Budget Singapore. How to find a travel bargain

The best way to get a great deal is to know the tricks of the travel trade. With a bit of time and effort, tempting discounts can be found on almost anything.

In the second of our posts on finding your perfect travel bargain and booking last minute, here are some useful apps, websites and travel companies. All aimed at getting you away and having a great holiday for as little as possible.

Expert checklist for getting a good deal

Do your homework

Do be flexible

Do be prepared to spend time online

Don’t follow the crowd!

Websites to check for hotels and flights

Start by checking out sites like skyscanner.net, which give you lots of options on flights, hotels and car hire.
To get a good idea of general prices and travel, search engines like Trivago.sg, which compares prices for over 700,000 hotels across around 200 booking websites.
Try hotels.com and don’t forget to check the reviews on TripAdvisor, where you can also make bookings. Be open minded with reviews, what’s important to you may not be for someone else, read a few reviews to take an overall view.
Popular destinations from Singapore will always be in demand. Travel search engine Kayak.com recommends that the best time for Singaporeans to book least costly flights to the most popular Asian destinations - such as Phuket, Bali and Hong Kong - is two to three months in advance.
Read carefully to know what’s included when you book online, and check if the flight is direct. Compare flight prices on the airlines own website, prices are often comparable and you may prefer to book direct with the airline.

Websites to check for accommodation

Have you tried an Airbnb? Set up in 2008, private houses, holiday homes, houseboats, apartments and even a castle are listed by the owners themselves. Airbnb claims to have over 2,000,000 listings in 34,000 cities and 191 countries. It can save you money especially if you have a large family. Again read the reviews of the property you’re interested in. At the end of the stay the owner rates you and you get to rate them.

Web address: www.airbnb.com.sg

If you’re willing to take a chance on what hotel you end up at then check out lastminute.com. They claim to save you around 40% compared to the hotel’s own website, you will know everything about the accommodation before you book, except the name! If you aren’t travelling with kids or elderly relatives it might be worth a gamble.

Web address: www.lastminute.com

Conde Nast Traveller Secret Deals is free to join and offers you time limited flash sales, which claim to save you up to 70% of the price on trips. The holidays on offer are higher end, but with these kinds of savings you can maybe afford to splash out!

Web address: www.secretdeals.cntraveller.com

In our next post on bargain travel, we offer insider tips on why locals get the best deals and other expert ways to save money travelling.