It is always worth phoning up and asking for a discount once you have found your holiday online. You may not get offered a cash discount but you might get a room upgrade.
Best sites for discounted holidays are:
Auctionair using a sealed bid system the site estimates average savings at 48%, and includes holidays from Abercrombie & Kent and Taj Hotels. There is a scale charge up to £25 to take part
Buy One Give Twice recycles unused holidays from charity events at auction with no initial charge
Room Auction where savings are estimated at 25-35%. Last minute bidding may get you the best price as hotels will be very keen to sell the rooms, especially if you can occupy at off peak times – like including a Sunday night in a weekend break
Hoxton Hotels has four auctions per year where bids start at £1 for some rooms, £29 for others . An up market, high quality, low cost hotel near Old Street tube, great for a stay in London
Sun Isle auctions Greek Island properties that have come back onto their books through cancellations etc. There is a reserve price and a buy now price.
Holidays Please has a very good “holiday deals” section for luxury holidays
Also worth checking out are the deals at:
Travel Zoo
Low Cost Holidays
Direct Line Holidays
And don’t forget inclusive deals. This is a great way of getting some luxury at reduced prices. If an airline has spare seats but does not want to disclose to competitors that they are selling them cheap, they will use a consolidator to package the flight with accommodation to disguise the heavy discount.
Sign up to consolidator newsletters or phone them
Flight Centre 0844 800 8653
Netflights 0844 493 1234
Trailfinders 0845 054 6666