Money saving tips for booking a holiday

Hi, my name is Mel and I blog over at The Diary Of A Jewellery Lover. My blog is a lifestyle blog with a strong emphasis on fashion, food and travel. Travel is my passion, and I love taking time to plan the perfect holiday, so today I am going to be sharing some of my money saving tips when booking a holiday.

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Flights
Flights are invariably cheap when they first are released. This is approximately 11 months beforehand. You may also get cheap flights and upgrades last minute but this depends on availability.

If you can avoid school holidays prices will be invariably cheaper. However if you cannot, the end of August is often cheaper than the beginning of the summer holidays in July.

Sites such as Sky Scanner and Kayak.com can be useful to compare flights. Telephone companies such as Dialaflight are also price competitive. If you are going long haul, flying indirect can often be cheaper although will add time onto the length of the flight.

If you like a particular carrier, and fly frequently consider signing up to the companies loyalty scheme where you can get points or miles and exchange them for rewards such as free or reduced flights.

Accommodation
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There are many choices of accommodation from hotels, apartments, bed and breakfasts, hostels and even someone’s home. Here I will examine some ways to save money in booking accommodation.

If you know the hotel you wish to book, booking direct often gives a guarantee of the best price, but check the hotels terms and conditions.

Price comparison sites such as Trivago, and the price comparison section on Trip Adivsor can help you get the best hotel, for the right dates, at a great price, but again always check with the hotel direct when you know where you want to stay, in case they are cheaper. You may also check out HotelsCombined to find and compare hotel rates.​

Going through a cashback site such as Quidco or Topcashback can often give you a percentage back of the price. This is not guaranteed however and occasionally it does not track correctly.

If you like a particular hotel chain, it is always worth signing up to their loyalty scheme, which may get you a free upgrade or free wi-fi. Some hotels also give senior citizen discount as well.

You can save money by booking accommodation with self catering facilities. If you do go down this route take the essentials with you if you can to save the pennies.

Hostels are usually very cheap, but may have shared facilities such as bathrooms and toilets.

The cheapest way of holidaying is with a house swap. Sites such as Home Exchange help you swap houses with others with only a registration charge to use their site.

Food And Drink
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If you have flights where food is not included consider taking your own food on board the aeroplane. This will invariably be cheaper and more edible than plane food! Of course you cannot take drinks past security but you can buy drinks at the airport directly before boarding the flight.

Sometimes you may get a good rate on a hotel stay, where breakfast or other food is included, but be sure to weigh up the differences to the cost of the room alone. If you do not have breakfast included, it is usually cheaper to take a walk outside of the hotel to have breakfast, however there is something to be said for filling up on a breakfast buffet at your hotel.

Eat and drink the local food to save money as imported produce can be expensive.

If you are travelling to a developed country, ask for tap water to save even more. Occasionally restaurants will say they can only give you bottled water but these are few and far between and are usually in more upmarket restaurants.

Coupons and Discounts
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Be like the Americans and use coupons for discounts whilst on holiday. Sites such as restaurant.com, ChameleonJohn, Groupon and Travelzoo can give you reduced meals and entry to attractions. Hotels may have discount vouchers at reception too, it is worth keeping your eyes peeled when you check in.

Google is your friend. Before you visit an area Google discount or coupon and the name of the city you are visiting. You maybe surprised what coupons you will find. America is particularly good for this.

If you are a member of the Automobile Association the ARC Europe sign on the back of your card will get you discounts in the UK, Europe and America. Check out the AA website for more information.

If you are a student or OAP consider taking evidence of this when you go on holiday as many places give a concessionary discount to these groups of people.

There are so many ways to saving money on holiday, and these are just some. Let me know if you have used any of these tips yourself or if you have any new tips to share. Have fun!