iahphx

I'm taking my family to the UK for a few weeks in August. We'll be travelling pretty much everywhere. While the devaluation of the GBP will help, it's still going to be an expensive trip. From past experience, I know that Brits like a good deal (which, to my American ear, are often amusingly called "schemes"). Are there bloggers or travel writers who keep track of the various travel deals? I'm looking for everything from hotels to restaurants to theater tickets to attractions, etc. Thanks.

Swiss Tony

There's a site called Moneysavingexpert.com It has some very active fora but also a weekly newsletter. I would get signed up for that. (Note it covers energy suppliers, credit cards and mortgages as well, but the theme parks & hotel/dining offers you want will be in there, too!)

However August might be a bit sticky as it's peak holiday time here and even before the collapse of the pound, there's been a reported pull back from travel to the typical holiday destinations especially in the Eastern mediterranean as a result of terrorism fears.

What you might find however is that there's no real difference in price between 3* and 4* hotels especially in city centres this August.

Clint Bint

Second the www.moneysavingexpert.com.
I would also have a look at www.hotukdeals.com and
www.holidaypirates.com
You should also familiarise yourself with Travelodge and Premier Innn,the two largest economy hotel chains.
Restaurant-wise if you're travelling with a hungry family www.jdwetherspoon.com are everywhere and provide great value basic grub.
Although MOST pubs these days provide perfectly acceptable menus.
www.thegoodpubguide.co.uk
For all things London this is indispensable.
www.timeout.com/london

stut

Never heard them called 'schemes' - where I come from, a scheme is a local authority housing estate!

How are you planning on getting around? Do take significant fuel and parking charges into consideration (and use an app like Parkopedia) if you're planning on driving. If you're planning on going by train and/or LCC, there's a whole other masterclass in saving money...

Second the recommendation on Travelodge and, in particular, Premier Inn - I find the latter in particular consistently great quality for the price.

Not a fan of Wetherspoons personally (although some are much better than others, and I can see the appeal). But do bear in mind that most of the chain restaurants (Pizza Express &c.) do have decent discount vouchers valid Sun eve - Fri noon. Just look on their websites. Self-catering is also an option - the 'ready meals' or ready-to-cook ranges at Marks & Spencer or Waitrose are easy and very good quality.

Lots of attractions and museums are free, particularly in London:

http://www.visitlondon.com/things-to...PK4xFtU04wx.97

David-A

August this year?
It is now July.

You are not leaving yourself much time for really creative bargain chasing.

I'd expect you to save far more money by working out what you actually plan to do, and where you are going, and booking ahead, rather than deal chasing.

You say you are going everywhere. That suggests to me a tight schedule, which would negate some of the flexibility.

I'm certain you can save far more by just doing general research now.

steveo3002

we use quidco.com to get some cash back , not sure if you can join but im guessing you could

use to click on your hotel /car rental sites etc and get a few % cash back

and yeah....not called a scheme

Gagravarr

For a last minute deal, you might be best off walking into a Bricks and Mortar travel agent in your local town, and asking if they've got any good offers. Keep trying until you find one who booked too big a block of flights or hotel rooms somewhere, caught out by Brexit, who's now desperately trying to shift them at any price!

iahphx

Thanks for the suggestions. A lot of them are things I already know about from previous visits. Like I am a somewhat-reluctant fan of the Wetherspoon pubs. I find their food to be decidedly mediocre-at-best, but I generally like visiting the pubs and I find the value to be excellent (a necessity when you're feeding a family for weeks). And the beer is cheap. Are there any other chains that do something similar to Wetherspoon?

The lodging situation is the current focus of my interest. We prefer charm to chain hotels, but I find charm to be expensive for a family in the UK because your b&bs price by the person, with teenagers usually being full price. This makes the final tab quite expensive (compared to staying in cheap motels). And I'm not finding much on the meta-search engines like Kayak. We do have a house rental booked in the Cotswolds, but I'm hoping to also find "atmospheric" accommodations in places where we're only staying a night or two. Are there any good ways to search for b&bs and short-term house rentals, or do I have to read the reviews on places like Tripadvisor, find the websites for the accommodation, and then contact each proprietor individually? Obviously, that's time-consuming. Still, the fewer nights we stay in Travelodges and Premier Inns, the more we're likely to enjoy our trip.

Raffles

To be honest, the more nights you spend in Premier Inns and the fewer nights in 'atmospheric' (ie rubbish) UK independent accommodation, the more you are likely to enjoy your trip!

I still remember the (very regarded by comparison with its peers) place we used in Derbyshire where Course 1 of the 3-course dinner was 'a glass of orange juice' (from a carton). And don't get me started on 'breakfast is between 7.30 and 8’ ......

Take advantage of the fact the chain hotels are empty in August and have good deals. My site, headforpoints.com, covers the chain hotel deals.

stut

I'm not a fan of fussy B&Bs, but if you look on the AA (theaa.com) website, they do have several that don't appear on the big search engines.

Also consider Airbnb, their UK presence is growing.

jt82

If you're travelling anywhere and going to be taking the train, look at trainsplit.com before doing anything else

iahphx

Thanks. Being a frequent traveler in America, I get more than my fill of cookie-cutter motels (Holiday Inn Express anyone?). While it may be a cliche, when I travel for vacation in the UK, I prefer to stay off the beaten path in more atmospheric accommodations. In the USA, for example, it's basically impossible to get value at a b&b: it seems like all American b&b owners think their places deserve to be priced at 4-star hotel rack rates and, as a flyertalker, I never pay those rates to actually stay in 4-star hotels. So we mostly stay at chain hotels in the USA. Of course, given the British practice of charging by-the-person at b&b's, we may have no choice but to stay at UK motels to get reasonable value.

I did book my Cotswold accommodations through airbnb. A few months ago, AMEX had a promo in the USA whereby you could buy airbnb gift cards at half price. I bought a bunch, but have now used up those funds. At full price, I generally find that airbnb's fees are higher than through other booking engines.

Thanks. Since we're 5 people, and will be mostly travelling the countryside (plus car-less stays in London and Edinburgh) I don't think we'll use the trains. I will be renting a car, but I think I know how to play that game. I have noticed that there are several UK-based car rental meta-search engines. Is there one that people think is the best?

Scots_Al

Sign up to the Itison.com mailing list. It's like Groupon, but much more restaurant focussed. It's mainly Glasgow and Edinburgh-based.

Another suggestion for decent cheap eats is Toby Carvery - a chain serving good, honest, roast dinners (you go up to the carvery, pick your meats, then add your veg). Prices vary, but usually Ł6 a head (a little more expensive and busier on Sundays).

Clint Bint

Short-term " atmospheric " house rentals in August are virtually non-existent.It's one of the busiest months of the year for holidaymakers and I doubt you'll get anything less than a week minimum rental.
If it's August 2016 then don't waste your time looking - I have holiday rentals which are mostly booked out in July/August by January.
The two main sites are VRBO and Holiday Lettings ( owned by Tripadvisor )

HIDDY

In my experience 'atmospheric' accommodation in the UK usually means two things, extortionate prices for a bit of old world charm and a resident ghost or cheaper Best Western establishments that have seen better days.
Out of the way B&B's that have family rooms offer very good accommodation at good prices. I see nothing wrong with HIX's or Premier Inns especially if you can get them at a good rate although I fear you've left it a bit late for that.
As for food, if you're on a budget there's always supermarket cafe dining or if on an even tighter budget just buy food and self cater. We often do that when touring the UK....not because I'm tight with money, we just like to stop off somewhere nice and have a picnic.