Dreaming of a little getaway, but on a tight budget with the festive season approaching? Here are 6 tips to help you get away for the weekend at the best possible price.
Focus onéonline bookings
Even if you're old-school and like to book your vacations through a travel agent, you should know that this isn't exactly the best way to save money. In general, because of agency fees, your holiday will be much more expensive than if you book it online. Not to mention that it's much quicker to surf the web to find the holiday of your dreams than to spend hours talking to a travel agent, who will also tend to sell you the products his superiors have asked him to sell at such and such a time..
Be flexible about departure dates
When it comes to popular destinations, such as sunny winter destinations, it becomes very difficult to find a cheap weekend during a school vacation period. So unless you've booked several months in advance, it's easy to give up if you're not made of money... However, if you're a bit flexible on the dates, especially if you leave outside the school vacations, you can make considerable savings, even at the last minute.
Think low-cost flights
The number of low-cost airlines is growing all the time, and they offer flights to almost every corner of the globe. Once again, you'll need to be rather flexible on dates to find the best prices, but above all, the advantage of low-cost airlines is that you can juggle between them. Unlike regular airlines, you don't have to take a round trip to get a good price, so you can take a one-way ticket with one low-cost airline and a return with another to get the best possible price. You can really get good deals this way!
Travel light
If you're traveling by plane, make do with one piece of cabin baggage. This way, you won't have to pay extra for checked baggage if you're traveling on a low-cost flight, whereas cabin baggage is included in the price of the ticket.
You should also know that more and more regular airlines charge for checked baggage when you buy a ticket at the mini fare. All the more reason to travel light, especially for a weekend!
Think all-inclusive packages
Several websites offer all-inclusive packages with flights, hotels and sometimes even full board at very attractive rates.
They achieve these unbeatable prices by negotiating rates with tour operators beforehand. This is the case, for example, of L'Officiel des vacances, which searches, selects and offers good weekend deals almost everywhere, tailored to individual tastes.
The prices of these packages are often half those of direct bookings via tour operators.
It really is a bargain paradise, even for last-minute stays!
Choose cities that are easy to visit
To make the most of your weekend savings, limit local transport costs and opt for cities that are easy to visit on foot or by bike.
In Europe, there are many cities that offer this advantage: Valletta in Malta, Amsterdam in Holland, Bruges in Belgium, Dublin and London in the UK, Venice or Florence in Italy... And it's by walking that you can best appreciate the beauty of a city and really discover it. So ditch the rental car and the parking fees that go with it and discover the joys of sightseeing on foot.
It's good for your wallet and your fitness too!
