Travel insurance
Book a holiday or a flight in a travel agent or on the web and you will almost certainly come under great pressure to buy travel insurance. Today every financial company of any size - from banks to car insurers - will try to flog you a policy, and most people would be amazed at how much prices vary.
As a general rule of thumb, you should never buy a policy from a travel agent. When we tried to book a one-week holiday to Rhodes (headline price £109 each) for a family of four, we were quoted a total of £104 for Thomson's Silver insurance. A Gold policy would have cost £120. That same cover would cost around £21 had our family gone online and bought their cover from an independent firm.
It's a similar story from the banks. Each one will try to get you to buy one of its annual travel insurance policies - they often cost upwards of £100 - and again, most people will be better off elsewhere.
Travelinsuranceweb.com tops both tables but for some reason refuses to insure anyone over the age of 50 - which knocks out a large proportion of the population.
Backpackers' favourite Columbus Direct was second cheapest but check its terms and conditions. It was highlighted recently in Jobs & Money for failing to pay out in full to a victim of the Tsunami.
Insurefor.com is a fraction (52p) more expensive than the cheapest firm, but it will cover anyone up to aged 65 on its standard tariff.
More significantly, it is also the best company for those looking for a family policy - either annual or single - on the basis that its offers to include up to four dependent children (up to aged 18) for the same price.
Insurefor.com offer two levels of cover and both appear to cover all the bases - only those travelling to North America would need to pay for the higher level of cover.
It also offers the flexibility to allow you to buy cover for as many days as you are away - rather than by the week. It has specialist golf and ski packages, and its policies are underwritten by AIG Europe.
If you are older than 65, the Post Office this week said it is committed to providing single trip cover for all travellers regardless of age - although to buy one of its annual policies you have to be aged 68 or below. Last week Saga launched annual travel policies that, along with its single trip insurance, don't set a maximum age limit.
Breakdown recovery
European breakdown cover is one area in which it really pays to shop around. This week we rang all the big name providers and asked them to cover our seven-year-old car to spend eight days in mainland Europe in June.
By the far the cheapest for those who already have a UK-only policy was Auto Aid (01277 235500). It wanted just £22 to cover our trip and was a third of the cost of the most expensive - the RAC - which quoted the highest price at £63.70.
Europ Assistance was the second cheapest at £36.83 - closely followed by the AA (£41.50) and Green Flag (£42.27). The RAC said it was loading the premium by 30% because of the age of our car - owners of younger cars will pay less.
If you haven't got any UK cover and need to book home and European cover, one company stands out. Quoteline Direct (quotelinedirect.co.uk) in conjunction with Europ Assistance, offers UK and European Cover (max 60 days abroad) for £59 - which makes it a best buy for those regularly motoring abroad, but who also need UK cover.
Ferries
Crossing the Channel to mainland Europe has never been cheaper partly due to the rise of the low cost airlines, but more as a result of a price war that has broken out among operators. In general, the real bargains are to be had on the Dover/Calais route where competition is greatest.
Low-cost carrier SpeedFerries.com upset the market when it launched a year ago with return fares of £50 per car, and P&O and Hoverspeed, and even Brittany Ferries (on services to Normandy) have all had to drop prices as a result. One company that deserves a special mention is Norfolk Line - it is still offering crossings for under £100 in August - £2 less than SpeedFerries, and with better times.
This week Eurotunnel announced it is changing its pricing structure and has launched a £49 each way service for those happy to go off-peak. Claustrophobics aside, it's the best way of crossing as there is little hanging about, and you drive straight out onto the motorway at each end.
Like the low cost airlines, those able to book in advance will pay the least for ferries. However, there are still lots of return crossings available during the school summer holidays for £100 for those who can be flexible on times.
Photos
Most people now own digital cameras, but getting holiday snaps printed in a shop can be time-consuming and expensive. For example, if you use an Instant Photo Kiosk in a Boots store, it costs 29p per print. You could print your photos using your PC and photo paper, but the results are rarely as good as professionally-printed photos.
However, there is now another option: you can order prints from a number of websites. Simply upload your digital photos to the website (a broadband internet connection helps). You can work on the photos before printing and can order anything from 6in. x 4in. prints to posters, or mugs and T-shirts.
A popular website is Snapfish.co.uk (owned by HP). If you are willing to prepay, you can get 6x 4prints for as little as 8p each; if you prefer to pay as you go, it rises to 10p. Snapfish offers a very fast service and charges a fixed postage rate of 99p. By comparison, Boots.com charges 19p per 6x 4print, if you order more than five, and Jessopsphotoexpress.com charges 25p.
Foreign exchange
Referendum votes in France and Holland have played into the hands of British holidaymakers. A once strong euro has declined from €1.44 to the pound before the No votes to €1.49 at the end of this week and looks like it will fall further as the school summer holidays get nearer.
Not that foreign exchange outfits will offer the headline rates the banks charge each other. As you can see from the table, operators buy sterling at a much lower rate than the inter-bank rate.
Most of them make their money from selling foreign currency on the spread between the buy and sell rates on offer. The wider the gap the more money the bank makes.
Until recently fees and commissions were also standard. Now only HSBC and NatWest in our table have chosen to keep commission charges.
But a commission free-deal doesn't mean you are not being charged. Consumers should look at the whole package. Many firms are cutting the exchange rate they offer to claw back some of the profit lost on ditching commissions. Holidaymakers need only look at travel agent Thomas Cook to see how low-commission deals can mask poor exchange rates.
In the case of Thomas Cook there is an improvement when buying online. It offered a better rate at €1.424 with a "price beat guarantee" that will beat any online deal. Nationwide, charges £3.50 online to cover delivery of the cash.
Jobs & Money found Travelex bureau de change outlets to be the cheapest in the survey, with customers €19 better off than going to a Thomas Cook branch. Travelex customers also have the opportunity to place a currency order at travelex.co.uk, where they can fix the rate before picking up the money when they fly.
Marks & Spencer consolidates its position, along with travel agent Thomson, as a reliable source of cheap foreign money. This summer it will open scores of new bureaux in its branches.
Credit cards abroad
Withdrawing cash at ATMs abroad is rapidly overtaking cumbersome old travellers' cheques as the preferred way to access money abroad. But watch out for hidden charges.
A recent Jobs & Money survey found that tourists can lose up to £5.50 for every £100 in euros withdrawn from a cash machine abroad.
We asked the major banks how much it would cost to take out €200 from a cash machine, using a debit card.
Nationwide was unique in not charging customers, while Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest levied charges equal to 5.5% of the amount withdrawn. At its Ulster Bank subsidiary, charges for customers taking out smaller amounts are even higher.
This means that a family which withdraws €1,000 during a two-week holiday in Spain this summer will pay £37.70 more if they are NatWest customers rather than banking with Nationwide.
Nationwide says: "Virtually all other card providers charge a fee of 2.75% when you use your credit or debit card abroad. The reality is there is only a very minimal cost when consumers use their cards abroad. Nationwide absorbs these costs, whereas banks use it as an opportunity to over-charge customers".
For bigger purchases, most holidaymakers use a credit rather than debit card, which may give you an extra layer of protection.
Most credit card providers charge a 2.75% fee for overseas use, called the "exchange rate loading" or "foreign transaction fee", which is incorporated into the currency rate recorded on the credit card statement.
However, it is possible to skip these charges; Nationwide and Lombard Direct charge nothing, while Liverpool Victoria and Saga, are free in the European Union and 1% outside. Nationwide also pays cashback on purchases.
Be cautious about using your credit card in a cash machine. Apart from the 2.75% exchange rate loading, there's an additional cash handling fee of 1.5%.
