Everyone wants to travel the world but not everyone loves the logistics behind travelling. Planning a holiday can be thrilling but once the destination is picked and the dates blocked, you’ve got to start looking at the hard stuff – like budgeting, choosing your airlines, maybe buying additional baggage, planning your itinerary, arranging transportation to and from the airport, researching things to do and places to eat, learning a foreign language and so on.
You may be juggling work, family, friends and life in general, when will you ever have the time to get to all of the above!? If you’re anything like me, you’ll probably feel like you need a mini holiday from your Holiday Planning after you’ve completed your Holiday To-Do list, and especially after you’ve done your Holiday Budgets.
I for one, hate counting pennies, and prefer to just have an idea of how much my entire trip would cost including airfare, accommodations (preferably with breakfast) and some activities in total instead of breaking it up according to cost per day. I am also the type of traveller who doesn’t want to spend too much time planning and researching; it is just better if it could all be taken care of by a trusted third-party.
You may be juggling work, family, friends and life in general, when will you ever have the time to get to all of the above!? If you’re anything like me, you’ll probably feel like you need a mini holiday from your Holiday Planning after you’ve completed your Holiday To-Do list, and especially after you’ve done your Holiday Budgets.
I for one, hate counting pennies, and prefer to just have an idea of how much my entire trip would cost including airfare, accommodations (preferably with breakfast) and some activities in total instead of breaking it up according to cost per day. I am also the type of traveller who doesn’t want to spend too much time planning and researching; it is just better if it could all be taken care of by a trusted third-party.
If you feel the same way, don’t worry, here’s the answer that will solve at least part of your travel problem - after years of travelling, I found, quite by accident, a really easy way to enjoy my holiday without all that micro-planning and micro-budgeting; I use Online Travel Agents (OTA) that offer bundled options at a discounted price.
This means you can book your flight tickets and accommodations for your total nights’ stay at a cheaper rate than when you book separately. You can save up to $100 dollars per booking! Choose from Expedia, Kayak, or in South East Asia, you can try Air Asia Go and Traveloka. My personal favourite is Booking.com, and I have been using them without any issues for many years.
These sites have really awesome filter selections to help you narrow down your search. For example, when you choose your hotel, hostel or villa, you can select from Lowest to Highest Price, Distance from Downtown, Amenities, Guest Ratings and my personal favourite – Package Discounts. This particular tab has some really good rates at some really great hotels. All prices shown are with flight tickets included!
This means you can book your flight tickets and accommodations for your total nights’ stay at a cheaper rate than when you book separately. You can save up to $100 dollars per booking! Choose from Expedia, Kayak, or in South East Asia, you can try Air Asia Go and Traveloka. My personal favourite is Booking.com, and I have been using them without any issues for many years.
These sites have really awesome filter selections to help you narrow down your search. For example, when you choose your hotel, hostel or villa, you can select from Lowest to Highest Price, Distance from Downtown, Amenities, Guest Ratings and my personal favourite – Package Discounts. This particular tab has some really good rates at some really great hotels. All prices shown are with flight tickets included!
Wondering what to pack for your next trip? Let us help you with the essentials in our Ultimate Packing List for Worldwide Travel (tried and tested!
So after a couple of hours of browsing and making comparisons, you can now choose your preferred hotel or hostel and then decide on flights. The page will show you an entire list of airlines and flight times at zero or additional costs. Just choose the flight times that most suit you and you’re all set to go! Before you hit Pay, you can also add on a rental vehicle as well as activities or entrance tickets to popular tourists’ attractions. Imagine all the time you’ll be saving!
Want to make your trip even easier and hassle-free? Use Klook to arrange a local Sim Card. No need to waste time and energy running around after you land trying to find a local SIM card or portable WIFI! In this day and age, everything is available online and in one easy place. Klook is a traveller’s dream because, with this awesome site, you can now guarantee you’ll get your local SIM Card, portable WIFI and train/bus pass even before you land. Klook also offers tickets and tips to recommended places to eat, attractions and activities at a discounted price.
Baggage Allowance - If you’re headed to East Asia and travelling on Lion Air, Batik Air or Wings Air and need to buy extra baggage, go to www.buybaggage.com and let them do all the hard work for you. They are an American based company with an amazing track record and customer reviews and they’ll do everything for you including buying you the baggage allowance that you need in the country’s local currency. You’ll be charged a small service fee which will be worth every penny as opposed to you trying to purchase your allowance in cash over the counter at the airline’s head office in a foreign country where the staff may or may not speak English. Also, click here to read about the nightmare that happens when you try to buy baggage allowance at the airport for these particular airlines.
Hope these tips will help you save tons of time and energy as you plan your next holiday!
Want to make your trip even easier and hassle-free? Use Klook to arrange a local Sim Card. No need to waste time and energy running around after you land trying to find a local SIM card or portable WIFI! In this day and age, everything is available online and in one easy place. Klook is a traveller’s dream because, with this awesome site, you can now guarantee you’ll get your local SIM Card, portable WIFI and train/bus pass even before you land. Klook also offers tickets and tips to recommended places to eat, attractions and activities at a discounted price.
Baggage Allowance - If you’re headed to East Asia and travelling on Lion Air, Batik Air or Wings Air and need to buy extra baggage, go to www.buybaggage.com and let them do all the hard work for you. They are an American based company with an amazing track record and customer reviews and they’ll do everything for you including buying you the baggage allowance that you need in the country’s local currency. You’ll be charged a small service fee which will be worth every penny as opposed to you trying to purchase your allowance in cash over the counter at the airline’s head office in a foreign country where the staff may or may not speak English. Also, click here to read about the nightmare that happens when you try to buy baggage allowance at the airport for these particular airlines.
Hope these tips will help you save tons of time and energy as you plan your next holiday!
 | Let Booking.Com take the stress out of choosing your hotel! We recommend and always use Booking.com whether we are away for one night, a weekend, a week or longer! Visit our Hotel Booking Page, input your destination/dates then search as normal. |