When To Book Flights/Hotel

[danny_bhoy]

Ok here's a question for all the Judith Chalmers who regularly book holidays abroad.

I've managed to book myself a destination wedding in NYC next year. The couple are paying for my travel, accommodation and a portion of my expenses.

My dilemma is when to book. The wedding is next August so the flights won't be available to book until this August - so, for the best/cheapest deal do I book as soon as they become available online or wait until nearer the time? I'm 99% sure I'll end up going via Expedia for a flight + hotel deal as that's always worked out much cheaper in the past.

Thanks for the help

 

[JohnStewart]

Flights always seem to get more expensive as time goes on, unless you find a winter sale by one of the airlines that match your travel dates. I did read that Norwegian Airlines are starting direct flights to NYC from Edinburgh from as little as £60 which could save you quite a bit, even allowing for the cost of getting to/from Edinburgh.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/d...ir-to-offer-flights-to-us-for-60-next-summer/

In general hotels have their cheapest rates the further ahead you book, but if particular periods are slow selling, then they will reduce the rates to boost sales. I would imagine that most NYC hotels would be running at high occupancy during August, so booking early is probably the safest option. Some hotels have extra discounts for members of their loyalty schemes which are free to join, and often worth an extra 5-10% off theotherwise cheapest available price. IHG hotels (including Holiday Inn) have a price match guarantee that if you find a cheaper rate elsewhere within 24 hours they will give you your first night for free.

 

[danny_bhoy]

Flights always seem to get more expensive as time goes on, unless you find a winter sale by one of the airlines that match your travel dates. I did read that Norwegian Airlines are starting direct flights to NYC from Edinburgh from as little as £60 which could save you quite a bit, even allowing for the cost of getting to/from Edinburgh.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/d...ir-to-offer-flights-to-us-for-60-next-summer/

In general hotels have their cheapest rates the further ahead you book, but if particular periods are slow selling, then they will reduce the rates to boost sales. I would imagine that most NYC hotels would be running at high occupancy during August, so booking early is probably the safest option. Some hotels have extra discounts for members of their loyalty schemes which are free to join, and often worth an extra 5-10% off theotherwise cheapest available price. IHG hotels (including Holiday Inn) have a price match guarantee that if you find a cheaper rate elsewhere within 24 hours they will give you your first night for free.

Hi John - thanks for the info. It pretty much confirms what I thought, that booking early will yield the best deals. Plus, I didn't really fancy the idea of trying to get a last minute deal and failing!

I'll look into the Norwegian Airlines info too......I seem to remember reading that they'd be going from Edinburgh and landing at non-major airports in upstate NY, which may still work out cheaper in the long run.

Cheers John

 

[ancient_mariner]

Booking early is usually best, including for parking. There are several holiday booking companies that work well now, and expedia is often a little more expensive. I arranged our last holiday in Turkey through Lastminute.com, but there are plenty of other options.

 

[JonathanRyan]

Book a hotel right now that you can cancel close to the time. It's worth paying a little extra for this. That's your stop loss Then scan the sites every month or so and when you find one x% cheaper book it and cancel the first one. Although personally I only use AirBnB now - especially for cities. It's probably no cheaper but you can stay much nicer places than hotels.

Skyscanner will let you set price alerts for flights (actually it may do hotels too) so it will check periodically and tell you if they are going up or down.

But really, if it's for business, book it, forget about it. Costs are fixed and everything is sorted. And if you actually need to look at bargain sites then you underquoted

ETA: just read the post properly. Clients are paying for your flight & accom? Book a fair price now. Don't waste your time trying to save their money

 

[boyfalldown]

If they paying they book them. Up to them to find a reasonable deal.

If you're booking and claiming from them why? Even though it works out cost neutral it'll still need to be accounted for by you and will still count as turnover for VAT threshold