Love it or hate it, the word ‘staycation’ is here to stay and with travel chaos at its peak and the cost of living crisis biting hard, holidays at home in 2023 are still proving a popular choice. What’s not quite so attractive is the cost as demand exceeds supply and prices keep on rising. But before you bust the budget and bin that break, I’ve enlisted the help of top UK Moneybloggers to help you save money on UK holidays.

According to global market research platform Appinio:

• 1 in 2 Brits (54%) have booked a holiday closer to home this year because of the cost-of-living crisis
• 2 in 5 Brits (41%) have not booked a holiday this year due to the cost-of-living crisis
• 2 in 5 Brits (42%) are likely to cancel their existing holiday plans this year should the cost-of-living crisis worsen
• Almost 3 in 4 Brits (73%) say they’d be unlikely to make a holiday booking for next year should the cost-of-living crisis worsen
• 1 in 5 Brits are willing to cut back on groceries instead of holidays to ease the burden of the cost-of-living crisis

Be flexible

Flexibility is key in everything from where you are going, how, what you are doing and where you are staying. Ensure you choose a provider that offers fair and flexible booking terms and cancellation policies in case something does go wrong. If you aren’t limited to fixed dates, then research off peak prices to see if you can make any savings.

Avoid holiday hotspots

It’s worth being flexible destination wise as peak prices are often associated with the most popular tourist hot spots. This is the year for making memories and having adventures. There are lots of lovely gems yet to be discovered in the equally lovely country we live in. Now’s the time to explore them on our UK holidays.

If you’re looking for some inspiration, check out Weekend Candy’s guide to the very best of weekend breaks and short stays in the UK plus irresistible destinations!

Book direct and haggle

If you book accommodation directly, the host saves money on any online commission and booking fees. You could end up being quoted a much better price as a result of contacting them to ask for their best rate and you can also negotiate additional benefits such as upgrades and free add-ons.

Eileen Adamson from www.yourmoneysorted.co.uk agrees and says ‘We have stayed in self catering accommodation a lot over the years, both at home and abroad. I research our options using the popular self catering accommodation websites, then identify a few of interest. We have saved hundreds by then searching to see if the owners have their own website and booking directly with them.’

Roosa Laakkonen from https://moneymarshmallow.com/blog/ adds ‘The likes of Airbnb and Booking can charge a significant fee both from guests and hosts (up to 20%) so it’s a win-win for both if you book directly. It’s also worth checking out weekly and monthly discounts – in some cases it can be cheaper to book for 7 days instead of 6 if a host has an automatic weekly discount applied.Might not be relevant for summer or high seasons in general but when the demand is low, the prices are usually negotiable when booking directly.’

Compare prices

Dan from https://www.thefinancialwilderness.com/ always suggests ‘Remembering to compare online travel agents to compare deals as they can be priced quite substantially differently. If you’ve narrowed it down to a hotel, you can search by the hotel name (and as mentioned above, always worth looking direct too). Finally if all else is equal and you are booking through an online travel agent then Hotels.com has the best bang for buck loyalty scheme in the space.’

Watch out for scams

Consumer Expert Scott Dixon aka The Complaints Resolver advises that ‘Budgets will be tight for many people seeking a bargain break in the UK and this makes it attractive to fraudsters seeking to lure unsuspecting holidaymakers in with prices that are too good to be true. If it’s too good to be true, it most likely is. Scammers may ask for a deposit for a holiday let or caravan they don’t own with photos and fake reviews. Do your homework and contact the holiday provider direct. Search online and look for genuine reviews. Equally, search for scams linked to the property by simply putting in to Google, “Property name scams problems fraud.’

Use discount websites

Claire Roach from https://moneysavingcentral.co.uk suggests trying ‘Discount deal websites such as Wowcher and Groupon. I have saved a fortune on hotel deals via them rather than going direct. Often Groupon has a voucher code available on getaways that sweetens the deal even further.

Consider a city break

Claire St. https://staposthriftylifehacks.co.uk/cheap-holiday/says that if you’re looking to snap up an affordable break to ‘Consider visiting a UK city. There are hotels that rely on business travel to sustain themselves, but that revenue took a real hit. Hotels would rather fill rooms than have them sat empty, so there are bargains to be had. In normal years, it would be advisable to avoid looking in tourist hotspot cities such as London and Edinburgh, but anything goes this summer.’

Hope that these tips to help you save money on UK holidays are helpful. Do you have any more that you can add?