Don't wait till the eleventh hour, book your travel tickets early

With the year coming to a close and winter approaching, vacations are on everyone's mind. But, we tend to do things at the last minute, especially when it comes to booking air tickets. With hectic schedules, no one has the time to do anything else apart from concentrating on one's job. And planning for that much-longed-for vacation somehow always seems to end up at the bottom of the priority list because "there's still plenty of time". 

However, if you start booking your vacation early, you are likely to get the lowest prices and the best deals available.

Ashok Kumar Reddy, Co-Founder, and CEO of GrabOn says, "On an average, if you book hotels or accommodation two months in advance, you can save up to 29 per cent on tariff. And booking flight tickets three months ahead can save you up to 20 per cent." But before looking for flights and hotel deals online, refine your search to get the best deals.

BOOK IN ADVANCE

It is ideal to buy flight tickets much in advance, as prices typically shoot as you approach the travel date. Saujanya Shrivastava, Group CMO of MakeMyTrip says, "To get hold of a lucrative deal and to save on travel, one must try to book tickets at least three weeks in advance. You can secure a price that could be 5-20 per cent cheaper depending on the dates, advance purchase window, and destination of travel." Savings through early booking may range from Rs 1,000 to Rs 15,000 per person for domestic destinations and anything from Rs 5,000 to Rs 40,000 per person for international travel. Along with lower prices, advance planning gives you the edge to pre-book from the varied choices.

KEEP YOUR SEARCH PRIVATE

We all have seen this. While booking a ticket the prices of flights rise and fall, fall some more, then spike just as you’re about to book. Fares rise on the basis of search history. If you find the right flight but book after a few hours or the next day, prices would have increased. Searching for flights in incognito mode can help you get better deals. All browsers on the desktop and on smartphones have an incognito mode.

BROWSE ALL TRAVEL SEARCH ENGINES

Using multiple search engines means you are least likely to miss out on deals. Reddy of GrabOn says, "While searching for the best flight deals, do comparisons on all search engines to get the lowest price." Various online portals like Expedia offers up to 40-50 per cent off on hotel bookings while airliners offer discount margins up to 35 per cent. In hotel accommodation sector, discounts ranging between Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,500 are commonly seen. You can also avail such deals using coupons from websites like GrabOn and CouponDunia. For flight tickets, do browse the airline's website as well, as prices may vary sometimes.

TRAVEL MID-WEEK

It is well known that flying on weekdays often gets you a lower fare than on the weekend, though that may not be the case during the holiday season. Sanjay Bhasin, COO, Goibibo says, "While Friday to Mondays are the busiest travel days, booking tickets midweek can help in securing a good deal. Similarly, late night and mid-day flights are cheaper than the early morning and evening flights." Avoid peak-hour flights as fares rise with demand. Be open to flying at less-friendly hours or on indirect flights and save. Shrivastava of makemytrip adds, "One-stop flights can be an affordable option as compared to direct flights and can help in saving some money."

PACKAGE DEALS

Choosing from packaged holiday deals instead of bookings hotels, flights and local transfers separately can give you an extra edge. Advance purchase of flight-hotel packages provided by online travel aggregators makes them cheaper. "If you have not booked your flight tickets and hotel accommodations well in advance and have waited till the last moment, look into the different holiday packages that offer deals and discounts, mostly during a festive season," adds Reddy. Operators buy tickets in bulk before the season, which gives them the best pick among hotels. The basic package deals include flight tickets, hotel stay with breakfast, transfers between airport and hotel and sightseeing.

FREEZE YOUR FOREX RATES

If you are traveling abroad, it is not just the flight and hotel booking you should be worried about. With the rupee depreciating, your budget increases as the foreign exchange that you will use for shopping and other activities on vacation will become more expensive. According to RBI (Reserve Bank of India) guidelines, for travel purposes, you can purchase currency 60 days prior to your travel. "Once you purchase the forex at the prevailing rate then you are not affected till your next purchase. The rate which is applied is of the day of the transaction," says Sudarshan Motwani, Founder, and CEO of BookMyForex. Let's assume you are travelling this month (October). You would have been better off had you bought your foreign exchange during the first week of August 2018, when one dollar was worth Rs 68.51. But if you are buying foreign exchange today (a few days ahead of your travel date), you will have to shell out something like Rs 73.88 for every greenback you buy.

AIRLINE MILES

Frequent flyer programmes are loyalty schemes that come very handy for those who travel often. Every time you fly, airlines reward you with points that can be accumulated and used to get a free ticket or an upgrade. 

Also, in the event of cancellation, the lowest fares are often non-refundable. If you happen to cancel, only the taxes will be refunded, whereas slightly premium tickets tend to allow refunds. You can also change travel dates on paying the difference in fares applicable on the desired and earlier date of booking.