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Your sun tan lotion is bought, the case has been dragged down from the loft, and the dog has been booked into the kennels, all you need to do now is find yourself one of those cheap holiday deals you always seem to hear other people going on about. So where do you start? You could sit for hours in a travel agent while she scrolls through pages and pages of holidays that still ‘aren’t quite cheap enough’, you could do it from the comfort of your armchair, while a call centre advisor does all the ground work for you, plus there’s the bonus of being able to keep an eye on Eastenders at the same time, or you can log onto the internet and discover that the world really could be your oyster.

You are going to have to put a bit of work into this though, however, the more time you spend now, hopefully, the less money you’ll spend in the long run.
Avoiding the school holidays is a good start, you can view the annual school timetables on the governments education website, it might be worth checking this before you put your annual leave in at work.
Make sure you have a pen and piece of paper handy; you will find yourself very easily forgetting which deal was on which site and kicking yourself if you never find it again!
Jot down plenty of notes so you can compare the exact same holidays against each other, write down flight times, board basis, room choice etc, to make sure they are the same. You may think you’ve bagged a bargain when you see the same holiday on one site for only £395 and another for £595, then you realise you are looking at self catering compared to all inclusive and a junior suite compared to a one bed apartment, so concentrate!
The more flexible you can be the better, for example being able to travel from any airport in your region, departing over a period of four or five days, being open to suggestion about destination and board basis will return many more results than flying only from your local airport on one specific date.
Choosing flights in the middle of the night will also save you money, it might not be much fun taking off or landing at 4am, but it could save you a lot of money in the long run.
Look carefully to see what ‘extras’ are included, if it’s a short flight, removing the in flight meals will save you a few pounds.
Don’t select the extra luggage allowance, you will be charged for this, stick with what is included and make sure you travel light, remember, you can still be charged at the airport for excess luggage and this can be very costly.
Charity donations, some tour operators automatically add a couple of pound on for a world care charity; this can easily be removed before booking.
Make sure transfers are included and are free, if they are, that’s great, if not it may be worth looking on a separate site for private transfers, or even just hopping in a taxi when you get there, this is usually the best idea if you accommodation is not too far from the airport.
Don’t necessarily go for a package holiday, look at budget airlines sites, then accommodation sites separately, this often works out much cheaper, just remember to think about your transfers, and make sure the dates and times of your flight match the dates of your accommodation exactly.
If you pay by credit card there will nearly always be a fee, this is normally a percentage of the overall cost, so depending on the price you manage to get, this could save you quite a bit, and there is not usually a charge for using a debit card.,br> Last but by no means least; check out the exchange rate before you make your final decision, what seems like a really good self catering holiday could end up being expensive if it’s going to be costly to eat out, it will be false economy if you spend a fortune while you are there.
Now you have all the tips, it’s up to you to find those cheap holiday deals that could see you jetting off to the sun, sea and sand within a matter of days.