I’ve not travelled overseas before so am quite clueless as to what I should be doing to get a good deal.
I’m wanting to fly to Vietnam either in June or July for about a months break. The cheapest tickets I’ve found are $650 with some extended stops of about 12 hours for the connecting coming home.
Also with the accomodation, is it advised to book all upfront through somewhere like booking.com or can you get specific discounts by bartering in person?
Thank you in advance of any replies.
I’ve not travelled overseas before so am quite clueless as to what I should be doing to get a good deal.
It's no different to shopping around - you play around with the dates and different airlines and you find the cheapest fare.
I’m wanting to fly to Vietnam either in June or July for about a months break. The cheapest tickets I’ve found are $650 with some extended stops of about 12 hours for the connecting coming home.
Can't comment on whether that's a good price or not (depends on when you're flying). Also depends on the airline (and as you've already noticed, whether there are any long transits).
Also with the accomodation, is it advised to book all upfront through somewhere like booking.com or can you get specific discounts by bartering in person?
If you want to risk not having a place to stay, then sure, try bartering in person, you might save some money. Otherwise, booking upfront is the most hassle free option.
Try kiwi.com or google flights. These two services offer the best algorithm to find the cheapest tickets.
You should fly into one place and out of another on the same ticket - flying into Ho Chi Minh, and then working your way up to Hanoi via Nha Trang, Hoi An etc
I would really recommend looking at doing a tour - they can save you a lot of stress, and can be awesome value
If you like the idea of a tour, you have a month so you could look at doing one that does Cambodia/Laos/Thailand etc too
If you've got long stops, if you have the time why not turn them into a break? You could check out somewhere like KL, Singapore, Manila for a few days and it may not cost much more at all. So you get to fly to/from 3 different cities for not much more.
Check with an agent - they won't have the best prices for low cost carriers, but worth checking out. If you're a student or under 31 check with STA - can be much cheaper with certain airlines. They can also give you some really good advice and while they will offer you additional products, you don't have to but anything and will get some good ideas.
I would recommend booking in advance, whenever I go to a counter to extend a stay somewhere it's cheaper to do it online instead.
Vietnam is real easy, booking a tour is a real waste of money in that area unless you get a really good price.
Plenty of tour options from local travel agencies, and from my experience cheaper that what you can get online.
Then again you're paying for the convenience of having everything organised for you, without much flexibility. Each to their own…
Book accommodation with free cancellation that way u can easy change your plans.
The booking sites are good for free cancellations but it’s always better to book direct with the hotel if they offer that too.
A bargain flight with long layovers for connecting flights is a bit shit but often cheaper. A direct flight is so much better.
I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve cheaped out and taken the long layover then spent a whole day in a terrible airport terminal eating rotten and expensive food, bored out of my head.
That’s the point I swear I’ll never do it again and would willingly hand over $500 to get me out.
If you can afford it take a direct flight.
Airport lounges are often your friend in that situation. Assuming the airport has one!
I assume you're seeking budget accommodation? If so, don't worry about pre-booking accommodation. You'll spend countless hours fretting over dodgy Trip Advisor reviews and trying to decide if Hotel A is $2 better than Hotel B. Cheap accommodation is plentiful in Vietnam and you ought not to spend one minute more in them than you need. Spend your time more wisely by sorting transport and which of the many many great places to visit. One month will be just enough time there to ensure you get a good drink.
I found that using webjet with the 15% off paypal digital gift cards brought my trip down by $300