Overseas card and phone charges make UK tourists see red

Hidden charges for using credit and debit cards or mobile phones abroad top the list of holiday grumbles in a survey commissioned by Post Office Travel Services to find out which aspects of travel overseas make UK tourists see red.

As the UK credit crunch continues to bite, the Post Office research revealed that six out of 10 top holiday irritations relate to perceived rip-offs. These include the cost of exchanging money abroad, the pressure to leave tips, even when service is poor, and the feeling that tourists get charged special high rates.

To add insult to injury, the Post Office also found that hard-pressed families will have to dig much deeper in their pockets this summer just to stand still and fund the same basic holiday necessities as they did a year ago.

The UK's largest foreign currency provider looked at average spends on currencies for European destinations and found that holidaymakers would need to spend nearly £43 more to get the same amount of euros as they did in 2007 - £273 instead of £230. Similarly they would need to pay £32 more to maintain the average 2007 currency purchase of £170 for Croatian kuna and £18 more to get the same number of Turkish lira (£217).

The Post Office also calculated how much extra eating and drinking out in restaurants and cafes might cost a family of four on a one week holiday in Spain, Greece, France, Croatia and Turkey, using research from its Holiday Costs Barometer.

Meals and drinks could add up to as much as £551 in Greece - costing families nearly £90 more than a year ago for the same items. The increase was almost as great in Spain, France and Croatia. The lowest increase (£44.15) was in Turkey, which is generally regarded as offering good value and which has seen a 28 per cent year on year rise in Post Office currency sales for Turkish lira.

But there are ways to beat the holiday credit crunch, according to the Post Office. It says that families can claw back most, if not all, of the additional cash needed to pay for holiday essentials by avoiding spending on the very things that topped its holiday irritations survey.

Helen Warburton, Post Office head of travel said: "Our research showed that UK tourists are particularly irritated by the high charges for using mobile phones abroad and for using credit and debit cards to get cash abroad or make purchases. However, we estimate that a family of four could claw back nearly £76 by cutting out these costs in euro destinations - and this was based on moderate phone use. In Turkey, where mobile phone calls cost more, the same usage would cost more than £145."

"Keep the phone for emergencies, turn the answer machine facility off to avoid expensive incoming calls and get holiday cash in advance, without paying commission or incurring high ATM charges. Instead, plan ahead and take a pre-paid card, like the Post Office Travel Money Card, which can be loaded with money in advance and used to control spending. Not only will it cost less than credit and most debit cards, but it can be used in shops, restaurants and bars as well as at ATMs."

"If you do want to use a credit card, make sure that it is one that offers 0 per cent commission, like the Post Office Credit Card, as most cards charge a minimum of 2.75 per cent for every transaction."

For more information, visit postoffice.co.uk