Booking a holiday can be stressful. You have to decide where you want to go, how you’re going to get there and where you are going to sleep. While trying to keep your costs as low as possible. The main savings can be made on accommodation and flights and this section provides information on how to make the best savings.
Package holidays are great if you don’t have time (or simply can’t be bothered) organising everything you need. But this is usually a more expensive option than organising your holiday yourself.
Accommodation
Once you know where you’re going, it’s likely that you’ll need to find somewhere to sleep. The obvious choice is to turn up and walk around until you find a suitable place. However, you run the risk of paying over the odds and spending hours of your first day trying to find somewhere with a spare room.
By booking in advance you can usually get cheaper rates. It allows you to compare different hotel/hostel rates, so you know if you’re getting value for money or not.
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Flights
To get the cheapest flights, you need to know exactly where and when you want to fly. If you are unsure about the specific details of where and when you want to go, there is a different mechanism for finding the cheapest flights, as you can afford to be more flexible. Similarly separating search engines into those which are most relevant to long and short haul will allow for more tailored searching.
The era of cheap air travel may be coming to an end. The rise in fuel costs have meant the costs for airlines have dramatically increased, with this rise in price having to be passed onto the passengers. The affect of the rising fuel prices was clearly seen towards the end of August, when Canadian budget airline Zoom went bankrupt.
However there are still loads of cheap deals out there, you just need to try and find the best deals. This section has advice on how to make sure you are getting the best deal possible.
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Car Hire
Before you decide to hire a car abroad ask yourself three questions:
- Do I really need a car? – How often will I be driving? Could I use public transport instead?
- Could I take my own car? – Depending on where you are going, it may be relatively easy to take your own car – i.e. to France
- What kind of car do I need? – The less popular models are naturally cheaper, as are manual drive cars apart from in America where the reverse is true.
If you are going to drive abroad you must have an international driving permit (IDP) which is recognised around the world. It is used in conjunction with a normal UK driving licence to validate drivers but cannot be used instead of a UK licence. It can be obtained from the post office or from certain driving organisations, see the AA website. The card costs around £4 including postage.
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Package Holidays
Package holidays are all-in-one tour operated holidays with the flight, connections and accommodation all included for one fixed price.
If you can afford to be really flexible with the date of your holiday then even greater bargains can be had. When booking with a tour operator you are protected by the Air Travel Organisers Licence if anything is to go wrong with the holiday.
Package holidays are perfect if you don’t want to organise any of your trip and want it all done for you. You can read reviews of your accommodation and resort on websites such as undercovertourist.com .
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