Cheap self-catering holidays

Book a holiday property directly and you’ve less protection. Yet pay on a credit card and provided it costs £100+, the card company is jointly liable if things go wrong. Make sure you always pay off in full to avoid interest. Many owners don't accept cards though. Read the full list of options on paying safely.

This guide focuses on booking villas and apartments where you book directly with owners via holiday property rental sites. While bargains abound, you're booking with a third party, not the listing site. Owners are not usually vetted, and the trip is not ATOL-protected.

While problems are rare, watch out for fraudsters who try to dupe you into paying for non-existent properties. Fake adverts are easy to create and often look like the real thing.

There are often tell-tale signs that your desired holiday home doesn't exist. Here's a checklist.

• Speak to a real person. If possible, call the owner - don’t just message. (Some rental sites don't allow users to swap phone numbers until a booking is made though.)

• Check how long the property's been listed. Most listings sites show how long the owner's advertised. The longer, the better.
  

• Google the property. A common trick's to copy adverts for bona fide properties, including photos and descriptions. See if it's listed elsewhere under a different owner.

• Check the email address: A professional, traceable email address is better than a Yahoo, Gmail or other instantly-available one.
  

• Ask for references. As well as reading reviews, ask for references from previous visitors (try to verify those are independent references if possible).
  

• Do some digging. Ask to see a copy of the utility bill with the owner's name on it. Check their Facebook or LinkedIn profile.
  

• Trust your gut. If you have any suspicions, flag up your worries with the holiday letting site and ask seasoned travellers on this site's Holiday & Travel forum board or other forums.

Look for accommodation which offers flexibility, so if you're unable to stay, you're at less risk of losing money.

As you're booking directly with owners, there's no standard policy, it's down to their preferences, so carefully check cancellation terms before handing over a deposit. 

Direct booking sites provide lucrative opportunities for fraudsters. Instant money transfer services, such as Western Union, are one of the riskiest ways to pay. Use a credit card or bank transfer instead. Read more on how to pay safely.

Always do your own research on the area. Apartments and villas are often further from town centres than hotels. Use Google Maps to scope the location and local amenities.

Before booking, make sure you can get there cheaply. With flights it's usually cheaper to book early, otherwise you're competing with business travellers who'll go at any cost - unlike packages, where there's a hot market in late bookings. See Cheap Flights for full info.

If you're holidaying in the UK, see Cheap Trains and how to Slash Petrol Costs By 30%.

Property owners usually rent properties over seven nights Sat-Sat, weekends Fri-Mon and midweek Mon-Fri. This means they can end up with hard-to-shift spare days.

If you're flexible about time, ask the property owner if they have any odd days between bookings they want to fill – some offer discounts.

Heading for a traditional tourist destination specifically for seven, 10 or 14 days? Here, a package holiday to a hotel/resort may beat renting a private property, especially for families of four. Plus you get ATOL protection, so you're covered if the tour operator goes bust. See Package Holiday Haggling.

But holiday rentals often win, especially if you've a bigger family or group, as they are priced per property, not per person.

Remember to check hotels too – see Cheap Hotels for a full guide.

As with package holidays, peak season means sky-high prices for resorts. So, if possible, consider the shoulder seasons: September and October or April to early June.

Owners of apartments in cities such as Paris and New York often make no distinction between high and low season. In fact, some are cheaper in high summer, when locals flee the hustle and bustle.

Likewise, ski chalets in the mountains are dirt-cheap in summer, but are often still fab for hiking.

Sought-after areas command higher prices than less fashionable, off-the-beaten track ones. But while most people know Bulgaria's cheaper than Italy, prices vary wildly within countries too.

To find better-value spots, simply search for a country and number of bedrooms on a booking site, and then sort the prices from "low to high".

Work out the terms of the rental with the owner, confirming what's included, changeover dates and refund policies. Ask them to email a booking contract, and review it to ensure you’re happy before handing over cash.

Make sure you have a record of both parties accepting it (email is fine – just don't delete it).

Go abroad two or more times a year, including weekend breaks, and annual travel insurance (covering all trips away) usually wins. See Cheap Travel Insurance for a full list of best buys.

When I comes to staying in the UK, standard travel insurance covers you here but the cover here is not as powerful as when overseas. However, it can still prove useful, so you'll need to weigh up the pros and cons. Our Cheap UK Travel Insurance guide has full details.

A Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC) and European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) give you treatment at state-run EU hospitals and GPs at the same cost as a local.

If you already have an EHIC, it will continue to cover you in EU countries for the entire time it's valid, so you MUST check it's still in-date as they expire after five years.

If you need to renew, or apply for the first time, you'll receive a GHIC instead – but it does the same thing. For full help, including how to get one for FREE (never pay), see our Free GHIC or EHIC guide.

Victims of holiday rental fraud are highly unlikely to be covered by their travel insurance. So make sure you pay safely.

Holiday rentals save on living costs, as you can cook some meals at home – a boon in expensive countries such as France and Italy. Why not ask the owner what equipment they have (for example, a tin opener, washing up liquid, cutlery, cooking oil, corkscrew).

If you're staying in the UK, consider booking a cheap supermarket delivery for your first day, or take along essentials such as teabags. For more tips on maxing the savings, including easy recipe ideas and meal plans, see the forum thread: Spill the beans - self-catering tips.

By credit card, debit card or Paypal. Airbnb processes your card payment itself and passes the money onto the owner.

For safety, Airbnb charges you when the reservation’s confirmed, but only releases money to the owner 24 hours after check-in.

The downside is if you pay an intermediary for services supplied by someone else, Section 75 credit card protection is unlikely to apply.

Airbnb takes a 0-20% service charge from guests for booking (it says the fee is typically under 14.2%). See Airbnb's full breakdown. Always click through to check the final price before choosing a property.

If there is a serious problem with the accommodation, Airbnb may refund you under its Aircover policy.

It says if there an issue that the host can't resolve (eg, an inaccurate listing), it will help you find a similar place or give a full or partial refund, depending on the situation. You have until 72 hours after check in to report issues and provide relevant documentation, eg, photos.

You need to contact Airbnb within 72 hours after your reservation’s start. See more on how to resolve issues.

Yes, though you'll have to check individual properties' pages to find most of them. If you click 'filter' and scroll down the bottom, you also can opt to see properties with a 'new listing', monthly or weekly discount.

Credit card, PayPal or bank transfer, depending on the owners' preference.

Some owners also accept payment through Vrbo's payment system, where it processes your card payment itself and passes the money onto the owner.

Use Vrbo's system and your payment will be automatically covered by its Book with Confidence guarantee, which protects against internet fraud. But the downside is if you pay an intermediary for services supplied by someone else, Section 75 credit card protection is unlikely to apply.

Vrbo takes a 'service charge' from guests for booking, which is 6%-12% for most bookings. Always click through to check the final price before choosing a property - click 'view details' next to the price to see a breakdown.

As above, if you use Vrbo's payment system, your payment will be covered against internet fraud (see terms). 

We've little feedback from MoneySavers on whether it pays out, so never rely on this. Always do your own checks and pay the right way.

You need to contact it via the help centre or call 020 8827 1971.

Yes, you can search for late booking discounts and early booking discounts using the filters on site.

By credit or debit card through Clickstay's payment system. The downside is if you pay an intermediary for services supplied by someone else, Section 75 credit card protection is unlikely to apply.

You may still be covered by card networks' chargeback schemes – of course, if you'd paid an owner by bank transfer, you'd get even less protection. See how to pay the right way.

Clickstay says it takes no payment or service charge from guests.

Clickstay says 'when you book, a contract is generated between you and the owner' and 'any disputes are dealt with between the two parties'.

As above, Clickstay says any disputes must be dealt with directly with the owner.