Travel Booking flights, rental cars and hotels can add up quickly, but with a few simple tips you can save big when booking your next vacation. We asked a few travel experts how to travel luxuriously on the cheap. Learn how to cut the cost of booking travel, from flights to hotels to car rentals.
Get a Credit Card with Big Bonus
Blogs and online forums refer to it as travel hacking, stacking, or credit card churning, but the idea is the same: sign up for credit cards with big bonuses and cash back programs to earn points redeemable for free travel. Some rewards cards are co-branded with airlines or hotels, meaning you can only use your points on that specific airline or hotel.
Sign up bonus and a number of other perks, including lounge access in airports around the world. If you’re not in the right place, don’t sign up for a credit card. You could be hurting yourself in the long run. That said, if you use them responsibly, credit card rewards can be, well, rewarding. Just make sure to read the fine print and know what’s included while travel booking.
Fly on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday
Like any other industry, airline flight prices depend on supply and demand. Prices are cheaper when there’s less demand, and that’s typically during the week. Instead of flying with the masses on a Friday, Saturday, Sunday or Monday, travel on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday and you’ll find that prices are lower.
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For the same reason, flights are usually cheaper on holidays, but significantly more expensive on the days before and after the holiday. You can save a considerable amount of cash flying on Thanksgiving, for example, instead of the Tuesday before. Of course, the downside is that you will have to travel on a holiday, but the upside is beating the crowds.
Track your Flight and Get Price Drop Alerts
Search for flights, then keep track of them through their interface or even via email alerts. If a flight drops or increases in price, you’ll get a notification. Google Flights allow you to search for flights, then keep track of them through their interface or even via email alerts. Search tools like Kayak allow you to filter flight prices by ticket class for your travel booking.
Mix and Match Airlines and Airports
When booking your round-trip flight, search for two separate one-way tickets, too, possibly on different airlines. Instead of buying a round-ticket on one carrier, piece together two one-way tickets on two different carriers. Sometimes, the overall price is less expensive for two one-way tickets instead of one round-trip ticket.
This might also come in handy if you need to cancel just one leg of your flight. For example, if you’re flying to New York, but your departure date changes, it may be cheaper to pay a cancel fee for your one-way departing ticket than to cancel and re-book your entire round-trip flight. Of course, this also depends on how the airline handles flight changes. Also, if you end up extending your trip to stay in your destination city longer, it may be easier to make a change when you book separate tickets.
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It may also be cheaper to fly into or out of an alternative airport. If you’re flying into London City, for example, don’t limit your search to LCY. Search for flights to and from surrounding airports, like Heathrow (LHR), Gatwick (LGW), Luton (LTN), etc. Just make sure they’re not too far out of the way of your destination, otherwise you could find yourself on a mini road-trip from the airport to your hotel.
Take Advantage of Long Layovers
Layovers will often make your flight cheaper, but the downside is, well, a layover. One way to use this to your advantage is to turn a longer layover into a bonus trip. For example, if you’re flying to London and flights with layovers in Dublin are cheaper; search for the flights with the longest layovers to see if the prices are similar. If you have a 14-hour layover in Dublin, that could be enough time to grab a quick bite in a famous restaurant, head to local famous landmarks and return to the airport.
At AirWander, for example, you plug in your destination and origin city and the website will populate a list of flights with extra-long layovers to help you squeeze in a bonus trip.
Call the Hotel Directly for the Best Prices
Even if you use a website or app to find a discounted rate on lodging, most hotels prefer you to call them directly when you book. They might even offer lower prices for booking directly. Hotels appear to be doing all they can to entice guests to book direct, so take advantage of it.
An added bonus of travel booking directly through the hotel is that it’s easier to get upgraded. You can increase your chance of an upgrade by informing the front desk of a special occasion, anniversary or birthday but never ask for an upgrade outright. Of course, a little politeness toward the front desk staff will go a long way, too.
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Also, check deals available through the travel portal of your warehouse club membership. Membership programs often come with a handful of travel discounts that are easy to overlook. If you already pay for any kind of monthly membership, look into possible discounts that come with that membership.
Beware of Big Events
Hotel prices will soar if there’s a conference or other event in town; So check to see what’s happening in your destination city before you etch your plans in stone. If there are big events going on like a sporting event or trade show, or if it’s during peak holiday season, prices may be higher than usual. Sometimes only shifting your travels by a few days could make a big difference.
Negotiate Car Rental Upgrades
If you’re going to book a rental car, start by booking the cheapest car you can find online. Then try to negotiate for a free upgrade when checking in at the car rental counter. You can typically get an upgrade for far less than the cost of booking the next class of car. The goal of the car rental agent is to get customers to spend more than their original reservation, even if it’s just a dollar or two.
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