You may have thought that things have been a little quiet on here but it’s because I (okay fine, the housemate James) has been developing a brand new website and with it comes a new name and a new home
(Moment of silence for howmanyholidays – you’ve been good to me pal).
DRUMROLL PLEASE.
I give you…
The new home of money saving advice, trip itineraries and general cheap travel inspiration. Or at least, it will be once we the current situation is over 😬
howmanyholidays will keep running for the time being until all the blogs have been transferred over.
As always, you can keep up with what I’m up to on Instagram, Twitter and over on YouTube where there’s some brand new travel videos coming very soon (what can I say, I had quite the backlog and finally have time to edit them!)
Thanks for all your support with this blog but I’m so excited to create a site that will become the go to home for all your cheap holiday advice.
This post includes references to future work I’ll be doing with Roomzzz Newcastle City Centre but I asked if I could post about the offer before I go so that you can get the cheap rate before it gets booked up!
We’re about to get hit with a barrage of bank holidays but with international travel looking less of an option at the moment, it’s never been a better time to look closer to home for a mini break or getaway.
Yet bank holidays always mean you have to pay peak prices, right?
Well, maybe not…
In April, the housemate and I are off for two nights to stay at the Roomzzz Newcastle City Centre at their BEQUEST (soz just really wanted to use the word bequest) because they’ve had an extension and have got some new rooms they want to show off.
And because they want people to know about their new extension, they’ve cut all their new studios room rates to…
Saturdays are a little more expensive at £79 a night but for a super central, by the train station, very well rated place to stay with breakfast included in the price, that’s a bloody bargain mate.
And the best bit?
EASTER AND BANK HOLIDAYS ARE THE SAME PRICE 👏👏👏
So, whilst I’ll be posting my review on here after our stay, I wanted to shout about the prices now as at that cost, I’m pretty sure they’ll be booked up by the time I go – in fact, the final bank holiday in May is already booked up!
The special offer is running throughout all of April and May so whether you fancy a night out with pals, a romantic weekend with your other half, or a midweek adventure with the family, you can do it all without breaking the bank.
You can check out the dates that are still available here and look out for the ‘Newcastle Opening Offer’ when booking!
Make sure you’re following me over on Instagram where I’ll be posting about our visit on Stories.
Shop with any retailer on Quidco and spend £10 or more before 31st March 2020
Earn cashback on your purchases for just being a Quidco member
Receive a £10 cashback bonus from Quidco
Withdraw your cashback to your bank, PayPal or as vouchers
You can find the full terms and conditions and a load of helpful pointers here.
How I used Quidco to save £45 on this amazing Greek villa
I signed up on the original offer myself and earned a £25 bonus by booking this UNREALprivate villa on the island of Paros in Greece.
It should have been £367 for 4 nights but because I’ll earn £19.18 in cashback and then get an extra £25 on top of it, it works out at just £80.55 a night!
Watch how I found and booked this amazing place – thanks in large part to throwing a dart at a map of Europe whilst blindfolded…
Quidco FAQs
If you’re new to Quidco, and cashback in general, here’s what you need to know.
What is cashback?
Cashback is the money you can get back on your purchases as a reward when you are a member of a cashback site and buy online using their partners.
What is Quidco?
Quidco are the UK’s #1 cashback and voucher site and they have over 4,500 retailers on their website that their members can earn cashback from.
Is this just for UK residents?
Yes, you must be a resident of the UK to register for a Quidco account.
Do I have to pay to sign up?
No, Quidco earns money from sponsored advertising paid by their retailers and they also have a Premium membership. There is a free membership as well.
How much money can I earn?
It all depends on how much you buy but on average, active members earn £280 a year.
How do I sign up?
Visit Quidco, enter your email and a password, select what options you want and then click ‘Join for free!’
How do I get cashback?
Select which retailer you want on the Quidco website and click the relevant links to start shopping. Quidco will track your visit and your purchases.
How do I know that Quidco has tracked by purchase?
Once you’ve made a purchase, Quidco will track the amount of cashback you’re due and send you a confirmation email. It will also show as ‘Tracked’ on your personalised homepage.
How do I get paid?
Once the retailer confirms your purchase, your cashback will be paid into your Quidco account. From there you can transfer it to your bank account, Paypal account or have it paid as an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card.
How often will this get paid?
Payments are made on request.
How long will it take for me to get cashback on my purchases?
This varies so check the ‘Retailer Stats’ given on the retailer’s page.
How can I make sure that my purchases will get tracked?
Clearing your browsing data can help. You can follow Quidco’s advice on this here.
My purchase hasn’t tracked, what should I do?
You can raise a claim by clicking on ‘Missing Cashback Claim’ in Support.
How do I get a £20 bonus?
Quidco are currently running an offer where if you are a new user who signs up via this link and spends £100 or more on travel before 31st March 2020, you will receive an additional £20 on top of the cashback you earn.
Can I spend £100 across multiple retailers?
At present, this needs to be purchased through one retailer.
I’ve got the £20 bonus – can my partner sign up too?
They can as long as you don’t live at the same address. You can only claim one bonus per household.
For any additional help, pleae visit the Quidco support pages.
A big thanks to Quidco for supporting small creators, like me, and giving us all a chance to save some more money on travel this January.
For this week’s holiday hotline, I decided to tackle a very hot topic: cheap summer holidays.
For teachers, families, or those wanting to just make the most of the summer weather, I know it really can be difficult to bag a bargain.
So, for this hotline I’m going to go through six different things – which you can click on to jump to if you don’t fancy a long read (if you do, grab a cuppa!)
And if you want to support what I do, come and check out my Patreon for extra perks like hotel upgrade templates and holiday itinerary planners!
Top tips for cheap summer holidays
Book your flights sooner rather than later
Long gone are the days when you could rock up to the airport on the day and ask for a cheap flight. The stats show that flights costs almost always go up in the last week before travel – and that’s before even taking into account travelling at peak times.
The fact is that the summer holidays are always going to be popular travel times and so waiting for the price to drop is always going to be a tricky game.
My advice is if the price is an ‘typical to lower’ than the average cost, then book knowing that you will have spent less than more than half of the people on your flight.
You can find this out by popping your flights into Google Flights, selecting them and looking out for their helpful price bar (though remember to check the flights on Skyscanner too as they can often be even cheaper!).
Hopper is also a good app that uses stats to predict whether it’s the right time to book.
Book a hotel with a good cancellation policy and then check for last minute deals
The good news is that it is still possible to score a last minute deal when it comes to your accommodation – hotels do not like leaving rooms empty and so last minute price slashes are known even in peak times.
However, there is an element of risk here and so a good way to get around that is to book a hotel with a good cancellation policy early. Some hotels will offer this as standard.
Then, closer to your holiday you can scour to check for last minute bargains and cancel your original booking if you find a deal.
Book a holiday rental insteadof a hotel
Whether it’s an apartment or villa with pool, the great thing about a holiday rental is how much money you can save by buying food, drinks and snacks for the duration of your stay!
If you want an Airbnb or villa, book early
Whilst many owners do higher their costs for peak times, some just have a basic rate that runs across the whole year. However, to find these cheap deals you’re going to have to get in and book early before someone else does.
And remember, if you haven’t used Airbnb before, you can get £25 off your first booking here!
If you want an Airbnb or villa and have left it late, get ready to haggle!
Similar to hotels, Airbnb hosts don’t want their place going empty so put an offer in instead!.
Read my full guide on how to haggle on Airbnb here – there’s even a template email to send!
Booking a package holiday? Do it yourself for less!
One of my favourite things to do is to use package holiday sites as a springboard for my own searching. If they’re advertising a mega deal, before you hit ‘click’, have a search for the flights on Skyscanner and accommodation on Trivago to see if you could do it cheaper – often you can!
What I also like about this is that it’s a simple way to discover cheaper flights to popular destinations and then you could always swap out their chosen hotel for something more you, or perhaps even a villa or an apartment.
Do bear in mind that if you’re booking your flight and accommodation separately you will not get the ATOL or ABTA insurance offered by most package holiday companies so make sure you’ve got travel insurance and buy on a credit card or a visa debit card for added payment protection on purchases over £100. Read up on more ways to protect yourself here.
House sit for free accommodation
Did you know that you can bag free accommodation by looking after someone’s house, watering their plants or even feeding their pets? I’ve done it twice and it is amazing.
There’s also a list of alternative ways to whittle down that price at the end too.
Get £25 off by booking with cashback
This isn’t supposed to be part of the work I’ve been recently doing with Quidco but I thought I would highlight here that you can get a £25 bonus plus cashback by signing up to Quidco and spending £250 on travel before 9th Feb 2020 by using this link.
Visit a non traditional summer holiday destination
Yes, I’m sure you’d to relax at the beach but if you’re really after a great value holiday, I’d recommend heading inland or to a city. As there’s less demand for these destinations, you could end up finding a much better deal and just because it’s not by the sea doesn’t mean you can’t score yourself a hotel with a pool!
Fly inland and travel to the coast another way
If you’re really gagging for that beach holiday try flying inland instead – big capital cities that aren’t on the coast are normally a good shout as there’s lots of flights going there – and then look at either taking the train or driving to the coast.
Whilst not a beach destination, we once took a 2 hour train in Italy to get between Rome and Perugia and it cost just £10 each and was a lush way to travel (though that may have something to do with the bottle of prosecco we took on board…)
Pack light
The great thing about summer holidays is that it’s warm and you really don’t need to pack much. Make a clothes plan before you go away and stick to it. Use a big fabric backpack (this is what I use) that you’ll be able to use for flights with even the crappest allowances. If travelling in a group, book a suitcase between you for liquids if you really need them or order your liquids through click and collect at a Boots after security. Yep, THIS IS A THING!
I used to pack LOADS but now I love going travelling light – give it ago on your next holiday!
Not sure where you’re going to go? Use clever search enginetools
When you just want to get away, there are loads of search engine hacks that can help you spot a cheaper fare.
My favourite is the Ryanair fare finder which allows you to select date ranges. DREAMY.
WHY DOESN’T EVERYONE ELSE DO THIS??!!
Other search engines have great tools but a lot of them clump your searches into month blocks. This can be really helpful for August, but not in July when you only want to search for school holiday dates and the cheapest prices will obviously be those outside of that.
Here’s one way you can kind of hack your way around it – though it’s a bit long winded!
Kayak let’s you search for ‘anywhere’ and they also allow you state the duration of your trip – LOVE IT as it allows flexibility.
They also make out that you can search for 4 weeks around your selected date but it’s a lie mate.
Once you click search it forgets that date and then you can only select a whole month to search.
WHY ARE YOU TEASING US KAYAK?!!
However, I did find this helpful…
Once you’ve selected a destination, look to the right as this graph does allow you to toggle through the trip duration and you can spot where the cheaper prices will lie.
But then again, if you know what destination you want, you’ll also get this from the banging calendar view on Google Flights!
Google Flights also have a clever search tool that allows you to search for weekends, weeks and two week return flights in a certain month (though annoyingly we’re note quite at the summer holidays yet!).
On the homepage, leave your destination blank, click search, and then click into the dates and toggle over to ‘flexible dates’.
And as always, check your flights on Skyscanner before you book.
Skyscanner also allow you to search for ‘everywhere’ in a certain month but I’d like to see some more options from these guys in the future!
The Request
This week’s holiday hotline is a culmination of a few people asking for cheap summer holidays so I’m going to show you some of the deals I’ve rustled up for couples, families and groups of mates.
Remember, if you want to be involved with the next holiday hotline, make sure you’re following me over on Instagram.
Before I give you some solid holiday options, here’s some cheap flights from all over the UK that might intrigue you but remember – check the accommodation prices before you hit buy on those cheap flights!
From London
Berlin, Germany – 5 nights – Weds 19th Aug – Mon 24th Aug – £58 each Ibiza, Spain – 4/5 nights – Sat 8th Aug – Thu 13th Aug – £60 each Nice, France – 7 nights – Tues 28th July – Tues 4th Aug – £67 each Budapest, Hungary – 7 nights – Tues 18th Aug – Tues 25th Aug – £86 each Seville, Spain – 7 nights – Thurs 6th Aug – Tues 11th Aug – £86 each Porto, Portugal – 5 nights – Sun 26th July – Fri 31st July – £102 each Luqa, Malta – 9 nights – Tues 21st July – Thu 30th July – £106 each Faro, Portugal – 7 nights – Tues 28th July – Tues 4th Aug – £115 each
From Manchester
Copenhagen, Denmark – 5 nights – Wed 22nd July – Mon 27th July – £41 each Amsterdam, Netherlands – 5 nights – Wed 12th Aug – Mon 17th Aug – £48 each Prague, Czechia – 7 nights – Thu 6th Aug – Thu 13th Aug – £80 each Lisbon, Portugal – 7 nights – Thu 20th Aug – Thu 27th Aug – £107 each Barcelona, Spain – 5 nights – Sat 15th Aug – Thu 20th Aug – £110 each Luqa, Malta – 7 nights – Wed 12th Aug – Thu 20th Aug –£130 each Malaga, Spain – 8 nights – Wed 12th Aug – Thu 20th Aug – £136 each
From Cardiff
Dublin, Ireland – 7 nights – Wed 5th Aug – Wed 12th Aug – £58 each Paris, France – 5 nights – Fri 7th Aug – Wed 12 July – £112 each Malaga, Spain – 7 nights – Wed 22nd July – Wed 29th July – £118 each
From Edinburgh
Milan, Italy – 7 nights – Sun 16th Aug – Sun 23rd Aug – £75 each Munich, Germany – 7 nights – Mon 3rd Aug – Mon 10th Aug – £76 each Girona, Spain – 7 nights– Sun 16th Aug – Sun 23rd Aug – £97 each Faro, Portugal – 12 nights – Sun 23rd Aug – Weds 2nd Sep – £105 each Dubrovnik, Croatia – 7 nights – Thu 13th Aug – Thu 20th Aug – £114 each
From BelfasT
Amsterdam, Netherlands – 7 nights – Sun 9th Aug – Sun 16th Aug – £73 each Luqa, Malta – 7 nights – Tues 25th Aug – Tue 1st Sep – £75 each Krakow, Poland – 7 nights – Thu 13th Aug – Thu 20th Aug – £124 each Venice, Italy – 7 nights – Mon 27th July – Mon 3rd Aug – £156 each
From Leeds
Dublin, Ireland – 7 nights – Sun 26th July – Sun 2nd Aug – £44 each Amsterdam, Netherlands – 5 nights – Sat 25th July – Thu 30th July – £94 each Limoges, France – 7 nights – Thu 23rd July – Thu 30th July – £112 each Pisa, Italy – 7 nights – Fri 14th Aug – Fri 21st Aug – £118 each
Hopefully that will give you some ideas but let’s put a few of them into motion to show what cheap accommodation you could find as well.
Cheap summer holidays for couples
THE HOLIDAY
Berlin is a great example of non-traditional summer holiday destination that’s a lot of fun in the warmer months.
James and I went last August and had the best time zipping about the city of e-scooters, drinking bottles of beer out in the sunshine and even travelling out to one of the many lakes Berlin brags on its outskirts.
What’s more, there are loads of great 4 star hotels available for around £60 a night – even in the summer – though do check whether there will be aircon. Ours didn’t have any initially and it was SO WARM!
FLIGHTS
London to Berlin, Germany Weds 19th Aug – Mon 24th Aug £57 each
What’s more, if you book with Quidco you can earn 8.4% cashback if you book with a credit card, as well as qualifying for the bonus £25 back if you sign up with this link.
TOTAL
Without cashback – £204.50 each for 5 nights With cashback and bonus – £179.61 each for 5 nights
Cheap summer holidays for families
THE HOLIDAY
So, I’m going to show you hear how you can use package holiday sites to find a good deal but then book it yourself to save even more money.
Here’s a week long holiday to Mazagón, a beach town in Andalusia, Spain. The Mazagon hotel has a kids club, entertainment and a pretty bad ass pool (hello pirate ship and slides) and the price per night includes half board which should help keep your daily costs down.
I found this deal on loveholidays which is great website to use if you’re a fan of package holidays as I love the fact you can select multiple departure airports – for this I selected ‘Any North West’ – and that you can select a date but then add up to 5 days flexibility either side.
However, let’s take these details and break it down.
By searching on Google Hotels, Trivago and even with the hotel directly, I’ve found the same room for £153 a night with LogiTravel.
TOTAL
The total cost for a family of four comes in at £1460 – that’s £104 cheaper than booking it as a package.
That works out at £365 each.
Again, check out the cashback deal I’ve got running at the moment to earn a bonus £25 plus cashback on the hotel, meaning you’d save £117 pounds bringing the overall total in at £335.75 each.
It is worth noting that booking your holiday as a package can mean you can put down a small deposit (though in this case, LogiTravel also allow you to put down a small deposit for just your hotel) and that you won’t get the same insurance that comes with booking parts of your holiday together.
However, there are some straight forward ways to cover yourself – including buying on a credit or visa debit card and making sure your travel insurance covers insolvency.
For our final search, I’m going to show you another way to get a cheaper summer holiday – find the accommodation first!
I find this is especially helpful when you’ve got quite niche requirements, so for this example, here’s what I’m searching for:
24th August for one week (give or take a few days)
6 people
At least 3 bedrooms
At least 2 bathrooms
Hot weather destination
Air conditioning
Pool
The reasoning behind this is that if you can nail a great price for where you’re staying, you’ll save way more than scoring some cheap flights and then trying to find accommodation that suits.
ACCOMMODATION
So, to search for this I’m going to head over to Airbnb and in the search bar, type ‘Europe’.
I’ll then enter my dates (24th Aug – 31st Aug) and the amount of guests I’m after (6).
Next, I’ll click on ‘Stays’ and on the next screen, will use the filters to finely tune what I’m after.
E.g.
Entire place
Max budget of £150 a night
At least 3 beds
At least 3 bedrooms
At least 2 bathrooms
Air conditioning
Pool
Even after all of that, Airbnb is showing me 300+ places to stay so now it’s about using the map to see where may be easy to get to and for a good price.
Almost instantly I find this UNREAL home for an incredibly good price in the south of Spain.
What’s more, the availability on the calendar tells me it’s free from 21st August so we do have some flexibility on dates which will help find the best value flights.
It’s a 2 hours drive from Malaga and a 2.5 hour drive from Seville, so there’s also some flexibility there as well.
FLIGHTS TO MALAGA
Fri 21st Aug – Fri 28th Aug From London – £141 each
Tues 25th Aug – Tues 1st Sep From Belfast – £89 each From Glasgow – £95 each From Edinburgh – £111 each
FLIGHTS TO SEVILLE
Fri 21st Aug – Fri 28th Aug From London – £114 each From Manchester – £152 each
Sat 22nd Aug – Sat 29th Aug From Edinburgh – £120 each
Mon 24th Aug – Mon 31st Aug From Manchester – £140 each
Tues 25th Aug – Tues 1st Sep From Bristol – £116 each
TOTAL
So, if you’re flying from Belfast, this place for six people could be as cheap as £249 each for one week.
BUT, if you were to fill up the place to capacity and have 12 of you staying, it could be as cheap as £214 each!
(Before you question my maths, the price of the Airbnb goes up with the amount of people who stay!)
Phew! That was an epic one! Wanna say thanks?
If I’ve helped you out, or you fancy getting access to more perks (and more holiday hotlines!) then you can also support me over on Patreon for the price of a really average coffee once a month.
Some of these links are affiliated – it doesn’t cost you a penny more but I may earn a little something that will help me run this site. Feel free to search these deals independently!
On this week’s Holiday Hotline, I noticed a bit of a theme.
Lots of people asking about solo travel.
As someone who travels often with someone else, I take for granted how lucky I am when it comes to costs because being able to split a hotel here, a car hire there, can really help when keeping down the price.
However, with a growing demand for solo travel, it’s about time I put my bargain hunting hat on to share some of my top tips when it comes to holidaying on your own.
New to the Holiday Hotline?
Once a week, I take in your cheap holiday requests over on my Instagram and select one to do a deep dive on.
If you want to be involved in the future, make sure you’re following me and keeping an eye out for my stories.
Top Tips for Cheap Solo Travel
Before we crack on with the specific request at hand, I wanted to whizz though some general top tips that will help you book your next solo trip.
However, make sure you keep on scrolling to see what 3 night holiday you could be going on, on your own, for less than £90!
Destinations
Perhaps the most important things to keep in mind… Visit somewhere cheap!
I’m not just talking about cheap flights – they’re a one off cost – I’m on about somewhere that is cheap to stay, eat, drink, do and travel about.
Here’s some of my recommendations:
Please note: the average costs for hotels come from Kayak based on what’s been booked in the last three days – therefore you will definitely be able to find something much cheaper by staying in a basic hotel, hostel or airbnb – or just by scoring an unreal deal!
GDAŃSK, POLAND
Hotel: £47 a night
Inexpensive meal: £5.04
0.5l beer: £1.81
Transport: 65p
Also try: Kraków, Wrocław, Poznań, Łódź and Warsaw
BUDAPEST, HUNGARY
Hotel: £67 a night
Inexpensive meal: £5.12
0.5l beer: £1.28
Transport: 90p
Also try: Debrecen, Eger, Lake Balaton, Sopron, Heviz
PORTO, PORTUGAL
Hotel: £71 a night
Inexpensive meal: £5.98
0.5l beer: £1.71
Transport: £1.07
Also try: Lisbon, Faro, Funchal, The Azores and Olhão
ISTANBUL, TURKEY
Hotel: £53 a night
Inexpensive meal: £3.92
0.5l beer: £2.61
Transport: 35p
Also try: Antalya, Bodrum, Cappadocia and Ephesus
SIEM REAP, CAMBODIA
Hotel: £45 a night
Inexpensive meal: £1.53
0.5l beer: 38p
Transport: 96p
Also try: Phnom Penh, Koh Rong and Bangkok, Thailand
CARTAGENA, COLOMBIA
Hotel: £78 a night
Inexpensive meal: £3.66
0.5l beer: 95p
Transport: 57p
Also try: Medellin, Bogata and Tayrona National Park
More average daily costs can be found using Numbeo.
Accommodation
Look for accommodation first This may well turn out to be a bigger cost than your flight so take a look at when there’s good availability first and then get your flight!
Change the number of people staying to 1 Lots of booking sites autofill to 2 people and there are many hotels that do offer a single occupancy discount or single bed rooms
Find the cheapest dates to stay If you have a hotel in mind, use Google Hotels to scour for the best rates available using their handy calendar view. Then use Trivago to find which site offers the cheapest price
Use Trivago to help whittle down the options If you’re not so sure where to stay, use Trivago and its handy filters to really nail what you’re after. Always remember to click ‘more deals’ to see the cheapest prices!
Stay in a hostel If you’re wanting to meet other solo travellers, or just really keep the cost down, hostels are perfect – I recommend using hostelworld and using the filters to sort by best rated
Many hostels also offer private rooms if you want to mingle but also have space to yourself
Stay in a Bed and Breakfast B&Bs are also a great shout and if you’re refining your search by selecting how many stars you want, you can often miss out on these as many aren’t starred like hotels.
Stay in an Airbnb Airbnb has become standard issue when it comes to travel these days and are a great way to cut down daily costs, especially if they come with a kitchen!
The private room option is a great way to keep costs down, still have access to a kitchen (normally!) and be able to have a local on hand to help you out
Stay for free Did you know that you can bag free accommodation by looking after someone’s house, watering their plants or even feeding their pets? I’ve done it twice and it is amazing.
Book a group activity Solo travel can be amazing but if you, like me, can send yourself a little crazy after too much time alone, then why not plan for a group activity during your trip? It may just be a free walking tour (google whether the place you’re going has one) or a cookery class/hike or food tour!
I’ve used Airbnb Experiences in the past and have always met amazing people along the way. You’ll get money off your first one if you don’t have an Airbnb account already.
Book a group tour Like meeting new people so much you want to travel with them? There are loads of great tours available which will even pair you up in a room (hello splitting costs). Plus, most tours organise everything for you so you can relax on all the details.
Tour Radar is a great site that compiles tours from load of different companies.
The Request
Right, let’s put all these tips into action so that we can help out Liam who has asked for:
Somewhere photogenic
From London or Edinburgh
End of Feb/early March
1 person
3/4 days
£300 budget
First thoughts
As London tends to be easier to find cheap flights from, I’m going to challenge myself by finding a cheap flight from Edinburgh first and hopefully the London option will come in at around the same cost.
Flights
When there’s no specific destination in mind, it can often be difficult to know where to start so I’m going to show you a really handy trick you can use on Google Flights to help you out.
I discovered this by total accident – I don’t know why they’re not screaming it from the rooftops as it is SO HELPFUL!
Step 1 – Enter your departure airport but leave the destination blank. Don’t worry about what dates are in, just press search.
Step 2 – In front of you will be a list of destinations to the left and a map with prices on the right. You’re going to click on the dates and next to ‘Specific dates’, you’re going to click on ‘Flexible dates’
Step 3 – Now, select what month you’d like to go away in (or you can just select ‘all’) and then select whether you want to go away across a weekend, 1 week or 2 weeks.
For Liam, I’ve selected ‘February’ and ‘Weekend’ and this is what comes up.
ISN’T THAT THE MOST HELPFUL THING EVER?!!
Though make sure to cross check your dates in Skyscanner and Momondo as they can often come up cheaper.
Now, you may be thinking ‘but Liam wanted 3/4 days Chelsea, not 2 and he didn’t specify weekend travel‘ well… You’re right. But as Google Flights is scouring for the cheapest flights across a weekend, most of them do tend to be 3 night stays as 2 nights is often more expensive.
Also, taking less annual leave means more holidays in the future so what’s not to love?!
There are some great options coming up from Edinburgh including:
But in the spirit of keeping daily costs down (and not choosing Poland which I’m sure you’re all sick of me banging on about!), I’ve decided to go for:
Edinburgh to Bratislava Thu 27th Feb – Sun 1st March Ryanair – small hand luggage only £38 return
Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and I think Liam will definitely be able to find some photogenic spots!
What’s more, with an average inexpensive meal coming in at £5.12, a beer coming in at £1.71 and ticket on the local transport costing only 77p, his money will go really far.
Also, as it’s only 64km from Vienna, it’s very possible to do a day trip to the Austrian capital, or even a twin city break!
You can even catch a boat between the two from 30 euros (though check the site for winter times as they aren’t daily!) or take a train for around £10, or a bus for around £5 via omio.
Now, let’s hope we can find a flight from London for a similar price!
London to Bratislava Thu 27th Feb – Sun 1st March Ryanair – small hand luggage only £46 return
So, Liam will get a much fuller schedule if he flies from London but I think it’s fair to say that both prices are looking GREAT.
Now, there are plenty of hostels to choose from with beds for £10 a night on hostelworld but I’m a big fan of these new ’boutique hostels’ that are popping up! You can even pay £4 more to stay in a room with just 3 others.
That’s right, just because you’re travelling solo, it doesn’t mean you have to rough it. The great news is that Bratislava means 4 star hotels for under £50 a night.
YES PLEASE AND THANK YOU.
Total cost
So, if Liam was to go with the cheapest flight and the cheapest accommodation, his 3 night trip to Bratislava would only cost £90.
Even with the better flight times from London and the four star hotel, his total cost would be £172 which really isn’t too shabby at all.
Get it booked, lad!
Wanna say thanks?
If I’ve helped you out, or you fancy getting access to more perks (and more holiday hotlines!) then you can also support me over on Patreon for the price of a really average coffee once a month.
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This week we’re helping Jade who’s after a group trip to Krakow in Poland.
Krakow
From London
3 nights
7 people
£250pp
I love a group trip as more people means more people to split the cost by!
I also chose this holiday hotline because I thought it would perfectly show just how amazing Google Flights can be when you have a place in mind but you can be a little bit flexible on your dates.
3 nights is also the perfect amount of time to hook a getaway around a weekend so that you don’t have to use up too much annual leave.
Top tip for weekend trips: A lot of people are looking for that Sunday flight back but by moving the trip back one day and getting the Monday flight home, you can save money and you’re often taking the same amount of time off work!
Flights
So first things first, let’s head to Google Flights and most importantly change your passengers to the correct number as there may only be a few tickets left at the lower price you find.
(The eagle eyed of you will spy in the screenshots that it’s for one but this is just as it’s the only way to reflect cost per person!)
Next, pop in where we’re leaving from and where we’re going to.
Next, click on the date box and change your desired trip duration at the bottom. Here, I’ve changed it to 3 days for Jade and her mates.
Now, that seems pretty straight forward but actually, things get even more helpful on the next page so for now just click some dates. Any dates, it doesn’t matter.
By doing this, you’ll see the cheapest flights possible for that day but what if you don’t want an evening flight?
And I bet you deffo don’t want that 6am flight home.
Meaning that your £33 return flight could quickly become more expensive.
And what if the flight times you actually want could be cheaper on another day?
Can you search for that?
The good news is, yes you can.
So, the next thing you’re going to do is select the ‘Times’ button and decide what times you’d ideally like to leave between, and then do the same for your return journey.
For Jade, I’m actually going to keep in a later departure so that it cuts down on annual leave needed getting to Krakow, however I am going to get rid of that 2050 flight option because I think that gets in just a tad too late.
For the return I’m also going with a later flight so that they can make the most of their last day but make sure it arrives home before 2200 so that most public transport is still up and running.
After doing this, go back to the calendar and you’ll see that the prices will have updated to reflect your needs.
You may need to change the length of your trip again at the bottom.
Now, I’m in a great place to look for a cheap price that hooks around a weekend and within a few clicks, I find this great price in March.
The 1950 departure time means that most people, if working in Central London, would only need to take half a day off work or nothing at all if they’ve got a nice boss who will let them leave just before 5pm!
Wizz Air only includes a small piece of hand luggage but I’m a firm believer in that being more than enough for a weekend away! Plus, if you’re travelling in a group you could split a suitcase between you to pop some extra liquids in.
As I’m searching for 7 people for Jade, here’s what the final cost looks like on Google Flights.
Which indeed works out at £48 each.
Bargain.
Before clicking through, always check your flights on Skyscanner as it can often find cheaper prices as it searches more third party companies.
The flights are showing up the same price but hilariously, Skyscanner are throwing in an even cheaper option with Ryanair for £43 return.
However, as it’s flying from and returning to different airports AND I have a way to save more money on Wizz Air, I’m going to stick with what I found on Google Flights and click through to book direct with the airline.
How to save more money on Wizz Airflights
By signing up to the Wizz Discount Club, you’ll get access to loads of perks.
And two types of membership are available:
The great news for Jade is that she can buy the group membership for £69 and it will save her £108 across 6 tickets – so the membership has instantly paid for itself and, once we’ve added in one remaining full price ticket, brings the cost in at £42.43 each for 7 people.
Even better is that the membership will last Jade a year and as she’s the only one named on the account, she can go away with a group of totally different people and still use the discount – or just use the discount for herself.
To buy this membership, Jade just needs to change the amount of tickets to six passengers and then click on the ‘WIZZ Discount Club Price’.
She’ll then be able to buy membership on the same screen.
Jade then just needs to buy the last ticket at the full price cost.
For this I’m definitely thinking an apartment or house but instead of hopping straight to Airbnb, I’m going to go to HomeToGo instead.
HomeToGo is to holiday homes like what Trivago is to hotels.
It pulls in homes from loads of different sites, including Airbnb, and whilst isn’t always the slickest websites (sometimes listings aren’t available) I do like the range of choice it offers.
Top tip: Too many Airbnb results being shown? Select ‘Balcony/Patio’ or ‘Garden’ in your search filters as Airbnb doesn’t have this option and therefore all will leave the listings. However, you will only get listings with those amenities but I always love to have a balcony so this is a plus for me!
For Jade, I’m searching for a place that has at least 4 rooms so that 7 people won’t feel too cramped!
I’m also using the map to search for a spot in Central Krakow.
As the flights were so cheap there’s enough budget left for accommodation to cost £483 a night but I reckon we can get something much cheaper!
The dining area may not be big enough for everyone but with 4 bedrooms (though one has a sofa bed), 2 bathrooms and two sofa areas, it’s not bad for £55 quid each!
Not used Airbnb before? Get £25 off your first stay here!
What I liked about this place is not only did it have 5 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, but it also had two social spaces and a table that actually fits all the people Jade wants to go away with!
House of Loft Affair 2 apartments x 1 bed apartments £337.16 a night / £144.71 each for 3 nights
These apartments are GORGEOUS and they’ve got big social spaces.
Yet, for people not to be on sofa beds in the living rooms, Jade would need to book this instead.
House of Loft Affair 2 x 2 bedroom apartments £529 a night / £227 each for 3 nights
Jade will need to select the Palace House and the Pent House.
Now this is slightly over budget but if Jade is looking for something a bit luxe, then this is it!
The final cost
So, going with the cheapest option, Jade and her mates could get away to Krakow for 3 nights for just £97.72 each.
Meaning that the extra £150 can be used for spends.
GET THE BEERS IN, SON.
Wanna say thanks?
If I’ve helped you out, or you fancy getting access to more perks (and more holiday hotlines!) then you can also support me over on Patreon for the price of a really average coffee once a month.
To be in with a chance of getting your request selected, make sure you’re following me on Instagram where I’ll give you a weekly reminder to get your request in.
Saturday 4th January 2020 is what the travel industry is hailing as ‘Sunshine Saturday‘.
A name coined due to the surge in holiday makers booking sunny getaways on this day for the past few years.
And with all the cold weather and the lack of Christmas to look forward to, who can blame them?
So, here are some of the best bargain holidays I’ve found with Virgin Holidays who are giving out an extra discount this weekend – and free lounge access!
Virgin Holidays
Save an extra 10% off all bookings this weekend – including sale – and get free lounge access too!
(Though pssst, this is their v-room lounge rather than their Virgin Atlantic Upper Class lounge!)
To save,use the code: 10SAVE Ends Mon 6th Jan at 11:59PM
Top tip It’s much cheaper to fly from London Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester so think about whether you can travel to one of those before taking off.
All prices shown below are BEFORE the 10% discount.
Meaning that you can actually score a flight and 7 nights accommodation in Orlando for just £431 per person.
Some of these links are affiliated – it doesn’t cost you a penny more but I may earn a little something that will help me run this site. Feel free to search these deals independently!
Whether you’ve just caught me on Channel 4’s ‘Holidays Secrets: Is Last Minute Best?‘ or have stumbled across me another way, let me take a moment to say hello, my name is Chelsea and I’m a bit obsessed with searching for cheap holidays.
First things first, make sure you’re following me on Instagram, Twitter and YouTube for loads of cheap holiday tips.
I’ve got a new site in development at the moment so for now, let me show you a few posts that may help you save money on your next holiday.
You can also check out some discounts on your favourite brands here too!
I also do a weekly holiday hotline on Instagram where I ask you guys to submit your requests and then I go in search of the best deal for you.
Lastly, I offer even more travel perks to my Patreon followers including hotel upgrade templates, behind the scenes footage and access to my exclusive Instagram stories.
Thanks for stopping by – say hello and tell me where you’re hoping to travel to this year!
So, Amy’s been in touch, and here’s what she’s after.
Japan
End of March
Cherry blossom season
2 people
Flying from Manchester
2 weeks
£1500 each
As someone who visited Japan last year in cherry blossom season and booked it all pretty last minute – not advised, by the way – I know that this can be done!
Cherry blossom season is always super popular – with both tourists and the Japanese – and you can check out the best dates to visit the different areas here.
For 2020, Tokyo’s supposed to start flowering from 21 March and be in full bloom by 27 March.
But be aware that last year it came early and so it’s not quite an exact science!
I was so lucky as I found our flights for just £258 (ridiculous, I know!) and so the first hurdle is gonna be getting Amy to Tokyo on a budget…
Let’s do this.
FLIGHTS
So, as Amy wants the end of March, it does make things a bit pricier (it’s getting close to Easter!) so as a quick aside, if you can fly between Thurs 12th – Fri 27th March, you’ll pay £133 each less.
But anyway, onwards!
Tues 24th March to Tues 7th April Manchester to Tokyo Nippon Airways / Swiss Air £670 each
£670 may not seem a great price initially but actually, according to the stats on Google Flights, it’s not too shabby at all!
There is also a £469 flight on the 29th March yet the connections are a total horror show. But… I guess an option if you love flying and long layovers???!
What about other airports?
Alright, alright, I suppose I can help a few others out as well.
London – Tues 24 Mar – Tues 7th Apr – from £370 each
It does involves a long layover in Shanghai both ways but they do have a 72 hour visa pass for people in transit and there are plenty of hotels in and around the airport for that overnight layover on the way home!
There’s also this option with much shorter layovers for £433 each.
If you wanna fly direct, the best price is from Mon 16th for £780 but if you want to go later on like Amy, it’s going to set you back £979 each!
Edinburgh – Tues 24th Mar – Tues 7th Apr – £706 each
It does involve a 19 hour layover in Amsterdam on the way out but it’s timed really nicely for you to enjoy an evening there and get up with loads of time for your early afternoon flight.
Inverness – Tues 24th Mar – Tues 7th Apr – £630 each
Another long layover in Amsterdam on the way outbut again, a nice excuse for a quick trip there too!
Cardiff – Tues 24th Mar – Tues 7th Apr – £695 each
Once again! KLM with their Amsterdam breaks!
The hilarious thing is that if you were to fly direct from Amsterdam on all of these KLM flights it would cost MORE than any of these listed above. How does that even make sense?!
RAIL PASS
Normally I’d move onto accommodation but for exploring Japan, the rail pass is a very important component.
But first of all, what is it exactly?
The Japan Rail pass – also known as the JR Pass – is a special discounted ticket available for tourists. It offers unlimited travel on trains operated by Japan Railways Group and includes the high-speed service known as the Shinkansen, or the Bullet Train.
Can you find a discount? No. There aren’t any, so don’t waste your time looking for one (I did).
For a two week trip, I think 7 days feels too short and 14 feels too long but I think if you’re trying to save money, think about doing a stint in Tokyo either side of your travels (that’s what we did!) so you can go for the shorter pass.
However, I’m going put Amy down for the full whack – £319 each – just to cover all bases (and because I love to make life difficult for myself).
There’s no set website to buy your rail pass on – a load of third parties do this – but I can personally recommend Japan Travel Centre as they offer free delivery (they also offer free pick up if you’re in London which is what I did).
Top tip: You cannot reserve seats on most trains outside of the country so make sure you head to a travel centre when you arrive to get a seat! You’re travelling at peak times so it’s deffo worth doing this. More details are here.
ITINERARY
I swear I’ll get to accommodation next but more important is to first work out where you want to go.
There are loads of great two week itineraries available online – one of my fave things to do is to look at a professional tour and then try to recreate it – but for the purpose of this challenge, I’ll be following this:
25th – 29th Mar / 4 nights / Tokyo 29th Mar – 1st Apr / 3 nights / Kyoto 1st Apr – 3rd April / 2 nights / Hiroshima 3rd April – 5th April / 2 nights / Osaka 5th – 6th April / 2 nights / Tokyo
This is loosely based on my own journey but do your own research and see what you fancy.
ACCOMMODATION
Here we go then! We finally made it!
As the flight arrives in a day later, we actually need to find 13 nights accommodation for this trip.
Given that the total for flights and a rail pass is already £931 each (jeez) this means we have £519 each left for places to stay.
That’s just £43.67 a night each.
Can we do it?
YES WE CAN!
Hold on a second…
Before we get into this, what I found was the best way to keep to budget in Japan was to change accommodation every couple of nights or so. This allowed us to explore new areas, work around a hotel’s busy calendar and also save money on some nights and splurge on others.
Due to this, I’d also recommend packing light. I actually only took my 45L Patagonia rucksack and James took a small wheelie case and a backpack. It made it so much easier.
Please be aware that Japanese rooms are MUCH smaller and if you’re staying in an Airbnb, it can feel pretty basic, but it’s a great insight into how many live in the city. Plus, make sure you check out some pod hotels because they are AMAZING/BIZARRE AF.
My top advice would be to get on trivago, enter your dates and just see what you can get for your money.
I’ve done some searching for you, but please do see the following places as a pick’n’mix selection!
Tokyo
Andon Ryokan – £84 a night / £42 each Pssst – make sure you’re signed in to Booking.com as the price can go down more!
Traditional Ryokan style (you sleep on fold out futons on the floor) but with a modern twist – and a cracking breakfast included too!
Bizarrely, the price is often cheaper for men than women on the same night. It can also fluctuate from night to night and as you have to fully check out in the morning, I’d only recommend this as a first night or last night in an area. But a great experience!
Check out when we stayed in this type of capsule in Kyoto here!
Not used Airbnb before? Get £25 off your first stay here!
Teeny tiny, and in the traditional style, there’s not even room to swing a cat but with close transport links to Shinjuku, it may be just right for you!
Not used Airbnb before? Get £25 off your first stay here!
Set in a hillside artist residence, you’re slightly out of the city and amongst Kyoto’s beautiful greenery here! But don’t worry, it doesn’t take long to travel central (they also have free bikes!)
Hiroshima
We didn’t go to Hiroshima but I wished we’d cut our Osaka trip slightly shorter to include it so that’s why it’s here.
WeBase Hiroshima – £64 a night / £32 each Psst – remember to sign in to your account, you may get a cheaper price!
Nest Hiroshima – £79.50 a night / £39.75 each Psst – remember to sign in to your account, you may get a cheaper price!
So much for only choosing one hotline a week to save time – I think that was the most epic holiday search I’ve ever done!!
But I hope it goes to prove that Japan definitely can be done on a budget EVEN when the flights are coming through pricey.
I hope that helps Amy and whoever else is planning a Japanese getaway!
Wanna say thanks?
If I’ve helped you out, or you fancy getting access to more perks (and more holiday hotlines!) then you can also support me over on Patreon for the price of a really average coffee once a month.
To be in with a chance of getting your request selected, make sure you’re following me on Instagram where I’ll give you a weekly reminder to get your request in.
I have used some affiliate links throughout this article. They don’t charge you more, but if you book through them you’ll be helping me to continue my cheap travel booking hobbies. TA PALS!
Listed as this year’s 6th best European Christmas market, Poznan ticks all the boxes for a magical festive experience but also if you’re there on the 7th and 8th December, you’ll also experience their amazing Ice Festival where sculptors come together to compete in the streets!
FLIGHTS
London to Poznan Fri 6th Dec – Mon 9th Dec – from £66 return
Yes, the flights are EARLY (the evening flight with Ryanair costs A LOT more!) but think of how much festive cheer you can cram in? I’ve gone for the return on the Monday morning as it allows you more time to explore the city but you can return early on the Sunday for just £46 return.
ACCOMMODATION
This super central Airbnb works out at just £36.67 a night.
Travelling as mates? This twin bed studio will only cost you £35 a night and if you don’t mind the 40 min walk central, this modern studio is only £27.66 a night!
Remember, if you haven’t used Airbnb before you can get money off your first stay here!
Another from the top ten Christmas Markets is Brussels! Their ‘Winter Wonders’ gets 2.5 million visitors a year and has markets, an ice rink and a huge Christmas tree in the square.
FLIGHTS
Edinburgh to Brussels Fri 13th Dec – Sun 15th Dec – from £62 return.
Though you can fly into and out of the main airport for just £67 return.
You can also fly direct from London from £127 and from Manchester from £176 return.
ACCOMMODATION
Currently under offer thanks to Black Friday and Cyber Monday, this 4 star hotel – The President Brussels Hotel – has rooms from just £72.86 a night.
Plus, it’s just a 20 min walk from the Christmas markets!
Top Tip: Be sure to click on ‘rooms’ rather than ‘packages’ to get this deal.
Want to stay somewhere cheaper? A private room woth ensuite in Hostel Galia is £56 a night and this simple £44.50 a night Airbnb is a 40 min walk or a 15 min public transport journey away from the markets.
Remember, if you haven’t used Airbnb before you can get money off your first stay here!
Okay, it may not be the cheapest once you’re there but if you’re gagging to see some snow, you’re not too far from the Alps here! Placing #15 on the best Christmas Markets, Basel is known as the Switzerland’s biggest and most beautiful Christmas city.
FLIGHTS
Manchester to Basel Fri 6th Dec – Sun 8th Dec – £78 return
What great timed flights!
There’s also some great times from London for £97 return.
ACCOMMODATION
Top tip: You get a free Baselcard when you check in to a hotel in Basel which offers discounts on local attractions. More importantly it also gives you unlimited public transport in the city and to the airport as well. If your hotel reservation is marked ‘mobility ticket’, you can use this to travel from the airport to your hotel. More information is here.
Hotel Stücki is a really well rated 3 star hotel that’s a mile from the historic old town where the Christmas festivities take place! For Switzerland it really isn’t bad for £80.90 a night.
With average temperatures in December coming in at 17 degrees, you may think Seville is a bizarre choice yet it was voted amongst the Best Sunny Christmas Markets in Europe and was visitors top market in Spain last year. Expect traditional style markets, an ice rink and delicious food, of course!
FLIGHTS
You can fly Fri – sun from London from £83 return and from Manchester for £122 return but I wanted to shine a light on this amazing deal instead.
Bristol to Seville Fri 13th Dec – Mon 16th Dec – £20 return
What a bargain!
ACCOMMODATION
Okay stop.
WHY IS SEVILLE SO DAMN CHEAP FOR GORGEOUS HOTELS?
LET’S ALL GO TO SEVILLE.
A room at the 4 star One Shot Palacio Conde de Torrejón 09 (mouthfull or what?) comes in at just £64.66 a night.
Lush.
This cute Airbnb is just £57 a night and if you want to keep it really cheap, this one bedroom Airbnb is only £39 a night (the reviews are amazing, I just think they need better photos!!).
If I’ve helped you out, why not pay back the love by sponsoring me over on Patreon? It costs less than the price of a coffee a month (especially if you like fancy ones!) and means that I get to do more of this.
And as always – remember to tell me where you end up going so I can holiday vicariously through you all!
I have used some affiliate links throughout this article. They don’t charge you more, but if you book through them you’ll be helping me to continue my cheap travel booking hobbies.
how many holidays 