If you’re thinking of booking a holiday, here are some tips to make save money on your trip…
Consider the Where and When
Different holidays come with different price tags, and prices also fluctuate depending on what time of year you’re travelling.
Prices tend to spike during peak seasons, such as school holidays (e.g, over summer and easter) and over Christmas and New Year’s. What day of the week it is can also affect the price tag.
According to Expedia’s 2025 Air Hacks report, the cheapest day of the week to fly tends to be a Sunday, with the most expensive days being Monday and Friday. They also found that August is the cheapest month to travel, with the most expensive month being March.
Time of Booking
Booking holidays in advance usually means you get a better deal than if you were to book later on.
However, if you don’t have a specific destination in mind, or are flexible with what dates you want to go away, you might be able to nab some great last minute deals.
Compare Flights and Prices
If you’re booking a holiday yourself rather than through a travel agent, it’s worth using different comparison sites to compare prices. For example, sites like Skyscanner, Google Flights, Momondo and Kayak allow you to search flights across multiple airlines and booking sites so that you can compare flight times and prices.
Which? has a handy guide on the best comparison sites for finding cheap flights and hotels.
However, you should bear in mind that when booking through comparison sites, they won’t necessarily find you the cheapest possible flights.
As well as comparing different sites, you should compare the different types of flights too. For example, in many cases, flights with stopovers can be cheaper than those which are flying direct.
Consider a Travel Agent
While choosing a travel agent may come with fees, some travel agents may be able to access special rates and deals, and find lower prices for your holiday.
Additionally, booking through a travel agent usually means you have financial protection, meaning if any of the airlines, hotels, or tour operators you’ve paid to use can’t provide the service or go out of business, you won’t lose out.
You should always make sure that your travel company is ATOL and ABTA protected to ensure you have this financial protection. The Post Office has more information on this here.
Avoid Banking Fees
You may want to consider opening a bank account with low or no international fees, such as Starling. This means you can take money out abroad without it breaking your bank balance, and avoids the need for you to travel with lots of cash on hand.
Don’t forget to inform your bank know in advance that you will be going abroad to avoid having your card blocked due to suspicious activity.
Checking Conversions
If you choose to pay on card for transactions made abroad, make sure to check the card machines when the currency rate has been carried out. The conversion charges that come with using a credit or debit card abroad can sometimes make it more expensive than paying in the local currency!
If you decide to take out money in the local currency, make sure you check the conversion rate here too, as well as counting the cash that is given to you whilst you’re at the till or ATM machine.
It does tend to be more expensive to withdraw money abroad than at home. However, certain banks give you the mid-market exchange rate and don’t charge a fee for withdrawals abroad. You can head to Which? for more information on the best banks for spending abroad.