Author Topic: Holidays  (Read 4668 times)

taylost3

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Holidays
« on: March 14, 2018, 10:43:48 AM »
I'm pretty frugal with everything but holidays just seem to cost a bomb. We (wife and I) are looking at a week in the sun this June somewhere like Cyprus, Croatia or similar in a nice hotel but can't find anything for less than £700pp for the two of this. Any tips on reducing the cost of holidays or websites etc to use.

Playing with Fire UK

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Re: Holidays
« Reply #1 on: March 15, 2018, 01:18:47 AM »
Are you constrained to particular times of year (school holidays)?

Have you tried flying mid-week to mid-week? It makes some holidays cheaper.

Expedia is good, the BA Holidays website can be good value when there is a sale on. Sites like Icelolly.com and Onthebeach.co.uk have both total bargains and some really annoying "offers" that get increasingly expensive when you call up or elect for direct flights. I'm finding Croatia in June in a 4 star hotel for under 400pp - not sure if it is what you are looking for though.

Try clearing cookies and/or using private browsing - if you view something and go back to book I find the price increases and then drops again when I use a new browser.

ruffles

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Re: Holidays
« Reply #2 on: March 16, 2018, 05:34:27 AM »
Not sure if this helps but we used to go to Cyprus quite a lot as a friend had an apartment out there:

Flights are fairly regular with SleazyJet so it's quite possibly cheaper to book these and the accommodation separately. Touching on what Playing with Fire UK said, check the midweek flights. We always found it cheaper to fly out on a certain day and then return on a different day the following week. Eg. fly out Tuesday, come back Thursday or Friday. Of course you will have to have flexible accommodation to do that.

Cyprus is a small island so it's highly likely that airport transfers (especially coach) will be a rip off. We always found it cheaper on other holidays to get a taxi from outside the airport if we weren't hiring a car.

If you do hire a car: Often the policy is that the car is full of petrol when you collect (which you are charged for) and then you are expected to return it empty. So don't make the mistake of filling it up before you drop it off!

June is a good time to go if you like it warm. Cyprus is generally pleasantly warm between March and November in my experience so other months will be cheaper but you're still getting the weather. Last August was ridiculously hot - the traffic lights were melting.

But yeah as you say it generally does cost a bomb. The cheapest way is to not go at all, but if you're meeting all your financial goals why not splurge a small amount?

taylost3

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Re: Holidays
« Reply #3 on: March 16, 2018, 06:09:06 AM »
Are you constrained to particular times of year (school holidays)?

Have you tried flying mid-week to mid-week? It makes some holidays cheaper.

Expedia is good, the BA Holidays website can be good value when there is a sale on. Sites like Icelolly.com and Onthebeach.co.uk have both total bargains and some really annoying "offers" that get increasingly expensive when you call up or elect for direct flights. I'm finding Croatia in June in a 4 star hotel for under 400pp - not sure if it is what you are looking for though.

Try clearing cookies and/or using private browsing - if you view something and go back to book I find the price increases and then drops again when I use a new browser.

Great advice thanks, where did you find Croatia for 400pp that would be ideal?

taylost3

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Re: Holidays
« Reply #4 on: March 16, 2018, 06:10:15 AM »
Not sure if this helps but we used to go to Cyprus quite a lot as a friend had an apartment out there:

Flights are fairly regular with SleazyJet so it's quite possibly cheaper to book these and the accommodation separately. Touching on what Playing with Fire UK said, check the midweek flights. We always found it cheaper to fly out on a certain day and then return on a different day the following week. Eg. fly out Tuesday, come back Thursday or Friday. Of course you will have to have flexible accommodation to do that.

Cyprus is a small island so it's highly likely that airport transfers (especially coach) will be a rip off. We always found it cheaper on other holidays to get a taxi from outside the airport if we weren't hiring a car.

If you do hire a car: Often the policy is that the car is full of petrol when you collect (which you are charged for) and then you are expected to return it empty. So don't make the mistake of filling it up before you drop it off!

June is a good time to go if you like it warm. Cyprus is generally pleasantly warm between March and November in my experience so other months will be cheaper but you're still getting the weather. Last August was ridiculously hot - the traffic lights were melting.

But yeah as you say it generally does cost a bomb. The cheapest way is to not go at all, but if you're meeting all your financial goals why not splurge a small amount?


Thanks for the tip not sure if well bother with a hire car or not. We will splurge a little I'd just rather this was nearer to 1k rather than the 2k I seem to keep finding.

Playing with Fire UK

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Re: Holidays
« Reply #5 on: March 19, 2018, 01:34:55 AM »
Are you constrained to particular times of year (school holidays)?

Have you tried flying mid-week to mid-week? It makes some holidays cheaper.

Expedia is good, the BA Holidays website can be good value when there is a sale on. Sites like Icelolly.com and Onthebeach.co.uk have both total bargains and some really annoying "offers" that get increasingly expensive when you call up or elect for direct flights. I'm finding Croatia in June in a 4 star hotel for under 400pp - not sure if it is what you are looking for though.

Try clearing cookies and/or using private browsing - if you view something and go back to book I find the price increases and then drops again when I use a new browser.

Great advice thanks, where did you find Croatia for 400pp that would be ideal?

Does this link work: Croatia Holidays (if you get there and the prices are really expensive, it'll be because the same search has been done over and over, so the website is getting a skewed idea of what the demand is).

taylost3

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Re: Holidays
« Reply #6 on: March 29, 2018, 06:30:52 AM »
Sorry for the reply it does indeed and we managed to book something similar at the end of June thanks for your help.

hred17

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Re: Holidays
« Reply #7 on: March 29, 2018, 01:33:25 PM »
Have you tried signing up to TravelZoo's email list?

We take a lot of our holidays through them and it is a great aggregator the delivers holiday packages that are heavily discounted right to your email. They have deals that are local (think discounted B&B stays with fine dining and/or spa services), within the UK, and deals for international travel as well.

It is a completely legitimate site and we use it all the time! I would look into them if you have not already.