This article gives you two tips on saving money on out of season and short stay holidays. But sadly the article is not for families with school aged children. If you are child free – read on!

Of course everyone knows that taking your holiday in the low season is cheaper than traveling in the high season. Holiday accommodation and flights can be up to 40% less between October and mid December and January through to March. But there are some extra tricks if you want to save even more more money on your out of season or short stay holiday.

Self catering accommodation in France is easy to rent out in the high season but even with discounted prices, vacation property owners struggle to rent their properties in the low season. So holiday makers not only have plenty of choice but are also in a strong bargaining position. Tip number one for a low cost holiday, is to use your bargaining power. Always always ask the cottage owner for a discount. You should be able to get 10% off and if you can’t you can always get a similar deal at a near bye rental. Holiday makers should not feel embarrassed or pushy. Property owners are business people and they know only too well that if they want their vacation property rented out they need to make an effort to get you to book. Its better for them to fill the accommodation at a lower price than have it sit empty. So ask and you will be pleasantly surprised how often you get a positive response.

Weekend and short stay holiday rentals: Many holiday rentals ask for a high per day rental fee for short stays. This is because they have to change the sheets and clean the accommodation. To make it worthwhile for them they charge a rate per day that is higher than the rate you would pay per day for a whole week. Tip number two is this: if you are booking a short stay in the low season or at the last minute, try telling the owner that you will bring your own sheets and towels and that you will thoroughly clean the accommodation on your departure. Ask them for the same per day rate that they give for a weekly rental and tell them you will pay 20% extra if they don’t think you have cleaned the accommodation thoroughly enough on your departure. You can even offer to make up the beds with the owner’s sheets so that the accommodation is ready for the next guests. Your aim is to reassure the owner that they will have very little work to do as a result of your stay. It might sound a bit complicated, but in the low season it is the customer who has the bargaining power, so chances are you will get some kind of discount.

The trick when traveling out of season, is to never feel worried about trying to negotiate a discount. Property owners won’t be offended or look down on you. They may say no but on the whole holiday makers will find they can get some kind of discounted deal and save on the cost of their holiday.

Anton Neumann lives and works in France, close to a small Midi-Pyrenees town called Lavaur. He runs a gite business Gite de Piquetalen which provides self catering holiday accommodation in the Tarn region of France.