In Reply to: Booking Holiday Tips Please posted by shellpop on Friday, 19. August 2011 at 12:17 Bali Time:
accommodation first and flights later if you have definite dates you want to travel. This is what we've done for the last 4 trips & have found it is the best way to go.
In my experience, flights are always readily available but your accommodation of choice may not be. Work out what dates you want to go, email your hotel(s) of choice and ask for availability and rate and then compare the rate(s) offered with websites such as agoda, asia rooms, wotif etc. Find the best deal & book (although I have a preference for booking direct with the hotel, it does depend on payment terms. I will not book with any company that requires full payment up front, I am only prepared to pay a deposit to secure my booking if required). That's my personal choice :o)
Once you've secured accommodation, just keep checking webjet or zuji for flights every so often & when you find a fare price you're happy with, book away.
Whether to stay in 1 place for 3 weeks or not is really a personal choice. We like to mix it up a bit, explore different areas of Bali and I would be bored to tears staying in 1 hotel or area for 3 weeks! But that's me :o) There are some fantastic places to see and stay outside of Kuta - I was really inspired by a lot of the JBRs I read on this forum and it helped me to move outside of my "comfort zone" of the tourist area I knew so well :o)
Happy planning!