Sticking to the seasons?
Holiday season is basically just a mass rush hour. All the trains, buses, airports and driving services get taken up. So what do those companies do? They increase prices for their services of course! On top of this you’re trying to get a great service from airlines and travel agencies when they are at capacity and close to being overloaded. Be honest, you wouldn’t bet money on it that some part of your holiday won’t be ruined even before you have landed at your destination. This only occurs during the holiday season. Maybe that’s the issue then, you’re sticking to the seasons when everyone else goes on holiday too.
Instead, you should try something different. Instead of going on holiday in winter to a hot climate, how about going during the autumn? The seasons are opposite for the other side of the world. That’s why people go on holiday to hot countries during winter because it’s their summer. Well, autumn is spring in a hot country but that doesn’t mean it won’t be hot. Instead you should look at weather reports in the countries that you want to go. Some nations have an early summer, so even if you left before the holiday season you will still be arriving in the same weather. This takes planning and timing, but if you stop sticking to the holiday season and find destinations with amazing weather that has come early, you’ll beat the rush and bad service. For example, the Dominican Republic is warm pretty much all year round, but the traditional summer months can also bring with them a LOT of rain. It’s actually best to visit this Caribbean island between December and April (the dry season) so, if you are looking at places like the Casa de campo hotel, it’s worth looking at these months to see if this changes how much you will pay for your stay.
Don’t take their word for it
As ever with holiday season, prices will skyrocket. You can’t blame the businesses that are involved. Private drivers, airline tickets, tickets for public transport and of course hotels. Hotels especially hike their prices up because the simple fact of the matter is, there aren’t enough rooms to go round. The sheer volume of holiday goers, causes a lot of strain on hotels. In order to maximize the opportunity of the sudden and all too predictable increase in people wanting to book rooms, they essentially raise prices. If you’re set on going during a peak period, the way to go ahead is to try fly from a less popular airport, if you’d typically fly from Heathrow or Gatwick for example, why not look into Bargain Holidays from Manchester Airport instead. You’ll typically find that booking a holiday package from a less popular airport can shave hundreds off the price of travel, which in turn frees up more of your budget to use for those prime time summer hotel rooms.
If you’re wondering how to get hotel deals then take the following steps. Firstly, don’t go on holiday at peak times. It’s absurd to want low and or reasonable hotel prices when the fifty other people standing next to you are more than ready to outbid you. The second thing to do is to check with the hotel themselves. Travel agencies work directly with hotels and include them in their package offers. So prices are sometimes put higher in some places you look. But, by calling up the hotel yourself and seeing what kinds of rooms they have available and what the price would be, can net you a much cheaper room than going the mainstream route. Make sure you check price comparison websites. The company that has the website is charged with the task of collating all the data about prices and giving you an accurate contrast. Use their articles to get the information you need.
Find a new haven
The most popular destinations for a holiday in Europe are Spain, Greece, Italy and France. This is the same for all around the world, each continent has a small list of the most popular places to get a sun tan or explore the sights. Well, for once maybe you should stop going to predictable places. It’s time to find yourself a new haven. There are so many destinations that are virtually untouched by the majority of holiday goers. Either they don’t know about them or simply don’t know what is on offer in those places. For example, instead of going to a South American hotspot like Brazil or Puerto Rico, you should go to the small island of Bermuda. It has exactly the same kind of weather and sunshine, amazing beaches, incredible nightlife, fresh seafood and amazing culture that you would expect in the same part of the world. A little gem that most people either don’t know about or underestimate.
Your own home
Rather than finding a hotel, if you would like a long holiday then perhaps having an entire home to yourself is a better prospect. Look for very short-term renting houses that are designed for families or groups of friends that are either traveling or on holiday. Many landlords are opening up their best properties to holiday goers. Having the freedom to cook your own meals, come and go as you please, use driveways to park your rented car, have house parties and more is seen as a real advantage of even the best hotels. Bear in mind that you’ll need to be savvy with foreign exchange rates as the rent will of course be in the domestic currency.
You can find the best holiday you have ever had, but only if you ditch mainstream thinking. Don’t just take the price of hotels on face value, call them up directly and see what the price really is. Don’t go on holiday during peak times such as the three major holiday seasons. Look around the world for destinations that are largely unknown so you get the same experience but at a much cheaper rate.
This is a collaborative post.
