Home Improvement Goes Before The Holiday

By Julian Stone
Many people are trying to save money but it seems keeping a holiday is top priority for most with eating out and home improvement losing out.

The 2011 ABTA Consumer Trends survey shows when it comes to cutting back, some 37% of people would be most unwilling to lose their holiday. They’d prefer to forego eating out during the year, going to the cinema, new electronic gadgets and home improvement.
A good percentage of people consider their holiday a necessity they couldn’t do without, whether it’s a foreign holiday for a longer time or short break in the UK.
Customers booking a holiday consider financial protection a top priority, closely followed by ATOL financial protection and ABTA membership, Getting the cheapest holiday price is of course important but it is further down the priority list.
Despite the need for security, around 20% of holidaymakers don’t buy travel insurance. Some who are travelling into Europe don’t even think they need to buy it as they wrongly believe they are covered by a European Health Insurance Card. That’s a travel insurance myth – the card actually only provides access to basic state medical care.
MoneyHighStreet comments: “Whilst a holiday is not surprisingly a top priority, you need to take your own individual financial situation into consideration to ensure you can actually afford it, there is no point risking falling into debt.
“Do carefully consider buying travel insurance. If you are travelling as a family you can get family travel insurance and it can save you money.
“Consider ways of saving money around your holiday too. For example compare the cost of hire or airport parking to ensure you get the best deal. Equally with your holiday travel money make sure you get the best deal, taking advantage of a foreign exchange broker if required.
“You can also make use of a prepaid currency card, they’re safer than cash and can help you stick to your budget.”