Holiday Hunting Hints - A Guie to Choosing Your holiday!

Holiday Hunting Hints

Avoid "transfer supplements" with package holidays by picking up your hire car at the airport. This can save you money, get you to your hotel quicker and give you more independence during your holiday.
Flights can be repriced, not only on availability, but also according to the level of interest. So think on if you continually click on a website to see if the price has changed yet!
For charter flights, regional airports often attract a supplement. For the cheapest prices, look at London departures such as Gatwick, Luton and Stansted.
Some of the small regional airports are looking to expand and may offer incentives and special rates. Check out the local press or agencies for discounted packages and deals. Airports which have previously offered incentives include Blackpool, Leeds/Bradford, Norwich and Bournmouth.
It is a myth that prices always come down the later you leave it to book. Low-cost and scheduled airlines start low and put prices up as the flight begins to fill up. The trick here is to book early so it is worth subscribing to members’ mailings for details of when new routes and seasons go on sale. This goes for car hire too – when the majority of cars in a resort such as Nice have been booked ahead for August pick-ups, prices tend to go up if you’ve left it to the last minute as availability is limited.
There are certain times of year when it may be cheaper to book a package with a tour operator rather than do it yourself – particularly worth a look at the beginning of December, late January and June when tour operators will discount to encourage people to fill the aircraft and hotels that they have to pay for, whether there are 20 or 200 people booked.
If you’re flying long haul, compare the seat pitch of different airlines. Charter flights such as First Choice and Thomson have increased their seat pitch and may offer a better product without the need to pay expensive upgrade prices to premium or business class.
Sign up for airline loyalty cards – these can qualify you for discounts or “plus ones” such as free upgrades at counter, pre-bookable seats or entry to business lounges.
If you are travelling as a family, check out the tour operator price for 4 adults as well as 2 adults, 2 children - in some instances this can actually be cheaper. It can be a pricing anomaly but when self-catering accommodation is priced on maximum occupancy and reduced price children don't count towards that occupancy, families find themselves paying expensive under-occupancy supplements which wouldn't necessarily apply to 4 adults sharing the same accommodation. These under-occupancy supplements can sometimes outweigh the benefits of "reduced child prices". Another example is the reduction that some hotels offer to 3 or 4 adults sharing a room � again, this is not always passed onto children.
Some scheduled airlines don’t like to show discounts themselves and pass reductions through third party agencies who then offer cheaper flights or, more often, discounted packages where the flight cost is disguised.
If the holiday duration you want (eg 14nights) is not available on a charter flight but other durations (eg 7 nights) are, it is worth checking with the tour operator. There may be some flexibility with the durations made available although this can sometimes incure a charge, depending on the circumstances.
Check charter seat only prices with tour operators such as First Choice, Thomson or Airtours. These may have better flight times and cheaper prices than the low-cost airlines.
If you are planning ahead, check scheduled routes to popular destinations for deals. Airlines such as BA and KLM have previously offered cheap flights to city break destinations such as Amsterdam and Paris to rival low-cost flights if you book by a certain date.
If you’re horrified by the seat only price with a tour operator, check out the holiday package price as well – these can be cheaper as the seat only prices can be neglected for repricing.
With charter flights, midweek departures are usually cheaper than weekend flights BUT with airlines and hotels used to serving the business customer there may be deals for weekend breaks. For a cheaper scheduled flight, always include a Saturday night.
Holidays vary by country so you may find accommodation booked directly with the foreign owner cheaper than booking through a UK agency who will automatically peak their prices for UK school and bank holidays. Examples include early July in France and Spain (where national holidays are traditionally taken in August) and July/August in Florida (where demand peaks, not in the summer but the winter when the Canadians fly down to the sunshine).
School holidays vary by school and district and if you can travel a few days before (or after) the rest of the country, you’ll probably find huge reductions in price. As the school calendar changes to stagger holidays throughout the year, there may be price advantages as the tour operators struggle to manage all the regional variations.
Schools break up earlier for the summer in Scotland than England and Wales and this is reflected in charter flight supplements. Rather than choosing to fly from Glasgow or Edinburgh at these times, check the prices from Newcastle or Teeside. It may even be worthwhile, price wise, to travel down to larger northern airports such as Manchester.
Booking early when the new editions of a brochure go on sale, can secure free child places but these may only be available on selected flights and hotels (and not necessarily the most child-friendly) and you need to weigh up how much the adult price has been inflated to cover the child reduction. It is always worth checking what incentive is being offered to early adult-only bookings.
"Long stay" holidays with tour operators offer exceptional value for money. These are usually available in Mediterranean destinations over the winter when tour operators still have to fill their hotels but whose flying stops in November/December and doesn’t start again until February/March. Holidays can vary in duration for example 35 or 42 nights and are traditionally in destinations such as Costa Almeria, Tunisia or Malta. You may struggle to find these deals online but they are usually found at the very front or back of WinterSun brochures.
Long stay discounts can also apply to private villas where reductions for staying 4 or more weeks can be offered.
Tour operators offer discounts for "group bookings" and this can apply to groups as little as 10 people. You may have to ask rather than automatically qualify and don’t be afraid to play off one operator against another, particularly at quiet times of year.
Compare the brochure price with the "sundeal" price – it can be cheaper, particularly if you’re travelling with children.
Some hotels specify a minimum stay but it is always worth asking if you would like a shorter duration, particularly if you are booking last minute when the hotel may have gaps to plug or at quieter times of year.
Don’t assume that booking direct with the hotel is always cheaper. Tour operators often negotiate a cheaper rate by paying in advance and guaranteeing bookings year round rather than just in high season.
However, booking direct with a hotel can mean you are able to secure particular room types such as connecting rooms which are only offered “on request” rather than guaranteed by tour operators.
Booking on line usually brings a discount but it is always worth checking with your local travel agent too as they may have other deals in place which make more sense to you such as free insurance or no deposit.