Other ways to save while you’re out having fun

PAY IN THE LOCAL CURRENCY

When you use a cashpoint machine or make a card payment abroad, you are often asked if you would like to pay in pounds or in the local currency. The latter is always cheaper.

Pay in pounds and you are beholden to the exchange rate offered by the retailer or bank – which is unlikely to be better than the one used by your own bank.

KEEP A LID ON DATA COSTS

Millions of British holidaymakers will once again have to pay roaming charges to use their smartphone in Europe this year.

Phone operators have been permitted to charge for roaming since we left the European Union and have gradually been reintroducing fees.

EE, Vodafone and Three have introduced them for some custom

ers, although O2 and Virgin Mobile have said they have no plans to do so this year.

CHECK YOUR PHONE OPERATOR’S RULES

To keep costs down, connect to free wi-fi while travelling rather than using phone data.

If you do use data, you may be able to save costs by buying a data bundle from your provider in advance, rather than paying the daily roaming charge. You can also keep data costs down by downloading films, ebooks and podcasts on your home wi-fi before you travel.

You can download maps using a function on Google Maps, which you can access even when offline.

SAVE ON CURRENCY EXCHANGE

Whatever you do, don’t wait until the airport to change money – the rates represent poor value for money. Instead, shop around and buy in advance.

If you prefer to pay by card, consider a debit or credit card with no foreign exchange fees.

Among the best credit cards for overseas travel are Halifax Clarity and Barclaycard Rewards Visa.

They do not levy exchange fees for overseas spending or cashpoint withdrawals.