THE Sun’s travel team rack up hundreds of thousands of air miles between us each year – and we have stacks of tricks for keeping those costs down.
These are our insider tips for saving on , which can cut the cost of a holiday by hundreds of pounds.
Consider an alternative airport and save £750 on flights
Sophie Swietochowski, Assistant Travel Editor
HAVE you ever considered not travelling direct to your final destination? Booking to the nearest airport may seem like a logical option, but it’s not always the most affordable.
This budget-saving hack has been ingrained in me since my childhood days where were limited and every penny made a difference.
And if you are travelling as a family, we all know that the cost of flights can rack up quite quickly, which is why flying to an alternate airport may be more cost effective.
For example, if you’re planning to visit the this , then you could save a whopping £740 on flights if you’re travelling as a family of four, just by flying into Tampa instead of .
I did some digging of my own and found that return flights for a week-long holiday in Orlando cost £818.48pp, departing on July 22 with .
If you fly from Heathrow to Tampa, however, then return flights cost only £633.48pp, flying with the exact same airline on the exact same dates. That’s a mega saving of £185pp – or £740 per of four.
Tampa is less than a two-hour drive from Orlando and the cost of car hire and petrol is minimal in comparison to the flight savings.
This may not be the same for every destination, of course. But it’s frequently the case for major in popular holiday spots – especially those in the US if it’s a busy time of year.
So it’s worth opening up maps and doing a bit of research ahead of booking.
Don’t get stung with big baggage fees
I LOATHE paying extra for a – especially when it costs more than the price of the flight itself.
This is why I’ve switched to flying with just an underseat bag, flitting between my Fjällräven High Coast Foldsack and my Narwey Duffel Bag.
Coming in at £10, the Narwey Duffel is the cheapest of my two favourites. I’ve used it on countless trips, including a five-day jaunt to Bratislava, , and , .
On my trip through the two capitals I managed to fit all my essentials including clothes, hair-styling tools, , , a travel towel, a book, my passport and a purse.
And, it fits easily into the dimensions required on low-cost airlines like and Wizz Air.
As well as saving money and keeping my travel costs low, having a small bag means you can move through the airport faster, with no waiting around at the carousel. Plus, it stops me buying unnecessary tat that I don’t need.
Use cashback sites to get money back on your booking
Kara Godfrey, Deputy Travel Editor
IF you don’t want to stretch to a to get some points when booking a holiday, cashback sites could be an alternative.
Cashback sites earn money when you book through their links and they share some of that cash with the consumer, so you could be quids in – especially when it comes to booking holidays and other travel.
I swear by Quidco for everything, and have built up a great little pocket of cash without having to pay anything extra.
For example, you could get as much as 37.5 per cent cash back when booking airport parking.
With an average week costing up to £185, you could get a huge £67 cashback.
Trains, and even UK theme parks are all on the list, and is a free way to squirrel away some pennies.
Invest in an eSim
I’VE been a victim of that dreaded phone bill when you come back from holiday, after I was too slow in turning my roaming off after landing in .
So after heading to and realising I would need access to my phone, I finally realised how much of a game-changer an eSim is.
I was surprised at how easy they are to use.
Gone are the days where you have to get a physical card, you simply buy it for as long as you need, switch the number in your phone settings and voila.
If you don’t need much data, they can cost as little as £1 a day. If only I’d known before my £50 bill...
Save big on small purchases at the supermarket
I AM a big believer in brand loyalty, particularly when it comes to collecting points on store cards.
My dividends paid off when my partner and I saved £190 on our to Athens thanks to our stash of Clubcard points.
Holidaymakers can exchange their hard-earned Tesco clubcard vouchers into credit with holidays.
And the deal gets even better because the Tesco points double, meaning if you have £50 stashed on your clubcard, you’ll have £100 in easyJet money.
The converted points meant we could book into a slightly more upmarket hotel in a central location.
I don’t just collect ‘travel points’ at Tesco either. Both my and Nectar accounts are linked to my Avios account, in the vain hope one day I’ll have enough to book a flight.
I also collect points with , because then I can treat myself to a ‘free’ meal deal at the airport.
Save time and spread your driving costs
Lisa Minot, Head of Travel
MILLIONS of us jump in the car and head across the to every year. And I’m one of them!
I’ve been to my caravan in the South of for decades, taking full advantage of France’s excellent toll autoroutes.
While it costs us to use the autoroutes, for the last few years we’ve invested in an Emovis tag that you stick on the windscreen of your car.
This allows you to use the special queue-free lanes at all the peage toll payment stations.
What’s also great about this is you are billed at the end of the month of your travel so for my journey down in July, I won’t pay for the tolls until August and ditto, my journey back in August won’t come out of my bank account until September.
While the efficient, excellently-maintained autoroutes are a joy to drive on, there’s one thing we NEVER do – and that’s fill up with petrol at the autoroute service stations.
Petrol and prices are always far higher than those just off the autoroute, particularly at the large supermarkets.
We always plan our journey to make sure we can nip off the autoroute to a nearby Carrefour, Intermarche or Auchan supermarket and fill up there.
The savings can be significant – up to £25 for our full tank and we can spend the savings on drinks, snacks and lunch in the supermarkets too!
Indulge in camping comforts that feel like home
WITH a big family, I’ve always been a huge fan of self-catering holidays, giving us the chance to enjoy time with the kids for less.
But fun in the sun and outdoor activities and adventures often mean our holiday wardrobe takes a bit of a beating.
Laundry sheets work out at less than 15p each and are perfect for quick washes on campsites and on the go.
They take up very little space and can easily slip into a backpack or handbag. Simply pop one sheet into water as low as 20C and it fully-dissolves, leaving no sticky residue behind and clothes come out smelling lovely.
The Dr Beckmann ones I use come in packs of 25 and you can get them in Bio and Non-Bio options with a pack costing just £3 – that’s 15p per sheet.
You can pop them in washing machines on campsites or in holiday apartments or simply run water in the sink to wash a few bits.
Shop around for the best deals
Helen Wright, Travel Writer
I’M a DIY holidaymaker, so I like to book everything myself, researching everything separately.
It’s more time-consuming, but I always get a better-than-advertised deal, which has saved me thousands of pounds in the past.
Starting with flights, I begin with a flight comparison programme like or but sometimes the options suggested involve unsociable travel times or long layovers.
Once I can see what airline has the best deals and schedule, I head to the airline’s own site and compare how much it is to book with them directly.
Sites like and Ryanair have excellent flight calendars and apps, where it’s easy to see the lowest fare on your flight for the entire month.
I saved hundreds on a flight to by shifting my dates by one day.
Once I have my flight secured, I do the same with the hotel’s own website. Often if you book rooms directly with the hotel itself, you get the lowest rate, a booking discount or little extras included like breakfast or welcome treats in your room.
Sometimes your hard work really pays off. Last year I booked a family holiday to after seeing a deal advertised by a popular travel company.
I managed to get the exact same holiday for £1,000 less! The only difference was that airport transfers were not included.
However, when I looked, a cab from the airport was only 50 , so it was still a massive saving!
It’s always worth looking into the DIY option and I get such satisfaction when I get a good deal.
Take a refillable water bottle
It’s a simple one but it saves money and the planet! I always carry an empty refillable bottle with me to the airport and on my travel trips.
Many people don’t realise you can take empty bottles over 100ml through airport security.
This means you can drink or tip out your water, even from a plastic bottle and take it with you.
I see so many plastic bottles dumped at the airport and it makes me really frustrated.
At most airports, there is a refillable water station on the other side of security, so you can fill up your bottle before you board the flight.
Of course, you can also use your refillable bottle on your holiday too. Hotel will have drinkable water for guests and most restaurants will let you fill up, providing tap water is drinkable at the destination.
Insulated bottles are better than plastic anyway, as they keep your water cold in the sun! So it’s a no-brainer for me.
