What savings before you DIY?

[pinktraceb]

Originally Posted by Gryff

Are the Norwegian flights including paid bags they have radically changed there carry on allowance

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Yeah I added on 3 bags for the 4 of us (which is what we did last year for a Canadian roas trip)

[Lell]

We tend to do DIY and book hotels through Booking.com as it gives flexibility to make changes if we change our mind about where we want to stay. I am sure you will be able to save more than £500 if you look at alternative, comparable hotels.

[Minnie18hwc]

As a comparison for you I've just booked DIY

2 adults, 2 children 8 & 10 - August 14th - 31st (17 nights)

Air New Zealand LHR-LA direct return flights £2050 including luggage and seats

Accommodation - all through booking.com fully refundable room type : motel 2 queen beds £2600 in total - I've already rebooked a couple of times as I found the same rooms cheaper!

Car Hire Alamo through Auto Express £500 - fully refundable if we see a better rate.

We are doing a loop LA-Sequioa-Yosemite-Monterey-Pismo-Santa Barbara-Anaheim

August flights I have been tracking for months and thought we'd never book as have been at £650+pp for direct flights for months. The price I paid only lasted for 48 hours!
Accommodation is not cheap for a family of 4 in California - we've had to go budget end.

I think this is a fairly good deal. Didn't see any packages that come close when doing my research. Has taken quite a while to track price changes though. But thats part of the fun.

Don't be afraid to do DIY - always have wherever in the world I've been.

[buryboy]

Originally Posted by Minnie18hwc

As a comparison for you I've just booked DIY

2 adults, 2 children 8 & 10 - August 14th - 31st (17 nights)

Air New Zealand LHR-LA direct return flights £2050 including luggage and seats

Accommodation - all through booking.com fully refundable room type : motel 2 queen beds £2600 in total - I've already rebooked a couple of times as I found the same rooms cheaper!

Car Hire Alamo through Auto Express £500 - fully refundable if we see a better rate.

We are doing a loop LA-Sequioa-Yosemite-Monterey-Pismo-Santa Barbara-Anaheim

August flights I have been tracking for months and thought we'd never book as have been at £650+pp for direct flights for months. The price I paid only lasted for 48 hours!
Accommodation is not cheap for a family of 4 in California - we've had to go budget end.

I think this is a fairly good deal. Didn't see any packages that come close when doing my research. Has taken quite a while to track price changes though. But thats part of the fun.

Don't be afraid to do DIY - always have wherever in the world I've been.

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Personally wouldn't limit myself to just booking.com
Try Expedia, hotels.com, trivago for possibly better prices
And go through Quidco or topcashback for more savings , or maybe the genius loyalty programme on booking.com

Opening poster ,
I agree completely with Minnie on saving more on hotels than simply comparing what you can diy for the same hotels as the tour operator offers .
There will be different hotels of the same standard for less money.
And with time and patience you can check back and book ( or rebook ) when prices are low , rather than just at that one time when you are ready to press the button with your tour operator
The same with flights , car hire etc

I appreciate I did the cheaper end of California area - Vegas, San Diego , Anaheim etc - and it was 5 years ago when prices in dollars were much lower and the exchange rate was much better , and the hotels were budget end , but still very comfortable , but in 2014 we had a 19 night trip where we spent less than a grand on hotels. When I first suggested a budget of £1500 for it, people on here were suggesting they wouldn't want to see the dumps we would be staying in at that price. And we saved a third on it !

It won't be the same when we do our next trip, 20 days including New York, San Francisco and Yosemite , all expensive areas. I'm going to start with a £3000 hotel budget and see how it goes

[pinktraceb]

Thanks everyone! I looked at some alternative hotels (but still with minimum 4 star TripAdvisor ratings) and managed to get it under £6K. So definitely gonna go DIY.

[Lell]

Originally Posted by pinktraceb

Thanks everyone! I looked at some alternative hotels (but still with minimum 4 star TripAdvisor ratings) and managed to get it under £6K. So definitely gonna go DIY.

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Fab. If you are booking hotels on a cancellable rate, keep checking prices as we have saved quite a bit by cancelling and rebooking at a cheaper price.