Martin Lewis’ vital money-saving guide for holidaymakers

From booking travel insurance to renting a car abroad, Martin Lewis is slashing the price of your next trip. 

Passports

• Passengers are at risk of being caught out by the “10 year” passport rule, which has already stopped some passengers from flying because their passports aren’t valid for EU travel. 

• UK travellers used to be able to carry up to nine months left on an old passport over to a new one. This meant that a passport could be valid for more than 10 years.

• Now the majority of EU countries no longer accept British passports that were issued more than 10 years before the date of travel. 

• The passport must have been issued less than 10 years before the date you enter the EU country and be valid for at least three months after the day you plan to leave. 

Renewing your passport

• As of April, a new one costs £88.50 for a new passport, even for a renewal or replacement. It costs £100 if you apply online, external, for a postal application. 

• An online application for a child’s passport costs £57.50, or £69 via post. 

• It can take up to three weeks to renew a passport in the UK, but it can take longer during periods of high demand before school holidays. 

• You can book an appointment at your nearest passport office for an urgent passport, where It then takes up to a week to be issued. 

Health insurance

• The free European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) is being phased out after the United Kingdom left the European Union, even though you can still use it if you have one already. 

• Instead you can now apply for a free Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC), and they have the same purpose. 

• The card entitles UK nationals to the same medical treatment as a local citizen at state-run hospitals and GPs in any European Union country as well as Switzerland and some other countries.

• If local citizens get free medical treatment then so do you. However, if they pay then you will pay the same rates.

• If you already have an EHIC card then check that it hasn’t expired. 4.3 million EHIC cards will expire within 2024. Another 1.8 million will expire in 2025. Checky that yours is valid before you go away.

• You can apply for a free GHIC via the official NHS website. It currently takes up to 15 working days from the point of approval to receive a new card, which you should consider before travelling. 

The ‘Reboot trick’

This can apply to many things from hotel accommodation to car hires. 

• Keep an eye on comparison sites for availability at your hotel for the booked dates. You can also do this when hiring a car. 

• If your booking has low-cost or free cancellation, regularly check if you can get the same for less (use Skyscanner, Kayak, Carrentals and Trivago). If you find it cheaper, just rebook, then cancel your original. 

Cancelled and delayed flights

• You have rights if the flight/ airline is regulated by either the EU or UK. Or if your flight is cancelled regardless of whether it has been delayed last minute or for several weeks. As well as up to £520 in compensation (or £200+ per person), you are entitled to a replacement flight or refund.

• You have rights if your flight is delayed. If it’s delayed more than three hours then you could be entitled to up to £520 in compensation (or £200+ per person) if the delay was the fault of the airline.

• Your rights change if your flight isn’t a UK/EU regulated flight. You could be entitled to a refund or alternative flight, but whether you’re due compensation depends on the country that covers it. 

Martin’s travel insurance rule, ASAB

• Half of the travel insurance’s value helps protect you before you travel, if something happens that stops you from going. You should buy a plan as soon as your destination is booked (ASAB…As Soon As You Book). 

• It covers you for cancellation, events such as redundancy or death in the family and anything else that may go wrong. 

• See if it’s cheaper to get a group or individual policy. 

• You can buy single-trip travel insurance which covers you for that specific trip.

• You can buy annual multi-trip travel insurance which covers all trips taken in the time that the policy covers. 

• Other types of cover include family, couples or individual travel insurance, and you should also factor in where you are travelling too, whether that’s in the EU or worldwide. 

• If you already have a group policy and one of the travellers is going outside Europe, or on a skiing trip, consider having separate policies, rather than the whole family buying extended cover when it’s not needed. 

Over 65s with a medical condition

• If you’re over 65, insurers are likely to charge you more thinking that you are more likely to develop medical issues. 

• If you buy a group plan, the price will also be based on the oldest traveller, or the person deemed to have the highest risk if they have a medical condition. 

The ‘car hire trap’

• Basic insurance will usually be included when you book a hire car, but you will have to pay an initial excess if you have an accident. 

• When you collect your car, firms may try to sell you ‘top-up’ insurance which removes your excess, meaning you’d pay nothing in the event of an accident or other claim. 

• This can be as much as £25 a day, which you should avoid buying. 

What policy should we get instead?

• Search for an excess policy from a standalone provider. This can cost as little as £2 a day.

• In the event of an accident, this is when you will pay the hire firms excess whether that’s £100s or £1,000s. You can then reclaim the money from the excess insurance. 

• Standalone excess policies often cover more than the basic insurance offered by car hire firms, such as damage to wheels and windscreens. 

Martin’s tip for shopping in Spain

• As well as being fashionable, Zara is cheaper in Spain where you can save up to 25% on your purchases.

• A Euro is not worth as much as a pound, but the euro price is lower than the pound price before you do the conversion. 

• You should visit the Zara website and set the location to Spain and you can check the prices before you fly. 

• For a men’s linen suit blazer it costs £109 in the UK, in Spain it’s €89.95. After converting, this will set you back around £80, which is a saving of over £30. 

• For a women’s floral print dress, in the UK it costs £119, while in Spain it costs €100. After conversion, this will mean you pay around £88. 

• Make sure that you have a big enough case to bring back all of your new clothes.