honesttravelguy.com
OK I know Christmas is barely over but it is worth giving a thought to your summer holiday in 2013. With a bit of planning and research you can save a fortune on last-minute prices - and you can have the fun and excitement of being in total control of your holiday.
My advice is to first decide on a location that you would like visit - maybe a couple. Then get an idea of how much flights are likely to cost. Does your nearest airport offer the cheapest flights? Also keep an eye on new routes. I predict a lot of interest in Ryanair flights from Knock to Malaga and from Stansted to Kefalonia.
Now pinpoint places online that you might want to stay - hotels, guesthouses, campsites.
GOLDEN RULE: Find the website for the hotel itself rather than a booking site. This can be quite a tricky exercise as search engines tend to draw you to agents. Some hotels will tell you it is cheaper to book through the other sites - but this is NOT always the case and big savings can be made and you won't have to pay any money up front..if at all. And you can always check for variations in rates.
NOW JUGGLE: This is where you can get a great deal with a bit of flexibility. Start playing with potential hotel dates and corresponding flight times and costs. Spend some time on this exercise. You might find, as I have, that the overall cost of extending a break from seven days to ten is marginal as air fares tend to be cheaper. This means you can stay longer at the hotel rather than paying more to the airline to go home earlier.
The only major upfront payment is the airfare but, again, you can get good deals with early bookings.
Package deals give you the option of spreading payment of the whole holiday. But, if you have the cash available to book flights, you could have a great time.
Here is what I did four years ago.
I decided I wanted to take my family of six to the south of France from Dublin. After a lot of digging, I found the website for the Seaside Park Hotel in Nice www.seasidepark.fr and found a family room for ten days self-catering in July for €1,000 and airfares with +Aer Lingus for €1,200 - that's €200 each return. The hotel rate was initially higher but just a week after booking I noticed that the discount on the other family room had increased from 40 per cent to 52 per cent. The hotel were happy to offer the same reduction when I called to query.
The hotel is based in Villeneuve Loubet just to the west of Nice. The rooftop pool gives you fantastic views of the coast. The beach is just a few minutes away the other side of the coastal road and railway - but don't let that put you off as you don't hear any noise and, by bus or train, you have access to the creme of the Riviera stretching from Monaco to Nice (of course), Antibes, Cannes and St Tropez. You also have Marineland nearby - Europe's largest marine park. www.marineland.fr
We tried to guess which celebrities were bathing on the multi-million euro yachts and cruisers that dotted the beautiful coastline as we took the tourist train rides in Antibes and Cannes.
One of the things I love about France - and Italy - is the all-round high standard of food at a good price. For lunch or breakfast, you can pop along to the nearby supermarket and buy wonderful fresh bread, pastries and other delicious treat. A bottle of wine for less than €5 has a purity in its taste that you don't find for that price back. We also loved the Chez Rosy cafe - three minutes from the hotel.
Hotels like this are little havens. You can savour the delights of these millionaire playground resorts without the expense.
It just goes to show that you can't beat a good bargain hunt.
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