AFTER several months of sun deprivation, Britons went summer-crazy last weekend. Barbeque sales soared by 185 per cent at Asda as millions of people decamped to gardens, parks and beaches to enjoy temperatures above 25C (75F).
But a few days of good weather at home is unlikely to dampen our enthusiasm for holidays abroad. The travel industry expects us to make more than 70 million overseas trips by the end of this year.
If you are one of the millions of holidaymakers jetting off this summer, the internet should be your first port of call to prepare for your holiday.
By purchasing travel insurance online you could make big savings. You can use several websites to compare prices. For example, www.insuresupermarket.com compares more than 450 policies.
Using this website, the best single-trip quote for a family of four going to Spain for a week in June was £11.60. The quote was from Flexi Cover Direct, but the policy did not insure against lost or stolen baggage. The same policy with baggage cover of £2,000 cost £15.40.
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Although price comparison websites are a good place to start your search, they do not include quotes from all insurance providers. One company that is not listed is www.insureandgo.com. This website allows customers to increase their excess or strip out all but the bare essentials to get rock-bottom quotes. If a family of four were prepared to go to Spain for a week with no delayed baggage or personal property cover, and with an excess of £250, a policy would cost just £8.54.
Although discounted cover looks attractive, a record of good customer service could prove more important than price should the worst happen. If you regularly travel abroad, it could also be worth buying an annual multi-trip policy. For more advice on insurance, visit timesonline.co.uk/insure.
Holidaymakers planning to use their mobile phones abroad should be aware of network operators’ roaming charges: it can cost up to £1.80 a minute to receive calls while away and £2 a minute to make them.
However, an increasing number of websites sell global or country-specific pay-as-you-go Sim cards that offer substantially cheaper calls. The website www.0044.co.uk sells a Spanish Sim card pack for £29.99, including €30 (£20.49) of pre-paid credit. Although it means using a different mobile number while away, calls to the UK with this Sim card cost from 25p a minute and calls received are free.
The website maxsim.co.uk sells a global pay-as-you-go Sim card. It is usable in 115 countries and can be charged with credit online.
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To use these Sim cards your mobile phone must be unlocked. Before you splash out, contact your network to find out whether it has any packages available for cheaper foreign calls.