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Cut the cost of your holiday
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1. Be careful when you book
Picking up the best travel bargains is all about timing. Long-haul specialists Trailfinders reckons the optimum time for booking is 11 months before your trip, when seats and rooms have just been released.
However, you can also pick up great deals on flights and hotel rooms if you can hold your nerve and wait until a few days before departure – especially if you’re flexible about where you want to go. You can use a search service like Kayak to find the best deals currently available.
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2. Be careful when you travel
It almost goes without saying that holidays are almost universally more expensive during July and August, when the schools close their doors to your little monsters and foist them on the rest of society.
So, if you can travel outside those times you’ll instantly save yourself a few quid. In fact, less oppressive weather often makes the “shoulder” months of May, June and September a lot more pleasant at many destinations.
You can make additional savings by not flying on Friday or Saturday, or by crossing the Channel overnight; ferry operators have been forced to slash prices by competition from the tunnel and low-budget flights.
3. Haggle
Bargaining isn’t something most of us are comfortable with, but by using price comparison sites, such as Kayak, you can arm yourself with all the information you need to start playing the agents off against each other.
The method pioneered by moneysavingexpert.com involves picking the holiday you want and then checking the deals that are available. It can be time-consuming, but you should use every source available - online agents and comparison sites, Teletext, newspapers and good old high street travel agents.
Then, when you’ve found the best available deal, start calling the high street chains and other operators to see if they’ll match it, or even offer you a better bargain. Remember to be polite, though; good manners cost nothing but can ease your negotiations considerably.
