Spain or Turkey best for last minute bargains

Spain and Turkey have been voted the best value destinations for last minute summer holidays, according to a new Sunshine Price Index from Teletext Holidays.

The index, which has been designed to help people manage their holiday budget and will be updated on a daily basis, is online at teletextholidays.co.uk/sunshinepriceindex and on television on Freeview channel 101.

The index makes Teletext Holidays the first company to monitor not only the typical cost of the holiday itself, but also the cost of holidaymakers’ daily living, giving a complete picture for the first time of the overall cost of a break away, helping sun seekers keep a check on their holiday budget.

Holiday spending is becoming a big issue for those going abroad. Teletext Holidays has already seen significant growth in all-inclusive searches, as people look to limit the extras they will have to fork out for once they get to their destination. Some 42 per cent of searches in June were for all-inclusive trips, up from 33 per cent in June 2008.

The basket of items used to gauge the cost of day-to-day spending includes items like a meal out, cup of coffee, a newspaper, postcard and ice cream, and current exchange rates are applied to show the real cost of the holiday.

Turkey tops the index for value this summer – even ahead of British holidays. The typical cost of a three star half-board late deal in Turkey is £237 per person and an all-inclusive break is £282 per person. The daily cost basket comes in at £61.25, second only to Bulgaria on the index.

The cost of living in Bulgaria is the lowest on the index at just £40.88 per day but the typical cost of a three star half-board holiday £395 per person.

Despite the euro strengthening against the pound this year, Spain is still great value. The typical price of a three-star half-board holiday in mainland Spain is £268 per person and all-inclusive just £286 per person. At £64.82 per day the cost of living is also one of the cheapest in the Eurozone.

Although holidays in Britain can cost less than visiting any of the sunshine hot spots - at a typical cost of a £147 per person for a week self-catering in a holiday park and £98 per person for a week based on four people sharing a country cottage - the daily cost basket is one of the highest at £71.33.

The top 10 best value destinations are Turkey, Spain, Bulgaria, Greece, Egypt, Portugal, the Canary Islands, Cyprus, Malta and Italy according to Teletext Holidays’ research.

Alison Steed, an independent money expert, who helped to compile the index, said:

“The recession and uncertainty in the job market means people are leaving it later than ever this year to book a holiday. Many are waiting to see how low holiday prices will go. The new index tracks thousands of late holiday deals from different travel companies and is a great ‘at-a-glance’ indicator to where the best deals are.

“It’s easy for people to assume that it’s cheaper to stay in the UK or that they should avoid the Eurozone because the weakness of the pound makes it expensive, but that is not necessarily true.

“Everyone should look carefully at the board basis for a holiday to see which meals and drinks are included. There has been a sharp increase in the number of people booking all-inclusive holidays this summer so they can eat and drink as much as they like without worrying about getting a big bill at the end. That also negates the impact of an unfavourable exchange rate as there isn’t so much to buy when you get there.”

Victoria Sanders, Teletext Holidays managing director said: “Customers are leaving it later than ever this year to book their summer holiday, so we expect prices to fluctuate on a daily basis. Holiday companies still have a lot to sell so we could see prices go much lower as the summer progresses.”

A team of travel experts at Teletext Holidays will be updating the index on a daily basis throughout the summer to show the latest prices. They will be checking thousands of different holiday companies to come up with a typical price for a seven night, three-star half-board holiday, plus a four star all-inclusive break in overseas destinations, and a seven night UK holiday park and cottage break on a self-catering basis.

How to save even more on your break away - Alison Steed’s money saving holiday tips:

Get the cheapest package available for using your mobile abroad.
If you intend to use your phone abroad, you may be able to save money by adding a bundle which will give you a set amount of calls for the time you are away, which will be charged at a lower rate than your normal overseas tariff. The cost of texting from Europe has now been capped at 10p, and to download one megabyte of information will cost no more than 92p if you are paying standard mobile call rates.

Travel insurance
Buying travel insurance from your travel agent is usually much more expensive than buying a policy from an insurer directly - and if you go abroad more than a couple of times a year, then you might find you get better value from an annual policy, which can cover you and your family for more than one trip abroad. But beware, claims relating to drinking or drug use, unless they are prescribed by a doctor, will usually be refused.

Prepaid cards
These are cards you can load a set amount of money onto before you leave, in the currency of the country you are going to, say euros. You can then use the card to pay bills and withdraw cash if you need to while you are away.

Some cards, such as the Caxton Euro or Caxton Dollar cards have no monthly fee, no application fee, and no charges at UK or international ATMs. If you have a card that charges you for withdrawals from an ATM, make sure you are reducing your relative charge by making larger withdrawals, and fewer of them. But do not use this to secure your hotel room, as that will mean you will effectively prevent yourself from being able to use the money on the card for anything else.

Credit cards
If you want to use a credit card abroad, then the Santander Zero card and Post Office Platinum card do not charge you a foreign exchange fee. Nationwide’s credit cards used to be free of foreign usage charges, but now it costs you 0.84 per cent to use your card outside of Europe. Beware of foreign ATM withdrawal fees being added on though, as this can really mount up if you make small, frequent withdrawals abroad.

Currency exchange
Some companies offer you 0 per cent commission on your currency exchange. But this is meaningless if you are getting a worse exchange rate than you could get elsewhere. Avoid getting currency at the airport or on the ferry if you can, you will usually get less for your money. Some of the best deals are online, so it is best if you can plan ahead.

Check out the local supermarkets
By making sure you seek out the local supermarkets, rather than buying from the tourist traps near the beach or the apartment complexes, you can make any money that you have with you for your break away go even further.

Alison Steed is editor of the personal finance website MyMoneyDiva.com.