Holidays are seen by the British public as a necessity rather than a luxury and we are becoming a nation of multi-trippers, according to a report released this week.The findings from the Thomas Cook report - Money matters, a guide to holiday spending habits - highlight that it’s card before cash with more than half of people (59 per cent) paying for their holidays with a financial card. Interestingly, more than a third still pay for their holidays in cash.

However, while they are away, holidaymakers don’t want to be caught short of cash with more than two thirds buying foreign currency before they leave the UK.

 

Surprisingly, around 10 million holidaymakers don’t set themselves a holiday budget and women are better at sticking to their budgets than men - 69 per cent compared to 59per cent of men. And 10 per cent of those who do set themselves a holiday budget will not stick to it.

 

When it comes to insurance 12 per cent of people who travel overseas, or 2.8 million people, do so without insurance and a further 1.3 per cent don’t know whether they do or not.

 

“For most of us, a holiday from our busy lives is a necessity and not a luxury. As we continue to travel, budgeting will become more important than ever during what is seen by many as a current period of instability,” said Financial Services Managing Director, Mark Nancarrow.

 

“We see our role at Thomas Cook as offering a wide range of services from start to finish in the holiday decision making process. We have a financial services offering that we believe will help our holidaymakers to afford a better holiday and manage their cash flow,” he added.

 

Launched in conjunction with the report is ‘Travellers’ Checks - Savvy Summer Spending’ - a guide which will be available to customers at Thomas Cook stores throughout the country.

 

This handy guide follows an easy-to-read format offering top tips to customers on planning holiday expenses, insurance, using mobiles abroad and hidden expenses. It provides advice on which form of payment is best to use on holiday - and discusses the benefits of debit or credit cards, travellers’ cheques or cash

 

“Going on holiday should be fun - and we want to help our customers get the most from their money. We’ve produced this guide which gives them top tips on everything from using your mobile phone abroad to the price of a pint of beer in a variety of destinations,” added Mark Nancarrow. 
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