Package travel to get more value for your cash

TRAVELLERS who try to save money by taking a do-it-yourself approach to holiday bookings risk missing out on savings.

While DIY travel offers the freedom of doing your own thing, holiday packages can jam in additional value.

Webjet Exclusives general manager Brendan Sawyers said people planning their own holidays needed to consider the overall costs earlier.

“For example, a cheap sevennight price for a five-star hotel might look good initially, but with $45 per person for breakfast and $75 for a steak at dinner, overall costs quickly add up,” he

said. “A packaged holiday offering will almost always have more value than booking individual components yourself.

“The value can be seen in

both the bottom-line cost and the additional inclusions or experiences within an inclusive holiday package.”

For example, an 11-day China tour, including flights and accommodation was available for $799, Mr Sawyers said.

“Return international flights on their own average $500,” he said.

Peta Frost, spokeswoman for Topdeck Tours, said travel operators could lock in low prices with suppliers when it came to visiting landmarks, museums and other activities.

She said this was “something solo travellers can overlook when they are haggling all over the world for cheaper rates”.

Ms Frost said DIY travellers also often overlooked hidden costs, such as tipping and meals being overpriced in popular tourist spots.

“Australian travellers are not used to tipping in their everyday lives,” she said.

Ms Frost said, before booking packages, people should check if there were discounts available for past passengers, friends or multi-trip bookings.

Travel marketing agency Gate 7’s managing director, Jo Palmer, said people now preferred experiences over possessions. “Australians cruise more per year than any other country in the world,” she said. If you still want go travel DIY-style, look at saving money by mix-andmatching flights, choosing different airlines for each leg of the trip. And Sunday night bookings could save money, too, because business travellers booked Monday to Friday and leisure travellers Friday and Saturday, leaving a Sunday void and likely cheaper accommodation.