Don’t book your holiday this January until you’ve read these tips

January is the busiest month of the year for booking holidays; Christmas and the New Year have been and gone, and the gloomy weather and dark evenings have many people looking forward to their next holiday abroad.

The good news is that most travel companies launch their January sales in the New Year and offer fantastic deals so, our top tip no.1 is: January is a great time to book your holiday. But finding the right holiday can be challenging, right? What you really need is to talk to someone and get some great expert travel advice.

There are so many destinations and so many holiday types around the world – but that abundance of choice will undoubtedly leave you with plenty of questions to ask yourself…Where is it safe for me to travel? Will everyone enjoy it? Are visas or inoculations a mandatory travel requirement? These kinds of questions can be very daunting, especially when you consider how important your holiday is to you.

Even if you’ve got the big stuff ironed out – what about the finer details? Top tip no.2 is: it’s often the little things that add up to make a huge difference. Can I park at the airport? Should I set off for the airport on the day of the flight or should I organise an airport hotel stay for the night before? Who will meet me when I arrive at my chosen destination? What am I going to do while I’m there?  Yes, holiday companies have some useful information on their websites and this shouldn’t be ignored but do they really explain everything in a way that will make you feel confident about your trip?

So, top tip no.3 is: talk to a real travel expert who can provide you with genuine and useful advice. It is so much more reassuring if you can discuss your holiday requirements with someone who really knows the destination well and can guide you through the booking process. It’s important that they can be truly honest with you about the pros and cons of your chosen holiday.

At Tropical Sky we want you to call us – don’t worry, there’s no hefty call charges or pricey 08 numbers to dial – just a local number (mobile calls are free). We don’t keep you waiting in those frustrating automated telephone queuing systems; your call is answered within three rings by a real travel expert. For your convenience, we are happy to make outbound calls (lots of companies don’t because it’s too expensive) if you’d rather receive a call back. Plus, we’re open until 9pm so you don’t necessarily have to discuss your holiday plans during office hours whilst you’re at work.

That brings us to top tip no.4: avoid booking engines. Booking engines are impersonal machines; great for placing your online grocery shop or buying a bus ticket, but a long way from ideal when it comes to fulfilling your holiday needs.

As a way of cutting overheads, many holiday companies have recently let their knowledgeable and helpful travel experts go and replaced them with an online booking engine. So now they have made it completely up to you to do all the hard-work with no discount passed on to the consumer.

Deciding where you want to go is only the first step in planning your perfect holiday. When it comes to actually making your booking, you don’t want to go through the pain of a lengthy booking process over the internet. There are so many tricky details just waiting to trip you up: spelling the names of travel companions correctly, getting all the passport particulars correct (don’t even attempt to complete this process on your mobile phone) – the onus really is on you.

Top tip no.5: buy now, pay later. We guess you already know that most booking engines will take the full cost of your holiday the moment you book. When booking your holiday with us however, you only have to pay for a small deposit up front, making it easier for you to settle the balance at a later date.

What’s more, we’ll spend as long as you need to discuss all of your requirements and find a holiday which is right for you. If there is something on our website you fancy, but would like to change or tailor-make, then we can do that too. You don’t just have to book from our pre-arranged itineraries. We’ll create something bespoke for you. Again, that’s something you can’t really do when booking it yourself online!

Need some inspiration for your next holiday? Take a look at a selection of what's hot this January...