By Vasiliki Michaelas
If you’re unsure as to where to start when it comes to booking a cheap holiday online you’ve come to the right place. All you need is a destination or even just holiday dates. Oh and your toothbrush of course!
The first thing you need to decide on is where you want to go, what type of holiday you’re looking for and the dates you want to travel. The sooner you decide to book, the better. This is especially true for scheduled flights, as is the case with British and Cyprus Airways (both airlines have an online booking system www.cyprusair.com.cy and www.britishairways.com).
If you don’t mind travelling with charter airlines then the later you leave it to book your flights, the cheaper it will be. Eurocypria (www.eurocypria.com) is a low cost charter airline with flights from Paphos and Larnaca to European destinations.
Some indirect flights may be cheaper, if you don’t mind waiting in an airport for a few hours, however they are best avoided if you’ve only got a few days off or are travelling with children.
Many hotels offer great room rates as last minute deals in an attempt to fill any remaining rooms. You’ll find some great deals at www.bookinhotels.com and www.booking.com and they offer independent reviews to help with your decision. Tripadvisor.com is also very useful for finding information on a destination as well as hotel reviews.
Lonely Planet travel editor Tom Hall offered me an important tip when booking a holiday online. “[My one tip] would be to not be too fussy about where you actually go. If you’re flexible with timings, dates and destinations you will find a good deal. But do your research to make sure the place you’re booking is for you and not for families if you’re a party animal or full of ravers if you’re a culture cruiser etc.”
My friend and I decided on a trip to Vienna. We had heard so many lovely things about this beautiful city and completely fell in love with the pictures.
We tried a generic search for flights from Larnaca to Vienna without much luck so we decided to look on Lastminute.com. Although this isn’t a Cypriot website you can still book flights and hotels from outside the UK. It offered some flight options but all were a bit on the pricey side. Austrian Airlines, Lot Polish Airlines and Cyprus Airways are all scheduled airlines which fly direct to Vienna so you receive all the perks for paying a little extra. The prices were a little bit above our budget so we asked someone we knew who had recently travelled there. They suggested the low cost airline SkyEurope which offered flights at almost half the price!
Beware that some low cost airlines don’t include checked in baggage or meals in the price. However, if you may be able to carry your luggage on board to avoid the cost if you travel light.
Our priority for a hotel was somewhere clean and comfortable to sleep and convenient for sightseeing. There are some beautiful hotels out there so we set a budget for how much we wanted to spend. We also researched which areas were close to the centre for easy access to places of interest and transport. Once again we tried a generic search for hotels and were a bit overwhelmed with the results. There were so many websites to look on and we were really afraid that if we committed to one, we would find our hotel cheaper on another site. Needless to say we spent hours searching on the net and if I had one piece of advice it would be to restrict yourself to 3-4 websites and compare the prices. They won’t differ in price greatly and if you find a hotel you like you can always contact them direct and see about the rates.
Omikron Travel Editor Maria Masoura suggested looking on hotel chain websites such as Ibis and Best Western for cheap rooms. They’re well known internationally and operate a good standard. It’s also a good idea to read the reviews written by previous guests and www.tripadvisor.com is definitely a trustworthy site to get an idea of what the hotel rooms are like, service and how far away it is from any places you want to visit. Note that on some hotel booking sites breakfast isn’t included in the price so you have to pay extra. You can either pre book this when booking your room or pay for it when you arrive. Also, remember to print your booking and reference numbers in case anything goes wrong and you need to speak with someone regarding your booking.
Many online booking sites have the option to purchase insurance along with flights/hotels. This is quite a good option but be careful as you may not actually need everything they offer and could be paying more than you actually should. Whatever you do though you should buy insurance. Maria Masoura says it’s a must especially if you’re changing flights where there is potential for luggage to get lost or go missing. We purchased our insurance from the airline website (it was with AXA) for a very reasonable €19 for two people which covered medical expenses, loss of luggage and legal expenses amongst other things. You should print off your insurance policy too and read through it carefully so that you know exactly what you’re covered for should you need it.
As our holiday was a city break we didn’t really look into renting a car as public transport was readily available. However if you’re visiting a country where you’ll need to get about, then sorting out a car before hand is wise. As with most things car rental is available on most websites and will give you options of where you can pick up the car from. www.carrentals.co.uk is a price comparison site which will give you a range of prices and cars most suited to your needs. Some countries won’t allow you to rent a car if you’re under a certain age or may have surcharges, so make sure you check in advance. Remember to take your driving license with you as you won’t be able to pick up the car without it. The car rental company will provide you with the insurance, however in some cases you may be able to arrange a cover note with your insurance company from home which may work out a bit cheaper.
Check that the places of interest you wish to visit will be open while you are there. For instance, in Vienna most museums are closed on Tuesdays which is useful to know when planning your daily schedule. Whilst researching your places of interest also look out places to eat and shop that are nearby, it will save you lots of unnecessary time wasting during your stay. There are certain websites that may even have restaurant discounts and promotions such as www.latestdiscountvouchers.co.uk which have promotions on meals, theatre tickets and days out to amusement parks.