Travel planning hack # 4
- Aug 19, 2023
- 4 min read
“My favourite childhood memory is my parents paying for my holidays.”
On yes, it's true, the cost of travelling is probably one of the biggest roadblock for people to get out there.
As bespoke travel planners, we are committed to finding the best deal for our clients.
Today we'll look at practical ways to find good deals for the big ticket items such as flights, accomodation, rental cars and petrol, Let's make that long-overdue holiday happen without breaking the bank!
Hack #4: Get more bang for your buck
The best way to avoid inflated prices is to avoid the peak seasons. Please however consider whether the shoulder season allows you to do what you've set out to do on your holiday, as mentioned in Hack #2 & #3.
Flights
The following are some of the most common platforms to help you search for flights:
Price of flights are relatively similar on these platforms, but my go-to website is Skyscanner as I find the interface more intuitive and easy to use. It also has some clever function to help you finding cheaper flights.
Other than just the orthodox search (putting in the destination and dates), Skyscanner has an option to 'Explore everywhere' which will show you the cheapest places to visit from your place of origin during a specified period.
Alternatively, if you haven't decided your time of travel but have a place in mind, you can also search for the cheapest months to fly.
It's worthwhile joining a frequent flyer program. By becoming a member, you will start accumulating points on your trips that can later be redeemed to cover or offset the cost of future flights, upgrades or cash or rewards vouchers.
Accomodation
Similar to joining a frequent flyer program, signing up to a hotel's loyalty program will offer you more benefits like a free glass of champagne on arrival, discounted on meals or accomodation.
Our favourite platform for searching for accomodation is Booking.com and AirBnB. A lot of the times you'll find the same listings on these platforms.
Booking.com usually has the best deals and you get extra loyalty discounts. A tip is to do a search on both your computer and mobile phone as the prices could be different.
AirBnB offers a greater range of unique stays. You can also filter by whether you want just a room, or have the whole place/apartment without sharing any amenities.
One downside about AirBnB is that, some of the listings are purposely built for short term lease. Walls are thin, layout is awkward, and there's always something that doesn't work. Make sure you read the reviews and use key word search such as 'noise' or 'cleanliness' before booking.
Another tip is to cross check the price you get from any of the platform against prices showing on Google Travel . Also, check with the preferred accomodation directly to see if they do a better deal.
Couch Surfing is a good avenue for those with tight budget, don't mind crushing on the couch (sometimes there may be a separate guest room), and also a great way to meet the locals. I've done a few couch-surfing in my collagen-abundant days, where I've stayed with lovely hosts in Amsterdam, Berlin and Tasmania and I never felt unsafe. That said, as always, follow your gut feeling. If something doesn't feel right it's mostly likely not, especially when you are a solo female traveler.
Rental car is one thing we don't bother too much with price comparison but usually go with the big companies like Hertz, Budget, Avis, Sixt, Europcar and Alamo. They often have a wider support network in case of emergency. Driving on a foreign road (potentially on a different side to what you're used to) has its own risk, and it's not where you'd want a bargain.
You can find the best deal using the website mentioned above (Expedia; Skyscanner; Google Travel; Kayak; Momondo),
Check if insurance is included in the quotes. Some could be as low as USD$10 per day until you're picking up the car and realising the comprehensive insurance would cost you a whopping USD$100 a day!
Petrol is almost always separate from the rental car price. When you pick up the rental car, it should usually come with a full tank of petrol, and you'll be required to return the car with a full tank. Depending on the rental car company, petrol is usually more expensive if you don't return the car with a full tank of petrol.
A tip on searching for cheaper petrol - if you type 'service station' on Google Map, you'll see the petrol prices at each station in realtime. Most of the time the prices are quite accurate but just bear in mind that there might still be some variance.
For those doing a road trip in NZ and or Australia, a fantastic website to find the cheapest petrol near you is Petrol Spy. From our experience it can be more accurate than Google Map.
Other tips on finding better deals:
- check deals websites available in your country, e.g. Groupon and LivingSocial
- use restaurant apps like OpenTable or The Fork as they frequently offer promotions like 50% off meals
- check hotel package deals - Hotels with entertainment venues may bundle discounted show tickets with room rates as a package
Hopefully by now you would have opened a few links mentioned above, and feel a bit more ready to start booking your holiday.
That said, we understand life can be full of surprises and commitments. If your heart yearns to travel but life just doesn't allow, tomorrow's hack is all about how you can travel without going (too) far.
See you tomorrow!
Author: Founder, Should Have Asked - Your Bespoke Travel.
Michelle is an experienced researcher, design-thinker and in former life, government policy maker. Most days she’s an addicted traveller, a shower-soprano and mom of 30+ avocado trees.
Comments