Free cash ending?, slash holiday costs, free smartwatch with S24, free National Trus t £30 family pass, urgent bereavement help

Booking or booked your holiday?
Here's our speedy MoneySaving checklist - 23 easy ways to save and avoid pitfalls on your overseas trips
Don't leave home (or the country) without it

January may be cold, but it's the hottest month for holiday bookings, with many people sorting their summer right now. Yet while it's easy to focus on the flight or hotel, there are many other things to do now to save time and hassle later or, in some cases, to ensure you can actually go...

1. The most important rule... booked a holiday or about to? Get travel insurance ASAB (As Soon As you... Book). So if you've booked your holiday and not got insurance, do it today. If you're about to book, get it straight afterwards. Here's Martin on why:

Cheap single-trip policies start from £9. But if you go away more than once a year, even just for weekends, annual policies that cover virtually all trips away (with duration limits) are usually cheaper.

Our travel insurance picks are the cheapest bog-standard, no-frills policies we can find for under-65s that meet our minimum cover levels. Though if you want more belt 'n' braces cover, see our Cheap travel insurance guide for the cheapest higher-end policies too. The exact prices depend on age & circumstance so check a couple...

- Under-65s' single-trip policies: Cover for a one-off trip. For a week, from £9 for singles in Europe, or from £58 for a family worldwide. Check Coverwise (Bronze)*, Leisure Guard Flexi (Bronze) and A to Z Insurance (Standard).

- Under-65s' annual policies: From £10 for singles in Europe, from £78 for a family worldwide. Check Coverwise (Bronze)*, Leisure Guard Flexi (Bronze), Admiral* and Sainsbury's (Silver)*. Full info: Cheap travel insurance.

- Over-65s' travel insurance: There are too many to put here, so please go to our step-by-step Over-65s' travel insurance guide.

- Pre-existing conditions: See our full guide for detailed help.
2. Going to Europe? Ensure you've a free GHIC or in-date EHIC. Free Global Health Insurance Cards (and their predecessor EHICs) give you access to state-run hospitals or GPs at the same price as a local. So if it's free for them, it's free for you. To get them, use our links below, DO NOT GOOGLE - often shyster sites try to charge you for something that is free.

- Never had one? Get a GHIC for FREE.
- Already got a GHIC? As they were introduced in 2021 and last five years, it should still be in-date, but it's worth double-checking.
- Still got an EHIC? Check the expiry date on it (pictured below). If yours is one of four million expiring this year, replace it with a GHIC.3. Is your passport over 10yrs old or does it have less than 6mths left on the date you travel? Check now when your passport expires. If it's too old or doesn't have long left, check our list of passport rules for common destinations to see whether you'll need to renew before you go. If you do, get on with it - there can be delays. See cheapest way to renew passports.

10. Grab near-perfect exchange rates plus 1% cashback in every country. Normally when you pay on plastic abroad, your card provider gets near-perfect exchange rates but charges you a 'non-sterling exchange rate' fee of around 3% - so £100 of foreign currency costs you £103.

HOWEVER, a few top specialist cards don't add that fee so you get the same near-perfect exchange rate in every country that the card provider does. Even among them, though, there are small differences, so our top picks are...

- Chase: Easy to get, top exchange rates & 1% cashback. While it's a debit card, you don't need to switch bank to get it - just grab the Chase Bank* app (there's no hard credit check either). Not only do you get near-perfect exchange rates, no ATM withdrawal charges or interest, it gives 1% cashback on spending in the UK and abroad for at least a year (max £15/mth) - so you get an unbeatable near-perfect rate AND cashback.

- Barclaycard Reward: Top credit card, so extra protection (though do pay off IN FULL). As above, buy something on a credit card costing £100.01 to £30,000 and you get Section 75 protection. So buy something abroad and if owt goes wrong once you get home, you don't need to go back to the far-flung shop. Our top-pick credit card is Barclaycard's Reward Visa, which gives an ongoing 0.25% cashback, as well as no ATM or overseas spending fees or interest as long as you pay off IN FULL each month. More in Top cards for travelling abroad.

11. Get a FREE £175 towards your holiday, and near-perfect debit card exchange rates, if you'll switch banks. Switch an existing current account to the First Direct 1st Account* and you'll get £175 free cash within 28 days of the switch completing - in time to spend on your summer holiday. It has no exchange rate or ATM withdrawal fees and is top rated for service. Full info in First Direct review.

12. Want to load currency at today's rate? The cheapest debit and credit cards (see above) give you the best exchange rates ON THE DAY you spend. But if you want to bag today's best rates NOW, just in case things get worse before you travel (and you've budgeted at this rate), an easy way to do that is on a top prepaid travel card. Or you could go half and half to hedge the risk.

Our top pick is Revolut*, as on its standard plan it doesn't charge for exchanging currencies on weekdays (1% fee on weekends). It covers 30 currencies, though there's a 1% fee for exchanging £1,000+ in a 30-day period. Full info and more options in Prepaid travel cards.

13. Just want travel cash? If you don't like plastic, or want some cash with you just in case, find top rates through our TravelMoneyMax comparison.

20. French, German, Belgian or Dutch Center Parcs can be half the UK price - especially in school hols. That's even after the cost of flights/ferries. Nick tweeted: "@MoneySavingExp, Went to Center Parcs in Belgium, £100ish to get the ferry over in half term and £300 for the week, beach a mile down the road." For more, see Center Parcs tricks.

21. Booking car hire early tends to be cheapest, but if you've free cancellation, check again closer to your trip. Early booking is almost always the cheapest route - compare prices using Skyscanner*, Kayak*, TravelSupermarket* and Carrentals*. Some offer free cancellation, so you can check prices again later and, if they've dipped, cancel and rebook for less. But if unsure, booking sooner than later is likely safer. Our Cheap car hire guide takes you through it, then....

22. Avoid the car hire excess insurance trap - many get caught out. Basic car insurance is included in the hire, yet at the pick-up desk, firms often try to fear-sell you excess insurance as an add-on, claiming without it an accident - even a scratch - could cost £1,000+ extra.

These policies can cost an extra £150+ a week, but you can get a standalone policy for just £13.56/wk via Moneymaxim's comparison site*, and also check our 20% off excess insurance codes. Then when you arrive, tell the car hire firm you don't want its add-on.

It may make you jump through hoops even then, asking for usually a £500 to £1,000 deposit on a credit (NOT debit) card in the booker's name. If you've an issue, it'll take money from that, then you reclaim it from your standalone insurer. See more in car hire insurance help.

23. A few quickies to finish... Also check out our guides on how to slash the cost of airport parking, find how to avoid seat reservation charges, grab free airport lounge access and avoid hidden roaming charges.