Yahoo Finance Holiday special: this week's deals and discounts
There’s a great bunch of holiday-related money-saving deals and discounts for you to grab this week, including bargain breaks and a passport warning.
But don’t forget, a bargain is only a good deal if you were planning to splash out on it anyway.
Where to find bargain breaks
There are a wide number of comparison sites and companies offering special holiday offers. Signing up to as many as possible should give you a wide range of options and money-saving opportunities.
There’s TravelSupermarket, which has a lot of holidays to search for. Holiday Pirates and Travelzoo will both email you details of the best holiday deals they find. Meanwhile Secret Escapes offers up to 70% off a range of breaks.
For flights, Jack’s Flight Club does a similar services, although Skyscanner should be the first place to go to find the cheapest flights.
Holiday money hack
UK holidaymakers are being ripped off by £1bn in charges for using their debit and credit cards abroad. How can you avoid the fees?
Use a pre-paid currency card. You’ll usually get a better exchange rate than the high street – and definitely better than at the airport. You’ll lock in the exchange rate and avoid expensive overseas rates – the fees that are charged at your destination for exchanging the local currency into pounds.
You can compare different pre-paid euro cards here
Don’t fall for the passport con
Anyone who searches for “passport renewals” online is likely to be confronted by one of the many dodgy sites hoping to trick you into handing over your hard-earned cash.
The dodgy sites work hard to look like the official Government site for passports, but charge applicants £20-£100 on top of the official passport fee. You don’t need to pay the fee.
The cheapest way to get your passport is through the official Gov.uk website and you shouldn’t go anywhere else. It has options for getting your first passport, renewing an old one or getting one for your child.
Avoid duty-free ‘bargains’
If you’re heading overseas on holiday, there’s a strong temptation to visit duty-free at the airport.
But prices there are seldom as cheap as you may hope and rather than snapping up a bargain, you’re likely to end up paying more than you need to.
For instance you’ll find most drinks and gifts may be actually cheaper at your destination which means if you wait, you will save money and save having to carry booze through the airport!
The secret is to check prices abroad by searching online for local prices to find out what you are likely to pay. However, there’s one exception: there are often decent deals on make-up at the airport.
Keep your holiday money safe
Bear in mind you’re at prey to crooks and thieves abroad who’d love to get their hands on your cash and plastic cards. The Safer Tourism Foundation has a useful guide to keeping money, passports and credit cards safe
Cheap meals for kids
If you’re looking after children over the summer and have to feed them it can get expensive. So before heading out, check out HotUKDeals’ list of “kids-eat-free” and cheap eating offers across the country. You’ll find it here
Tip of the week
Plan your spending before you go to ensure you don’t go over budget on holiday. It’ll ensure you don’t come home to a big bill.
If you can afford £500 spending money for a week, for instance, that means you have around £70 a day to spend. Keep to your budget to avoid money misery.
It’s also essential to resist the temptation to splash out on credit cards while you’re away. Not only will you have the pain of having to pay for your holiday fun long after you’ve got home, you’ll also be hit by extra charges and high currency fees.
