. The free Navmii app works on iPhone, Android, Windows and Blackberry and you could download maps for individual countries before you set off to avoid any hefty roaming charges while overseas. It comes with route planning and traffic information, and although it isn’t a fully-fledged system like paid for sat navs, it’s handy for one off trips.
8. How to get free annual travel insurance if you're over 65
Travel insurance can be hideously costly as you age, yet there are still cheap annual policies starting from £39/year for someone aged 67 going to Europe or £200/year for a 79-year-old going worldwide. Yet switch to the Nationwide FlexAccount, which is fee free, and you get cover for you (and your spouse if it’s a joint account) for travel in Europe for free. Plus, if you’ve had pre-existing conditions, are older, or want world cover you can usually pay to upgrade – though check with it first.
9. Pack a child's car seat for free
Whether you're hiring a car or not, if you travel in one kids should be in a car seat. These cost up to £5/day to hire (or more if you're asking a taxi firm to provide), but many airlines let you take them on for free. In most cases you can take a car seat and pushchair in addition to your usual luggage allowance, and in some cases you can even use them on the plane, but always check ahead with your airline.
10. Warning. EE customers and others beware your voicemail abroad
While mobile networks are banned from doing it inside the European Union (28 countries), outside of that EE can charged £1/min (eg, in the US and Australia) to receive a message and another £1/min to listen to it - other networks can be hefty too. So the best thing to do, is to ask people to text you instead and you may want to simply deactivate your voicemail while away.