Best Money Saving Tips For Holiday in Spain
I wanted to put together a comprehensive list of how to easily find the best deals in Spain for hotels, flights and rental cars, as well as some money-saving tips on how to save significant amounts of time and money. Although I’m somewhat of a hotel and flight deal seeker myself, I wouldn’t want to spend too many hours comparing different sites.
That’s why I also want to recommend different comparison or offer sites, in case any of them could help you. Budget travel to Spain is totally doable, and in general spain is quite cheap to visit.
Hotels – Quality with Good Prices
Booking.com has the best filters in my opinion and so I almost always use that to find which hotels I am most interested in. After that I typically check those hotels on couple other booking services (hotels.com, Expedia, etc.).
Other tips to save money when booking hotels:
– Book your holiday early (or right at the last minute)
– Book your holiday early or book in advance (or at the last minute).
– See also AirBnB. That could be a great way to save money and support local people
– Especially for accommodation lasting more than a week, I recommend looking at AirBnB, which sometimes offers really significant discounts for longer stays
– Some hotel chains have their own loyalty programmes. If you particularly like a hotel chain, check their website to see if they have any loyalty offers
– Hostels also offer private rooms, and can be cool, if rather basic. Their prices are often significantly cheaper than hotels, so in expensive destinations don’t skip the hostels directly
Flights – Direct Deals
Cheapest way to travel to Spain, unless you are coming from Portugal or France, is very often flying. There are plenty of direct flights to Spain from all over Europe, especially in summer, and almost all destinations in Spain can be reached without overlays from all major airports.
Just check what it the closest airport to your destination, and start checking for flights to find your place in the sun! Simply head to skyscanner.com and check out the best deals. If you are flexible remember to check their monthly price calendar. The price fluctuations between dates can be 3x or more..
I recommend you try the following tips to find cheap flights to Spain:
– Find the best deals and routes on either Skyscanner or Google Flights
– For example, when I booked flights from Helsinki to Valencia yesterday, Ryanair’s website or app couldn’t find a connection via London, but luckily Skyscanner did
– Try to travel outside the busiest months. Hotels and cars are also cheaper in Spain during these times
– Set a price alert on Skyscanner or Google Flights
– Sign up for an airline newsletter to get the best deals straight to your inbox. Ryanair, Vueling (Iberia) and EasyJet offer the most flights from UK to Spain, for example.
– It also helps to follow airlines and travel agents on Facebook or Instagram
– See also the airports nearby. Instead of Milan, perhaps you could fly to Bergamo, or instead of Valencia, you could fly to Alicante, Madrid or Barcelona
– Or a stopover in a destination where you would spend a day or two? Once, direct flight prices from Barcelona to Dubai were really expensive, so we took a couple of nights in Budapest and Istanbul!
Travel light. (Almost?) all airlines now charge for baggage and here in southern Europe a suitcase often costs more than the ticket itself. It is also more comfortable to travel lighter
– Pay with a credit card that gives you a bonus
Experiences – Cut the Queues and Find Ideas
Once you’ve (finally) chosen your holiday destination, it’s time to find something you like to do and experience. Personally, I’ve been looking at TripAdvisor or GetYourGuide for ideas and booking tickets.
– Tickets are also often cheaper through various booking services than buying them directly at the counter or even on the website of the attraction/activity
– Last time I checked, a ticket for La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona with audio guide (also in English) and access to the tower costs 40€ on the official website and 33,8€ via GetYourGuide
– This also avoids having to search for tickets on different websites at a higher price
by making an account, payment details and other information are always ready without annoying separate tapping
– Especially during the holiday season, I recommend to buy a ticket to the most popular destinations to get past the queues, because I personally do not want to spend my precious holiday time in the heat queuing
Looking for things to do?
Book tours, activities, and experiences in Spain’s top destinations:
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before most activities.
Car – Feel the Freedom!
Spain has much different nature than in England and the small, friendly villages are nice stops for tourists to refuel and take holiday photos. If you’re not planning to stay in just one destination, and train connections aren’t good, for example, a car is a great option. The traffic culture in Spain is much calmer than it is famous for. It’s much more comfortable to travel along the sunny coast when you can choose where and when to go.
This can save you money when you rent a car:
– Discovercars.com compares prices from different car rental companies to find the best rates
– As with flights and hotels, I recommend booking your car early. Do as I recommend, not as I do… – Maybe one day I’ll learn to book well in advance 🙂
– In the same city, the same car rental company in different locations can have a significant price difference. Often airport prices are cheaper than in the city centre, but it doesn’t take many seconds to compare prices.
– Save on insurance. Check if your bank offers a rental car insurance. They are often great deals compared to buying an insurance from the rental company
– A manual car is almost always cheaper than an automatic
– You can also get a good deal on a car rental with your flight or hotel
– If you don’t intend to drive a lot on the road, I recommend a small car. They are cheaper to rent, use less fuel, and are easier to drive on narrow streets and park.
If you are interested in finding out interesting facts about Spain be sure to check out our FAQ, where I’ve handpicked tens of interesting little nuggets.
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