Tips Archives | Expatolife

How to book a perfect stay for your holiday?

In this article, I will list 10 tips to find the best accommodation for your trip. Whether you are traveling to Europe, Asia or Australia, these tips will help you plan your trip easily!

1. Use trustworthy booking sites

Safety first!

Imagine that you almost get to the city and realize that your host canceled on last minute, or the hotel decline your booking request? By using trustworthy sites, you can receive great support and best deal.

For example, Airbnb protects guests from last-minute host cancellations, lock-outs, misrepresented listings, unsanitary, or lacking in promised amenities or other items. You can get a refund when the host does not meet the basic requirement.

>> Use this code to get $40 off in Airbnb.

I have traveled to 26 countries and stayed at different types of accommodation. Here are a few trusted websites that help me to save money and time searching:

>> Read more about the best booking sites here

2. Choose the location carefully

Location is an important factor in choosing accommodation. Before booking any place, you should consider:

How to go there from the airport? Does the hotel provide airport shuttle?
Is it near the center/ train station/ bus station?
Are there any restaurants and shops around?
Is it easy to reach main attractions from the accommodation?

There are several cheap accommodations in booking sites, but lots of them are far away and not convenient to reach or commute. Unless you’d like to take a cab or get on a lengthy bus/ train ride every time, you should stay in the central area close to public transport, airports, local attractions, restaurants, and has the ability to get out and walk to most things.

Book and Bed Tokyo Asakusa is a nice hostel located in the main tourist area.

How to choose the best hotel location?

Unfortunately, you can choose the location wisely with Booking.com interactive map. Using Booking.com’s map view to compare options and price, you will be able to find the best accommodation fits your needs.

3. Read reviews

Reviews written by other guests are really informative and helpful. Text reviews and scores are two factors that you should consider when looking for an accommodation.

The best way to read reviews is to check reviews from travelers who have similar trips like you – solo travel, family travel, couple travel, and which type of room that they booked – Dorm bed, Dingle room, Double room, Twin room, Triple room (for family), etc.

Also, you can read reviews from different booking sites if you have more spare time – Booking.com, Hotels.com, TripAdvisor, and Expedia.

4. Consider scores in all features

You should not only consider the general score of the accommodation but also take a closer look at other scores such as Cleanliness, Comfort, Facilities, Staff, Value for Money, Location.

5. Use stars as a guide only

You should not consider much about hotel’s star because it can vary from country to country. One 3-star-hotel in one country can be better than the 4-star-hotel in another country. You should take the facilities and services into account in order to choose the best accommodation.

6. Look for extra hidden cost

Sometimes the accommodation does not show all the cost as their “final cost”. The most common hidden cost is tax (per night/ per stay). Also, you may need to pay extra for service, facilities such as towel, bed sheets, property service charge, etc.

Therefore, you should check whether there is an extra cost, so the actual price will not add up than you expected.

7. Check the facilities & services

It is worth checking the facilities and services carefully before booking your stay. Some accommodation may charge for basic facilities such as wifi although major places don’t.

Some places may have a restriction on using time of services. For example, you cannot use the hair dryer after midnight till 6 am, or you will need to leave the hostel from 10 am to 2 pm during the stay for cleaning purposes (It happens a lot in Osaka, Japan).

If you love reading, you should check whether the hotel has reading area.

Also, you should check other facilities such as parking, swimming pool, spa, gym, washing machine, etc, in order to have a great stay.

8. Book early

Don’t book at the last minutes because price can go up or the place is sold out. The worst thing is opening the browser to book for your dream place and realize that it is sold out on the day you intend to stay.

Also, you can cancel at no cost before arrival day with Booking.com, so even when you change your mind, it will not matter much.

9. Sign up for loyalty program

When you sign up as a member on any booking sites such as Booking.com, Hotels.com or Airbnb, you will get discount or deals from them.

For example, you will get 1 free stay after 10 stays at Hotels.com. Isn’t it great? Check out it here.

You will get 1 FREE stay after 10 nights!

10. Don’t hesitate to ask

If you have any questions or inquiries regarding the facilities, services, etc., don’t hesitate to email or call the property. Sometimes you can even add more services with discounts by negotiating with the hotel.

Also, it is recommended to double check with the property to make sure that your booking is correct.

Which websites to find the best deal for flight fare? In this article, we list our favorite sites to travel the world on a budget.

1. Skyscanner

I guess many of you have heard about this site, right? It’s my favorite when finding flights. I like the feature that you can just select the whole month to find the best time with comparing all the choices. You can also just choose “Anywhere” as a surprising travel option.

However, the website doesn’t show all the cheap airlines, and sometimes the combination is a bit pricey. Therefore, I will just use it as one of the references when searching for flights.

Be careful when you book multiple flights through this website. Sometimes it says that you will take a responsibility to transfer on your own, so you have to make sure to pick up all the luggage by yourself, and prepare a visa if needed. I once booked multiple flights without knowing that I need a visa to transfer because my booking was with 2 different airlines. As a result, I lost my bookings and all the money :/

> Find flight deals in the US under 100

2. Goeuro

This website is very useful because you can find all kinds of transportation, including buses, trains, flights or even Blabla cars. It evaluates the Smartest options, the Cheapest options and also the Fastest options. You can also see the time needed for commuting as well.

3. Bravofly

I just discovered this website recently and used it as one of the options to find flights. You can also find hotels, cars or combination between flights and hotels here. Pretty convenient, right?

4. Kayak

This is one of the websites that I used to compare the price as well. The website is user-friendly and well-designed. If you sign up for an account, you may be able to find good private deals with up to 35% saving.

5. Fly4free

This website provides various good deals with a good combination of flights and accommodation. You can read more about the description of each trip on their website, and book the trips with the links. If you are lazy to plan your trip or look for some travel inspiration, Fly4free will be your favorite website.

6. Momondo

Momondo is one of the best flight comparison prices. It provides cheap options for flights, hotels, car rental. You can find some trip inspiration there as well. I love the Trip Finder option. You can enter your budget, choose your favorite destinations or just randomly anywhere. You can also choose which type of places you would love to go such as cities, beaches, nature or skiing, etc.

7. Rome2rio

This website is amazing! You can find all the unusual paths through this one. The site lists all the options by plane, bus, train, ferry, and automobile, along with the price and the time needed for transportation.

Europe flights

Sometimes I found cheap flights by checking directly in airplanes’ websites since some good deal do not show up in general comparison website. These are some budget airlines you would love to know! Most of them are only available in Europe.

1. Ryanair

Ryanair is my top website to find cheap flights. You can save lots of money with this airline. I have used it several times and these are my reviews.

Good points:

Incredibly cheap! You can find good deals starting from 5 Euro!
User-friendly website
You can bring a carry-on suitcase with a bag on board.

Bad points:

Hassle at the check-in if you don’t hold a good passport. If you travel around Europe, and you’re not EU resident, you will have to do a passport checkup at the check-in luggage point.
The seat is very tiny and not that comfortable. If you’re tall, you feel it very uncomfortable during the flights. However, I think it’s acceptable if you’re looking for a cheap option to go from places to places in a short period of time.
Expensive charge if you bring extra luggage. Therefore check out the allowance rules carefully before you fly.
Commercial, commercial and commercial. They play lots of commercials on the airplane and it’s quite annoying. It’s quite understandable that Ryanair tries to have more income from selling stuff on the plane.

2. Norwegian

I love using Norwegian service because it’s really good. You can have free wi-fi access on board. There is no hassle in check in part.

Sometimes the price is a bit pricey, but if you are under 26, you can use the promotion code: UNDER 26, and you can see lots of deduction from the normal price! It can be even up to 50% off!

3. Wizz Air

Wizz Air provides cheap flights as well, even cheaper than other competitors. However, it’s quite inconvenient if you have more than one piece of luggage. You will need to pay an extra fee if you bring more than “One piece of cabin baggage”. Read more here.

4. easyJet

I flew with this airline few times and nothing much to complain, except it was late with the boarding time. EasyJet is also one of the cheap options for flights, and the seat is quite small as well.

5. SAS

Some people will say SAS is quite expensive to fly, but it’s cheap if you book ” Young flights” for those who are under 26 years old. Also, the price of SAS is a bit similar with Norwegian. You can get free coffee or tea on the plane, and the service is very nice!

Finding cheap flights will take time, but it’s worth your effort. I hope you can find good deals based on the list of websites above. Did I miss any good websites? You can share in the comment so I can update the list!

How to find the Best Accommodation