Late Holiday Travels On a Budget: What You Need to Know
For most people, booking their holiday is done ahead of time so that they save themselves money. While this is the ideal way to book a flight or trip, it is sometimes not the case if you’ve either put off taking a holiday or last minute arrangements have been made.
Thankfully, there are still quite a few ways for you to save money and stick to a budget even if you’re making your plans last minute and are afraid you’re going to have to spend a lot of money on everything.
Use Your Frequent Flyer Miles
If you tend to do a lot of travelling, you more than likely accumulated a number of frequent flyer miles that can be used for your next trip, or at least you should have. The point of this type of reward is to help you save money on upcoming flights that you either booked late or simply didn’t think you’d need to book until last minute. These reward points can save you a lot of money when used on these last minute flights, so make sure that you use them whenever possible. Note that on certain high demand routes, the availability of reward seats (seat you can book using points or points plus pay) are limited and will be reserved well in advance.
Consider the Way You Travel
It is no surprise to most people that booking a flight last minute is one of the most expensive things about your trip. Because of this, you might want to consider other alternatives to getting to your destination. For example, you might want to think about driving or carpooling with another family member. You could also look into train ticket prices and bus passes to see how much you would save if you decided to take another form of transportation as opposed to a flight. In Europe, where high speed trains are quite commonplace, it’s often cheaper, and faster, to travel point-to-point from one city to another by train.
Research Hotels and Make a Decision on Where to Stay
Another important aspect to planning a last minute holiday is where you’ll be staying. You can save money by carefully researching different hotels in the area. One way to save money on your hotel is to book one that is outside of the town or city you’ll be travelling to. Hotels that are smack-dab in the middle of a popular city and tourist spot are going to be the most expensive, so consider getting something that is a little out of the way. You will be surprised at how much money you can save doing things this way. I have found that Holiday Hypermarket have a good range of late holiday deals available, which makes it a useful resource for comparing prices.
Another thing you could try when it comes to travelling is to make arrangements to stay with family members or friends. This will often save you a lot of money that can be spent on other things during your holiday stay. Consider all of your options when travelling so that you can stick to a budget.
Be Completely Open with Plans
As a last minute traveler, you need to be as open with your holiday plans as possible. Because you waited a bit to organize the holiday, you may not be able to do all of the things you want. For example, you might not be able to make reservations for your favorite restaurant or stay at your favorite hotel. You should expect these things and try to be as open as possible. There is no reason why you shouldn’t still have an amazing holiday even though you waited awhile to make all of your travel arrangements. By doing just a little planning, you will be amazed at how easy it is to still stay on budget and be able to do all of the things you enjoy while travelling by yourself or with family.
