British travellers face Wi-Fi rip-off abroad

How much for checking my emails? A lot if you're in Venice
How much for checking my emails? A lot if you're in Venice

Anyone who has travelled abroad recently would have faced some ridiculous charges for Wi-Fi in hotels, according to Expedia.co.uk.

The holiday website has researched Wi-Fi prices around the world and come up with some interesting facts and figures.

It turns out that Venice is the biggest culprit for over-inflated Wi-Fi charges, with some hotels charging up to £6.80 an hour. If you head over to Florida, they you can expect to spend considerably less on surfing the internet. Charges in Orange County average around 79p an hour.

Online confusion

Speaking about the results, Alison Couper, communications director for Expedia, said: "In the 21st century, getting online while you travel should be simple and cost effective – instead it seems it is confusing and overpriced.

"If travellers know that they are going to need to access the internet while abroad, we are advising them to do their research before they go to ensure they know the cost of web access upfront."

The travel website surveyed 1,000 people for the study, and actually recommends those who will be using the internet lots over the holiday to choose a lower-starred hotel.

"Simply dropping one or two hotel star ratings is a great way to reduce your travel budget in 2009, and as our research shows it can reap even more rewards in terms of free Wi-Fi and other added extras, whether you're a business traveller or going on holiday."

Marc Chacksfield

Marc Chacksfield is the Editor In Chief, Shortlist.com at DC Thomson. He started out life as a movie writer for numerous (now defunct) magazines and soon found himself online - editing a gaggle of gadget sites, including TechRadar, Digital Camera World and Tom's Guide UK. At Shortlist you'll find him mostly writing about movies and tech, so no change there then.