If you haven't booked yet
1. Bargain
Negotiation is the lifeblood of the travel industry. Its products are time-sensitive: a room left empty one night or an airline seat that isn’t filled can’t be resold the next day. So, especially if you are booking at the last minute, and now that the hot weather has hit sales of holidays abroad, do bargain - especially when dealing with tour operators, travel agents and hotels.
Save: as much as you can
2. Pick your times
If you are booking your travel independently, rather than as pre-packaged holiday, make sure you get an overview of the fares available through a website such as Skyscanner.net, which shows all the fares available on or around your chosen dates (be sure to uncheck the boxes so that the results for indirect flights are not shown - unless you really want to see these). I did a test search for flights in August from London to Malaga; the cheapest return was £221, the dearest, £704. Be sure to check what is included in the fare quoted (see below).
Save: up to 300 per cent on flights
3. Pick your dates
If you have to travel in the school summer holidays, go for the latest possible dates. The last week in August and the first in September are normally significantly cheaper than the rest of the holiday period. With the August bank holiday falling quite early, on the 26th, you may be able to squeeze in a week before the schools go back.
Save: 10-15 per cent over peak-season prices
4. Travel in the October half term
The alternative to taking a family summer holiday is to travel in October instead. It’s a tricky time of year for weather in the Mediterranean - think about the Canaries, Morocco, or (if you can afford the flights) Florida instead - and book now to be sure of the lowest fares.
Save: 25-40 per cent over peak summer prices
5. Use price-comparison websites – with care
Price-comparison websites seemingly offer nothing but benefits to consumers looking for the best rates on car hire, travel insurance and package holidays. They can certainly save you money. But comparisons can be distorted by companies striving to offer the cheapest headline prices by stripping away as many extras (such as levels of insurance cover) as possible, just as the no-frills airlines do. The sites are getting better at reflecting pricing complexities (Travelsupermarket.com in particular), but be very wary of buying on price alone.
Save: significantly
6. Check IT fares
IT stands for “inclusive tour”, the arrangement by which long-haul flights are sold as a package in combination with hotel accommodation or a hire car. Depending when and where you book, it can be cheaper to book this whole package, including the hotel, than buying the flight alone.
For example, Trailfinders (020 7368 1200; trailfinders.com) is currently offering BA flights to San Francisco on selected dates between October 21 and December 13. The seat-only fare from Heathrow is £719; but an IT package costs £685, including the same flights, three nights at the three-star San Francisco Hotel and seven days’ car hire. The package price is per person, is subject to availability and is valid only when two adults travel together.
Save: £100s
7. Avoid expensive frills
As we regularly point out in this section, additional charges for check-in, hold baggage, seat selection, priority boarding, credit-card bookings, text-message confirmation and so on can vastly inflate the headline price of a flight. Our online editor reported last month that such expensive “frills” could increase the cost of a £77 flight with Ryanair to nearly £300. So when you are booking flights, make sure you look at the very bottom line.
Save: £10s per flight
8. Weigh and measure your luggage
Whether you are travelling light with hand baggage only or, checking bags into the hold, be absolutely sure that they are below the size and weight restrictions imposed by the airline before you leave for the airport. Excess charges are swingeing.
Save: £10s
9. Time your departure
Fares for long-haul flights are priced by departure date, so adjusting your leaving date by a single day can bring big dividends. For example, currently through Trail finders (020 7368 1200; trailfinders.com), you can book an EVA air flight direct to Bangkok from Heathrow for £569 for travel in early 2013 - as long as you fly by April 30. Book for departure on May 1, and it will cost you £775.
Save: £200+
10. Monitor the internet
Many travel companies, including airlines, hotel chains and car-hire brokers, circulate special offers and price reductions by email, for which you have to sign up. No-frills airlines and railway companies announce the opening of booking periods in the same way.
If you can commit yourself a long time in advance you will usually get the best fares, especially for peak periods. It may be annoying to get emails you don’t want, but, if you act quickly when an offer arrives, you can make significant savings - Premierinn.com is offering rooms from £19, for example. British Airways’ regular rounds of “world offers” are particularly worth following on Ba.com.
Save: significantly
En route
11. Book parking with your airport hotel
The airport guides we published last week pick out the best-value hotels and parking in Britain’s busiest airports. If you need to depart early in the morning and to park while you are away, it’s often cheapest to go for a combined deal - either through the hotel or a website such asHolidayextras.co.uk or Parkbcp.co.uk.
Save: £10s
12. Bring your own plastic bags
Some airports - Gatwick, for example - provide free transparent bags suitable for taking liquids and pastes through security. Others - including Manchester and Stansted - you charge. In case your bag is challenged by security, these are the official rules published on gov.uk: individual containers for liquids and pastes must hold no more than 100ml, they should be held in a single, transparent, resealable plastic bag, which holds no more than a litre and measures approximately 20cm x 20cm and must fit comfortably inside the bag so it can be sealed; there is a limit of one plastic bag per person.
Save £1
13. Travel overnight
How well do you sleep? If you drop off easily, or catch up quickly, you can save the cost of a hotel by taking an overnight ferry or a couchette on a train. Night-time Dover-Calais crossings are usually sold at bargain prices, but cabins on longer Channel crossings can be more expensive than a room in a budget hotel, so compare prices carefully.
Save: on a return trip, the cost of two nights’ accommodation
14. Take your own food
A round of sandwiches and soft drinks for a family of four would cost at least €26 euros on board a plane. Better and cheaper to bring your own - though of course you won’t be able to take liquids through security and will have to buy drinks in the departure lounge shops.
Save: £10s
15. Travel by coach
Most of us prefer trains, but you will usually pay much less to travel between places in Britain and on the Continent if you use coaches. National Express (nationalexpress.com), for example, currently has special-offer return fares from London to Paris from £38, compared with Eurostar’s lowest return of £69.
Save: 45 per cent
Saving on staying
16. Swap your house
If you live in a reasonably desirable area, and are prepared to let others borrow your house, a home swap - and perhaps a car swap - with like-minded holidaymakers abroad will guarantee huge savings. Use a reputable agency to ensure proper introductions and insurance arrangements. Try: Home Exchange (homeexchange.com); Homebase (homebase-hols.com), HomeLink (homelink.org.uk) and Intervac (intervac.co.uk).
Save: all your accommodation costs
17. Stay by the beach
Private pools add hundreds of pounds to the cost of a villa. Book a villa near the beach instead and you still be able to swim but your accommodation will cost you much less. Note, too, that many Spanish towns have municipal swimming pools.
Save: £100s
18. Beware the cost of camping
You could be forgiven for thinking that staying in a campsite in a tent or a mobile home would be a way of cutting costs. But in high season a mobile home is likely to cost at least £1,000 for a week on a big site in the Vendée, while a gîte could cost as little as £500 - both prices including the cost of the ferry fare.
Save: 50 per cent
19. Use budget hotels for stop-overs
When travelling in France, look for ultra-cheap hotel chains and book well in advance. They may be short on character, but they are generally clean and efficient, and particularly good for families happy to sleep in one room. Abroad, Accor (accorhotels.co.uk) has several brands, including Formule 1 where you can book rooms from about £20 a night. In Britain, try also Premierinn.com. Often in France, such hotels are outside town centres, on industrial sites, so it is worth checking Google Earth to get a feel for the exact location, especially if you are planning to arrive in the early afternoon or evening.
Save: £100s
20. Check wireless access costs
Most hotels now offer free coverage. Check before you book, and consider switching hotels if the one you are interested in makes a charge. It could mean big savings on the cost of telephone calls and more (see cost of roaming below).
Save: £10s
Sightseeing and shopping
21. Arrange your own excursions
An organised, commercially run coach tour from central Paris to Versailles costs about £45, including admission to the palace. Take the RER train (€5 return) and book your admission online (£16;billetterie.chateauversailles.fr) and the total bill is £21.
Save: At least half the price
22. Shop tax-free...
There is no tax- or duty-free shopping within the EU, but if you are travelling outside the member states you can get a refund of the local sales tax (VAT) from shops participating in national tax-free schemes in countries including Morocco, Turkey and Singapore. You will need to keep receipts and present them at the aiport as you leave the country - refunds are normally made by post. The website globalblue.com has some useful information.
Save: up to 20 per cent
23. Walk
Many popular cities - Paris, Vienna, Venice, Madrid, Amsterdam, Rome – are compact. Plan your sightseeing geographically and you can save on all your bus and tube fares.
Save: £10s
24. Buy a travel pass
If you prefer not to walk, transport passes can help you save significantly on costs. Different cities have different systems. In Paris, tickets are sold in “carnets” - allowing 10 journeys for 13.30 euros compared with a one-off single of €1.7 (ratp.fr). In Venice, a 72-hour waterbus pass (actv.it) costs €35, compared with a single fare of €7; make six journeys in three days, and you have saved €7.
Save £5+
25. Buy a city sightseeing pass
These can be a useful alternative to travel passes and offer more benefits, but not all of them are good value. The 19.90 euro Vienna Card, is one it usually pays to buy: it allows unlimited free public transport for 72 hours, and discounts (of up to about 25 per cent) or other offers at more than 210 museums and sights, theatres, concert halls, shops and restaurants.
Save £5+
26. Play the age card
If you are over 65, under 26 or still a student, you may not benefit from buying a pass at all. In Italy, in particular, entry to museums and galleries belonging to the state (Musei Statali) - which includes many of the most famous ones - is free for European citizens over 65 upon presentation of a passport. Students should also make sure they carry student ID to benefit from free entry or lower charges.
Save: £10s
Driving
27. Be wary of car rental pricing
The pricing of hire cars has become more and more problematic recently as companies try to keep the advertised cost as low as possible, then catch you out with extra charges during the booking process or on arrival. Compare bottom-line prices rather than headline prices.
Save £10s, possibly £100s
28. Buy hire car insurance
Among the most expensive add-ons is a charge to waive the insurance excess you would be liable to pay if you were to damage the car. You can cover this much more cheaply if you buy cover from an insurance specialist. Try Insurance4carhire.com; Questor-insurance.co.uk;Worldwideinsure.com; and Icarhireinsurance.com.
Save: £10s
29. Avoid petrol charges
Don’t get stung by extortionate refuelling charges added to your car hire bill - or offered in advance when you pick it up. A friend had to decline a refuelling charge of €100 recently. Refuse all such options and fill up just before you return the car - or, if it’s supplied nearly empty, time your refilling carefully.
Save: £10s
30. Buy cheaper fuel
Buy petrol at supermarkets - where it is up to 10 per cent cheaper than in filling stations on motorways and autoroutes. Petrol is currently cheaper in this country than in France, so fill up in Britain, but diesel is significantly cheaper across the Channel. The French Government website (prix-carburants.gouv.fr) gives a comprehensive overview of the cost of fuel at stations all over the country.
Save: 10 per cent
31. Hire a diesel car
Not only do diesel engines use less fuel, but cheaper diesel (17p per litre cheaper than petrol in France, 11p per litre cheaper in Spain) means big savings.
Save: £10s
32. Drive toll-free
Return tolls on the French autoroute between Calais and Nice cost €203.20 euros. Plan your route on the slower but more scenic “D” roads: there is no charge, you will use less fuel and you will save more than enough to pay for a couple of overnight stays in hotels.
Save: £10s
33. Avoid fines
Traffic police levy on-the-spot fines in most countries on the Continent, and the use of speed cameras is now as prevalent as it is in Britain. Sudden changes in speed limits can catch out even careful drivers, so if you are entering a village, city or other built-up area, note that the limit is likely to be 50 kph or less. In France, be extra careful - the limits fall when it rains - from 130kph to 110kph on the motorway, from 110kph to 100kph on dual carriageways, and from 90 kph to 80 kph on the open road.
Save: £10s
Eating and drinking
34. Don’t open the minibar
The cost of drinks from hotel minibars seems to rise relentlessly, I’ve seen mineral water at €8 recently, and it is always higher than in the bar (or the cost of a bottle smuggled in from a local supermarket).
Save: At least £2 per drink.
35. Skip breakfast
At least in the hotel. Either negotiate a b&b rate or nip out to the nearest cafe. In more expensive hotels you can pay €40 or more just for a continental breakfast.
Save: £10+
36. Pick your menu
Two rules for cheaper eating out: first, eat at lunchtime, when menus are always cheaper; second, choose from a fixed-price menu, or the dish of the day - menu del día (Spain), plat du jour (France), menu fisso (Italy).
Save: half price
37. Choose local wines
Most wine experts will agree that the best match for local cooking is a locally produced wine - they are designed to complement each other. Local wines are nearly always better and much cheaper than many others on the list.
Save: £5+ per bottle
38. Drink free water
More and restaurants are, by default, serving mineral water (at perhaps €4 to €5 a bottle) rather than tap water. If you insist on the latter, you will usually be accommodated; if the restaurant refuses, you could always consider readjusting the service charge to reflect your dissatisfaction.
Save: £3 plus per bottle
39. Stand at the bar
Food and drink in a Continental European cafe is always much cheaper at the bar than at a table. An expresso in Rome might cost €1 at the bar, €3.5 if you take a table.
Save: £2 a time
40. Order draught beer
Draught beer is half the price of bottled beer in many bars. Ask for une pression in French; birra alla spina in Italian; cerveza de barril in Spanish).
Save: 50 per cent
41. Walk around the corner
Restaurants and cafes a few steps away from the big sights are invariably cheaper than those whose main trade comes from tourists. A five-minute walk can halve your bill and get you a much better experience. The obvious example is Venice: a capuccino costs €15 in St Mark’s Square, €3 in a cafe in the Castello district.
Save: £10s on restaurant and cafe bills
42. Don’t over-tip
The British don’t tip as generously as the Americans, but often pay more than is expected on the continent, where the service charge is typically included in the bill - look for servis compris in France, servizio incluso, in Italy and servicio incluido in Spain. You could add a few coins if you wish, but there is no need.
Save: 10 per cent on meals
43. Take the basics
If you are self-catering, take enough basic provisions to cover everyday needs, so that you don’t have to buy expensive versions locally. Items often dearer than at home include salt, pepper, tea bags, washing powder, dishwasher tablets and bin bags.
Save £5+
Money, insurance and health
44. Play your cards right
You could invest a lot of time and effort changing your bank account to benefit from the one offering the very cheapest foreign-currency services - but the deals can change by the week, and it almost certainly isn’t worth the effort unless you travel a great deal and spend a lot of money when abroad.
The most economical rule to follow is to avoid buying cash from bureau de change; use your debit card in overseas ATMs if you need cash when abroad, and your credit card to pay for as much as possible - though this works only if you pay off the balance each month.
Save £10s
45. Save on travel insurance
Travel insurance can be cheap if you buy a basic policy online - but you can easily pay too much. Be particularly wary if you have an annual policy on an automatic renewal - it is always worth getting a new quote each year. Age is used more and more to calculate premiums - even over-50s can expect to pay more than younger travellers now.
Over the next few months, we plan to develop a detailed online guide to buying travel insurance. In the meantime, the best policy and premium I have found for this year is the annual family policy I bought through PJ Hayman (pjhayman.com) for £90.
Save: £10s
46. Be wary of cancellation insurance
This is offered more and more often, and it is usually very bad value, so turn it down unless you are really sure you need it. For example, I was recently offer cancellation insurance on the Gatwick Airport official car park booking site for 95p. You might think it was good value to protect a booking that might be worth more than £100. But when you click to find out more, you discover that the cancellation fee for any booking is only £10. So you would be paying 95p to insure £10. Not worth it in my book.
Save: £1 plus
47. Get a Health Insurance Card
The European Health Insurance Card (which replaced the old E11 form) confirms your entitlement to free or reduced-cost medical treatment in other EU countries. Even if you are insured, it is worth having because you may get a lower excess on your insurance policy. But be careful when applying for one, and do not order from a website that charges you to issue it; it is free through the official site, ehic.org.uk.
Save: £10s on insurance claims
48. Phone roaming costs
The cost of mobile phone roaming in the EU has fallen recently, but you still need to check your tariffs. My contract with Vodafone allows me to use my home allowance for a charge of £3 a day. But this can be a very bad deal. If all I want to do is to send two or three texts a day and use Skype to call home in the evenings, and I am able to check my email on the hotel Wi-Fi, I could change to another tariff and pay just 9p per text. Over a week, being on the wrong contract could cost me £20. Outside the EU, Skyping on the hotel Wi-Fi is nearly always an invaluable way to save on the cost of calls.
Save: £10s
49. Beware the cost of jabs
The cost of inoculations for trips to long-haul destinations can run into hundreds of pounds, especially if you need protection against rabies and hepatitis. But a lot depends on where you get them. It used to be virtually certain that your GP would be the cheapest option - with some vaccinations, against typhoid, for example, usually available free on the NHS.
Very often it will be cheapest to go to your GP, but it’s also worth getting quotes from a commercial travel clinic such as MASTA (masta-travel-health.com), which may offer a more convenient service and greater expertise on health conditions in more unusual destinations.
Save: potentially £100s between two people
And finally...
50. Win a free holiday
Have your say in the annual Telegraph Travel Awards poll for a chance to win one of 22 holidays worth a total of £175,000. Complete the survey here.
Save: the cost of your holiday
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