7 Ways You Can Make Sure You’re Getting The Best Deals While Travelling!
The best thing you can do with your money is travel. No two ways about it. Because at the end of the day, you don’t buy something materialistic that you’ll forget about in a few days. You invest in an experience, a memory that you will never forget in your life. However, with things only getting more expensive by the year, it is important that we become wise about how we travel. Which is why we did a piece on how to make the perfect travel budget recently. But how do we make sure that we aren’t getting ripped off? Let’s find out.
1. Cheap flights
Even though there are a number of comparison apps and websites out there that look for the cheapest flight deals (a good habit, btw), one classic questions still doesn’t fail tobaffle us time and again – when is the right time to book for flights? Should we book months in advance, or wait right till the nth hour to book one?
Here’s the thing – while many swear by the last minutebooking tactic, airline companies are now becoming smarter about this. Especially when it comes to international flights during the holiday season. It really depends on where you’re planning to go actually. When you’re travelling abroad, especially if it’s Europe you fancy, it’s best to book well in advance. For example, flights to a famous destination like Spain are cheapest 5 weeks before you actually plan on going. While for a country like Greece, which is going through a rough period currently, booking three weeks in advance should suffice. But you might have to look for tickets a good 12-13 weeks in advance if you’re planning a trip to the U.S. If you still like to book last minute, make sure you’re planning travel during the off season. Having said that, the best time to travel will vary from destination to destination. For example –
2. Sign up for alerts
Sign up with websites that send out email alerts and newsletters of cheap flight deals based on your departure city. You’ll end up getting surprised with some of the deals.
3. Social media
Social media might actually end up helping you out here. Follow/Like airline pages for updates on the best deals. Twitter is a very efficient tool in this regard actually. So apart from following travel portals like Sky Scanner and Make My Trip, also follow airline handles. You never know what you end up getting.
4. The right time to buy
Flight comparing websites will back me up on this. The cheapest days to book are Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. Friday and Sundays are the busiest, hence the most expensive. Also, early morning flights are the cheapest. Sometimes, booking in the afternoon also helps as discountedflights hit the sites then. Some flight companies also have designated sale time. Like Air New Zealand puts seats up for sale up to 11 months in advance, and has a sale in January and September. Best time to book a Virgin Atlantic is January. Singapore Airlines, between December and February. British Airways, January and September.
5. Avoid flying if possible
Sure flying is fast, and it gives you more time to spend at the destination, but it’s also bloody expensive. So if you are looking to save some time and don’t have a crunch for time, try using alternative methods of travel like a train, bus or even driving down for that matter. You might even find a killer cruise ship deal if you keep your eyes and ears open.
6. Look for a stopover
A direct flight, although, will get you to your destination faster, will also be considerably more expensive than flights that have one or two stopovers. Make the most of this, lookfor a flight that has a stopover of more than 12 hours. It’ll give you the chance to travel a new city as well. Oh yeah, make sure you have a visa for that place. Waiting for hours in an airport can be excruciating otherwise.
The trick for cheaper hotels is also similar. The most pocket-friendly option would be staying in a hostel. Especially in Europe. Another cheap alternative is AirBnb. But if your heart is set on staying in a hotel, do a comparison of hotel ratesand book in advance. Sometimes, booking right before your trip can also help you land a great deal. Some of these would be non-refundable, so you might need to keep that in mind. According to most travel blogs, the best days for finding a room at discounted rates are Sundays, Mondays and Thursdays.
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