Brits are becoming cannier purchasers when it comes to holidays, haggling harder and refusing to accept the first quote they get, according to a survey by Visa Europe.
Around 25% of us will continue to negotiate until we get the deal we want for our holidays and only 11% accept the first price given. People from the South West are the best hagglers (36% will always haggle), the survey showed, with the North East (31%) and the East of England (30%) coming in second and third place.
But it goes downhill after that. Once they are on holiday, Brits tend to overspend. More than a third (39%) will blow the budget whilst out in the sun this year and 63% will overspend by up to £200 a week.
The survey spoke to 1000 holidaymakers and found that over a third of Brits have plans to take at least two holidays this year. Some 60% of those will make the holiday beach-based. And despite the recession, one in five say they plan to take more holidays than they did last year with the average holiday between 11 and 14 days.
More than half the respondents expect to hand over at least £600 on travel and accommodation this year with £250 a week on eating and drinking on top of that.
The research also showed that 42% dynamically packaged their holiday, with just 22% booking a package deal.
By Dinah Hatch
