Top tips for travel this summer
Post categories: holidays
| 19:33 UK time, Wednesday, 1 July 2009
As travel editor of the Independent newspaper, Simon Calder has his finger on the pulse of the industry.
We asked him what the best bargains were over the next couple of months.
"The key to the summer of 2009 is being flexible. Be flexible on destination, be flexible on the dates you travel. If you don't have to go during the school summer holidays, then don't.
"And if you are constrained to those months in July and August when everybody wants to go on holiday then at least be flexible on the day in the week.
"Going on a Tuesday or Wednesday can sometimes save your hundreds of pounds compared to a Saturday or a Sunday."
We then asked if the Euro-zone with it's poor exchange rate was still a no-no?
According to Simon: "Anybody who went off on holiday at Christmas or New Year came back saying, 'What's happened?' The beer, the coffee, the lunch we bought cost 50% more than it did a year ago.
"The pound had a really tough time. It's recovered some of that ground, but you are of course going to find somewhat better value in somewhere like Turkey or Egypt than you are in a mainstream destination like Italy or Spain.
"But don't turn your back on the EU. At the moment I am choosing possible holidays in Portugal or Poland which are two of the cheapest EU countries. And of course there is plenty of availability in flights.
"The great thing is that in the no-frills revelation in the skies means that we don't have to take a package holiday we can put one together ourselves."
Over the past few months, the idea of holidaying at home has grown in popularity. But is the idea of a 'staycation' really a good option?
"There will still be a reduction in the number of British people taking their summer holidays abroad. That doesn't automatically mean it's going to be the best year ever for Welsh tourism but it has every chance it will be pretty special.
"From the holiday makers' point of view availability could be trickier than usual, and you could find that prices could have gone up a bit, but the thing to remember is if at this stage a holiday company still has availability its worth making them a offer.
"The last thing they want is this highly perishable hotel room left unsold. It's actually during the summer that it pays to haggle."
