The means of travel and a roof to stay under are paramount in the daily life of a traveller. With every trip taken care of, comes a renowned sense of responsibility for one’s hotel and flight booking needs. So, we give you a list of quick tips and smart hacks you can use for booking the best hotel and flight deals for when your next vacation comes along. Go ahead and get planning like a pro!
1. Opt for budget carriers
Gone are the days where flying across continents meant spending extravagantly for your air fares. Most Indian budget airlines fly across the world, that too at very competitive prices. It helps to visit the destination airport’s website to get a fair idea of airlines that are available there.
2. Clear your cache and cookies
Certain airline websites gather data of your web browsing habits and refreshing your browser can make ticket prices rise based on increased demand. Clearing your cache and deleting cookies can give you better and cheaper results on flights.
3. Flexible dates
This has been emphasized since time immemorial, but passengers still make the hasty mistake of booking flights close to weekends, public holidays, and during periods of summer vacations when school is out. Always try to plan your trip in a way that you get to visit destinations and travel off-season, and preferably weekdays, since airlines have a tendency to hike their fares, even minimally, during weekends.
4. Hotel coupons
If you haven’t bookmarked Living Social and Groupon already, get right to it, as they provide great deals for travellers who are looking for major discounts on various bookings.
5. Set alerts for decrease in prices
Stay on top of flight fare changes by signing up on CheapAir.com, Airfare Watchdog, Orbitz, Kayak, or Yapta to get instantly notified when there’s a dip in flight prices so that you can act fast and save good bucks on your bookings.
6. Look for stop-over flights
If you aren’t scrambling for time and you can afford to dally a while, try your best to opt for flights that have layovers in different cities rather than pick a direct flight to your destination. They will always be cheaper.
7. Air miles and reward points are your best friends
If you are a frequent traveller, pull out your credit card and have a look-see at your air miles and reward points accumulated against your previous bookings and redeem the same on your next trip. You may not be eligible for a free flight, but there can be an upgrade on your booking that you will otherwise miss out on. Certain air miles can also be used in hotel bookings.
8. Ask for deals
Don’t hesitate to call up hotels and go the traditional route of enquiring about the available deals and discounts they can offer you. Most people don’t take the extra effort to converse directly with the concerned party, but you may be surprised to find out about seasonal/festival offers if you just take the initiative.
9. Be thorough
In order to maximise your options, ensure that you go through as many flight websites to grab the best deal that you can find. While major airlines are easily accessible on the internet, you have to dig a little deeper for the economic and budget airlines that vary in prices for the best deals. Make Momondo your first step to bookings as it searches most budget airlines, including non-English websites, and have the best prices over 90% of the time.
Pro tip: Go for search engines that do are not affiliated with airlines or earn through bookings, but rely on revenue through advertising.
10. Search ticket prices as one person
When you buy several tickets at one go, airlines quote the highest price for the whole group of tickets. By searching for tickets as a single person, you can avail cheaper rates and during the check-in process, you can pick seats so that you and your family members can sit together.
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