Information about how to make savings on your holiday in the Eurozone

In order to make the best holiday savings it is vital to do your homework. No use moaning when you get there to find that the people next door have bought their hols for half of what you paid. You can make it the other way round!

Because of the serious position of the £ Pound Sterling against the Euro this year (2009) is pretty grim for those of us who are considering a holiday in Europe, but there are some considerable savings which can be made, especially if yours is a self drive holiday.

For package holidays where you fly to your destination or fly/drive then there is little for us to suggest other than be careful from the outset when you actually buy your holiday and make sure you have the best value for money (VFM), and that when you change your money you get the best rate available, so shop around for the best currency exchange rates as they differ alarmingly. To be fair, it is not in our inerest or yours for us to suggest a source for this right now as they change daily, and what could be the best rate today may well be a poor one tomorrow. Having said that, we have always found that Co-Op Travel nearly always one of the best to exchange with.

Rather a different matter with self drive camping holidays though as the operators of these companies are having the toughest time of their little lives, and we predict that there will almost certainly be some financial casualties before the end of 2009. More often than not the larger companies in this field are more expensive than smaller ones; possible because they have larger overheads but that is doubtful when taken as a percentage of their turnover. More likely it is because they usually offer additionals like kiddies clubs, listening to see if your little ones are awake at night etc which you may or may not want. If you have older children or none at all then you don't need to pay for those services.

Unless you really believe that the cost of your holiday is well within your budget and you are happy paying what the tour operator asks then HAGGLE! They need you and I far more than we need them! You are more likely to be able to do a deal on the price of your hols with a smaller company because you are more likely to be able to talk to a decision maker.

So, try out the smaller companies and see what they have to offer and you could be surprised. Whoever you deal with have a go at haggling the price down. Personally my belief is that if you pay the asking price without question then you have only yourself to blame if someone else gets the same product cheaper.  Look at it this way; any holiday company is better off taking some profit rather than none, so remind them of that politely.

Holiday savings for self drive holidaymakers. Quite a lot to consider here but all of it is pure commonsense and not rocket science. It goes without saying that all vehicles taken on self drive holidays are pretty well loaded, some are overloaded and we have all seen a few which are dangerously so. Weight is a factor then and if at all possible you need to distribute this weight evenly on long journeys, so try and get as much of the heavy stuff packed in front of the rear axle - a small fuel saving is made by doing this but the safety margin is enhanced immeasurably.

Food: Again, the virtual parity between the Pound and the Euro rears it's ugly head, and the food which was cheap in France a year or two years ago will cost you 40% more in 2009, so if you have room in your vehicle for a box or two of food items which you can buy here far more cheaply then take them with you. There are 3 of us and we used to have a small diesel car which was great for fuel saving but with our personal luggage ther was little or no room to pack in any tins etc, so we upgraded to a Citroen Picasso which has 5 seats and damn near as much luggage room as a small van as well. Even though there is more than enough room now to compensate for the extra weight we take in boxes of food we simply remove two of the rear seats.

Have your vehicle serviced well before you set off to ensure that it gives the best MPG. A simple thing like changing the air filter in a diesel car will make an enormous difference for the sake of a few pounds spent. Diesel is roughly 13% cheaper in France than the UK by the way.

If you are towing a trailer or caravan make sure that as much weight goes into the towing vehicle as possible rather than in the trailer ect. This makes the towing vehicle and trailer etc more stable and saves a small amount of fuel.

Don't fill your tank to the brim as that is just extra weight, so make more fuel stops but not on motorways. The exception to filling your tank rule is when you go to France as petrol there is very slightly more than it is in the UK. Have a look at the comparison chart. When in France it is cheaper to fill up at local garages than the Aires on Autoroutes or dual carriageways. Unlike our motorway services these are usually extremely nice and clean but fuel does tend to cost more here. They have public toilets though. Check fuel prices here with AA Roadwatch

Large fuel savings can be made by keeping your vehicle windows closed. Drive with one or more open and you lose up to 20% MPG.

Using air con will cost you between 8% and 10% of your MPG too. Roof racks, though a relic of bygone days are a definite no no, and the same applies to using roof bars with anything strapped on. They cause the vehicle to lose any aerodynamic shape it has and your MPG will drop alarmingly and that's partly why roof boxes were invented. You will lose MPG if you use a roof box but if you don't have enough room in your vehicle then the luggage has to go somewhere.

Common sense driving will save money too so set off slowly rather than doing a racing start, break gently and don't drive too fast. A steady 60 to 65 on dual carriageways, motorways and autoroutes will see you making definite fuel savings.

Are you staying in a tent or a mobile home? If a tent, is it your own or are you hiring with one of the large companies?

Tent camping for a start then: Take your own tent to France etc and your holiday savings will be huge. There are masses of camping sites dotted all over France which will love you to take your own camping equipment, and by doing so you are also cutting out the middleman. Hire from one of the larger companies which operate in France and you could spend more than it would cost to stay in a nice comfortable mobile home with a shower and toilet en suite. We have found this to be true at certain times of the year so do your homework on this.

If possible take your holiday out of the high season. Check with the operators about this because it may vary by a week or more either way.

Credit cards: Use sparingly anywhere abroad because you could have a shockk when you get your next statement and see the charges they have made for money changing.

Drinks: Alcohol is still a really good buy in French supermarkets but avoid the bars like the plague unless you have deep pockets as the price of a pint is likely to equate to £4.50 or more there.

If you have any good ideas about making holiday savings which we have not covered then we would be eternally grateful if you could share them with us and the rest of the holidaymaking public. Please get in touch through our contact page.