Brits’ disdain for pre-holiday admin is costing them hundreds of pounds, according to new research.
With over 1 in 5 (21%) of holidaymakers admitting they overlook important pre-holiday admin such as checking exchange rates, reading the fine print on insurance policies or not checking if their mobile plan includes free roaming, Virgin Media O2 is warning Brits to set aside pre-holiday admin time to avoid getting caught out.
In fact, a third (33%) of British holidaymakers have already been stung whilst abroad, having to fork out on average £193 more than they needed to in order to cover unexpected or hidden costs. Top costs people haven’t accounted for include currency conversion fees (35%), data roaming charges (31%) and unexpected city taxes (27%).
With summer holiday season approaching, Virgin Media O2 is reminding holidaymakers to be careful of roaming charges, an unwanted expense that 1 in 5 (20%) holidaymakers have been caught out in the past, with almost a third (32%) of people forgetting to switch data roaming off when they go away.
To help remind people to check their roaming policies ahead of time and avoid getting caught out by unexpected roaming charges, Virgin Media O2 has enlisted the help of Roman Kemp, known for his travel misadventures, to spread the word.
Taking up the role as “Roaming Kemp”, Roman fronts Virgin Media O2’s new tongue-in-cheek airplane safety style video to help prepare holidaymakers before they take off this summer.
In his roles, Roman cheekily warns holidaymakers about the costs they could face this summer if they don’t have free roaming as part of their mobile plan. It comes as over half of Brits (53%) said they don’t know if their mobile provider will charge roaming fees this summer, with six in 10 disappointed to see the return of roaming charges in European countries last year.
