All of us love a great getaway. Whether that means booking a cosy UK retreat or jetting broad and seeking out some warm sunshine, it is wonderful being able to escape your daily routine for a couple of weeks and exploring a new part of the world. However, we are not under any illusions that holidays are often quite expensive, particularly if you will be traveling as a family. In order to help make booking a bit less stressful and less expensive, we have compiled some of the top tips for you on how to save money on your holidays.
Utilise your points
Make sure you don’t simply allow your supermarket rewards card to gather dust sitting in a drawer or in your purse. Turn those points that you have been accumulating on your Nectar card or Tesco Clubcard into free money to use on your holiday. Points can be redeemed against flight purchases and hotel bookings also and help to pay for annoying costly extras such as airport parking. Also, you can earn points on your holiday purchases that you make as well, which can then be using for paying for food shopping after you return as well.
Get rid of the credit card
It can be a really good idea to get an airline credit card to save money on your holiday. By using it on a regular basis you can earn air miles that can result in large discounts on flights, inexpensive upgrades and a few freebies now and again. However, when it comes to getting your getaway actually booked, hide that credit card in your purse. There are some companies that will charge you an incredible 2% on the holiday amount simply for booking using a credit card. That can really add up if you happen to be going on a long trip with a family of four people. We suggest that you utilize promo codes and coupons to buy them for a cheaper price. You can check Bountii for these codes.
Timing really is everything
Timing really matters when you are booking a holiday. For example, were you aware of the fact that the cheapest day for booking your holidays is on Tuesday? According to industry experts that is the day when last-minute deals are released by airline operators, which can result in big savings for your entire family.
Tuesdays are not only the least expensive day to book a holiday. They are the cheapest day to fly as well. Whenever possible, try to avoid booking any flights that leave on either a Friday or Saturday since those days can really increase the price of your trip. You also want to ensure your fly during the afternoon instead of the evenings, since that can also save you a lot of money.
If you know precisely where and when you would like to go, then be sure to book as far in advance as possible. That will give you a longer time to pay for your holiday and allow you to take full advantage of any exclusive offers that are available such as free children’s places whenever your kids go on holiday for no extra charge. Those deals run out very fast, so you need to grab them just as soon as they are offered. It you are a bit more relaxed when it comes to when and where you want to go, then go to the airline websites and check out their last minute deals for some amazingly low prices as your departure date nears since airlines are attempting to get rid of any extra seats they have.
Do your research
When doing research, a bit of hard work can really pay off big time. There are many different criteria that can help to slice a lot money off of your holiday costs.
First of all, check to see it if would be cheaper for your holiday meals, hotels, and flights to be paid for separately, or whether it would be much more cost efficient to go with an all-inclusive package. Try to keep in mind the amount you think you will be drinking and eating and how much it will cost for transport from the hotel over to the airport is going to me, which in all-inclusive holiday will be include, since these types of elements are the ones that can make the prices on your holidays skyrocket when hey are booked individually.
Then, be sure to check to see if there are public holidays at the destination you are visiting at that time. We recommend that you avoid going then unless you are specifically going to see see the public event or holiday. Traveling will be much more expensive during that time and it will be very busy and crowded.
You will also be able to save lots of money as long as you don’t mind taking an indirect flight or going home on a different airline. That can be a bit more time-consuming and trickier to research, so you should use websites such as Kiplagged and Skyscanner to do all of the hard work for you. Enter your ideal dates and destinations and all of the least expensive flight options will be shown.
TopCashBack
If you spend at least £10 through TopCashBack via All Free Stuff on your holiday and they will reward you with giving you £10 to spend on whatever you would like. This is a very easy way of saving money on accommodation, transport, and holiday extras that you are buying already at large companies such as Hotels.com, lastminute.com, or Expedia.co.uk. Any extra money you can put into your pocket will mean less stress when spending money on souvenirs or ice cream for your children.