FAMILIES planning a holiday this summer could be stung by a number of extra costs they might not have planned for.
With more countries added to the green list this week, Brits are now able to travel on holiday without having to quarantine back in the UK.
Airlines and tour operator are offering bargain holiday deals to encourage families to travel again, with Jet2 and Ryanair launching new routes and flash sales.
However, the new rules mean a number of costs that will have to be factored into a holiday this year.
Ranging from new passports to mobile charges, Brits could see as much as £350 each added to their holiday – here is what to look out for before heading abroad.
Passport renewals
Many Brits may have had their passports expire during the lockdown, after 18 months of being unable to travel abroad.
Brits must also have at least six months on their passport to be able to travel to destinations including in Europe, with no more than 10 years allowed on a passport.
To renew a passport, it costs £75.50 for online applications and £85 for postal applications.
Charges for children's passports also went up in 2018 from £46 to £49 online and £58.50 in the post.
PCR tests
While many holiday destinations are on the green list, countries are still requiring negative Covid tests from Brits to enter.
Madeira and Spain both require a test from all UK arrivals.
The costs differ depending on the provider, with the cheapest being with TUI for just £20.
However, private providers can cost as much as £200 for families who need a test at short-notice, suddenly making a holiday much more expensive.
Brits will also need a PCR test to return to the UK even from green list countries, which range in price depending on the country, although are also between £50 and £200.
Roaming charges
It was recently announced that many mobile phone providers will start charging Brits to use data abroad from August.
Stacey Lowman, Financial Coach at Claro told Sun Online Travel: "Frequent phone users should look into the terms of their tariff, and make sure they aren’t running up unexpected bills, or opt for additional data packages which aren’t as expensive as ad-hoc, pay-as-you-go data charges.
"Many providers have fair usage allowances in place, meaning that your data allowance may be significantly less abroad than it is in the UK on an unlimited data plan. Going over the data limit could cost up to £7 per GB used."
She explained that streaming a Netflix film in 4K uses approximately 7GB of data an hour, with similar prices for using Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.
This works out to nearly £50 an hour to stream videos while abroad.
Ms Lowman added: "We’re all familiar with text messages welcoming us to a new phone network as we arrive abroad – it’s an exciting sign that the holiday is about to start. However, many will also be familiar with the dread of opening their phone bill at the end of the month to find that they had forgotten about foreign data charges."
Vodafone, Sky Mobile, Tesco Mobile, Plusnet and Virgin Mobile have all decided to keep roaming free for now.
EHICs
Thankfully, EHICs are one of the few things Brits can get for free.
The European Health Insurance Card, now known as the Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC) entitles Brits to the same free healthcare in a foreign country as citizens get.
The cards are free to apply for, although many scam websites often try and charge for them so holidaymakers should avoid any that cost.
Here is the full checklist of things you will need to go abroad this summer, which includes visas and driving documents.
Brits are being warned to allow at least 10 weeks to get a new passport due to a huge influx.
We've also explained how to get a PCR test for your holiday, and how much it will cost.
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