3. Use a holiday comparison site
Holiday comparison sites mine the internet for live deals and list them, with links, so users can take their pick. Travel Supermarket and Kayak are the leaders in this world. Expedia also has a last-minute package holiday page for bookings made before July 14, which you can claim if you become a member for free.
There are also Online Travel Agents (OTAs) that specialise in hotel and flight deals, perhaps most famously lastminute.com. According to a study by the consumer watchdog, Which?, Travel Zoo and Secret Escapes are among the most reliable sites for holiday deals. However, beware that some OTAs offer eye-catchingly low prices, only to charge excessive fees for add-ons, name changes or calling customer service lines.
Across the board, it is worth focusing on the price itself rather than the saving. Holidays are priced dynamically, so any claims that a holiday has been reduced by vast percentages should be taken with a pinch of salt.
4. Check traditional tour operators
All of the traditional package holiday tour operators have late deals. Why? They book up the airline seats and the beds in bulk, in advance, so they need to sell them off at some point. You will find savings on Tui’s late deals page, plus the last-minute offerings on Jet2Holidays and easyJet Holidays. BA Holidays also has a last-minute booking page, including flights and hotel package for seven days in Lanzarote from £390 per person.
5. Check what’s included
It’s all very well booking a week in Majorca for pennies, when you have to spend hundreds more on car rental, transfers, luggage and other add-ons. Make a checklist of what you need and tick them off as you go through the booking process, and always check the cost of essential add-ons before you commit to a holiday.