10 Expert Travel Tips For Planning Your Next Trip
Planning a holiday is always exciting. It’s gives you something to look forward to. But even more so it is the opportunity to explore to your holiday destination before even stepping onto a plane or packing a suitcase. As much fun as planning can be, once the initial giddiness wears off, the foreboding stress usually sets in. Am I getting the best value for money? Are there cheaper flights I don’t know about? It always seems that the holiday’s price tag is the stress culprit.
But no longer! Like a hound dog on the scent of a hot deal, we’ve scoured the web for the best travel tips, tricks and insider expertise for cutting costs on airfare, hotels and ground transportation. So next time you are planning that special holiday, keep these tips in mind and you’ll be booking with the best of them.
Buying your flight
- Go incognito: Set your browser to private or incognito to block websites from tracking your browsing history and hiking up the prices of flights you are viewing.
- Be Flexible: If your timeline isn’t tight then being open to fly within a three-day period will save you some cash. Also, cheaper flights will usually have one of two connections, if you don’t mind the extra hours tagged on to your journey.
- Mid-week discounts: Booking your flight between Monday and Wednesday will give you bigger discounts than flying on a Friday or Sunday. Surprisingly, flying on a Saturday will also save you money. And insiders at FareCompare.com say that booking flights that depart on a Wednesday will usually save you the most.
- Red-eyes mean a happy wallet: Airlines know that most people prefer to fly between mid-morning and evening. Therefore, if you don’t mind trading sleep for some extra cash, try booking your flight first thing in the morning, or late at night to reap those extra savings.
- Be a site master: Some booking sites are better for purchasing domestic flights while others are superior for booking international travel. Knowing the differences between travel sites can save you money when booking your next trip. Also, it’s always a good idea to check the airline’s website as well to compare their fares with those listed on large comparison sites.
Here’s a Quick Key
International Flights:KAYAK | @KAYAK Expedia |@ExpediaSkyscanner | @SkyscannerWhichBudget | @WhichBudgetMomondo | @momondoFlexible Flights:Google Flights | Google Flight Explorer | <a href='https://twitter.com/GoogleTravel' target='_blank' rel=''nofollow'>@GoogleTravelAirfareWatchdog | @airfarewatchdogKayak.com/explore |@KAYAKHipmunk | @thehipmunkAdioso | @adioso
- Timing is key: Be ready to book your flight 10-11 months before you travel when prices go on sale. If that’s too far ahead, then your optimal window to book flights is around 47 days out according to a massive study conducted by Cheap Air. Once you get inside of the 30-day mark, the price starts to rise slowly, and inside of two weeks you can expect to pay top dollar.
7. Savvy looking equals cheap booking:It might take some time, but check out and compare the big names like Kayak and Trivago which gather the aggregate prices for hotels from a number of other travel sites. Other sites to browse are: Expedia, Orbitz and TripAdvisor and Travelocity. Once you have a hotel you like and an average price, try getting an even better deal from the hotel itself by calling directly.8. Know your neighbourhood: If you have a specific area or neighbourhood in mind, for example the Times Square area of New York, try bidding on rooms at Hotwire or Priceline. You won’t know which hotel you are staying in until after you purchase, but the savings will be big.9. Attack the Apps:Technology is an amazing thing, especially when it can score you amazing deals. Apps like Hotel Tonight, One Fine Standard and Booking Now can make last minute bookings a breeze. Best of all, you can pay up to 60% less than the normal price, sometimes even more!Booking your hotel
10. Know the best, forget the rest:Hoppa is the easiest and most affordable way to book your ground transportation for you next holiday. Hoppa is located in 700 airports in 116countries, so no matter where you are headed, hoppa is right there with you. Best of all, hoppa guarantees that your journey works or your money back. Now, that’s a deal.Ground transport
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