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The Budget Airline Charges Quiz... How much could a £1 each way flight cost? Budget airlines' supposed 'extra' charges are nearly obscene. This week we've a new guide (see below) to beat them, inc anonymous tips from an Easyjet air steward. To prove the point... Quick quiz. How much could a £1 flight cost? A family of three get Ryanair £1 each way return tickets to Europe. If they were to pay on a debit card, take a suitcase each (not pre-booked) and need to get boarding cards at the airport, guesstimate the total 'additional' charges. Take a pause and answer aloud before reading on... The answer... The actual total is a shocking £396, that's £6 return for flights and £390 for ‘added-extras’. This includes £10 return each for debit card payment (£30 total), £40 return (£120) per suitcase, and forget to pre-print your boarding card it's £80 return (£240). The system’s a farce... Airlines are playing fast and loose. The injustice isn't about the cost, but that these charges are excluded from the advertised price. How can checking-in be an 'added' extra when it’s unavoidable? It's time for legislation that the advertised price MUST include paying and online check-in; other main extras like baggage should be listed alongside in the same font. New Guide: Beat Airline Charges Discuss this: Airline Charges Rip Off

Week of Tue 28 July - Mon 03 Aug '09 (Last week's position) 1. Ryanair £1 Flights Sale (4) 2. Top Savings Accounts (3) 3. Cheap Travel Money (-) 4. Freebies (5) 5. Tesco Savings Loophole (New) The above excludes daily deals notes Oz scraps 'unfair' bank charges "House price crash is over" Car & home insurance up 10% 2,400% interest loans Employees miss out on pensions This week's full MSE News list

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The Ones Not To Miss MSE

Budget airline booking. Tricks to beat EVERY 'extra' charge, airline-by-airline.
Calling checking-in and paying on plastic 'added extras' is wrong. So listen up Ryanair, Easyjet, Flybe, BMIBaby and the rest, we're turning the tables... with a new guide to beat every charge. Pay for free: Paying by debit or credit card adds up to £10 per person return, yet using Visa Electron cards is free, and now anyone can easily get a prepaid one of those. Weight allowance: Never think more cases means a bigger weight allowance. If you're close to the limit, wear all your heaviest clothes & then stow under the seat once on board. Airline-by-airline tricks in the full New Guide: Beat Budget Airline Charges Related: Cheap Travel Insurance, Cheap Flights, Cheap Travel Money

New magazine beauty freebies! £15 eyeliner, £5 hair mask, £12 mascara. Plus Benefit set for £11. See the Daily Deals List: Beauty Deals

New cheapest line rental. £9.50/mth inc. eve & weekend calls (BT's £11.25)
If you've got a BT line, you can slash the line rental (the line doesn't change, just who bills). The cheapest: Primus' Home Phone Saver* deal, which includes some free calls to UK landlines eve & weekends, is currently £9.50/mth via a comparison site (link takes you there) Inclusive mobile calls: The Post Office* offers line rental at £11.75/mth and includes calls to mobiles at weekends as well as eve & wkd landline calls. Cut costs further: We've never included cheap line rental here before as not being with BT can mean you can't use specialist supercheap overide providers like 18185. Yet now Primus has guaranteed us it won't do that for at least a year, and the Post Office says it has no current plans to. See the Updated Guide: Cheap Home Phones Related: Free Line Installation, Cheap Broadband

New! £10 off code for Pizza Hut delivery, 50% off La Tasca & £10 Pizza Express 2 course & drink. Joins 2for1s at Cafe Rouge, haha and more in the Daily Deals List: Restaurant Vouchers

New 'Financial Fight Back' guide. Complain, get compensation & charge for your time.
You have a RIGHT to be treated fairly by your bank, credit card company, insurer or any financial company. If not you can get free redress and compensation, sometimes even if it happened up to 6 years ago. Complain to the company: First follow the company's official complaints procedure but EXPECT a no – it'll usually try and fob you off. Involve the Financial Ombudsman: Then take your complaint to the free, independent Financial Ombudsman Service, fill out its form and it'll decide if you've been treated fairly and order a payout if not. Charge for your time: You can even ask for up to £10/hr for the time it's taken to sort it out. FULL info & form-filling template in the New Guide: Financial Complaints Related: Bank Charges, Consumer Rights, Setting Off

Last chance! Tesco £10 off £50 online code. Valid for new customers until Sun 9 Aug. For this and 15% off Ocado, see the Daily Deals List: Discount Vouchers

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URGENT! £1(ish) European flights. Ends midnight Thurs 6 August. Another million £1 each way Ryanair flights from various airports to over 50 European destinations, for Sept to Nov travel. To speedily find them, see the Updated Guide: £1 Flights Then beat the HUGE extra charges with the Budget airline fee-fighting guide. Related: Cheap Flights, Cheap Hotels

Cheap car insurance (record £14/yr fully comp). When comparison sites don't work...
Car insurance for £14/yr remains the record using the MSE system. It came from first combining comparison sites in the correct order (currently Moneysupermarket*, Gocompare* & Confused*) to find the ultimate quote then buying via special cashback sites to reduce it further. Comparison sites don’t do multi-car: As well as missing competitive insurers Direct Line* and Aviva*, comparison sites can’t cope with quotes for more than one car in the household. So first do comparisons for the cars separately, then manually check against companies with multi-car discounts eg. Admiral*, Churchill*, Privilege*, and Tesco*, and then try to get cashback on top. FULL info in the Updated Guide: Cheapest Car Insurance Related: Cheap Home Insurance, Cheap Petrol, Van Insurance, Bike Insurance

Ed Balls replies to my childcare policy black hole fears. Your suggestions needed for a meet with the Treasury. Read m’blog

Instantly value loyalty points. Tool of the week. LoyaltyChecker tells you what they're really worth Whether it's Nectar, Airmiles, BA miles, Sony Pulsebeats or other points, the real value's often deliberately shrouded in mist to make you think they're worth more. The Loyalty Checker: This gives you an instant valuation of your points, based on our realistic assessment of what the redemptions are worth. What's worth more? It'll tell you that while 2,000 Nectar points sounds a lot it's only worth £11, while 300 Airmiles is worth £23. Value your stash with the Tool of the Week: Loyalty Checker Related: Boost Loyalty Points P&O Dover-Calais day trip £28 for car inc. passengers AND one free £40 Disneyland ticket. Due to close, it'll now run until 6 September, though it's an extra fiver as it's high season. It covers a car with up to nine people. FULL info in the Deals Note: Cheap P&O Ferry Deals

Top children's savings. 6% AER regular savings or 2.2% AER instant access
Some of the worst-hit savers over the last year have been children, with top rates more than halved. Why not make ditching & switching to the top paying accounts into a fun money lesson? 6% regular saver: Halifax's Children's Regular Saver pays 6% AER fixed for a year. Though they must put in £10-£100 EVERY month and make no withdrawals or the rate drops to 1.05% AER for the whole year. Top instant access: The Loughborough BS Young Savers account pays 2.2% AER (min £1) with access in branches or post. For a bigger branch network, the Halifax's Save4it pays 1.05%, though at this rate you're better opening a top normal savings account in your name for them, and just paying the tax on it. FULL info, more best buys & alternatives in the Updated Guide: Best Child Savings Related: Top Savings, Free Teen Cash Class

Urgent! Free £6 photobooks and pics. Upload your pics to an album online, then they'll be printed in a special book you can pick up from a Jessops store for free. Only 2,000 available. See the Forum Note: Free photobook

First so-called 'unlimited calls, texts & web mobile' launched at £30/mth.
To much fanfare, Tesco Mobile's new sim-only unlimited package should be a cracker at £30 a month, but... it's NOT unlimited. You only get £500/mth worth of calls, texts & web use; and its internet access costs £4/MB while elsewhere £1/day for up to 15MB is available. Good for? Those making lots of calls and texts, but rarely using the web. Bad for? Low users and heavy users who also use lots of mobile data; then O2 Simplicity* offers 1,200 mins calls, 2,400 texts and unlimited web for £29.38/mth (more if you take a year's contract), and money back through cashback sites is possible too. MSE News Story: Tesco unlimited mobile Do you pay over £30/mth? The Tesco deal's a great negotiating weapon when you're at the end of the contract; ask your provider to match it. See the Guide: Haggle Mobile Contracts Related: Cheap Mobiles, Top Cashback Sites

Premium Bond Calculator updated with August's odds. Check your new chances of winning in the updated Premium Bond Probability Calculator

Last Chance! Going to Chessington this summer? Instant 2for1. The voucher's available online until 2pm this Fri (7 Aug), but print it now & you can use it until 2 Nov. This & more in the Deals List: Cheap Theme Parks

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The Big & Easy Ways to Save Checklist

Quick links or click the titles for full pros, cons, alternatives & more savings

0% Balance Transfers: Top pick: Virgin* 16 mths 0%, 2.98% fee (APR 18.6% for BTs) Cheap Gas & Elec + Cashback! Top comparison site: Energyhelpline* Capped tariff ending? Switching from caps guide Cheap Broadband: Plusnet* £6/mth up to 10 Gb download. Cheap Travel Ins: Annual policies from £15, worldwide £21. See Cheap Travel Ins Top Uninsured Loans: £7.5k-15k: A&L*, Sainsburys 7.9%, Tesco 8% (can be 7.8%) Top Bank Account: Top Pick. Overdraft A&L* (1yr 0%). In-Credit: Earn £23k+ First Direct* (£100 bonus), if not Halifax* Free New-Mortgage Guide: Order a copy now for free! Also see: Remortgage Guide Holiday Bargains: Cheap Flights, Travel Insurance, Hotels, Packages, Travel Money MoneySaving Books: The Money Diet, Thrifty Ways, Three Lessons

More MoneySaving MSE

Credit card 'Section 75' protection travel warning. Friends should pay separately Pay for something costing over £100 on a credit card and the card company's equally liable with the retailer if something goes wrong. This is a valuable extra protection, especially for buying flight tickets, as if the company goes bust you can get money back from it. Only immediate family count: The Ombudsman's told us that unless the payment is for your partner and/or children you may not be eligible for a refund of their holiday costs. This is because friends, adult siblings, grandparents are arguably not part of the 'contract'. Therefore, the best bet is have all but immediate family members pay for themselves. More in the Updated Guide: Section 75 Refunds The Recylenow 'Kitchen Caddy' giveaway. We've bagged MoneySavers 50 kitchen caddies (to help with composting) Bag a bin Last chance! Big spenders (£1,000+ month) only a week left to grab a high-cashback Amex card A massive market leader, the Amex Platinum* card pays an intro 5% cashback for three months. Above that it pays a tiered rate of up to 1.5%, yet next Tue 11 Aug that drops to 1.25%. Who should grab it now: While other tier changes mean lower spenders will gain (more next week), the losers are anyone who'll spend over £12,500 a year on it. Yet grab it now and you still get the current deal. Repay in full: Always ensure you pay off in full to avoid interest, as that dwarfs the cashback gain. See the Guide: Top Cashback Credit Cards Full changes info: Amex revamp Free 50p mobile credit (PAYG or monthly) per can of pop. Max £4 credit. If you're buying a can of Fanta, Sprite or Dr Pepper, get the promotional ones which inc. a code for 50p credit. See the Forum Post: Free Mobile Credit MONEY MORAL DILEMMA. Should Tash split the compensation cash? Best buds Natasha and Elena decide to visit Las Vegas, so Elena hands over her £300 air fare and Natasha pays the total by credit card. Yet the airline goes into administration and under Section 75 rules (see above) Natasha can only reclaim her own fare as Elena’s not family. Elena says she's due half the refund, but Tash thinks not as Elena doesn't even have a credit card so wouldn't been protected either way. Enter the Money Moral Maze: Should Tash split the compensation cash? Previous MMDs: View All Great 'Cut Post Office Queuing' Hunt. How to spend less time waiting Endless Post Office queues can drive you barmy. So we want to tap MoneySavers to find ways to spend less time there. What Post Office activities, eg, parcel posting and bill paying, can you do at home instead of going down in person? Plus, do any Royal Mail employees have insider tips on the best times and days to go? Add your ideas/read other people's: Great 'Cut Post Office Queuing' Hunt Past Great Hunts: View all

Q. What’s the latest with MFI now it’s in administration? Campbell, by email A. While MFI went into administration last year, not all those who may be due compensation have received their cash. Typically, customers are owed money because goods they paid for have either not arrived or have not arrived in full. Either way, if you paid by credit card, and the order was worth £100 or more, you need to complain to your card company as it's jointly liable with the retailer when anything goes wrong. Technically, each item within your order needs to be worth at least £100 though the rules are a little grey with homeware, so give it a go if the total is £100-plus. If you don't ask, you don't get. If you paid in any other format and you have received a partial delivery, sadly, the administrators say you won't receive any compensation. If you've not received any items ordered then you'll need to wait until October to find out whether you'll get money back. Discuss: MFI latest Suggest: A question of the week (big general issues not personal q’s pls)

Board of the Week: Health, Beauty & Fashion: Style, make-up & diet tips
For MoneySaving fashionistas the newly re-titled Health, Beauty & Fashion board is a hub of activity with people swapping beauty, fashion & health tips. Top discussions include Baby Weight-shifting Club, Want my own style, please help! and Shortening Trousers Plus read: Cheap Beauty Deals

Quick Forum Tips Warning! Bargains listed here tend to sell out quickly Daily Bargains Update Tips, Tricks & Treats

Top Deal: Nokia chargers £2 (inc p&p). Old and new style available. Limited stock 15 bottles of Carlsberg Export for £5 at Aldi. While stocks last. Beergain Diesel 'Plus Plus' Feminine Eau De Toilette £5. 75ml bottle. Sniff it out! 60-70% off Jamie Oliver Dinnerware. A few sets to choose from. Pukka! B&Q Trampoline deals from £25 (was £58). Can you find one? Spring Savings Alien Quadrilogy 9-disc DVD boxset £7.99. It's back! Riddick-ulously cheap Debt Free Wannabe chat of the week: Is it wrong to want it all? Littlebit's diary Competitions thread of the week: Win a Rimmel Mascara Old Style (Thrift) Board thread of the week: Food ideas for more variety and less cost

Great 'Cheap Holiday Rentals' Hunt Result
Last week, we asked for your tips on finding bargain holiday hideaways, be they cosy cottages in the Cotswolds or whitewashed villas in Valencia. If you're looking for a cheap getaway this thread's well worth a read. Suggestions included Try Gumtree, Go direct and Tips from a holiday property owner

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Andrea's Freebies Freebies, Freebies, Freebies

Nero 9 data CD/DVD-burning software, Send your name to Mars! Washing Colour Catcher, Purina Cat Food, Diane Vickers Download

Odds and Ends MSE

Martin's Appearances...Weds 5 - Tues 11 Aug
These are scheduled appearances, though other ad hocs may happen. See the appearances list for updates.

• Thurs, GMTV, ITV1, sometime between 8:30 & 9:30am. Deals of the Week.
• Fri, Jeremy Vine, Radio 2, between 1 & 2pm. PPI Reclaiming
• Tues, GMTV, ITV1, sometime between 7:20 & 9:30am. The topic's news reactive.

This week's Martin's Blog: "Record 878,000 web visits in one day – a billion hits a month"
"Ed Balls' reply to my Childcare agitation", "...because they can", and "Over-egging the stripes on GMTV". Read m'blogs (or RSS users access)

If you were PM... where would you cut back? This week's poll. Vote and Cutbacks discussion.

How much do you spend when on a week's holiday? £201- £500 each. 12,696 voted last week. Asked roughly how much spending money you expect to get through on a week's holiday, a combined 32% voted between £201-£500, followed by 23% who'd take £71-200. 15% however, are too skint to take a holiday in the first place. See Holiday Spends poll results.

Archna's Free Game of the Week! Can you ditch the grumpy red boxes in Red Remover?

A rubbish fight... That's it for this week, yet if you've ever wondered (and who in their right mind wouldn't) what a fight between a printer and a bin would look like, mystery solved! Printer vs. Bin

We hope you save some money,

Martin & the MSE team

Explanation of * Links

FSA NOTE: Referring people to insurers or insurance intermediaries can in some circumstances require FSA authorisation. For this reason, Martin Lewis of Shepherd's Studios, Rockley Road, Shepherd's Bush, London W14 0EH is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

How this site is financed. Any links with a * by them are affiliated. That means go via this link and a contribution may be made to MoneySavingExpert.com, which helps it stay ad-free and free to use. You shouldn't notice any difference, the links don't impact the product at all and the editorial line (the things I write) is NEVER impacted by it. If it isn't possible to get an affiliate link for the best product, it's still included in exactly the same way. As I believe transparency is important, I'm including the following 'un-affiliated' web-addresses for the same things: homephonechoices.co.uk, postoffice.co.uk, moneysupermarket.com, gocompare.com, confused.com, directline.com, aviva.co.uk, admiral.com, theaa.com, privilege.com, shop.o2.co.uk, uk.virginmoney.com, energyhelpline.com, alliance-leicester.co.uk, firstdirect.com, halifax.co.uk, plus.net, talktalk.co.uk, tiscali.co.uk. Read more about this in how this site is financed.

MoneySavingExpert.com is the free to use Consumer Revenge website focused on how to save you cash. It’s owned, and run by ultra-specialised journalist and bestselling author Martin Lewis. On TV amongst other things Martin is GMTV’s Money SavingExpert and presents money programmes for ITV1 Tonight. On Radio Martin has regular slots on Radio 2 Vine and Radio 1 Whiley. He’s also a columnist for the News of The World, Moneywise and the Sunday Post. Find out more: About the site and its funding.

Disclaimer: This e-mail is based on journalistic research. It does not constitute financial advice. Any information should be considered in regard to your own specific circumstances. All tips are followed at your own risk and should be followed up with your own research. Full Terms & Conditions.

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