How to reduce your holiday costs

Travelling abroad used to be a big deal, but now thanks to cheap flights and package deals you can get a great price on a holiday at any time of year, to numerous different destinations.

money saving tips

There are two main ways to make sure you get a good price. You can book early with a holiday company who offer early bird deals for those organised enough to be booking their holiday in October for the previous summer, or you can leave it to the week before to book and secure a great price by taking what’s available at the last minute.

The great thing about leaving everything to the last minute is that it adds to the excitement. You can also do a long range weather forecast to make sure that you’re not about to book yourself somewhere to stay if it’s going to rain all week. And with the stupendous choice of cheap flights around, you can choose to go somewhere that you might not necessarily have chosen if you were paying the full price.

However, by adopting this approach, you do risk having limited choices on where you might go. But bargain holidays can often end up being the best experiences, especially if you are going to a place that you’ve never visited before. As you don’t spend so much on the holiday, your expectations tend not to be so high, so when you end up having a fantastic time, it’s that much sweeter than if you had paid a lot for it.

Another way to keep holiday prices cheap is to choose your accommodation carefully. Even if you only eat breakfast in every day and still eat out for your main meals, you’ll reduce the overall cost of your holiday. And you could just as easily eat in for most of your meals, as long as you have a small kitchenette in the apartment. However, with many of the holiday companies offering all-inclusive deals on complete holidays, sometimes this is the cheapest option open to you. And it saves the hassle of having to cook while you’re supposed to be putting your feet up and relaxing!

Unless you enjoy your home comforts when you’re holidaying, another way of drastically reducing your holiday costs is to opt for a hostel. Hostels often get a bad reputation and many people don’t even consider them when planning their holiday. However, hostels have really improved in recent years. If the thought of spending the night in a dorm full of bunk beds doesn’t appeal to you, many hostels offer private and double bedrooms for that extra privacy. Many hostels include breakfast and, if your hostel has cooking facilities, you can eat very cheaply by preparing your own meals. Some hostels even have Jacuzzis and swimming pools! The great thing about this type of accommodation is that there’s always the opportunity to meet new people if you choose and hostels generally have a wealth of information available when it comes to planning your daily activities.

In terms of sightseeing forward planning is again a good idea. It’s always nice to wander around a new place and see what you discover but, if you know you are a fan of museums for example, check the tourist information office to see if you can purchase a discounted ticket that covers all the museums in the area or may be you even will get a list of free museums. Of course, there’s usually a variety of activities you can do that won’t cost a penny!

The best policy is to decide what kind of holiday you’re after and then how flexible you are about location and accommodation. Then it’s down to lots of internet searches until you find your ideal holiday at a price you like!

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