Great Prices Here

We haven’t done a ‘how to save money’ post in a while, and goodness knows we all need to save some moolah right now, with the recession hitting hard. So many of us are in financial dire straits that we could as well forget about a holiday! But you know what? You don’t have to, with a little thrift here and some smart cost cutting there, you can have yourself a good holiday or at least a decent one!

Plan and book early

Did you know that airlines start releasing cheap seats four months before departure, and if you’re looking for an international ticket, the shopping can start five to six months beforehand? And you can take advantage of online services like this fare finder which claims to “Scan Multiple Flight Comparison Sites with Just 1 Search, Comparing Numerous Travel Sites and over 600 Airlines to Find you the Cheapest Available Flights On the Internet.”

A site like Yapta.com claims to track prices before you buy. If the price drops after you buy, they say they can help you get refund travel credits from the airlines. You can also sign up for e-mail updates that will alert you if your ticket price drops after they’ve paid for it.

If you are driving concentrate on fuel efficiency and lowering unnecessary costs

Make sure the tyres are inflated optimally, drive at the speed that gives you best mileage, make sure that the engine is properly tuned as well and forego the aircon if you can. Also when on holiday, carry a reusable water bottle, and walk or use public transport whenever possible and try local delis. I totally recommend walking or using public transport in a new place; walking is the best way to explore and traveling like the locals do is the best way to enjoy the flavor of the place. Also when visiting a new place don’t go to all the usual tourist spots, do your research on the place beforehand, decide what interests you and do that rather than all the ‘must do’ and ‘must see’ items.

Check message boards or forums

I have found answers for all sorts of things on the yahoo forums and message boards, including some extremely useful travel tips. For instance I was planning to book a hotel online, and just by the way I googled for that hotel and landed on a yahoo page about the hotel. There were some really cautionary tales about that hotel there! I also found some little known but very interesting facts about the place I was to visit.

Any travel tips and tricks you would like to share here?

Tags: Money Saving, travel // 8 Comments »