The little lifesaver is a free passport sized printable personalised travel tips guide to store key details. It's packed with key holiday info, including which plastic is cheapest to use and your flight cancellation rights.
Just print it and keep it in a safe place, to refer to if needed (we hope you won't) and do check the special list of the crucial things to know before you go after printing out the guide.
Keep your personal 'Little Lifesaver'
print out in a safe place, in case you need it. .
Crucial things to know before you go
Whether it's knowing your rights or getting the cheapest deals, there are a range of facts that are crucial to know before you book or travel.
Ask for a complaint form while on holiday
If there's trouble while you're in foreign climes, always ask for a complaint form there and then. If not, you may lose compensation rights, because rules say you must give them a chance to get it sorted at the time.
If your accommodation's grotty, photograph and video it and get quotes from other disappointed holiday-makers. Note down who, what, where, when, why and how things went wrong and keep receipts for any extra spends.
When you get back contact your holiday company and clearly say what you want, be it a refund, compensation or just an apology. Travel trouble is the one bit of consumer protection where you've an extra right to claim for losing enjoyment.
If the tour operator won't play ball, check if it's a member of a trade associations such as The Association of British Travel Agents, The Association of Independent Tour Operators, or The Federation of Tour Operators, as they may be able to intervene. If your problem is with a flight see the Flight Delays guide.
One small note to add to the printout is that the flight delay compensation is currently on hold due to a European court case. Yet this could be decided at any time so if you're delayed submit a claim anyway.
Package holidays can be cheaper than DIY
Don't automatically plump for booking your own flight and hotel on the internet. If you're going away specifically for 7,10 or 14 days to a traditional holiday destination then a package holiday booked correctly will often undercut getting a DIY internet break with separate hotel and flight - plus you get more consumer rights.
Never just book a package - always haggle.
It's possible to haggle even already cheap package holiday late deals by a further 15%. One MoneySaver who "had no idea this'd work" reports £600 off a Crete holiday, just by calling three travel agents. Always try and beat the price - see the full cheap package holidays guide for step-by-step info
It ain't where you stay it's how you book it
Do it right, and you can end up in the same room for half the price. Many hotels use variant pricing, so book them on different websites and the difference can be enormous.
Plus some popular chains sell off spare capacity via 'secret room sales' but there are ways to uncover what the hotel actually is. See the cheap hotel guide for a step-by-step guide and check the hot hotel sales guide for current deals.
Not all flight comparison sites are the same
Don't be fooled into thinking all cheap flight sites are the same. There are three main types:
Screenscrapers: These are best if you know exactly when and where you want to go; top ones include Skyscanner*, Travelsupermarket* and Kayak*.
FlightCheckers: This is for people with flexibility and finds when it's cheapest to travel across a wide date range, eg, "I want to go to Venice for under £10". For more info, see the FlightChecker.
Charter Flight Comparisons: Sometimes package holidays sell off spare capacity on their planes at cheap rates. Use Flights Direct*, Avro* and Travelsupermarket* to search them.
Full details of how to get them even cheaper, plus info on how to nab free flights, are in the cheap and free flights guide.
Annual travel insurance wins for 2+ trips
Travel agents often make more money selling insurance than holidays. If you already know this, it's likely you have an annual travel policy, yet you may still be paying over the odds.
Annual travel insurance tends to be best if you make three trips in a year (or two if one's the USA) otherwise cheap single trip policies win.
For all the options and a comparison of over 50 providers, for singles, families and the over 65s read the full guide to the cheapest travel insurance.
Halve the cost of car hire by booking ahead
Rent a car abroad from big names and it can cost more than the holiday; yet book the right way and you can often get an identical car and conditions for half the price. For example, for Marbella in Spain it can be cheaper to hire a car for a week than get a return taxi from the airport - see the full step-by-step cheap car hire guide.
EHIC's are only valid if with you
The free European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) replaced the E111 form in 2005 and it entitles the holder to free or discounted medical treatment in state run hospitals in any EU country plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.
If you're travelling to Europe, ensure you've got a valid one as it means you're treated like a citizen of that country, which is extremely useful in emergencies. Yet it's only valid if you've actually got it with you when you get in the hospital; full info in the Free EHIC guide.
Some cards are cheaper than others when abroad
Provided they're cleared in full at the end of the month to minimise interest costs, credit cards are often cheaper than debit cards when spending overseas.
Both types of card usually add a fee to your exchange rate, and a fee for taking out cash, but many debit cards also add a fee each time you spend.
The very cheapest way to spend abroad is to get a specialist credit card for overseas spending. The best ones are listed in the cheap travel money guide; they can save you £100s as you get a much better exchange rate. Alternatively if you want foreign cash use the Travel Money Maximiser Holiday cash comparison tool.
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LINKS THAT HELP THIS SITE (all have a * in above article)
(this has no impact on product or pick - see explanation below)
Avro , Flights Direct , Kayak , Skyscanner , Travelsupermarket
Explanation (of * links)
How this site is funded. Two types of contacts are listed. The first, which all have a * within the main body of the articles, help MoneySavingExpert.com stay free to use, as they're 'affiliated links' which invisibly take you usually via affiliate linkage or commercial money sites, which then pay this site. It's worth noting this means the third party used may be named on any credit agreements. The second type doesn't help and therefore doesn't have a *.You shouldn't notice any difference, the links don't impact the product at all and the editorial line (the things we write) is NEVER impacted by the revenue - we aim to look at all available products. If it isn't possible to get an affiliate link for the best product, it is still included in exactly the same way. For more details read how this site is financed.
LINKS THAT DON'T HELP THIS SITE
(please only use if necessary)
No * Link Available: Association of British Travel Agents , Association of Independent Tour Operators , Federation of Tour Operators , Flights direct
Duplicate links of the * links above for the sake of transparency, but this version doesn't help MoneySavingExpert.com:
Avro , Flights Direct , Kayak , Skyscanner , Travelsupermarket
