Traveling abroad doesn’t have to bankrupt you.
A lot of people go big when they plan a trip. If it’s vacation time, that might mean getting the best flights, staying at the nicest hotels, and eating the most expensive food on the menu. Sure, it’s a nice way to travel once in a while.
But, that’s all it’ll ever be. If you want to see more of what the world has to offer, then you need to approach traveling abroad with a different mindset. Today, we’re going to look at a few cheap travel tips that’ll have your dollars going further.
You don’t have to be rich to travel, you just have to be smart.
1. Be Flexible With Time
A lot of people fall into the trap of booking their time off first and booking their trip second. In reality, you should do it the other way around. You’re going to get much cheaper flights if you’re a bit flexible on the dates.
Most travel booking websites nowadays will show you the flight prices for your chosen dates, then show you the much better prices if you leave on a Tuesday at midnight instead of Friday at 6 pm. The key to cheap airfare is taking those less desirable flights.
2. Set Airfare Alerts
Another good way to minimize the amount you spend on airfare is to check prices often. You can set up daily or weekly alerts to let you know where prices are and where they might be heading.
Once you get used to traveling and booking flights more, you’ll get a better sense of when to pull the trigger on airfare. This is almost always the biggest expense on a trip, so getting the cheapest flights you possibly can free you up to spend money on something more exciting.
3. Be Open to Different Destinations
Try not to have your heart set on flying into a specific place. Prices fluctuate all the time, so your dream flight to Barcelona just might not be in the cards this year. However, you can still get to Barcelona, if in a more roundabout way.
If you’re in America, the biggest part of your trip is getting over the ocean. If you see a flight to Lisbon for half the price of the Barcelona flight, you can book it and use local travel to get yourself to other nearby cities.
4. Booking a Hotel For Cheap
When booking a hotel abroad, you have to be cognizant of the primary deal-finding method in that country. In America, a lot of people use Priceline, but that’s not necessarily what the preferred method is in Japan.
Unless you know you’re going to be in one city for your entire trip, don’t always book your hotel ahead of time. You can get good last-minute deals on underbooked hotels.
It might go without saying, but when your primary goal is to save money, cheap out on the hotel and spend most of your time sightseeing. Make the hotel where you sleep and nothing else.
5. Get Off the Beaten Path
Most people’s budgets get eaten up by eating and drinking at tourist-trap restaurants that (usually) aren’t the best the country has to offer. Instead of making that the focal point of your trip, research local cuisine and go for self-guided walking tours.
You’d be surprised what you can find when you “get lost”, as it were. You can save a lot of money by eating how the locals eat and drinking (at least some) of your beer on the street instead of in bars.
Take Advantage of These Cheap Travel Tips
These Cheap travel tips will help get you to where you’re going and get you situated, but the best trips are the ones that are relaxed and spontaneous. You can have a lot of fun by budgeting well ahead of time so that you know what you can afford when you get there.
Did you find this article helpful? Come back and visit us again for more posts on technology and entertainment.