If you haven't already done so, you can read part one at Sophia's (@Sophilicity) blog where she covers how we managed to plan and book our holiday's flights to Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore.
In part two, I will be covering accommodation! First of all, I am a self-confessed compulsive planner and I constantly research everything that I do.
Since there were so many questions and astonishment on how we managed to plan and book a travelling holiday for under £ 1400, I will be sharing some tips on how to look and find affordable yet luxurious accommodation.
We started by planning and approximating which locations we will be staying at and for what amount of days.
- *Top Tip: assuming the longer you'd stay at a location it would be more affordable to opt for an Airbnb as many accommodations offer a long stay discount.
For those of you who don't know, Airbnb is an online marketplace and hospitality service where members can arrange and offer lodging (primarily homestays) or tourism experiences. If you haven't already done so you can sign up for an Airbnb account using this link and get free £25 credit towards your first purchase.
For locations where we opted to book a hotel, we used a combination of Google, Agoda and Trip (known as CTrip in some locations).
Google has a built-in price comparison search component where you can search and compare flights and hotels.
For locations where we opted to book a hotel, we used a combination of Google, Agoda and Trip (known as CTrip in some locations).
Google has a built-in price comparison search component where you can search and compare flights and hotels.
In the left column, you can input your prospective check-in and check out time and apply filter options to cater to your tastes. When selecting a hotel from the results you are provided with third party sites who may be advertising the same hotel for less.
My next tip is to use Agoda, Agoda offers the majority of hotels in your given location and a majority of the time advertise much cheaper rates than the hotel's actual site do too. A new feature to Agoda is also Agoda Homes which functions can be similarly compared to Airbnb. The best thing about Agoda is that they offer a loyalty/ points reward system that converts these points into real money that you can use towards your next booking.
Just like Agoda, Trip.com have a points reward scheme called trip coins that can be used to reduce the price on any Flight or accommodation that you book through Trip.com.
***** Top Tip: The more you use Trip.com to book flights or accommodation your membership tier will also rise, this will unlock additional benefits such as special promo prices for hotels and accommodation. (For reference since booking this Summer's travels, my tier has risen from a basic level to Gold Tier)
Here I will be sharing top tips that everyone should know when generally booking accommodation.
- ** Top Tip: Hotels realise that third party sites may be advertising their accommodation for less than the norm, this means that sometimes when you are sure on a hotel, it may be worth visiting the hotel's website and booking directly with them. Most hotels have a price match policy, in which they will honour the cheaper price for the same room and dates, you have seen elsewhere. However, be aware price matching is not always instant and some places require you to pay the more expensive price and you will be refunded the difference later. Booking directly with the hotel can sometimes mean you get cheaper rates that aren't advertised on google or given added bonus like airport transfers if you for example... sign up for their membership scheme.
My next tip is to use Agoda, Agoda offers the majority of hotels in your given location and a majority of the time advertise much cheaper rates than the hotel's actual site do too. A new feature to Agoda is also Agoda Homes which functions can be similarly compared to Airbnb. The best thing about Agoda is that they offer a loyalty/ points reward system that converts these points into real money that you can use towards your next booking.
- *** Top Tip: Download the Agoda app and book it from the app as they offer even cheaper deals than on the Agoda website.
- **** Top Tip: Subscribe to the Agoda promotional emails, and they will frequently send you promotion codes than can be used alongside you Agoda cash/ points to take off the total amount to your booking.
Lastly, I owe a lot to affordable and cheap travel (flights AND hotel) to Trip.com. Trip.com is essentially a travel agency that is owned by CTrip, the second-largest online travel agency in the world (hence why in some locations Trip.com is known as CTrip) and is also interestingly also the parent company of Skyscanner. Skyscanner has been previously mentioned in part one which, again, you can read on Sophia's blog.
Just like Agoda, Trip.com have a points reward scheme called trip coins that can be used to reduce the price on any Flight or accommodation that you book through Trip.com.
***** Top Tip: The more you use Trip.com to book flights or accommodation your membership tier will also rise, this will unlock additional benefits such as special promo prices for hotels and accommodation. (For reference since booking this Summer's travels, my tier has risen from a basic level to Gold Tier)
- *Top Tip: When booking your accommodation, it may be worth adding a slight description and your travel plans, this works especially well when booking an Airbnb or similar as it allows a flow of communication with your host in which they can add a personal touch to your stay i.e. suggestions for places to visit, to eat or even making special arrangements for your stay.
- **Top Tip: If you're celebrating a special occasion, it is worth mentioning to your accommodation, many hosts and hotels will throw in some freebies when they are told in advance.
- ***Top Tip: Let your host or hotel know your arrival and departure date and time, more likely than less they will be happy to delay or allow an earlier check-in and in cases where check out is earlier than your departure time, they will allow you to store your luggage with them so that you can have extra time exploring without the burden of your luggage.
Stay tuned for more posts about our travels, vlogs, photo tips, food and accommodation recommendations in South-East Asia and more.
These posts will be respectively split evenly between mine and Sophia's blogs and Youtube. Again, if you haven't already, you can check out Sophia's blog here.
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