7 ways to get a cheaper holiday online

1. Get emailed latest offers

Most travel web sites send out regular emails listing their latest deals. The biggest bargains tend to be for midweek travel and you do need to be flexible about where you go. Travelzoo has one of the best weekly lists and an email alert service for the latest special offers as well as an endorsement from Lenny Henry: “Travelzoo.co.uk is pretty cool – it does amazing holiday deals.”

2. Stop searching for deals

Web feeds mean you don’t have to keep revisiting a site to see if the offers have been updated. Look for the orange square button on the right of your Internet Explorer toolbar showing there’s RSS or a “newsfeed” on the page. To subscribe, click the toolbar button or the link on the page. You’ll fi nd all your feeds at Internet Explorer’s Favorites Center. Check out Last Minute and Sky Bargains to start.

3. Bid for a bargain

If you’re willing to take a bit of a gamble there are amazing deals to be had. Try eBay for flights, hotels or holidays, but make sure you know exactly what you’re bidding for. Package giant Thomson knocks down surplus holidays at Thomas Audctions and you can bid for UK hotel rooms at Room Auction. Car Del Mar offers a “name your own price” car hire option, and Priceline provides the same service for hotels.

4. Dodge the delays

The US-based FlightStats more than lives up to its name. It offers an almost bewildering amount of data on times, delays and cancellations, but it’s worth persevering to find out which airline is most likely to leave you sitting in the departure lounge when you could be on the beach. You can get the information in various ways including a gadget for your Windows Live home page, and the site also offers links to cheap holiday deals and frequent fl yer promotions.

5. Compare and go

Unfortunately no one web site can provide all the best deals, all the time. Price comparison sites don’t sell flights, hotels or holidays. Instead they compare what’s on offer from a variety of agents and direct users to them to make their bookings. Try Deal Checker, Travel Jungle or Travel Supermarket as a quick way of finding out what’s available from a huge number of sources.

6. Better late...

The Times’ travel editor Cath Urquhart says: “Charter airlines may offer low prices at the last minute. This is because their business model is different to that of budget airlines, such as Ryanair or easyJet, whose lowest prices are available when tickets first go on sale.” Check out Thomsonfly, Thomas Cook Airlines or Excel. The site Flight Mapping shows every flight available from the UK so you can make an informed comparison.

7. And so to bed

Once you’ve got your flight sorted, you’ll need a room. Low Cost Beds is exactly what it sounds like, and Hostel Bookers is even cheaper. Hotels Comparison lives up to its name, comparing prices across a couple of dozen sites at a click. Once you’ve found a room go to Trip Advisor and find out what others have to say about it before you hand over your money.