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How to travel more in 2024 - without spending a fortune!
Our top 2024 picks, the best winter sun destinations and a cheap boutique stay from just £68 a night
Chelsea Dickenson
January 04, 2024
Your weekly travel roundup 🌍
I’m back with the second instalment of the new Cheap Holiday Expert newsletter! Thank you so much for all the lovely messages about the first and I am absolutely buzzing to be dropping into your inbox each and every week with money saving tips and travel inspiration.
Like many of you, I was back at my desk on 2 Jan (felt way too early, right?!) but fortunately I had the prospect of 2024 travel to get me excited. I’ve got two trips booked for this year so far – a cheap ski trip next week and a two-week jaunt around India at the end of the month – but otherwise it’s a blank canvas. But hopefully, there’s some inspo in this email that can help with that!
Here’s what’s coming up:
Where we recommend heading to for your 2024 holidays 🏝️
Viral Vacay: cheap Greek plunge pools with a view 🏞
The things you NEED to do before you travel 📆
My deal of the week: boutique stay in Berlin 💸
The weekly poll: guess where I’m going 📣
How to travel more in 2024
Now, I don’t wanna lean into this whole ‘January blues’ vibe too much but I do think it is the time of the year when many of us are dreaming about jetting off on holiday.
In fact our team has been doing just that, so we thought we’d share the love and unveil our top holiday picks for the year ahead – will you find your dream location on our list?!
And for the keen beans who are desperate to escape right away, check out our top nine winter sun destinations – we’ve even added hotel recommendations for all budgets and travel groups (including families and solo travellers!) to get you started.
 Our Top Travel Picks for 2024 Looking for some ideas for your 2024 travel? Here are 10 places on our team’s bucket lists for this year – from UK destinations to long haul adventures. |  9 Best Winter Sun Destinations We’ve scoured the global temperatures to bring you, quite literally, the hottest destinations right now. Don’t forget to pack your SPF☀️! |
Viral Vacay 📲
Where we track down the accommodation that’s gone viral, find out how much it actually costs and if needs be, suggest a cheaper alternative 🕵️♀️
 | What is it? How viral? How much? Cheaper alternative? Cheaper still? |
Seen a viral video you want me to do this for? Reply with it to this email! 📧
Don’t forget to do this before you travel
Let me put on my sensible hat for a second because here at Cheap Holiday Expert, it’s just as much about the practical information as it is about the travel inspiration!
So let’s talk HOLIDAY ADMIN 📝
First things first, if you’re a seasoned globe trotter who likes to maximise their travel days, we’ve figured out how you can get a ginormous 50 days of annual leave in 2024. We’re telling you now so you can get that leave request in!
And please, please, please double check that your passport is still in date for 2024. It’s not simply a case of it being valid until your expiry date anymore and I still get people messaging saying this rule change has ruined their entire holiday – and they can’t get their money back either.
 How To Get 50 Days’ Annual Leave in 2024 It’s possible to DOUBLE a standard annual leave allowance by factoring bank holidays and weekends into your calculations 📆 Just book it sooner rather than later! |  Check Your Passport Is Valid for Travel I know it sounds straightforward but thanks to a Brexit change, the rules around passport expiry have changed. Make sure you know the rules before you go away! |
My deal of the week
There’s a few hotel deals out there at the moment thanks to the January sales and so I thought I’d pluck out this fab offer in one of my favourite cities to visit: Berlin 🇩🇪
What’s the deal?
Stay at the budget boutique hotel Max Brown Ku’Damm in Berlin
What’s the damage?
Rooms start at around £68 a night
Why is it a good deal?
There’s around a 15% discount on prices at the moment but the most impressive thing for me is the fact that it’s very well priced for peak periods too – you can stay on several dates in August from £79 a night.
The hotel is that perfect combination of not too expensive but still feels like a treat. Basically, it’s the best example of a great value stay.
We stayed in Aug 2018! We’d booked the cheapest room but it was twin beds when I’d booked a double, so we got a free upgrade to their Panoramic Room. GET IN MY SON.
What else should I know?
Only the large ‘Panoramic Room’ and ‘Executive Room’ have air conditioning if you’re staying in the summer, though the other rooms do have fans. There’s also a great brunch restaurant downstairs called Benedict (bet you can’t guess what they serve) and whilst people were queuing to get in, they let us put our names on the list and called the room when our table was ready. Result!
How long will this deal last?
It’s quite a ‘discreet’ sale for this one but I expect these rates to be around until the end of the month. However, I wouldn’t expect it to skyrocket after it’s gone either unless the small rooms sell out. In general, it’s a well priced hotel and a good one to keep in mind for a trip to Berlin 👍
Look mum, I’m on the telly!
Okay not actually on the TV this week but instead, popping up in your papers and on the internet.
Here’s my 11 ways to get more for your money for The i Paper.
I also talked about 8 ways to travel more on a small budget for TravelSupermarket.
What’s got the team excited this week? 🥳
From bargains to travel news, here’s what we’ve been getting distracted with this week.
A pic from us at our Christmas party - we went to the King Gong night at The Comedy Store!
Katie: I just found flights to Venice for £38! I usually do budget city breaks but thanks to saving money on my flight, I’m treating myself to a stay at Il Palazzo Experimental. It did have 15% off as well.
Chelsea: Apart from being JEALOUS of Katie, I’m getting excited about my first ever ski trip next week. I am trying to do it on a budget so… any guesses where I’m off to? You can guess in the poll below!
Anna: I'm loving @yogirl_rin on Tiktok - she's volunteering at a surf camp in Costa Rica in exchange for accommodation atm. So dreamy and a great way to travel for less!
James: There’s reports that we may not need a passport when entering the UK in the near future. Instead, they’ll scan our faces! Please take this as my formal application to be one of the trial testers. My passport never works anyway.
Don’t worry, we haven’t forgotten about Merowe, she’s just on annual leave!
And that’s a wrap!
That’s all for this week - thanks if you made it this far and why not let me know you did so by answering the poll below ⬇️
Can you guess where I'm off to on my cheap ski trip?Tap your answer! |
If you have a mate or family member who you think would love this newsletter too, they’ll just need to sign up here.
Next week, it’s one for all you romantics out there… or just luxury hotels on a budget fans (I am the latter).
Chelsea x
London, United Kingdom - I’ll be emailing the winner of the 40L Patagonia Black Hole Bag in the next hour so keep checking your inbox in case it’s you!!
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