Chris and I just booked an all-inclusive vacation to Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt! We’re staying in a 5-star hotel with its own private beach.

How did we afford this?  We used www.lastminute.com coupled with www.tripadvisor.com and www.vibeagent.com to read reviews and check prices. We used www.kayak.com to see if we could get a cheaper flight than the deal offered.

The last-minute deal was £499 each, which was quite a steal but we decided to sleep on it and make sure we really wanted to go. The next morning we woke to find that an extra £100 each had been knocked off the price. We booked right away!

Soon after, we got a phone call from the travel agent saying that there were no more available seats in Standard Economy so we had to upgrade if we wanted the holiday (an extra £69 each — ouch, but still less than the original trip price).

We went ahead with this and we leave on Sunday!  That, my friends is how you score a sweet sweet deal.  Now look at these photos and weep:

Our deal includes:

• meals, drinks, snacks, the mini-bar fridge in our room
• sauna
• jacuzzi
• anti-stress massage
• tennis court
• fitness centre
• beach volley
• 4 pools
• 4 restaurants
• dive centre