£97m in charges ‘taken from holidaymakers’

Banks and retailers are making around £97 million pounds a year on avoidable charges from UK holidaymakers abroad.

Anyone who withdraws their cash from an ATM or who uses plastic to pay for goods while abroad are charged a fee each time, add this to the normal cost of essentials such as airport transfers and the list of expenses grows ever-longer.

As much as £20 could be applied in charges to each person, according to foreign exchange specialists Caxton FX.

The company’s holiday planner report discovered that around 13 million people from the UK are still being stung for the charges.

In the past year 36.2 million people left the UK for a holiday, which translates into total charges of approximately £97 million, Caxton pointed out.

Someone on the typical two-week holiday making five cash withdrawals of £249 and spending £234 on a credit or debit card for just five transactions would be charged an extra £26.82 for the privilege.

Using people in York as an example, Caxton said 67.7% of them would take money out of a cash machine on fewer than five occasions if they were holidaying for two weeks, 14.7% would make a withdrawal five to10 times, 11.8% would do it 10 to 20 times and 2.9% would do it 20 to 30 times.

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