Flights
Long before you are going, you should check the prices of tickets. There are several ticket-comparing website, such as cheaptickets.com, skyscanner.com, etc. The best time to get tickets for continental flights is 2 or 3 months in advance. For intercontinental flights it is about 4 or 5 months in advance. Don’t forget to remove your computer’s cookies every time you check the same website again. This way they won’t know that you are looking for a specific flight on a specific day.
For cheaper flights, it is better to not have a specific day of arrival or departure. Because sometimes it may be cheaper to go 2 days earlier or come back home a day later. Of course, if you are bound to certain travel days to make the most of your vacation, search those dates. But: make sure to delete the cookies. Then it won’t put an extra $100 on your ticket price since it ‘knows’ your preferred days.
Accommodation
For good hotels or hostels there are also several websites to compare prices and rooms. Traveling with a guide book gets you quite far too in countries like Thailand and Cambodia. And you can also just browse around on the streets.
Maaike: I only had my first two nights booked in advance when I arrived in Hanoi, Vietnam. Just to have an address to go to on arrival. It was great to see my name on a cardboard plaque when I arrived after a few long flights. And to have somebody taking me to the correct hotel for the first night. The reason I booked the second night as well. was to be able to sleep in a bit. Now I didn’t need to immediately have to look for a new hotel the following day. I did find a good hotel after that, which was a lot cheaper than what I found online. It can be worth it to look around in the town where you are and just book something locally.
You may also be able to bargain the price a bit down if you plan to stay a bit longer.
A tip to save money
If possible, you should try to travel outside of the touristy season. Some places are so much cheaper when you’re not going in the main season. The main or touristy season may be different for different countries / continents. In some places the summer will be the main season, in others the time outside of the rain season.
Maaike: I’ve stayed in great places in the south of Portugal for a tenth of the price. Just because it was November and not peak season July. And the weather was still good!
Okay, you may have nicer weather in some places in July rather than January. But the weather is so unpredictable nowadays. You never know: it may be nice in the month you want to travel? Or maybe not nice in the peak season? Most importantly: check if the places you really want to see are open in that time of year. Some have a winter break, or are closed because it is so hot that time of year. Or maybe they have an adjusted schedule for the rain season.
Also lines for museums and monuments may be a lot shorter when you’re not waiting together with another couple of hundred of people to go in. If you do have to travel in the main season, check if you can buy online tickets (sometimes cheaper, sometimes for an additional fee) that can save you from waiting in the blazing sun outside a museum.
