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13th February 2008
© VillaServers.co.uk
Last week, the Bank of England cut interest
rates by a quarter of a percentage point to 5.25 percent, which is the
second cut in three months, in an attempted to resolve Britain's
slowing economy.
More bank interest rate cuts are expected before Easter.
Whether this rate cut was the prime cause or not, the value of the
£sterling is falling against most other countries except the US
Dollar.
The falling value of the £ is not good news for the
British family trying to balance the household budget and afford a
2008 Summer.
Additionally rising oil prices and the increasing cost of importing petroleum products, caused by the falling
value of the £, is likely to cause an increase in the cost of air
travel.
At the present time the short-haul low-fare operators (such as RyanAir
and EasyJet) have not announced fuel surcharges but the long-haul
airlines (BA and Virgin) most certainly have.
In a recent article
The £500 Million Hidden Holiday Cost" at Daily Mail ThisMoney.co.uk it was
stated that Banks are increasing the cost of credit card
overseas usage.
Travellers face higher charges on everything from buying a meal in a
restaurant to hiring a car or paying a hotel bill.
As much as 6% is going to the banks and every time a card is used to make a purchase or withdraw cash
overseas, at least one and sometimes two fees are added.
These extra
charges alone could cost a family of four more than £40 over a two-week
holiday.
The holiday traveller is also facing the
risk of
online fraud and liquidity.
ARTICLE: Holiday prices set to increase as credit fraud soars.
TravelWeekly.co.uk The article states that holiday prices are expected
to rise due to a sharp increase in online fraud, which will oblige
credit card companies to adopt protective measures and obviously pass
on the cost!
It was stated that fraud overall had increased by just 5% whereas
telephone and mail order fraud for travel services have increased by
45%.
The new chip-and-pin technology has done a lot to eliminate
face-to-face operations but obviously cannot be utilised where card
details are provided online or over the telephone.
Holiday travellers must either adapt their booking and payment
methods or pay more.
It would appear that holiday costs must certainly rise for the 2008
Season and there is not much that can be done about the reduced value
of the holiday spending budget except to be on the lookout for cheaper
places to shop and eat out.
As far as the other holiday elements are concerned there are same very
valid and simple ways to reduce holiday costs, fraud and liquidity
risks.
I cannot claim to be a holiday travel expert, although lots of this
advice applies to most holiday travel elements, but I will hold my
hand up to all advice given relating to self-catering holidays.
ABTA and ATOL: Obviously nothing can go wrong if you book a
holiday through an ABTA travel agency or ATOL-bonded company. A
face-to-face transaction using chip and pin is almost totally secure
but, if you book online, you must check them out.
For example: A dodgy outfit in (say) Zimbabwe could easily register a
.com or .co.uk website name, start selling wonderful holidays, provide
a UK address and phone number, quote an invalid ATOL-bond and take credit card details
on the telephone.
When they disappear with your money, there is not much point in
complaining to Robert M. about it.
If you think that this is a bit far-fetched, be assured that things
like this are happening all the time.
Long Haul vs Short Haul: With the falling cost of air
travel, faraway holiday venues have enjoyed recent popularity.
However, with falling holiday budgets and ever increasing fuel
surcharges they have to lose ground.
This really only leaves European locations: France, Italy, Bulgaria,
Portugal, Spain etc. - and there is nowhere better in Spain
than ..... (Sorry - this is not supposed to be an advertising
feature!).
Self-Catering Packages: If you are going on holiday as a
family unit this could be your choice.
These days many UK bonded tour operators offer self-catering holidays
such as
Thomson Holidays,
My Travel and
First Choice
There are also villa specialist, such as
Villa World
who will put together the whole holiday package, with flights and
hire-car or just rent you the villa.
Alternatively all foreign resorts have local rental agencies such as
VillaServers in Costa Blanca.
These self-catering holiday options are all valid as long as the
Cost and Security Aspects are observed.
DIY Self Catering: With so many Brits (and other Europeans)
owning second homes there is a huge choice of self-catering property
to be rented directly.
Also here the
Cost and Security Aspects have to be noted but, although
renting directly with the owner could be the cheapest option of all,
there could be a big "IF".
Most properties for direct renting are fine and the owners do there
best to maintain them.
Nevertheless, the people who maintain and service them are not
professionals and neither are the owners. Additionally they only
have one property.
It is foolish to assume that nothing ever goes wrong with a
building and, although in most cases things can be put right quickly,
your holiday enjoyment could be marred by delays in getting things
done.
Suppose there is a serious breakdown, such as a burst boiler or green
pool, and you have to be relocated immediately - this often cannot be
done because the owner only has one property.
Another common problem is that owners are often over-zealous when
describing their villa or apartment and tend to overlook negative
features.
Often this causes only a minor inconvenience but sometimes it could be a
disaster.
If your holiday is marred due to the owner's negligence or
misrepresentation you can always sue them in the Small Claims Court
but a tour operator can never afford to allow this to happen and it is
even more serious for a local rental agency.
You can complain, then and there, to the Local Tourist Office - who
would send an inspector within hours!
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Avoid extra costs caused by the falling value
of the £ and credit card charges.
Pay as much as you can in £'s and as little
by credit card (especially in foreign currency). If you book a
package with a UK tour operator or holiday company this only
applies to holiday spending money.
Remember that, apart from the lower exchange rate, the credit card
company may charge an exchange commission as well.
Flights would be purchased from
EasyJet, RyanAir, Monarch etc. and they charge you in £'s - so
that's fine.
Don't use cash machines abroad -
This could invite the cash charge, la poor exchange rate and/or an
exchange commission!
Buy foreign currency or travellers
cheques from your bank or take sterling cash and change it
in the resort.
Always check the exchange rate with
ft.com - The rate shown here is the "spot" for non-currency
transactions. You will pay a 1.5% to 2.5% more for banknotes.
Hire-cars abroad can be booked from
within the UK but the rates are normally expensive.
Some resort hire-car companies allow you to pay on collection in
cash.
This Inexpensive Costa Blanca Car-Hire Company will do
this except that they would want a small card transaction for
security - possibly the full tank of fuel?
Holiday Accommodation can be paid
directly to the owner or holiday company in UK.
If you book with a local rental agency they would require a
deposit by credit card but may accept the balance in cash.
VillaServers the Costa Blanca Villa
Holiday Specialists have the
perfect solution -
-
Most properties are owned by Brits and
paid in £sterling - so prices for 2008 have not gone up at all.
-
The booking deposit is only £25 per
person and even this is waived for regular clients.
-
After that everything, including
car-hire, can be paid by bank transfer to their UK bank in
£sterling.
-
They will even search out your cheap
flight and provide a
Cheap Flight Finder for Costa
Blanca, in case
you want to do it yourself.
Sorry about the advertising - I promised
above that I wouldn't!
But, now that I have started -
see why the Costa Blanca is the 2008 self-catering holiday hotspot
Avoid Security and Liquidity Risks
Security: I have suggested
above that you carry cash in order to avoid excessive charges and
I now have to advise you to take great care with it -
Always be aware! Remember that
there are pickpockets and bag-snatchers everywhere!
Don't keep all your cash in the
same place.
Don't keep it in a handbag -
zipped pockets are best or get a money-belt!
Find out if there is a safe at the
accommodation or if the agency are prepared to store money and
valuables.
If you go out, take your cash with
you if there is no safe.
Keep the front door locked, even
whilst you are at home.
Fraud: If you pay for anything online
take care who you give credit card details to.
If you don't know them or have any doubts then don't do it.
If they have a UK address and an 0871 telephone number then don't
believe them. They could be anywhere, even Zimbabwe.
All establishments abroad should have chip
and pin. If they don't then pay cash or buy from someone else.
Make sure that your card gets swiped and they don't just key in
the number and ask you to sign the chit.
Always have the number to call for every card
you carry. If you lose the card or it is stolen you have to
cancel the card (do that first!)
then report it to the police.
Liquidity: You will always have the
risk that companies you pay for holiday elements will become
insolvent or just disappear. Everything you pay for with your
credit (not debit or charge) card is guaranteed.
Consequently, the only risk with an airline or ATOL or ABTA bonded
holiday company is a little inconvenience - even if you are
stranded abroad.
With holiday car rental, if you pay on collection - you have their
car!
The only real risk is of non-performance by
the accommodation provider for villa, apartment or hotel.
Mostly they will not make a reservation during the busy season
without some payment (typically 20%). The reason is that they
might not be able to re-let quickly if you don't turn up.
There is not much that can be done about this except to know, or
find out, who you are dealing with. Hardly likely that you would
have a problem with a properly licensed rental agency or
hotel as the Tourist Authority would step in.
I did hear of a case a while back of a villa
owner who had fully booked the whole season and then had the
property repossessed by the Spanish bank due to non-payment of the
mortgage.
By the time the visitors arrived it had been sold at auction and
they got back to the UK only to find that he was bankrupt there as
well and had disappeared.
Finally: Try not to worry overmuch
about it but please take care.
Most of all enjoy your holiday - you have worked hard for
it all year and deserve the rest.
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