"It is a myth that prices always come down the later you leave it to book.  Many low-cost and scheduled airlines start low and increase prices as the flight begins to fill up.  The trick here is to plan ahead so it is worth subscribing to mailing lists for details of when new routes and seasons go on sale.  This applies to car hire too - when the majority of cars in a resort such as Nice have been booked ahead for August, prices tend to go up at the last minute as availabiility is limited".

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September’s Top Tip comes from Derrick Priestly from Derbyshire who advises:

"When you go on holiday and hire a car, it is a good policy to make a note of the vehicle registration number (photograph it with your camera phone) and also the street where you park.  We flew to California, collected the car at Los Angeles airport, drove to Hollywood, parked up and then got lost.  We didn’t know where we had parked or the registration number.  It took us a frantic 2 hours to find our vehicle again and we were so fortunate it hadn’t been clamped or towed!"

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Thank you to everyone who entered our August competition.  There were votes for a wide variety of destinations from Latvia and Finland in the northern hemisphere all the way down to Australia and New Zealand.  But I can now reveal your Top Ten "Essential Destinations":

The winner is Will Weversden from London who says "My Essential Destination is Cala Gonone in Sardinia that everyone should visit in July. Hidden away over the hills, a couple of hours drive from Olbia, this is an oasis of tranquility, unspoilt by tourism with some of the clearest blue water imaginable. Lots of winding coastal and mountain roads make it an explorer's ideal destination to get out and discover more of Sardinia’s hidden treasures".