Finding the Best Price

When booking any type of travel, the biggest worry is, “am I getting the best price, the best deal, the best options?” While there is never a sure-fire way to be certain you are getting the best deal, some work, time and patience can pay off. Also, knowing some of the best ways to search for those deals and offers will help.

Flights

If you have time to book a vacation, flexibility is the key to scoring the best deals. Typically, late night flights are usually the cheapest if going west to east. Of course, these are usually “red eye” flights where you’re traveling during the middle of the night and arriving very early the next morning. The reason for this is typically business travelers need those mid-day or early morning flights to get to their conference, meeting or event. Businesses are more willing to pay the higher fares out of necessity rather than preference. Another note, early morning flights are least likely to be delayed or canceled as the plane has most likely been sitting at the airport overnight and not having to deal with delays at other airport or in the sky.

Using booking sites like Kayak, Skyscanner or Expedia are great for comparing or finding which flights that fly into the destination you are interested in. These sites also offer a price indicator on the results page stating if it’s most likely to go up or down in price, and if the current price is higher than previously or lower.

Once you find the flight you are interested in, the biggest decision awaits. Do you book with the booking site or through the airline itself? My preference is to book directly through the airline. The reason; if you are canceled or delayed you can deal directly with the airline, at the gate, guest services, through their app or over the phone. With booking sites, they will act as the middle-man/travel agent and must also go through the airline to get you rebooked, while confirming you were actually canceled, causing you delays trying to find seat on a new flight. When canceled or delayed, time is of the essence, and if 50 other people are changing their flight directly through the airline, you are being booked behind them and risk not getting on the next available flight.

Always take into consideration connections vs non-stop, checked bag fees, seat availability and choices, costs for upgrades and boarding options. Remember, Southwest now charges bag fees, so they are quickly moving out of the cheapest option because of free checked bags. Typically, for American-based airlines, American Airlines is the cheapest, followed by United, Southwest (unless you score a very cheap “Wanna Get Away” fare), then Delta depending on the destinations.

Rental Cars

As with flights. you can use sites such as Kayak, Expedia, Priceline as well as the car rental company sites directly. The best prices are usually found through membership sites such as AAA, AARP and even Costco. Rental cars usually come with a cheaper “pre-paid” rate which will save you 10% or more, but you are unable to cancel and must pay in advance. Standard rates allow you to cancel even up to the pick-up time without a fee. Most credit card companies come with rental car insurance as well as your own auto policy, so I only suggest the optional insurance if you are very worried about driving (winter conditions, driving on the opposite side of the road than your home country, etc). I always opt to return the gas tank full as opposed to prepaying. You will most likely pay more for prepaying as you will pay for a full tank no matter how much you fuel you return the vehicle with. Don’t forget to check the minimum driver age, any fees for an extra driver, and if you’ll need an international driver’s permit.

Accommodations

This is where everything gets tricky. With flights, you’re taking a plane. With rental cars, you’re taking a vehicle. With accommodations though, you have a big choice, hotel, vacation rental, bed & breakfast, cruise ship, hostel, camper van, RV, tent among other options. On this site you won’t find information on camping, RV’ing or hostels as those are not our specialties. There are plenty of other sites for this type of travel, so fear not! We’ll also share cruise ship options separately.

For hotels, the best search engines are Kayak, Trivago, Booking, and Priceline. Again, I prefer to shop those sites but book directly with the hotel unless the hotel does not offer the same pricing. Most hotels will price match a deal found on any of the search and booking engines. You will also accumulate points through the hotel, but not if you use a booking site. Don’t forget to search AAA, AARP or Military/Government rates.

For vacation rentals, the obvious options are Airbnb, Vrbo and Booking. Remember, when booking one of these options, chances are they are non-refundable, so once booked, you must pay and stay. If your plans change, you may only be able to change the booking dates, but not receive your money back. The benefits are having an entire home to yourself, including kitchen, living room, parking, and more. Your entire travel party can stay in the same space as well, eliminating coordinating dinners, pick-up times, or down time together cramped into a small hotel room or lobby.