Worried about getting lost on holiday? Calling for help on the cheap

The summer holiday season has arrived and more and more families across the UK are piecing together their own package trips. Many of us like to hire a car when abroad. Doing so allows for greater flexibility and freedom, since you don't have to worry about finding a taxi, or having to make your schedule coincide with train timetables. In addition, car-hire can save you money, because the cost of renting may be less than the accumulative expense of taking multiple trips on public transport.

But car-hire also has its down side. Without the support of a taxi-driver or public transport service, you're on your own. So it's easier to get lost, especially when you've only just arrived at your destination. You might be driving to your accommodation in the middle of the night after a long haul flight, or up narrow hill-side tracks in the midday heat, take a wrong turning or misinterpret the map. If you get lost, things can get stressful, and your holiday will start off on a negative note.

One way to prevent such stress is to make sure that you can make calls when away.

If you find yourself lost, you might want to ring your hotel ahead of arrival for help, or make a call to your travel company at home to get directions. It's therefore encouraging to know that there are many mobile phone companies that are offering summer mobile phone deals that make it cheaper for you to call when abroad. Vodafone's “Vodafone Europe” policy, for example, allows for mobiles to be used in any of 15 different European countries, including the Netherlands, all at the same rate. This is because the subscription is based on fixed prices, which means that costs don't fluctuate no matter where you might be within the peripheries of the Vodafone Europe zone. This policy is in addition to Vodafone's Passport scheme, in which SMS rates have been lowered for travellers to European countries for the summer. Check the Vodafone website for more on their latest phones, including the iPhone 4 .