If you book well in advance you have a lot of time to take a close look at the hotel prices and airfare; and make relevant changes. When you are searching for a long time, you have time to find the good deals.

Try to look online for various travel deals. Booking online is probably one of the most cost-cutting and valuable methods of making reservations somewhere. Simply checking websites that claim the lowest prices isn’t enough anymore. Compare prices everywhere in order to get a good travel deal.

If you’re a generally a spur-of-the-moment type person, always be sure to check for last minute deals on flights that still have empty seats a few hours before boarding. This could cut costs by a lot since airlines want your business.

When searching for a good travel deal, make sure to look and see if the price of the ticket includes taxes and all applicable fees. If not, you may be tacking an additional hundred dollars onto your price.

When you are looking for a hotel or an airfare do not just take the first rate that you are offered. Ask if there are special rates for senior, corporate or military (or something else that you might qualify for).

Selecting a hotel just outside the major city you’re visiting tends to be cheaper as well; which allows for a better travel deal. Ask for an upgrade to a suite because many companies will do it for free if the room is empty.

An easy way to get a good travel deal on a rental car is to ask for an upgrade. It is also often cheaper to rent a car on the internet, and a full week rental will often be cheaper than the daily rate. Remember always to check for extra taxes on the rate that you are offered.

Check if your auto-insurance covers if you are involved in an accident in your rental car. Also make sure to make a note of any stains, scratches, dents and or other damages before you leave the lot. There is no reason why you should pay the bill for someone else’s lack of care.

There is still money to be saved, when you arrive at the destination. Eat at the local restaurants instead of on the hotel. And instead of taking a cab, you should walk. It will also make it possible for you to enjoy the local scenery.

Martin Elmer is the editor of Ferierejser tilbud. Here you can also read about Billigflybillet.

categories: hotel,flight,airfare,airline tickets,car rental,car hire,travel deals,last-minute,taxes,fees,save money,cheap,auto-insurance,travel

This year may be the best time in ages to take a well deserved vacation because the travel industry is having financial difficulties in these tough economic times.  You now can find incredibly cheap airfares and last minute flights, exclusive hotels and cheap hotels, family resorts and all inclusive resorts, as well as discount cruises and last minute cruises on the web, or at your local travel agency.  It stands to reason that if any airplane, hotel, resort, or cruise ship is not fully booked, that represents a significant loss of income that can not be recouped, so this is your time to grab the best possible travel deals in years.

When you search for holiday air flights on the internet you should first look at sites that have ticket price listings for multiple airlines.  That way you can compare airfare prices side by side.  If you search for air consolidators you’ll find that they have secured blocks of discount airline fares from a number of airlines.  One of the well-known major discount airlines you should also look up is Southwest Airlines which is not usually included in the air consolidator or multiple commercial airline websites. 

If you are planning air travel to Europe there are a number of European airlines that offer incredibly low fares, some as low as $60 U.S., when you fly between countries within Europe.  Ryanair is the top low cost airline in Europe.  It also flies to and from the United States.

Choice hotels, luxury resorts, including all inclusive resorts are now offering amazing bargains as they try to maintain full occupancy.  On the internet you can search the words, hotels, or hotel finder to locate multiple discount hotel rates.  The same also applies to resorts.  If you want to take your pet on vacation with you, just search pet friendly hotels. 

Another great source for reasonable accommodations are vacation rentals.  These can include home owners who own recreational property such as holiday homes, cottages, or condos and now need to rent them because of the slow economy.  There are also beach vacation rentals available at substantial discounts. 

Luxury cruises at really great discounts abound.  One of the major advantages that Americans have is that the cruise lines are increasing their presence by adding a few more ports and increasing some sailings on both the East and West coasts of the United States.  Cruise tours are generally comprised of both a cruise and land tour.  You can opt for taking the cruise first to a destination port and then continue with the land portion of the tour.  Or, vice versa.  You can take the land excursion first and then board your ship for the luxury cruise.   If this is your first cruise, or you’re not really sure what you want in a cruise, it may be advantageous to deal with a travel agency that specializes in cheap cruises like a cruise consolidator, by searching that phrase, or by booking with a local travel agency that has extensive experience in booking cruises.

Cruises are more complicated then booking cheap flights or cheap hotel rooms because there are numerous options which can be confusing to many first time cruisers.  Some items to consider are the choice of state rooms (inside, ocean view, and balcony), deck location of the state rooms, and dinner sitting options except on ships that have anytime dining, etc.  Keep in mind that it doesn’t matter if you opt for the least expensive accommodation, you are always entitled to use all the standard amenities on the cruise ship.  All quoted prices are usually based on double occupancy.  Always make sure that you are aware of the total cost of your cruise including all government fees and port charges.

When you book any vacation travel deals or holiday travel packages, it’s always best to pay with a credit card.  That way you will have a record of all your trip transactions just in case a dispute arises with a bill, or a travel supplier runs into financial difficulty.  It’s highly unlikely the latter would happen, but if it does you’ll have a better chance of being reimbursed or rebooked.

Book early but not too early

Airlines will give you a better deal the further out you book. But keep in mind not to book too far in advance as you may miss any fare wars etc. For domestic US travel use the airfare prediction site FareCast to see where fares are headed.

Be flexible

As a general rule traveling Mondays – Thursdays will give you a better deal as most carriers charge more for weekend travel.

Saturday night stay

This is more important in international travel. Almost all cheap international fares require a Saturday night stay. In the US domestic markets Saturday night stay requirements have to the most extent become a thing of the past.

Alternative airports

Domestic US: Great way to shop for lower airfare is to check fares out of or into alternative airports. For example, if you wanted to go from Boston (BOS) to Los Angeles (LAX) you may also check fares from Providence (PVD), Manchester (MHT)or Hartford (BDL) and into Orange County (SNA), Long Beach (LGB)or Ontario (ONT). Some sites such as Orbitz and Travelocity offer search tools that automatically search for cheaper fares for alternative airport. Again, the more flexible you are the more likely you will find a deal.

International: Finding an alternative airport can save you some serious money but it does require some research and “thinking outside the box.” Here are a couple of examples. When traveling to Germany considering Dusseldorf (DUS) as an alternate to Frankfurt could save you over $50 per person in taxes and fees. Germany’s second largest carrier LTU flies nonstop to DUS from several major US departure cities. Check out Brussels (BRU) or Luxemburg (LUX) as alternates to Paris (PAR).

Buying a round trip ticket

Buying a round trip ticket is almost always cheaper tan buying a one-way ticket. This may not be true for tickets that are purchased last minute or on flights that are almost sold out. Some carriers such as Southwest Airlines and JetBlue price their fares on a one-way basis.

Travel off-season

If your travel is for leisure, you can often find lower rates for off-season fares. If circumstances allow be creative in your vacation planning, and you could save big bucks over time. For example, good times to travel to Europe are usually the first 2 weeks in December and January through March. Also, when planning summer travel to Europe try to depart before May 20. Most carriers switch from shoulder season to high season fares sometime between May 20 and 25. For domestic travel, school vacation, public holidays, Christmas and Thanksgiving are considered peak travel periods and fares tend to go up.

Below are some online website resources for finding cheap airfare.

Online Newsletters

By subscribing to some of the more reputable newsletters such as TravelZoo or Smarter Travel you have great and updated access to travel deals on a weekly basis. Many airlines frequently announce new sales or deals online and you want to know about them as soon as possible. The publishers of these newsletters often receive payment from vendors for placement.

Yet Undiscovered Deal Sites

Some of the least know sites may have the “in” to the absolute best deals. One of these sites is Airfarewatchdog. This site has now been around for about 2 years and it specializes in unearthing unadvertised airfare specials. This site is run by George Hobica, a travel journalist with over 25 years of experience in the travel industry. He is a true fanatic about finding incredible airfares.

Cheap Airfare Prediction

While still in a beta phase FareCast promises to truly revolutionize the way we buy airfare and it allows some sort of parity when looking for the best time to buy. They also offer FareGuard which allows you to protect your low fare against future fare increases. To date they cover about 75 US domestic airports.

Low Fare Alerts and Flex Searches

Several of the online travel agency websites also offer low fare alerts. With Travelocity you can see fares from your departure city that have dropped by 20% or more. Alternatively you can use the Fare Finder Search to see a listing of low fares without first having to commit to travel dates. Cheaptickets allows you to set a target price for your trip; once one or more airlines offer fares at or below your target level Cheaptickets will post an alert you. Expedia also offers a flexible date search. While limited in scope this calendar based feature is pretty easy to use (make sure to check “My dates are flexible”) and quickly shows you cheap fares.

Name Your Own Airfare and White Label Fares

In addition to searching for regular published airfare Priceline allows you to “name your own airfare”. Hotwire offers white label fares. In each scenario you do not know the carrier, flights times or the exact routing. With Priceline you basically bid what it is you are willing to pay for a ticket. Once you submit a bid Priceline will see if there is a carrier willing to sell you a ticket at that price (beware: THEY YOUR OFFER IS BINDING if accepted). With Hotwire you will be offered a white label fare. Again, you do not know the carrier, flights times and exact routing. Once you decide to buy there is “NO WAY BACK” If you do not like the flights details. So, either site can save you a bundle but make sure you can stomach the consequences and be flexible.

Flying Abroad? Check Consolidators

Consolidators basically negotiate airfares directly with carriers. These are unpublished (I.e. the airlines do not publish these fares) and can only be purchased from the consolidator. Some consolidators only re-sell these to travel agents while others sell directly to the public. One of the best retail sources for consolidated airfare anywhere is www.FlightsFirst.com.

Compare Apples to Apples

IMPORTANT: When comparing fares from different sites or vendors make sure to consider all the elements. In order to get the full picture of how much a trip is going to cost you must take all taxes, fees, fuel surcharges, and services charges into account. While the base fare maybe the same at two sites taking the above into account could save you some serious money. This is especially true when traveling overseas or to Central and South America.