[This is a real booking.com search box, not just an image]

Direct website

It is often hard to find the hotel’s own home page on the web.  Many sites include the names of hotels in their pages and this results in them being ranked higher in the search engine than the hotel’s actual site.

You may need to hunt through the search results a bit in order to get the direct link.  Once you have the right page, check to see if they have the option to book online and check out the rates for the dates that you want.  Be sure to read the terms and conditions of the rates you are looking at, as cheaper rates almost always mean additional restrictions.

It is important to look for any specials on the site and note what dates they can be booked on.  Sometimes if you change your intended date by just a day you can save money.

Online hotel booking sites

Sites such as booking.com offer good rates and hotels give them better rates on occasion than you can get directly, due to their huge buying power.

Price comparison sites such as skyscanner will give you the best price from a wide range of hotel sites.

Sites like hotwire specialise in “last minute booking” specials.  You can get up to 50% off the price of bookings made at the eleventh hour.  The risk is that they may not have a room available at the specific hotel you prefer on the day/s that you require it.  You may therefore need to be a bit flexible in your arrangements.

Phone in

Phone the hotel directly and ask for reservations.  Request “the best rate that they can offer”.  While you may expect that they would give you the best rate automatically, that is not the case.  They usually have various different rates on any given day and they may offer you the “rack rate” (the standard price to the public), but not mention any specials that they are running.

Senior citizen discounts

If you’re from about 55 or over, ask if they have a senior citizen rate.  The age at which this discount is offered varies between hotels, and some do not offer a senior’s discount at all.  But there is no harm at all in asking!  Be aware that if a hotel is running a special, they won’t allow you to stack one discount on top of another, so select whichever is the cheapest.

Children

Children under 12 stay free in the same room as their parents in many hotels around the world.  In some places, this age is extended to 16 or even 18.  If you don’t mind having your children on a sleeper couch in your room and are keen to save a buck, be sure to ask what their policy is for children.

Meal costs

While checking the different rates, be sure to make meal comparisons.  It often works out cheaper to take a rate that includes breakfast than to take a lower rate that is room-only and then paying for breakfast, unless you are planning to have breakfast at a café down the road.  From our experience, when travelling overseas, try to get meals included in the up-front price.  It saves money for souvenirs and for fun activities that will make your journey memorable.

In some tourist destinations, for instance on the Indian Ocean island paradise of Mauritius, one can get half-board, which includes breakfast and dinner.  Since the hotels are designed as full-service destinations that frequently include all the entertainments you may desire, this is often the cheapest option.  If you intend seeing the sights during the day you may only need to find lunch on the road, or you can return to the hotel in the afternoon and have a drink and a Club Sandwich to tide you through to dinner.

Some resort destinations, where there is little other than the resort itself will offer full board (including lunch) but since this usually means they have an effective monopoly, they often just have a flat rate that includes all meals.  Cruise ships use a similar principle.

Discreet luggage label

See stay safe at your destination part 1

• Before leaving your home country, get the local emergency numbers at your destination and save them on your mobile phone contacts list.  Also have the list on paper – if your battery is flat and the phone dies you still want access to the numbers.
• Don’t share your travel plans with strangers.  This includes keeping it off Facebook and other online places that are leaky about information.
• Keep your passport with you at all times.  While this increases the risk of it being stolen, it may help you if you have a sudden medical emergency, or police start shouting at you in a language you do not understand.
• Leave copies of your passport with someone back at home.  There is some dissent within our team on this one, though this is the generally accepted advice.  The idea is that this would help you get a new passport if your one is lost, stolen or damaged.  Will a simple photocopy be sufficient for re-issue of a passport – it seems doubtful.  (Please share your thoughts and experiences in the comments!)
• Leave behind a copy of your medical and insurance papers with someone trusted.  They can then assist you with claiming if necessary.
• The best place for booking adventure activities such as sky-diving and bungee jumping is through the local tourist information offices.  This is to make certain that you are using reputable companies who stick to the safety regulations.
• Reputable hotels frequently have information on tours available from reliable organisers, if you have not booked these prior to leaving home.
• It may be wise not to wear patriotic apparel or to festoon your gear with your country flag.  You may encounter someone who is bitter or resentful toward your country.  Ill-feeling can last hundreds of years in some regions.

The following tips include information from “Don’t Panic” by Helmke Hennig and Frances le Clus.

• Do not have your home address, hotel’s name that you are staying at, or your telephone number anywhere visible on your luggage.  You can get luggage tags that close, meaning that a casual inspection will not reveal who you are, where you are from, or your destination.
• If you accept a free drink or meal offered anywhere, do so very cautiously, as there are usually strings attached.  This is specifically true of certain types of bars in the Far East.  You may wake up naked, beaten and robbed, or at the least you may end up paying many times the going rate for a drink that you did not really want in the first place.
• Sometimes our best protection is our instincts.  If a situation feels wrong, move away as quickly as possible.