Travel Cheap in 2009 : Kathika Travel Website

While there’s economic doom and gloom all around us, if you’ve managed to find yourself in reasonably good financial shape despite the problems, you might be in for a treat in the next year: super-cheap travel. When an economic downturn means that some sacrifices have to be made, it is often travel that feels the effect quickly. Businesses will stop sending their employees on business trips, and ordinary travelers will stay at home because they haven’t got the ready cash to travel. But that doesn’t mean that you have to stay at home too.

In the last week in particular, airlines have begun slashing prices for flights in 2009, offering two-for-one deals and deleting the fuel surcharges that have made flights for expensive in 2008. Long haul flights in particular can be found for real bargain prices, as long as you’re flexible with the travel dates and in some cases, are prepared to pay now for flights half a year away. Sign up to airline mailing lists to get news of the bargains as they happen – they are often time limited but really worth knowing about, as getting a cheap flight could be the difference between having a vacation and staying at home.

There are also plenty who say that hotel prices will also fall during 2009, for example in the United States where the number of hotel rooms is increasing as hotels whose construction began during boom time now come online, but demand is falling. Shop around online to compare prices and you could find some real bargains. Tips include using a bidding site like Priceline, calling the hotel directly (and not the chain on their free call number – find the local area phone number instead, where the real hotel staff have more flexibility on doing deals) and find new hotels that have opening specials – these could be really low specials now that they’ve had the misfortune of opening up during a real downturn in the economy.

The economic slump might also be a particular bonus for single travelers – some predict that instead of having to pay the usual (somehow insulting) single surcharge, tour operators will be happy to offer you the normal rate just so they can fill (or half fill) their rooms and seats.

One thing to check before you travel abroad – make sure there are no currency surprises. With different currencies fluctuating oddly as a result of the world economic crisis, you don’t want to assume you know the value of a currency. Check into it before you start making bookings.

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