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Learn how you can Travel abroad for less than the cost of a 'staycation'.
Disclosure: This page contains affiliate links which means I earn a small commission if you make a purchase via any of these links at no added cost to you. I offer only honest opinions on all products and services and recommend only those I believe to be of a high standard and great value. For further information please see our disclosure policy here.
In the current climate, it would be easy to assume that a family holiday abroad is out of your price range.
Like many, you may be thinking you can only afford a ‘staycation for your next family holiday. However, this is often not the case, in fact, in our experience, a 'staycation' can cost twice as much as a holiday abroad!
Meaning, with just a little bit of time and effort spent before booking, you and millions of others, could SAVE money by booking your dream destination!
Table or contents:
How to save money by booking a holiday abroad!
I often hear people announce, ' we can't afford a holiday abroad this year, so we have booked a 'staycation' instead.
Now, let's be clear, I am not against those who wish to holiday close to home, in fact, we have stayed in many a lodge, pod, tent and caravan (you name it, we have stayed in it) ourselves over the years and enjoyed every minute of it, every time!
However, for those who want nothing more than to visit warmer climes, go to the Christmas markets in December or to go on an adventure holiday but believe it is out of their price range, I am going to give you a few things to consider.
Are you looking in the right places? …
…Or have you fallen into the trap of believing you can only book package holidays with big travel companies?
Do you allow yourself a good few hours to look for the best deals? ...
… Or are you far too busy for that and just take a 5-minute look on your dinner break?
If you really want that special holiday abroad and you have the means to save a little, there are many things you can do to cut the price of any trip, whether it be with family or friends, a Honeymoon, a Solo trip, or something else!
Keep reading to find out how you could save hundreds on your next trip abroad!
So, what’s the big secret to getting money off your next holiday?
The biggest trick in the book, that can save you hundreds on your next trip is to consider booking everything independently!
Don’t be scared to go it alone!
You do not have to book a package holiday with a big named company!
I know that is going to scare some people but hear me out.
What if it gets cancelled or something goes wrong?
Well, here is something you might not know. If you book everything using a credit card and your transaction is between £100 and £30,000*, you are covered if anything was to interrupt your holiday plans.
This is due to something called the ‘section 75 act’ which you can read more about here: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/section75-protect-your-purchases/
( *Please note this is based on UK law, please consult a lawyer or your card provider regarding credit card purchasing law in your own country).
What else can I do to protect myself?
I highly recommend, with any holiday, package or Independent, that you take out Travel Insurance.
I must stress that this needs to be done as soon as you have booked your flights.
NOT JUST BEFORE YOU GO AWAY!
If your vacation is cancelled before you purchase Travel Insurance, you are not covered for any losses!
Therefore, you must buy it as soon as you book your holiday. Although you need to purchase this early, you only need to include your actual travel dates when requesting quotes.
You do not have to ask to be covered from the date you purchase*; this would result in your being charged for every day between now and then.
(*Again, I am based in the UK so please check if the rules are the same in your corner of the world if you are reading this from elsewhere).
I'm confused!
If you are now scratching your head thinking, I thought I was covered if I paid over £100 by credit card, the answer is, you are, for actual purchases such as accommodation or flights.
However, this is not helpful if you become ill abroad and need medical treatment, or if your luggage is stolen or lost whilst you are away for example.
Therefore, I strongly urge you to get that travel insurance!
Using a comparison site is often a good way to ensure the best price.
If you have any medical issues, please be sure to search comparison sites for medical travel insurance to save you from finding the results do not meet your needs and resulting in you having to fill in lengthy online forms all over again! No one has time for that, right?
Now that we have addressed the important stuff, let’s begin the fun bit and answer some of the common questions I have been asked previously….
Where do I start when booking independently?
Decide where you want to go -
This may sound obvious but the first thing to do is decide on your preferred destination. It’s best to be a little bit flexible here and have a few options in mind, this will increase your chances of finding an amazing deal.
Choose your dates -
Work out what dates you and your travel companions are available to travel. If you are hoping to travel for 7 days for example purposes, try to choose a time when you each have a day or 2 wiggle room on either side of your perfect dates.
It will become clear why a little bit later in the post!
There are a few things you may want to bear in mind when choosing dates, especially if you have a young family like us. For example, we all know that the price of holidays rises dramatically during school holidays.
However, what you may not know is that most children (in our part of the UK at least) are allowed a certain number of sessions (morning and afternoon being two separate sessions) off school each term before a fine can be issued.
Now, I am obviously not suggesting that everyone take their child out of education for a week to sit on the beach. However, we personally have found that booking even just a few days earlier than most of the schools break up can reduce the price dramatically!
As we are a family of explorers who love nothing more than to immerse ourselves in the culture and traditions of the locals wherever we travel, we strongly believe that our son learns more from his experiences in these few days, than he would have done sat in his classroom.
We are big advocates of working hard in school, but we also believe that you can’t beat discovering things in the real world!
(This is something you may want to investigate further but please check the rules in your local area before booking, as other areas are likely to have different rules and regulations).
Decide on a realistic budget –
This is the most important part of the planning and I believe it warrants a lot of consideration to avoid unnecessary debt or anxiety in the future.
If there is one thing that can ruin a vacation, it's worrying about how you are going to pay for it in the build-up or feeling like you must be overly critical of what you spend whilst you are away.
Consider what you have in savings already, then determine how much you can realistically raise within your chosen time frame.
Where can I book cheap flights?
When it comes to booking your flights you may find it a bit of a chore but personally, I love this part! Probably because it involves two of my favourite things, bagging a bargain and travel!
Ok so, you might not find it as exciting as I do, but with a bit of perseverance and a few minutes of your time, you may be pleasantly surprised at just how much you can save!!
And trust me, when you are sitting in a little taverna in Greece or sunbathing on a sandy beach in Spain that little bit of effort will have been 100% worth it!
Where is the best place to start my flight search?
There are many sights you can visit to check for cheap flights, however, my favourites are Skyscanner and google flights.
We will concentrate on Skyscanner for this post, but other platforms work in a similar way.
The whole month option –
When you select the whole month option you get to see the prices of flights on each specific day.
This allows you to see when the cheapest flight days are. When doing this you will notice that often, and somewhat surprisingly to many, adding an extra day to your vacation can actually bring the price down dramatically!
However, please bear in mind that this can mean extra accommodation and spending costs. The extra cost is something you will have to weigh up at the time and decide if it benefits your situation or not.
If you are lucky, the saving made is sometimes greater than any added costs. Meaning you effectively get the extra days for free or at a very low cost. For this reason, it's definitely worth a look.
TOP TIP:
If you don't see a price for the day you wish to travel click on it anyway. Often there is a flight available but they do not always appear until you select the date.
Include all passengers -
Never assume that you can get the price for one person and then multiply it to work out the cost of a flight. Often, depending on age, children are cheaper than adult passengers and sometimes free.
Also, with some airlines children and one accompanying adult may not have to pay for their seats. You may also decide that not all passengers need to have their own suitcase or extra hand luggage. Meaning you can cut the flight price even more by considering these things.
Check the direct flights box -
Unless you don't mind stopping off at different countries along the way, always check the direct flights option box.
Although, allowing multiple stops can make your flights much cheaper. The extra time added though is obviously not for everyone.
Check flight times -
Some destinations have various flight time options. It’s important to make sure they are suitable for your needs, sometimes a slightly more expensive flight means you will save money in the long run. Due to an early flight home meaning, you will not need more spending money for your last day for instance.
Or, if like us, you try to make your holiday as stress-free as possible, you could choose a flight that allows you to take your time. Avoiding any middle of the night /early morning rushing around, can massively reduce any anxiety.
You may also want to bare flight times in mind when deciding how you intend to get to your chosen airport. Public transport often won’t get you to the airport in time for the very early or late flights. Therefore, you may save money on a very early flight but please bear in mind you may then need to pay for a taxi or parking.
Adding Luggage –
Please remember that on top of the flight price you see on the likes of Skyscanner, you still need to factor in the cost of luggage on top of it.
If you are like us, you may consider travelling light with hand luggage (cabin bag) only.
This comes with its advantages and disadvantages. Obviously, it keeps costs down, and you can be through the airport in no time and drinking a nice cold beer whilst everyone else is still checking in their heavy cases!
However, it does also mean you have to really think about your liquid allowance and forbidden items that you may be able to include in hold luggage but not in a cabin bag.
So what's next?
Once you have discovered the best / cheapest flights for your party, make a note of these and have a look at some accommodation.
Do not book any flights until you have at least had a quick look at what accommodation is on offer!
It is best to make a note of a few locations as a cheap flight sometimes indicates expensive accommodation.
so where do I find Cheap accommodation?
There are many companies offering a huge selection of accommodation for those who book independently. Some of our personal favourites are Booking.com , Trip.com , Air bnb, Hotels.com and Expedia, however, there are also the likes of Vrbo, kayak, Trivago and many more.
We will concentrate on Booking.com for this post but all platforms work in a similar manner.
Before you are ready to choose any property there are a few things you should do to help you find the perfect accommodation at the cheapest price:
Sign in or create a free account -
This is because you sometimes receive discounts, such as you may receive a genius discount, especially if you have purchased accommodation before.
Sort into price order -
When searching for your desired area it is always a good idea to sort them into price order from low to high.
Select amenities –
Choose the amenities that are most important to you. This can be anything from a pool to a balcony, or you can leave it blank for more options and consider narrowing these down later.
Select the free cancellation option –
Selecting free cancellation will allow you time to change or cancel your booking without occurring any charges if need be.
Now you have narrowed down your options you are ready to look at accommodation images and locations.
When you find a property that you like the look of there are a few more things you should do before booking:
Click on ‘show on map’ -
This will allow you to see where the selected property is in relation to the airport.
As a general rule the further away the more the transfers will cost.
It will also give you the opportunity to see all the other available accommodations in the area.
Scroll down -
One of the most important but less obvious things to do when viewing property on Booking.com is to scroll down the page and click on the name of your specific room choice, next to where it tells you the type of room it is.
Only then will you see the actual photographs of the room you are going to get should you book. This is highly recommended; it takes seconds, and you may be shocked at how different the room you were actually going to get is from the one you thought you were booking.
Check what is in the area -
Depending on what you want from your holiday you might also want to do a quick google maps search to see how many restaurants, bars and attractions are within a particular distance.
Top tip:
At this stage, I normally have a very quick Google to see if there are any local buses or trains that can take you from the airport and check the taxi prices so I can make a well-informed decision.
Is there anything else I can do to get more money off?
Once you are completely happy with the price, room, location and attractions and you feel you have exhausted all avenues and cannot possibly find anything better. There are still a few more things you could do to bring that cost down a little:
ACCOMMODATION
Check the mobile price before you book -
We have found that on Booking.com especially there are often big discounts added on the app that is for mobile purchases only.
Check competitor sites -
We personally always check around before we make any final decisions. You will find that many property owners advertise on more than one platform. Sometimes priced differently, so it is also worth a look. For instance, if you find a property you love on Booking.com nine times out of 10 it will also be on Expedia or Hotels.com also and may be cheaper.
Contact the property direct -
This doesn’t always work as some owners do not have their own website or they simply offload all rooms to platforms such as Booking.com.
However, if they have a Facebook page or website contact them for a price. 99% of the time we find that this works out cheaper as they avoid paying platform fees by selling to you direct.
Going straight to the owner of the hotel or apartment can often mean a further saving of around 10%- 20% in our experience.
TRANSFERS
So, I have found my flights and my favourite accommodation, but how do I get to it?
As discussed above this needs some consideration before booking if you are hoping to keep the cost as low as possible. Some things to consider when looking for transfers are:
Public transport -
Are there any buses, trains, or taxi ranks in the airport or nearby and how much will they cost? A quick google should answer these questions.
You should also check if they have Uber in the country, you are visiting as we have found these to be much cheaper than the local taxi firms.
Top tip:
Join Facebook groups for your chosen location. Here you can ask people who are regulars in the area about things such as transport and prices. Also, we often see members asking for others to share a taxi with, to cut costs when there are only a few of them travelling.
Transfer companies -
Check if there are any of the big transfer companies operating in the area such as Holiday taxis , Get Transfer or Hoppa. These are often much cheaper than getting a taxi, there are usually discount codes online for them and they also send you codes via email for future bookings regularly.
Could you walk -
A quick look on google maps will tell you the time it takes to walk to your accommodation from the airport or to a nearby Taverna, Konoba, Bar or Osteria where you can enjoy a refreshment before making your way to your accommodation via public transport for example.
When on google maps, drop the little yellow man onto the blue path that appears with your directions. This may allow you to see more clearly what the road is like, whether it has a path to walk on and if it is well lit and what is around the area.
Please bear in mind that some of the images might be out of date but the general structure is usually not too different.
We did this recently in Dubrovnik, we walked 2 minutes to a local bar by the airport and had a nice relaxing Croatian beer in the sun before ordering an Uber from there. This worked out much cheaper than getting a taxi from the airport.
Walking is obviously not suitable or enjoyable for everyone. It really depends on your own boundaries and what works for you and your party.
Take Away:
Use the whole month feature on Skyscanner and don’t assume if there is no price that there is no flight.
Consider taking hand/cabin luggage only but make sure you check the size and weight allowance of this kind of luggage as each airline has its own rules.
Always have a map open in another browser when searching for accommodation and take note of where the airport, restaurants and attractions are in comparison to it.
Check the prices of accommodation in your mobile app as often there are app-only discounts to be had.
You could save you around 10%- 20% by contacting the hotel or apartment owner direct.
Check local bus and train timetables online and discover the locations of their main stations.
Email local taxi firms for prices and consider sharing with others or use the Uber app for further discounted travel in most cases.
Search for discount codes if you are booking your transfers with a travel company such as Hoppa , Get Transfer or Holiday taxis.
Join groups on socials for your chosen location to discuss anything from sharing a taxi to local attractions, transport prices and eatery recommendations.
Disclosure: This page contains affiliate links which means I earn a small commission if you make a purchase via any of these links at no added cost to you. I offer only honest opinions on all products and services and recommend only those I believe to be of a high standard and great value. For further information please see our disclosure policy here.
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