The holiday season has rolled round once again and we find ourselves caught up with the excitement of planning a trip, and the worry (shudder) about what we can realistically afford. With everyone looking at cheap holidays abroad, bargain hunting is going to be tough. Let’s roll up the proverbial sleeves and get to work finding ways to get at those special deals.
Online Bookings
The Internet is a wonderful tool right at our fingertips; a few clicks and we enter a world of websites offering holiday packages that include air travel, hotel stays and sightseeing trips to various destinations. It is worth splitting up the package to see whether separate bookings for airlines, hotels and sightseeing work out cheaper.
Be Patient
Make sure you have with you a good supply of time and patience; both will be needed in the quest for cheap holidays abroad. Get times and dates organised first then make up a short list of places that would make ideal holiday locations for the family. There are websites that offer instant prices, once the required information such as to and from destinations and dates are keyed in.
Holistic Online Information
There are websites that offer links to every possible sightseeing attraction in every destination along with information about entrance fees, timings and special discounts. You will find websites that offer ideas on the best places to visit in 2012 for family breaks, short stay vacations, long stay vacations, romantic breaks and teenage holiday breaks.
Cruise Vacations
Ever considered a cruise vacation? It does not necessarily have to cost the earth. Gather a list of websites to explore and check each website for special discounts or special offers. All websites have a section featuring the special promotions and deals on offer from that particular cruise line. For example, some cruises allow children under a certain age to travel free, give out on-board credits and provide complimentary shore excursions as part of the package.
Drive and Save Money
Other ways to save money is to select a departure port that the family can drive to rather than fly to. Airline costs are prohibitively expensive especially during the holiday seasons. Cruise lines during certain months of the year drop their rates to offer some fabulous deals. Individuals and couples will find it a cheap way to take an overseas trip during specific months such as January, May, October, November and the early part of December.
Cheap Charter Flights
Charter flights are an option when looking for cheap flights to lower the cost of the overall holiday package. The flights land and take-off from the major airports, but offer lower price deals because in-flight service, for example, is payable on food and drinks.
Traditional Offline Booking
As we have the Internet so readily available for addressing any queries or offering suggestions, we often forget all about brick-and-mortar travel agencies. It is quite possible to get a wonderfully cheap holiday deal by paying local travel agents a visit. The advantage here is the opportunity to talk to a real person and not someone who communicates in a virtual setup. The travel agent explains in explicit detail all the requirements for the dream holiday and he also explores a wide number of holiday options for the tourist. Customised holiday packages can be put together to accommodate the requests of each member of the family to a greater extent. This may not be possible when the travel arrangements are done online.
Conclusion
Anyone looking for cheap holidays in Europe may want to explore crossing the channel to find some really good holiday destinations and deals in places such as part of the French coastline (Brittany and Normandy). You could take the ferry across to these locations and rent a mobile home to travel around in; alternatively take your RV camper across on the ferry. It is one of the best ways to have a really cheap holiday, see the scenic locales and keep the kids entertained. This might lead to big savings on airfares, hotel stays and food, but it would also mean more work for moms and dads. Therefore, it is up to the families to decide what type of holiday they really want and how much they are willing to sacrifice to save on costs and expenses.
Citations:
Guest post provided by Sunshine.co.uk one of the leading online suppliers of cheap holidays to destionation all over the world.
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