Mobile phone owners ’should check details with network before holiday’

Mobile phone users are often known to use their handset while on holiday to phone home and check on relatives and offer updates on their break.

Now, with the holiday season a matter of weeks away, such people may wish to consider the advice of price comparison site moneysupermarket.com.

The site is offering a number of tips designed to help users get the best out of their device and contract while away.

It starts by suggesting that holidaymakers check with their network before departing the UK that they are on a roaming service – which takes into account their change in location.

Mike Wilson, mobile and broadband manager at moneysupermarket.com, says: "Calls can be more expensive in Europe. Before jetting off be sure to check with your operator how much calls and texts will cost and if there is a cheaper international tariff available to you while you’re away. Operators will still usually charge for receiving calls, as well as making them."

Turning a device off when it is not being used can help to avoid being charged for receiving calls and texts.

Another money-saving tip is that a quick call can often be cheaper than a series of texts – making the myth redundant that a call from another country will always be expensive.

The last of the pointers is aimed at holidaymakers who regularly visit the same place, who should invest in a local SIM card so that operations can be carried out at a local rate.

The Association of Independent Tour Operators this week stated that it believes more people will travel abroad during 2010 than in the previous year.