A lot of people are excited about the prospect of being able to travel again. We are included but we won’t be travelling until 2022 now. However, as I was dealing with our already booked Florida holiday, we received an invite to a cousins wedding in Paphos next May. As we are no spend it wouldn’t be right for us to spend a crazy amount on a holiday. I’ve managed to book a week in Paphos and gain an extra week in Orlando next year for less than the original price of Orlando! I thought I would share with you how I did this and ways to save money when going abroad.
Orlando, Florida – Original price £6500 and current price under £4500 (3 adults, 2 children)
Pre-pandemic we had booked 2 weeks in a villa in June/July to Orlando with Tui. This was costing £6500 for flights and accommodation. With everything happening with travel we had to cancel and decided we would move our holiday to June 2022. I will have graduated and the oldest child will be starting High School after the summer. Because it’s a celebration I had a look to see how much 3 weeks would be…extortionate! however, by booking flights and accommodation ourselves we can get 3 weeks for under £4500. This is giving a bit of leeway on flights as the dates are not fully released yet so skyscanner cannot give a completely accurate price. However, a 4 bed villa is only £2000 for the 3 weeks so that leaves more than enough for flights. This means for roughly £900 per person we’ve 3 weeks in Orlando.
Paphos, Cyprus – Original price £1600 and current price is £682 (2 adults)
After the success with Orlando I thought I would book Paphos separately. I have booked a 3 bedroom villa with a private pool with a 15 minute walk or 3 minute taxi ride to the wedding venue for £845 but this is to be shared between 3 couples which means it is £141 per person then return flights are £200 per person. That’s a saving of just under £500 per person for a week in Cyprus.
Helpful hints
- Get really good holiday insurance. Make sure you are covered for Covid, any cancellations or if you are unwell and cannot go.
- Use an incognito browser and book flights through Skyscanner
- Book accommodation directly through the hotel or use booking.com – make sure there is a free cancellation policy
- Book early – Remember though that flights are released 11 months in advance so before this it’s just a guessed price.
- Use Topcashback – you can get up to 10% back on your holiday
- If possible look just outside of the main tourist area as it will be much cheaper.
- Eat & drink where the locals do. It will be cheaper and better quality.
- If going self-catering then find a supermarket such as Lidl or Aldi. Don’t go to the tiny touristy store that sells only british food.
- Don’t buy travel sized toiletries. Buy a travel set from Homebargains for 79p and put your own toiletries in the bottles.
- Don’t forget travel adaptors. Don’t get caught and having to buy them in the Airport. Poundland, Homebargains, B&M etc sell them for around £1.
- Lastly, If you don’t need to take hold luggage then don’t!
I hope that helps!
REMEMBER: Don’t pay more than you need to and get good travel insurance
