With summer holidays just around the corner, you might be desperate to get away for a bit of family fun. But amid the cost of living crisis, it can be expensive to go away as a family, whether you opt for a staycation or a jaunt abroad.
While there are lots of ways to save money on your holiday, from making sure you get your travel insurance sorted, bag the cheapest flights or get the best deal on your holiday car hire.
But in an appearance on Steph's Packed Lunch, Jordan Cox, aka Britain's Coupon Kid, has shared a hotel hack than he tried - and saved himself £150 on his holiday. And all it takes is a quick website check in the weeks before your holiday.
And with Jordan's Instagram bio stating that he "'likes saving money 'too much'. Once got £600 of shopping for 4p using coupons." - you know he knows how to bag a bargain.
How does the hotel hack work?
If you book a hotel with free cancellation policy, you can usually cancel between 24 and 48 hours before you stay (make sure you check the fine print of your specific booking in case this varies in your particular circumstance).
But as the Coupon Kid, Jordan Cox, explains, you can use this to your advantage. After making your original booking, you can keep checking back on the hotel's website to see if the price changes. If it gets cheaper, you can cancel your existing booking, get your money back and rebook the exact same hotel for the same amount of time for a reduced price. It might not work every time, especially if you are going away at peak times of the year, but it's worth a check just in case.
Jordan explains how this hacked worked for him. He'd booked a week in a hotel at a cost of £800, checked the website the week before he was due to arrive and saw that the price had dropped to £650 for the week instead. And so he cancelled the original booking, rebooked at the cheaper price and saved himself £150.
Not too shabby, for just a little bit of admin!
Other ways you can save money when booking your holiday
- Try booking your accommodation with the provider directly - you might find it's cheaper as the provider doesn't need to add on commission fees for a third party to make the booking
- Need to park at the airport? Make sure you pre-book your airport parking space rather than just rocking up on the day - it'll be considerably cheaper
- If you need to hire a car while on holiday, hire the smallest one you can get by with to save money. Buying your own excess protection is also a good idea to avoid costly excess fees on the basic insurance included with your hire car
- Buy travel insurance as soon as you book your trip so that you're adequately covered should life circumstances mean you can not longer go, or if you get ill, have an accident or lose your possessions while away.
Make sure you heed the advice of money saving expert Martin Lewis who issued this stark warning to those gearing up for their summer holiday. If you're heading to the airport, this hack to avoid airport drop off charges is also essential to keep in mind.
