Back in the day, we all used to book a holiday by visiting the travel agent’s, pouring over brochures, and sitting in front of a desk, discussing options, before finally deciding on a deal. These days, the whole process can be done from the comfort of your own home, and you can even play at travel agent yourself! Here some great travel tips to plan your own holidays.

I like to call it DIY booking, and this is a process I’ve mastered the art of, saving money along the way. The only downside with this is that it can be a lengthy process, and if you’re not sure what you’re doing, it can take even longer! Despite this, it’s quite easy once you know how, and you also have complete control over your travel plans, right down to checking real-time travel information on your particular airport. I do this whenever I travel, because I find useful information on any delays, potential problems, which terminal I need to be at, when, and also fun stuff like leisure facilities available in my terminal. Last week, I flew from Heathrow, and I was religiously checking Heathrow departures in the days leading up to my break!

Being informed about changes also puts your mind at rest, so DIY booking needn’t be the drama you might think, in fact, it can also be fun.

Bargain hunting, when successful, gives a real buzz. You’ll often find that to get the cheapest flights, you may have to travel to a different airport, and if when you factor in travel costs, it still works out cheaper – go for it! I’ve done this several times, in fact last week I stayed at one of the hotels near Heathrow Airport during a holiday in London, and even with the cost of travel and the hotel, the flight still came out cheaper than my regional terminal, and I had a very relaxing evening pre-flight to boot! Put simply, booking this way gives you more options than a package holiday.

You have the choice of saving money by flying indirect, split booking your flights, so you can fly from one airport, and fly back to other, if you find one way flights cheaper at different airports, you can book your own shuttle transfer, and even share the cost of a taxi if there are several of you, and you can draw up a shortlist of hotels and apartments, researching each one, and finding the best to suit your needs. You’ll often find accommodation cheaper this way too.

Tailor-making your holiday in this way means all your needs and cares are taken into account, and you don’t have to worry about any facet of your holiday not being what you thought, because you’ll have researched it and organised it to suit you before you booked, and you’re not putting up with a part of a package deal that you’re not really excited about.

So to sum up, time consuming it may be, but if you throw yourself into it, you might enjoy searching for flights, and love the buzz when you find the ideal one, and as for hotels, you can really go to town with your search. Saving money these days is high up on the list, and if you can do it cheaper, why not consider it?

Go on, give it a go!