Many people have the impression that it is very expensive to travel, but you will be surprised how you can enjoy your holidays without spending a fortune.
There are some useful tricks which can help you when you’re planning your trip and with their help you will be able to save money while travelling.
We collected the best recommendations from travel bloggers who travel frequently and cheaply and you can take their advice so you can do the same.
If you are properly informed, you can visit many cities even if your budget is limited.
- Make a plan of your trip
It is best if you plan your trip in advance, because it will be cheaper. Take into consideration to book in advance the tickets for the route you choose and as well for other events you want to go. For example, in many European countries they sell tickets for festivals and concerts many months before they take place and some even have promotional prices in the first days. If you buy them online, you can get them on sale and you can save more or less 10%. Plus, it is faster to buy the tickets online, because you will not wait in line to buy them.
- Travel without the help of a travel agency
It is cheaper if you travel without the help of a travel agency. If you choose to travel on your own, you must be careful and aware of the fact that you will have the responsibility of how you organize the trip. Most travel agencies can’t help you if there are problems because they blame the airlines or some other unforeseeable circumstances, and they collaborate with specific business partners like tour busses or they impose certain travel routes. When you travel on your own, you can choose the cheapest modes of transport, transfer and the route you desire. You have more options to choose from when you book the place you will be staying at and if you go with your friends or family, you can share costs – this way everybody can save money. Andrey Mironchuk, a blogger from Belarus, says: “A trip from Minsk to the Canary Islands with a travel agency costs around €1,100. If you plan your own trip, the worst-case scenario is that it will cost you €500”.
- Look for different ways to buy cheap plane tickets
Stanislav Rabunski is a 24 years old blogger and he has visited 35 countries across different continents until now and he has great recommendations when it comes to the cheap plane tickets. He says it is better to check the official website of the airports located in the city which is your destination; it is easy to find out if they have sales or discounts on your flight.
Another blogger, Vitaliy Klimov, has another recommendation for saving money on flights. In his opinion, the website kiwi.com has the best offers for cheapest flights from airports on almost any destination and the cheapest flights for certain dates and destinations. It is worth checking it out.
- Save money on the transfer from the airport to the place where you will be staying at
It is very important to make sure you have a transport from the airport to the place where you will be staying. In this case you must check the airport website in advance. Most of the transfer buses go from the airport to the city centre and you must find out which buses or trains go from there to the nearest place to your hotel or rented apartment. It is expensive to go with a taxi, especially if you take one straight from the airport, and you can’t just walk a large distance to the place you will be staying at, especially if you have luggage. Another aspect you must take into consideration is that many local taxi drivers do not speak a foreign language. You can choose to book an international transfer service, for example HolidayTaxis or Kiwitaxi, because their drivers speak English and they will meet you personally to pick you up, so you will be saving money and time. Plus, there are other advantages if you choose a service like this, such as Wi-Fi in the car or a baby seat if you are travelling with your baby and pay everything with the credit card, so you will not be forced to have cash on you for these.
- Save money on transportation
Transportation is in many cases the most expensive part of a holiday, so it’s important to find out which transportation is best for you. Search ahead information about sales and discounts, and make sure you book the tickets on the official website of those companies. Pay attention not to confuse the names or the websites, because otherwise you might end up paying more in the end or you might discover they do not provide tourist services. You can also buy the tickets yourself at the local office of those companies.
- You must be available to suddenly change your route or dates
Your time must be flexible. Check when there are public holidays in the country you are going to visit and avoid the starting of the high season. The travel bloggers recommend you to avoid the public holidays and other national days off, because there will be traffic jam and also because the tickets cost way too much. They say it is better to change your date by one or two days and you should not have problems. If you go a few weeks earlier, which means before the start of the season, you can spend 50% less on the transportation.
We show you a few helpful links where you can find answers about anything a tourist should know:
– agentika.com is another helpful website where you can find information regarding the places where you can find the best accommodation, the best places to eat, the right transportation and the locations you can have fun while you are on your holiday;
– wikitravel.org – this website is like the travel version of “Wikipedia” and it is available in English;
– budgetyourtrip.com is very helpful to calculate the budget you will need for the trip and it is available in English;
– lonelyplanet.com represents one of the top English travel guides forums.
- Do not stay at a hotel
Blogger Vitaliy Klimov usually spends less than €7 a day when he is travelling around Europe and he went from the west of Russia to Africa by bike. According to him, it is better if you avoid hotels and instead, to opt for cheap hostels where you can stay alone or with friends.
An apartment is a better choice if you are travelling with your family. It represents a great opportunity to save money on food because you can cook it yourself using products bought from a local supermarket or you can eat on the streets.
- Try an alternative way to find a place to stay
There are places where you can offer your help with the chores instead of paying money for a place to stay. Agrotourism represents a great alternative to find a place to stay and you will also get free food. All you have to do is spend a few hours a day helping the owners of the house. Even though you are on holiday, you can see this as a chance to have a new experience. Other alternatives are:
– Housesitting – this is a service for looking after the house of somebody else while they are away for a long period of time. This service is available in different countries all over the world, as you can discover on housecarers.com;
– The Help Exchange website – this is the choice of many people because there are locals who offer free food and accommodation for helping at the farm or around the house;
– Couchsurfing – this serve as an international system for having guests at your home or you can stay at somebody else in exchange for free; all you have to do is register at the official website;
– WWOOF – represents an international organization of organic farms and gardens in more than 70 countries; it offers free accommodation and food in exchange for work.
- Rent your place or exchange it
While you are away on holiday, you can rent your place so you can gain some money. You can also exchange it for someone else’s for free. Either way, you will benefit from this experience. Vladimir Druganov is a travel blogger recommends Airbnb to rent your own apartment or house because the money is sent to your credit card and it is a great method to make money while you are away on holiday.
The “exchange holiday” is another way of staying for free in other people’s apartment and you will let locals or foreigners in your own. Some of the free exchanges for tourist accommodation you can find at the following websites:
– Homelink.org represents one of the top websites for international house exchanges where you can filter your choices;
– Homeexchange.com contains a database and you can choose from a very big number of houses and apartments. Its navigation is easy and there are many countries to choose from.
- Do not waste your money on things you can obtain for free
– Do not buy maps if you can get them for free. You can search the internet and download the local maps and keep them on your phone or you can print them. Another way to get free maps is to take them from a tourist information bureau. Many cities have maps on the streets as well, especially downtown or near the tourist attractions;
– It is not necessary to use your roaming internet because you can book a room or an apartment that has free WI-FI. There are countries where you can find free WI-FI access in gas station, restaurants, and malls;
– There are some places with visiting restrooms. Go to big buildings which have public toilets like museums, malls, libraries, business centres, or go to other public places like Burger King, McDonald’s;
– You do not need to buy water, because you can find it for free in many places. For example, you can drink tap water everywhere in Europe and there are also water fountains in many cities. If you want to be fully informed, you can access the application maps.me. You should check the “Not for drinking” signs near the source, to know what areas you must avoid.
- Search for places where you can have fun for free
Don’t lose your chance to have fun for free (like a free walking tour) because there are various ways to do this and in the same time you can save money. When you start making plans, go to Google and search “Free entertainment in city X”. The X represents the city of your destination. Many cities organize free concerts in the public places, excursions, open days, festivals, or if you like visiting museums, in certain cities, like London, there are several with free admission. You can use freetour.com to find information about free walking tours that interest you…
What do you think about our suggestions for saving money while you are on a trip? Leave a comment if you have other tricks you want to share with us.