Tips For Planning a Cheap Trip to Bali

In January, I snuck off to Bali for a quick getaway. With cheap flights a good deal on accomodation thanks to booking.com, I was able to make a 3 night stay, not only affordable, but wortwhile. Of course I am spoilt living in Perth and having Bali just 3.5 hours away so not everyone will be so lucky to escape for just 3 nights, but no matter where you live in Australia, it's not so hard to get the best deal. Here are some steps that I follow to get the best price on my holidays.

1. Do your research!

One of the first steps to planning a trip to Bali is figuring out which area best suits your need. Are you looking for a quiet and relaxing holiday, do you plan on being out and about and want shopping and great restaurants on your doorstep, do you want a nice swimming (or maybe surfing) beach, or maybe you're after a view of lush greenery? Or maybe you're staying long enough to be able to split your trip between a couple of different places. Bali has got something for everyone. Figure out what you're after and take that to friends that know Bali or to a Bali forum like this one on TripAdvisor. If you're asking for advice, listen to it! It's important to have all the information so you can make the right decisions and really enjoy your trip.

 

2. Finding cheap flights

Every airline has specials now and then so sign up to their email alerts or be prepared to check the prices each day. I find a tool like SkyScanner to be invaluable because it saves you from visiting each different website. Keep in mind that the cheapest flights will generally be at the worst times. If your budget is quite strict, be prepared to book a very early morning or late night flight. The cheapest days to fly are usually Tuesday's and Thursday's so take this into consideration when you're planning your dates. A great trick to getting even cheaper flights is to make use of Jetstar's Price Beat; if you take the price of another airlines flight (must be at a similar time), they will give you the flight for 10% cheaper. Conditions apply for this offer and you must book and pay when you call. Click here to go to their website and check out the conditions.

 

3. Finding cheap accommodation

Have a notebook ready for this step. I always head to a website like booking.com to see what kind of prices I can get for hotels. Write a list of hotel's that catch your eye and the price they're offering. You can often get free cancellation on booking.com, sometimes for a slightly higher price but your card won't get charged until you're actually at the hotel, so you can cancel it if something else comes up. While I'm doing this, I always head over to TripAdvisor to check out the reviews for the hotel's I'm interested in. If they've got bad reviews, they are off my list. It's worthwhile to check the prices available on the hotel's website. Sometimes it's cheaper to book direct due to early bird specials etc. Sometimes I'll stop here and book directly with the hotel if they offer a cheaper price or I will take the prices I find to Flight Centre, where they will give you an even cheaper price. Yes, they will only beat it by about $1 but if you need to book multiple rooms, this can add up. It can be reassuring to some people to know that someone else is going to do the hard work for them in the case that you need to find alternative accommodation.

 

Posted with Blogsy