Good news for Brits coming away on holiday to Benidorm – or anywhere across Europe. As of tomorrow, data roaming charges are set to be slashed by more than half the current extortionate rate, which mobile users are being forced to pay. With the current craze of social networking, many are constantly wanting to update their statuses and post pictures on Facebook or Twitter. But until now, the cost has been unfairly high and the EU has finally capped the roaming charges for using your mobile in another EU country. The EU commission has already agreed that roaming charges should be abolished by the end of 2015, but this has yet to go through the final stages of being signed off. This would mean it would cost the same amount to make a call or send a text from Levante beach to Blighty as it would from within the UK.
Updating your status
The weekly cost of spending half an hour on Facebook a day while on holiday in Europe will come down from nearly 16€ to less than 7€ and the weekly charge to upload one picture per day will fall from 6.30€ to 2.80€ - quite a difference! According to a study, holidaymakers spend on average an extra 120 GBP on their mobile phone every time they go abroad. I often spot people on Levante or Poniente taking selfies on the beach or from the clubs on Calle Gerona and uploading them so that everyone back home knows where they are and what they are doing! The current charge to make a call from your mobile is 24 cents per minute, which from tomorrow – 1st July, is being reduced to 19 cents per minute. Text charges are also coming down to 6 cents per text message from the current rate of 8 cents per message.
Hotel Wifi charges in Benidorm
An increasing number of Benidorm bars throughout the resort offer free Wifi to its customers and Benidorm Town Hall also have free Wifi points - but as with all public places, be careful not to access sensitive information, such as banking. Hotel charges for Wifi vary considerably here in Benidorm, with some being free such as the ServiGroup who have 9 hotels in Benidorm and Medplaya.com group, who have 3 hotels here. It can add a hefty sum to your hotel bill when checking out, so if it´s a deciding factor double check whether it is free or not. The popular Sol Pelicanos hotel, made famous by the hit ITV Benidorm series is one of the most expensive, charging 4 euros per hour or a daily rate of 11 euros! It is especially true to check out the charges if you are travelling with children, who seem to be on their iphones and tablets permanently these days!
