Follow these tips courtesy of ABTA to stop your holiday costs spiralling out of control:

• When you arrive at your destination airport – if you’re not on a package with transfers included, always agree the fare in advance with the taxi driver to avoid potential rip offs. In many countries they are required by law to charge you a set fare, but it’s worth double checking, especially countries where the taxi-drivers can be a little pushy and intimidating.

• Turn off data roaming on your phone and look for hotels offering free wi-fi – we’ve all heard the horror stories where someone goes off on holiday and leaves their data roaming on, only to get back to the country and face a painfully high bill. Switch off your data roaming as soon as you get on the plane and use any free wi-fi available.

• When offered the option to pay in sterling or the local currency always go for the local currency. Otherwise you run the risk of being charged for sterling being converted to the local currency then back into sterling again.

• Go and eat where the locals eat and avoid touristy restaurants – the food is generally cheaper and nearly always better. This is especially true of countries where the average monthly income is lower than your own country. Restaurants that are tourist traps charge you a premium for sub-standard food, whereas you can generally eat very well where the locals do at a fraction of the cost.

• Travel on a Tuesday – flights are much cheaper in the middle of the week, and yes- you guessed it, it’s much more expensive to fly over the weekend.

• Remember to let your bank know – finding yourself all of a sudden without any funds is stressful, especially if it’s simply because you forgot to let the bank know. If you forget to let your bank know, they may block your account for overseas use as they may think it’s fraudulent usage. Even if you forget before the holiday, if you internet bank then there should be a form you can fill in and send over via the internet.

• Get your currency in advance – changing it up at airport is usually the most expensive option and there are very few freebies thrown in. Consider using a pre-paid cash card too, just so that you’re not carrying around wads of cash. These cards offer competitive exchange rates, so do your research in enough time.

• Car hire – like your currency, make sure you book a car in enough time to avoid the last minute price hikes.

• Renew your passport early – if you have to use the fast -track service it can end up costing you over £50 more.

• Buy travel insurance – this could end up saving you thousands of pounds in medical costs or even cancellation fees and lost luggage. Don’t even think about travelling without insurance.

• Go to Spain – it regularly tops surveys as the cheapest foreign holiday destination for day to day expenses, probably why thousands of Brits flock to the Iberian country at every opportunity.

• On a driving holiday – depending on which country you’ll be driving in, it’s worth downloading an app that could be used as a sat-nav. Try Navfree – this one doesn’t need any data once you download the app, and uses the GPS system on your smartphone to guide you – all for free.

• Before you go – make sure you cancel the milkman or any other standing order grocery deliveries. There’s nothing worse than having to face milk that’s gone-off when you’re already dealing with the holiday blues.