So, it’s that time of year when you’re bombarded with different sales that seem to be popping up from every company known to man! They’re everywhere and each company is vying for your attention (and hard-earned moola). Though with so many sales and discounts, it can get tricky and pretty frustrating to find the best travel deals.
Honestly, when booking trips, I’ve spent hours looking over the best routes, times, dates to just get the best deal for what I want. This is part of the fun but it can be totally time-consuming that can pay off by saving some dosh.
Looking out to find the best travel deals is something we all want to do. After all, it doesn’t matter if you’re travelling on a shoestring budget or splurging on millionaires row, each and every person has a limit of how much they want to spend.
You see, this isn’t about budget travel or uber-luxurious travel at all. It’s actually more about commonsense to make the right decisions for you, the value you place on each travel experience and finding the best travel deals that’ll make it well worth it.
This is exactly why I wanted to share some really easy tips to help you navigate those travel sales. These are, typically, all the steps I take when booking a big trip and they’ve always helped to secure the best pricing possible.
Take a look, below, at some easy tips to find the best travel deals for your next trip. Happy hunting!
1.) Clear cookies
Okay, so this is a big one and probably the easiest thing to do. Clearing your cookies (or using Incognito Mode) on your browsers is a must when on the prowl to find the best travel deals.
Now, what this does is to stop third parties (like the website your visiting), knowing your search history whilst you’re on their page. For instance, if you keep looking at Bali, they may well push up flight or hotel prices as they know you’re already decided on your destination.
Read more: Best ways to save money on travel
2.) Change browsers
This might sound strange but there have been instances (reported in the news) where companies have charged different amounts depending on what browser you’re using. It’s said, because, certain demographics/socio-economic groups might prefer one browser over another. Now, this is a pretty shady practice but I have seen this myself, so it always works checking a range of internet browsers you use.
Oh yeah, and make sure to also check a companies app, too. Sometimes, to entice customers to new booking portals, they offer lower rates for bookings. I’ve taken advantage of this when booking hotels via the brand’s app, rather than the website.
Check different browsers or the app for the company you’re booking with. Sometimes companies charge less on their apps/websites to entice customers to use that platform instead.
Read more: Easy ways to fly greener
3.) Organise it yourself
Once you’ve found a great deal on flight and hotels, it’s always worth trying to organise everything yourself.
Try planning the same deal yourself and putting all the bookings together to see the total cost. Lots of times, it works out cheaper to just buy your flights and hotel yourself, even with sales.
4.) Grab last-minute deals
Don’t assume package (hotel and airlines) sales will always be cheaper, check last-minute deals instead that can knock off lots of money for your trip.
This is especially easy if you’re more flexible with your dates and your boss is flexible with your time off! Honestly, it’s one of the easiest ways to find the best travel deals that’ll stretch those rainy-day savings a little further.
5.) Don’t add the extras
Sales or not, don’t opt-in for all the added extras straight away! A company will always want to get the most of your money out of you, so hold on to it until you’re really sure you need them (bags/seat allocation/room upgrades).
After all, you can almost always ‘upgrade’ services after the original booking date.
Plus, closer to your departure date, they typically send you emails like ’15% off checked-in luggage and even discounted deals on things like Business Class seats or hotel room upgrades.
Read more: Easy ways to fly greener
6.) Find the cheapest days to travel
Research the cheapest days of the week to fly for your chosen destination, then choose that date in the sale period itself. This usually helps to lower costs to find the best travel deals.
Use flight searching tools like Skyscanner to scour the whole year and look for a pattern of days that are cheaper to fly (for your chosen destination). Honestly, you can save an eye-watering amount with this simple tip.
7.) Be Flexible
Be as flexible as possible with your destination and timings. This will be one of the biggest factors in lowering costs for your trip.
For instance, the biggest sales you will see are for destinations that the airline and/or hotel needs to fill or new routes that they want to publicise.
Though remember, it’s unlikely that there will be massive discounts on the most popular routes, but there are still some key ways to save money on these (see below).
8.) Look for popular routes
Look for places with lots of airlines flying the same routes. This means that the airlines are all competing for your hard-earned cash and they’re usually trying to undercut one another throughout the whole year.
Though, don’t expect massive sales on these routes! Lots of planes and airlines fly these routes as they know they can get bums on seats. This all means that savings can come if you book your hotel with your flight itself. Companies like Expedia (and others) can offer deeper discounts on hotel rooms in this scenario as you’re less likely to cancel the hotel booking.
Read more: Easy ways to fly greener
9.) Don’t fall for pressure selling
Don’t feel pressured to book! This is one of the biggest things I’d say, never fall for a website saying “only 2 seats left” or “20495 are looking to book this trip now”. It’s a tactic used to hurry you into buying.
Just remember don’t stress about booking on these sales. Airlines and travel companies have many sales throughout the year.
Read more: Best ways to save money on travel
10.) Find vouchers in addition to sales
For instance, by using these discount codes, you will get 8% on hotel booking on Hotels.com. This works in addition to the discounted prices they offer.
Many other sites have things like this, too.
11.) Track flight prices
Go to sites like Google Flights to track flight prices as they can change hundreds of times during the time between being able to book a flight and take off. This will give you a clear indication of how low and high ticket prices tend to go.
Read more: Best ways to save money on travel
Check Out The Very Best Of Great Britain!
