If you have children who are of school age you will almost certainly have experienced the frustration that comes with trying to book a family holiday. You look eagerly through the brochures that the travel agent gave you, and find locations and hotels that seem to offer a good price. You then find out when the school holidays are, and check the prices for those holidays.

You then are astonished to discover that these hotels can charge almost double the amount during the school holidays than they do during the term time. This does seem incredibly unfair and has been raised as a concern even to government level, but at the end of the day the demand is there and therefore the rates will reflect the demand.

It is unsurprising that many parents end up taking children on holiday during term time when the rates are far cheaper. Although done very occasionally this is acceptable, done frequently or for long periods of time it is of course not a good idea.

If you do not have children then of course this gives you much greater flexibility, and being aware of when the schools are on holiday will give you a good idea of what times to avoid. This will also mean, of course, that when you do go on holiday there will likely be fewer children around, which may well be a preference.

If you are going away for the equivalent of a weekend, again it is worth considering the actual days that you use. Going on a Friday and returning on a Sunday or Monday will actually give you a higher rate than it would if you go mid week. Certainly mid week, during term time towards the cusp of the peak season will give you all the best advantages as far as price and availability are concerned.

One other little trick to try is this: let us assume you want to stay in a hotel for the Friday and Saturday nights. Almost certainly the Sunday night rate will be the cheapest of all, as this is very unpopular and most hotels are almost empty on Sunday nights. Book well in advance of your planned trip, and get the Sunday night. On your reservation you will down as having this rate. A few days later, call back and ask to extend this to also include the Saturday night. A few days later, call again and ask them to include the Friday night. Then call one more time to cancel the Sunday night.

This may all see rather a farce, but the truth is when the receptionist changes or adds in a day to your holiday they very rarely change the rate which is calculated separately, and you may well find that you are being charged the Sunday night rate, even though you are only staying on the Friday and Saturday nights. Of course, you will want to make sure that the hotel sends you out confirmation of the rate you are being charged, either by email or post, so that you can make sure that they don't catch on to your little scam when it comes to paying for the days you have stayed.

Timing is everything if you want to make sure you get the absolute best deal.