EASTER DEBTAWAY; YOUR MONEY.(Features)

Byline: MELANIE WRIGHT

HUNDREDS of thousands of us will be making the most of this month's Bank Holiday bonanza to get away from it all.

But if you want to enjoy your Easter without a financial hangover afterwards, make sure you don't fall into those expensive holiday pitfalls...

CHECK MOBILE COSTS

IT'S easy to rack up hundreds of pounds in charges for using your mobile phone abroad, especially if you access the internet.

From last July the EU ruled that providers must put a EUR50 (pounds 44) cap on mobile broadband charges while abroad and send users a warning when they reach 80 per cent of their data-roaming bill limit.

These measures only apply to EU countries so be careful in places like Turkey and Switzerland where charges are high.

Most providers offer add-on packages to help keep call costs down. Orange has Europe Traveller for its contract customers, which costs pounds 5 for 30 days and gives 200 minutes of calls at 28p a minute compared with the usual 38p a minute, plus you can receive 200 minutes of calls for free.

MAKE SURE YOU'RE INSURED

AROUND half of Brits planning a mini-break abroad this Easter could be travelling without insurance, a survey by travel insurer Protect yourbubble.com found.

Policies start from as little as pounds 9 from Cheaper Travel Insurance which covers a family of four for a week. And if you're going to Europe, don't forget to take a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) to get the same level of treatment as the locals.

STRANDED AT THE ROADSIDE

THE last thing you want is to be stranded miles from anywhere, so take out breakdown cover to avoid hefty garage call-out charges.

Prices start from as little as pounds 31 a year with RescueMyCar.com for policies in the UK. European breakdown cover costs pounds 54 for a 14-day policy with Direct Line.

SORT CURRENCY IN ADVANCE

BUY your travel money ahead of your trip. You will pay pounds 330 for EUR300 at some Italian airport bureaux de changes - pounds 65 more than what you would have paid in the UK.

Watch out for steep charges for using your plastic abroad too - most debit and credit cards charge a foreign usage fee of 2.75 per cent, plus a cash withdrawal fee of 1.5 per cent. Our table on the left shows some of the worst offenders.

As an alternative, use a pre-paid card to keep costs down. You can load the card with the amount you want to spend and there are no spending or foreign usage fees.

Or go for the Halifax Clarity credit card which has no foreign exchange fees and doesn't charge a fee for cash withdrawals.

BEWARE CAR RENTAL PRICES

IF you haven't booked your rental car yet, then act now as providers are busy hiking up prices by as much as 90 per cent ahead of the Bank Holidays.

Popular Easter destinations such as Malaga, Geneva, Faro and Alicante have already seen steep rises, say Carrentals.co.uk

Case study

'Debit card cost us pounds 100 in fees'

MIKE and Katherine Richards make sure they take much more care these days after being stung with charges of up to pounds 100 for using their debit card abroad.

The couple - who have three children, Emma, 10, Toby, seven, and Rebecca, five - usually take two holidays a year and are hoping to book a last-minute break somewhere in Europe this Easter.

Mike, 42, who runs a recruitment company, says: "Previously I have used my Lloyds TSB debit card to withdraw cash and pay for things on holiday, but when we got back and checked our statements we found we were forking out between pounds 50 and pounds 100 in charges over a two-week break."

The Lloyds TSB debit card has a foreign load fee of 2.99 per cent and a cash withdrawal charge of 1.5 per cent with a minimum charge of pounds 2 every time you take out money. It also charges pounds 1 every time you use it.

Now the couple, from Farnham, Surrey, use a pre-paid card with Caxton Fx, which has no spending or foreign load fees.

Mike says: "Having a pre-paid card is ideal because you know you can't overspend on it."

CAPTION(S):

Careful... Mike and Katherine with children