Thinking a Flight to Florida just isn’t on the cards this year? Think again.

The current economic climate may have us all keeping an extra eye on the budget, but businesses are in exactly the same position with constant thought of tight budget control and sales maximisation and non more so than the airline companies.

Despite oil prices dropping, consumer confidence is low, so airlines are keener than ever for our custom.

There are great deals to be had but you just have to find them, with the internet being your best friend, it is the prepared traveller who is the one who will get the best bargains.

First step is to go online and check the airline sites for the deals, being flexible with your requirement will pay the greatest dividends.

Consider schedule flights as well as charter flights, surprising these can some times be more cost effective.

Consider non direct routes, connections may involve a little sitting around but can save you many £’s/$’s. The added benefit of a non direct route is that you can stop over a couple of days at your connecting airport and have a multi centre vacation, this is especially possible when following on to a villa with flexible start dates and duration of stays. With so many villas to chose from Its easy to search for a villa meeting your exact requirements.

If you can,  be date flexible, a day earlier or day later than your planned outward or return date can save you £’s/$’s and the internet makes it so easy to identify these differences.

Your departure airport can save you £’s/$’s, for example if leaving the UK, flights in August are generally cheaper from Glasgow Scotland than from England. This is because children have returned to school in Scotland and it is therefore no longer peak season.

Fly drives don’t always work out cheaper than booking a flight and car separately, check it out. For car rentals check in advance what is exactly in the package, and check the rates of the car rental companies. From personal experience we once rented via the web a car from “Thirfty” which is part the Dollar Car Rental, as the rate was much cheaper than the “Dollar” website, only to collect the car from the same “Dollar” car compound!

Your arrival airport can also impact on flight price; try alternatives arrival airports such as Sanford International, Orlando International, Tampa International or even Miami International. With villas throughout Florida you are bound to be able to find accommodation near your desired location and airport. Tampa is also only around 1 hours drive back to the Disney area – this is about the same distance as Sanford airport to the main villa areas around Disney.

Don’t get caught out with excess luggage charges read the ticket small print and get yourself a set of luggage scales so that you can be confident when you check your baggage in at the airport that you won’t have to pay excess fees.

Finally as with any online transaction check out the cash back opportunities- Quidco is my personal favourite. At the time of writing this article via the Quidco site for example Expedia were offering 1% back for flight sales and Virgin Atlantic 3%. Other great cash back deals can be had on airport parking, car rentals, airport hotels etc and don’t forget to put it on a cash back credit card as well!

 So you can save some money with a little investigation and planning, enjoy your vacation.

Following on from our previous popular article “Florida villa - cost cutting before you go” we have to put together some further suggestions to make those £’s and $ go further whilst on holiday (vacation) depending what side of the Atlantic you are from.

1. At the car rental company pre pay for a Sunpass or Epass for the toll roads. If your planning to do some travelling around Florida maybe to see Kennedy Space Centre, not only will this save you money but also time in the queues. Not to mention struggling to find your change when you are fighting with your seatbelt!

2. Buy a pre-paid phone card - these can be bought easily (Walmart) for all your calls and are much cheaper than mobiles. Remember many UK mobiles will not work in the US unless they are tri- band.

3. Take advantage of the many discount coupons. Whether it is for food or attractions, discount coupons will save you money. Look online, in local newspapers or the masses of tourist booklets you will find everywhere, just check the terms and conditions carefully.

4. Eat early - many restaurants offer “happy hours” with drinks of beers and wines being offered 2 for the price of 1. Not forgetting the free refill’s of sodas.

5. Try to avoid dining in the theme parks as they tend to be expensive, consider the meal plans but only if you are staying all day.

6. Florida is hot! and you will need plenty of fluid; instead of buying drinks all the time when you arrive in Florida get some small water bottles. Freeze the water bottles in your villa fridge overnight. As you walk around the parks the next day the ice melts in that lovely sun and provides you with an ice cold drink, that’s not only free but healthier than all those soda’s. Freeze enough water and leave it in the car in a cool-box, you will really appreciate it when you get back to your car. Buy some big bottles of water from the supermarket, freeze again overnight and off you go again.

7. Don’t rent a Satellite Navigation system from the car hire companies, with prices dropping so much its cheaper to buy one from somewhere like Walmart or Best Buy. Better still some villa owners are providing them on a free loan basis with the rental of their villa, given that rental companies can charge up-to $12 a day that will save you $168 in a fortnight.

8. For those of you with little ones bring your own pushchair or stroller, this could save $7 to $10 a day at some of the attractions. Depending on your stay it might be even worth buying a basic pushchair rather than renting one every time you hit the parks.

9. Spend a day away from the paying attractions, use your villa swimming pool or take a trip to the beach instead. With 1,100 miles of beaches whether you’re interested in sunbathing, birds, shelling, surfing, treasure hunting, people watching, snorkelling, history or romance, Florida has a beach to suit you and are free!

10. Having saved all that money indulge yourself a little; consider the valet parking option at theme parks! This may cost literally a few dollars extra however the time and energy saved in walking a long way from the entrance can work out cheaper. You won’t need a drink or to visit the restaurants as soon as you get in the park. This is particularly beneficial at Universal Studio’s and there is nothing nicer that the car being brought to you when you have those aching feet!

I thought it would be useful in the credit crunch times we live in to note a few ways of reducing the cost of next year’s family vacation to Florida.

Yes if you are coming from the UK the exchange rate of the £ and dollar is not as good as it was last year. Recession is around the corner, but with a little planning and research you can still have a fabulous holiday, for less than you might first think.

Here are a few of our tips;

1 The internet is a great tool for finding flight bargains. If you are flying from the UK remember that English and Scottish school holiday season vary, so peak season in one country might be mid season in another. Personally we have saved £100’s per ticket by simply crossing the boarder!

2 If you are going to use a credit card to pay for your holiday use a card which is commission free such as the Nationwide Gold card, otherwise you will come back to a credit card statement with a few £’s added to each transaction.

3 Sign up to airline company newsletters such as Virgin Atlantic, British Airways, Flyglobespan, often these give you advance warning of special flight sales or sign up for our own newsletter.

4 Don’t stay in an expensive hotel, stay in a privately owned villa, not only do you get the space and luxury accommodation, it can often works out cheaper than hotels even for smaller families.

5 Book a villa directly with an owner and not through a travel agent, why pay them commission when you can book direct and talk to the owners. There are many great vacation rental sites out there to choose from.

6 Only book theme park tickets for parks which you are certain you will have time to visit. Often families particularly on their first visit do not allow sufficient time for each park and therefore do not get to visit all the intended parks or simply scratch the service of the parks offerings by the end of their stay.

7 Consider annual passes, particularly for the water parks around Orlando. These often work out cheaper if they are not included in your regular ticket bundle. A year ticket might work out cheaper than buying tickets on 3 occasion, lets face it, visiting a water park 3 times in 14 days is quite possible.

8 Search the internet for your car hire and buy all the insurance you want before you go, rather than deciding at the car rental company desk, when you are tired after the flight, you will be in holiday mood, this allows for better budgeting and decision making.

9 If you intend to book your vacation rental property at short notice don’t forget to checkout the late deals at Wannavilla.

10 Again don’t forget to check the internet for travel insurance, its so easy to use price comparisons tools rather than taking the first product you come across, 10 minutes research can save a lot of cash!

11 Think about the currency exchange rate and take into account any fees which might wipe out the advantage of the headline currency rate, compare by asking what is the total amount of net cash you get back?

12 Now go off and enjoy a great vacation with more spending money in your pocket.