Martin Lewis has explained to soon-to-be holidaymakers why you should always use a credit card on holidays abroad. This even applies when booking holidays with a credit card itself.

Many travellers continue to bring euros or dollars on holidays abroad, despite the prevalence of credit cards and ATMS, to avoid potentially unfavourable exchange rates and the ability to spend cash for smaller purchases or in areas with limited card acceptance. However, the money expert has revealed that this is nowhere near as necessary as it used to be. In fact, you will be entitled to legal protection if you do.

Lewis said in a clip from Adrian Chiles earlier this year on BBC Radio 5 Live: “If you’re going abroad or you’re booking to go abroad - with the exception of through a travel agent that breaks the causal link - the right way to pay is on a credit card.”

“If you book [your holiday] on a credit card, you get Section 75 protection."

Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 is “a legal protection that says the credit card company is jointly liable with the retailer for anything that happens”.

If, for example, the retailer goes bust, the money expert complains, you can go to the card company.

He said: “This actually applies on anything that costs over £100, up to £30,000 and that you spend any of it on the credit card. So even if you put a £10 deposit and you booked a £10,000 hotel, the credit card is liable for the entire £10,000, even if you only put a tenner on the credit card. So spending at least some on the credit card is important.”

This also applies to purchases made with a credit card while abroad. If, for example, you have a problem with that purchase, taking it back will be difficult, especially once you’ve returned home.

Lewis said: “But if you put it on a credit card, the credit card company is jointly liable with the retailer so that’s another boon of using a credit card paid off in full.”

There was one key criteria, however, that Lewis warned travellers must be aware of.

The money expert added: “I want you to pay it off in full, so there’s no interest at the end of the month.”

“Credit cards aren’t bad if you use them right, but they are bad when you use them as a debt card.

“So you have to separate the credit cards payment mechanism - which can be positive and give you protection and give you rewards and help and build your credit score - from the credit cards debt system which is what happens if you don’t pay it off in full every month.”