Our top tips for getting the best long-haul holiday deals

1. Book in advance - far, far in advance

While there have been a lot of great last-minute deals in recent years, if you already know when and where you want to go, it's best to book as far in advance as possible. Why? Booking early can often save you up to 40% off the normal package price. While it's true that you can often find last minute bookings for a similar percentage off, you could still be missing out. The earlier you book, the more choice you'll have. For popular destinations or hotels, the best options, such as room and board, tend to sell out quickly. For families, adjoining rooms are typically the first to go. Swim-up room upgrades also tend to go fast.

Check out TUIs long haul room upgrade page to search by room upgrades

🏴‍☠️ Pirate tip: Not sure if you’ll be able to commit to a holiday so far in advance? Be sure to book your holiday with TUI flex that will give you fee-free changes on your booking.

2. Be flexible

Travellers who are flexible with where and when they want to go on holiday will actually be able to get some of the best deals possible. Being flexible allows you to search for certain periods that are cheaper, depending on the occupancy of the hotels and flights. This won’t always mean off-season dates, but could be a flight route that the airlines or holiday provider is struggling to sell.

When booking your flights, keep in mind that Sundays and Mondays are usually the most expensive days to fly. If you really want to save a few quid, look for very early or very late departure times, as fewer people want to get up at the crack of dawn, or arrive super late to their destination.

🏴‍☠️ Pirate tip: On search engines, always as +/- option to the days you’re searching to see the best prices possible. You can also try adding 1 or 2 days onto your package holiday to see if the flight times make a longer trip even cheaper.

Another perk to being flexible is snagging a last-minute deal. Last-minute deals are a great way to save big, while possibly encouraging you to consider a new holiday destination.

3. Look for dates in the off- and shoulder seasons

When choosing a holiday destination, it's a good idea to consider which months are considered high season, as you'll probably want to avoid them if you're trying to keep costs down. If you're not flexible about when you can travel and your first choice is too expensive in high season, try looking for destinations that have the opposite seasons to ours - such as Mexico or Asia - or have great weather and sun all year round - such as Cape Verde. Mexico is often the cheapest in the low season, from June to October, as that's the main rainy season in Mexico. If you don't want to risk it, try to go in the low season from April to May to hit the sweet spot.

If you're looking for a long-haul family holiday and don't want to be tied to school holidays, we recommend looking for holidays in the off-peak months of May and September.

4. If excursions or activities are high on your list, look for similar destinations that offer more or less the same thing, but at cheaper rates.

For those adventurous travellers who like to keep busy on holiday, activities may not always be included in your initial budget. In certain long-haul destinations such as the Maldives, the Bahamas or Japan, excursions can be expensive. Our advice is to look for less expensive destinations that offer similar activities and excursions, such as kayaking, canyoning or a sunset cruise, at a more affordable price. You can do this with a quick Google search.

Alternatively, you could book a tour where everything is included in the package. For example, is going on a safari a dream of yours? It's certainly one of ours, but safari packages can be expensive and often don't include flights. Kenya is a cheaper alternative to some of the other safari destinations such as South Africa. Plus, TUI offers packages that include flights, transfers, meals and several excursions.

5. Try going for 11 days instead of 7

If 14 nights is too expensive, but 7 is just too short - try your luck with searching for 11-night holiday offers. We’ve found that 11-night holidays are less popular than 10-night holidays, but can end up being the same price, which means you can often get an extra night for free!

6. Open your deal search to multiple departure airports or fly from a local airport

Searching different departure points will allow you to see which airport has the best price for your holidays dates. TUI flies from over 20 UK airports, so while flying from the closest airport might be more expensive, it could also save you time and money in the long run.

7. Look for long-haul specific savings codes

We love a good discount code, pirates. At the moment, TUI has a long haul specific code that will save you £200 of your total booking for holidays that depart between 1st January and 30th April 2024.

Long-haul desinations

Already set on the destination or in need of inspiration? Here are some of our favourites!

Check out these amazing long-haul deals that we've found...