How to make your holiday go without a hitch
PANIC over renewing your passport, costly travel cover and currency deals, penalties for going over your baggage limit...going on holiday can feel more of a trial than a treat – unless you plan ahead. Even if summer seems a long way off, it pays to prepare now. The Mail on Sunday guides you through the must-do list.
CHECK THE PASSPORT
MANY families’ holiday plans were thrown into chaos last summer due to a backlog of half a million passport applications that took months to sort out.
HM Passport Office raked in £42 million profit between April and October wading through this mess – as many travellers were panicked into paying for expensive fast-track passport renewal services.
The standard passport renewal service costs £72.50 and should take no longer than three weeks. But even a minor mistake or tick box missed on the application form can lead to it being returned – resulting in you starting the whole process again.
Ben Stack, a spokesman for the Passport Office, says: ‘It takes longer to process if your application form is not filled out correctly so consider paying an extra £9.75 – making a total price of £82.25 – for the Post Office’s passport Check & Send service to make sure it is properly completed.’
The Check & Send service is offered at selected post offices. Your nearest branch can be found using the Post Office website’s ‘Branch Finder’ option.
Staff then check that documents have been filled in correctly before sending them to the Passport Office. The service is faster than posting your own application form and should take about a fortnight.
For destinations such as India and Brazil you also need to have at least six months left on your passport when travelling – even if you plan to return well before it expires.
Each country has different rules, and there may also be a requirement to pay to have a visa stamped in your passport before travelling.
Country specific requirements can be found at the Gov.uk website.
While the standard three-week passport renewal service is £72.50 for those aged 16 or over, a child’s passport costs £46. Anyone who was born before September 1929 – those aged at least 85 – can renew their passport for free.
Travellers in a rush can fork out £128 for a ‘premium’ service delivering a passport renewal within four hours of an application being accepted, but this is not available for children. You must turn up in person at a Passport Customer Service Centre to collect it, in London, Liverpool, Peterborough, Glasgow, Newport, Belfast or Durham. For details call the Passport Adviceline on 0300 222 0000.
Those in less of a hurry might prefer a Fast Track service where a passport is delivered to a home address within a week of an application being accepted. The cost for a basic adult renewal is £103 while for a child the fee is £87.
Being out of date is not the only reason for a passport renewal. If it is badly damaged, perhaps taken for a spin in a washing machine, you could be turned away at the departure gate. Check with the Passport Adviceline before taking any risks. Passports need to be renewed at least every ten years.
Adults who have never had a British passport must attend a 30-minute interview as part of the application. It does not cost anything but means you must allow at least six weeks from the time of the application until a passport may be provided.
For details of renewing a passport tap in the word ‘passport’ on the website link at Gov.uk. Never use a socalled ‘copycat’ option where third party companies charge you extra for the same service.
ORGANISE TRAVEL MONEY
HOLIDAYMAKERS should take some foreign currency with them when going on holiday – and buying before leaving home should save you money.
A last minute deal at the airport can mean you pay more than 5 per cent more for money than if you had exchanged on the high street. But even a bureau de change kiosk is unlikely to offer the most competitive rates. Online traders without the overheads of a kiosk should offer the best deals.
Websites such as TravelMoneyMax – owned by consumer website Money-SavingExpert – provide a comparison of different rates offered from companies trading foreign currency. These businesses in turn will post money directly to your home, allow you to pick up locally or sometimes at an airport. When on holiday it is usually a good idea not to use your usual credit or debit cards when withdrawing cash at a foreign hole-in-the-wall. You not only get hit with a standard charge of between £1.50 and £5 but a ‘foreign exchange fee’ of as much as 3 per cent of the amount of money you are taking out.
Fortunately, there are exceptions. These include Halifax Clarity MasterCard that levies no fee for cash withdrawals at a foreign cash machine. The card charges 12.9 per cent interest until it is paid off.
Pre-paid cards are the modern answer to travellers’ cheques. They allow you to load currency on to a card that is then used just like a debit or credit card. Among the foreign currency card providers is CaxtonFX, which offers a pre-paid Visa or Mas-
terCard. It should cost nothing to take money out of a cash machine or buy goods abroad – although some country’s banks make their own cash withdrawal charge – but there is a minimum load of £100 on the card. Other providers to consider include Ukash, FairFX, ICE and Travelex.
Julie Jeffrys, 44, always holidays abroad armed with a pre-paid card from CaxtonFX which she then uses on shopping trips with daughters Abbie, 16, and Emma, 13.
Julie says: ‘It is not just about convenience – I like to check out exchange rates well in advance and when they look favourable I load the card there and then.’
As with other pre-paid cards money can be added on the card when abroad by instructing your bank.
GET THE BEST INSURANCE
TRAVEL insurance is an essential part of holiday planning, but you must ensure you get the right cover and do not pay over the odds.
Look for a comprehensive insurance policy that covers everything from medical costs if you fall ill or are injured abroad, through to being forced to cancel a trip.
If holidaying in Europe remember to take out a free European Health Insurance Card. This does not offer the same level of cover as full insur- ance but should entitle you to free emergency medical treatment in a European country.
It is not as generous as receiving treatment from the National Health Service as you may still have to pay for some medical costs out of your own pocket, but you should not be charged more than locals pay.
You can apply for a European Health Insurance Card by contacting the NHS Business Services Authority. You can get an application form sent to you by calling the authority on 0300 330 1350 or by using website link nhs.uk/ehic.
Rather than simply signing up to your regular travel insurer you should use comparison websites such as Gocompare, comparethe- market and TravelSupermarket to see if you can get a better deal. But do not compare on cost alone. For example, a cheap policy may only offer £500 of cancellation cover if you are forced to cancel a holiday due to sickness or illness, even if the trip cost £3,000.
Those who expect to holiday at least twice a year may find it cheaper to buy an annual travel policy rather than cover for each trip. Families should also be able to get a discount by signing up as a group.
Pets can be covered, too. Susanne Nilsson, 55, and husband Ben, 59, from Abergavenny in Monmouthshire, used Gocompare to find cover for their papillon dog Rocki when travelling by boat to Denmark last year.
Susanne says: ‘Rocki once had an upset stomach when we were abroad and the vet’s bill came to £160. We have now taken out pet cover with insurer Animal Friends. We pay £10 a month for a policy that includes cover for a maximum £500 of medical treatment when overseas.’
The couple have travel insurance through a packaged bank account benefit with Barclays Premier Account – Premier Travel Plus Pack costing £11.50 a month. Packaged bank accounts can offer great value extras such as travel insurance. For example, Nationwide FlexAccount covers travellers in Europe aged up to 75 who pay at least £750 a month into their account. You can extend this to cover the whole family worldwide for £40 a year.
Holidaymakers planning adventurous activities such as skiing or water sports need to make sure their insurance covers this. Some providers demand an additional premium.
Older travellers and those with medical conditions are shunned by most insurers. Comparison website Medical Travel Compared trawls the market for cover.
The British Insurance Brokers’ Association can find you a local insurance broker. Call 0870 950 1790 or visit website biba.org.uk.