Accommodation & Travel Flying Tips

• You can generally pick up good airline fares during the months of February and March because 31st of March is the end of financial year for airlines and before they release their new fares for the next year they give away good deals on their expiring fares.
• Most airlines have sales on flights provided that you book in advance, so book your accommodation and travel early to take advantage of these low fares.
• If if is at all possible try to travel during off peak and non-school holiday periods as flight travel and accommodation are significantly cheaper.
• For holiday travel and accommodation, check if you can find like minded friends or family in a distant location that you can exchange homes with in a type of money saving house sitting or B & B arrangement.
• Use the internet to save money on your travel accommodation, flights, cruises, tours and even car hire. Online acommodation and travel websites are the best source of discount holiday rates, like Wotif, Web Car Hire and even Not One Night where you can book your vacation well ahead of time without having to pay the full amount up front.
• For flight and accommodation travel booking consider purchasing a holiday travel package deal as they are often cheaper than booking everything separately. Do check the fine print, however, because they sometimes come with drawbacks like 'no cancellations' or fees for making changes to the dates.
• Timing is everything when it comes to getting a hotel at a discount rate. Most people know that staying in the off-peak or shoulder seasons will get you much cheaper rates, however, for most major cities staying towards the end of the week will see you get a cheaper rooms, whilst in most tourist destinations staying during the middle of the week will get you a hotel bargain.
• If you manage to pick up an internet bargain for a hotel room always keep in mind that the hotel will generally not let you extend your stay at the same rate.
• If you are booking hotel rooms on the internet make sure that the price includes all relevant taxes an extra charges, because some countries have taxes up to 25% over and above the displayed price. If a price is quoted as 'plus, plus' that means that you must add the relevant taxes to the price.
• Whenever you fly it is always nice to have a spare seat next to you. So one of the best flying tips is to travel during the middle of the week on international flights and this way you will have the best chance of being on a plane that is not full. Smile and ask at the check-in counter if the place is full and, if not, see if they can block out the seat next to you.
• If you are booking 2 connecting flights it is a good flying tip to leave about 2 hours between the arrival and departure times. This way you are not rushed and are less likely to miss your connecting flight if something unforeseen happens during the first flight.
• When you are travelling on a busy flight it is advisable to go to the toilet before or just after they start serving drinks. Flying tips like this will ensure that you don't have to wait in a long queue for the facilities after everyone has had a few drinks.