Going on Holiday? Don't Break the Bank!

I was recently asked how I am able to afford all of my travels and who I travel with when I go. My first ever blog post, Addicted to Travel, tells why I travel and the basis for how I travel but travelling is not cheap (even when your mum works for an airline.) This is why my travel addiction has made me a fabulous bargain hunter, a penny pincher, and a logistics guru.

I would like to start by pointing out that most of my posts are from trips I have taken over the past few years. I am not bouncing around the world at the moment. Several of my blogs were written on the day they occurred but many are pulled from past experiences. In the last 5 years alone I took 26 international trips and spent over 300 days outside of the US. This averages 5 international trips a year plus numerous domestic adventures to keep me sated in between. 

I work hard while I am at home to save money for my next adventure. My mum works for an airline so most of my travels are on a standby basis which definitely helps to keep the cost down (though I do buy a lot of my tickets). However, travelling isn’t all free once you pay for your airfare. You have to figure out transportation, accommodation, entertainment, sustenance and it all adds up very quickly! Therefore I hope you find this guide to not breaking the bank for a holiday useful.

1. Buy the Expensive Tickets with Miles!

The key is buying the cheapest route out there. However, when the cost of the flights are significantly higher than you had expected, consider buying your tickets with miles! Miles are gold, (I mention this in my Guide to Happy Air Travel, and it really is true!) any good credit cards offers that include air miles I go for. Many credit card companies will offer you 40,000 miles for signing up. Use the card to meet the minimum requirement for something you would have bought anyway on a different card, pay it off and after a year you can cancel the card and keep the miles. (Just be careful you don't end up in debt because of the card!)

2. Thou Shalt Not Travel on a Weekend! 

This is basic supply & demand. Everyone wants to travel on the weekends, and few people travel on weekdays resulting in the cost of travel skyrocketing every weekend. If you are able to plan your trip so you leave and return on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or even a Thursday. This will not only cut your travel cost but could bring down the price of the hotels as well! (If you are travelling on weekdays stay at a hotel targeted at tourists and if you are travelling at the weekend stay at a hotel targeted towards business travelers to save the most money.)

3. Be on the Polar Side of Peak Season

Queue for Sugarloaf Mountain

Do your research and find out what are the peak tourism times for your desired destination. Then, do yourself a favor and be sure to book your holiday either during the off season or at the very least at the very beginning or end of their peak season. This will dramatically lower the cost of airfare, hotels, rental cars, and in some cases even entry fees to tourist attractions.

4. Be Open to Different Routes

Occasionally, I have found it to be significantly less expensive to take a bus or train to a different city to catch a flight. These days you can find tickets for $20-$60 for a bus ride across a continent. Flights expensive out of London? Take a bus to Amsterdam or Paris and catch a flight from there. San Francisco fully booked? Fly into San Jose and take the trains in to San Fran.

5. Be Flexible with When You Travel

In our incredibly busy lives it can be hard to be flexible with our travel days, but if you can find the flexibility it can be incredibly beneficial to your wallet. Get a general idea of when you want to take your trip, and look for the least expensive flights out and back close to that time. Doing so can easily save you enough money to cover the cost of your food or maybe even your rental car or hotel for the trip.

6. If At All Possible, Stay with Friends or Family.

I am sure this goes without saying, but go somewhere with people you know! I am fortunate in that I used to compete internationally for my athletics and therefore I know people in various places around the world. Just don’t be shy, a long lost cousin, an old friend from high school, reach out to them. It doesn’t hurt to ask and even if it is just for one night, that is money saved and hopefully a good time had with a piece of your past.

7. Pick Your Hotel Based on the Guest Rating Not the Number of Stars.

It is so easy to get caught up in wanting to stay in a 4 or 5 star hotel that you don’t even look at hotels without stars. I have stayed in countless boutique hotels with fabulous reviews on trip advisor that were incredibly inexpensive because they weren’t part of a chain that had been officially rated. There are some charming Bed & Breakfasts and Hostels with great rates and fabulous reviews that you may otherwise never find if you don’t shop around and do your research.  

8. Don't Eat Out Every Meal.

Yes, you are travelling which usually means lots of eating out but even if you don’t have access to a kitchen go to a market and buy some fresh fruit or tasty fixings for a yummy sandwich. You will save a ton of money while ending up just as full on a meal that was probably better for you in the long run anyway.

9. Buy What the Locals Buy. 

Sometimes when I travel, I catch myself being naughty and contemplating spending that little bit extra for some comfort food from home. Every little bit adds up and spending the extra $3 here and there on food you are familiar with not only takes away from your cultural experience in the country, but adds up quickly to a large sum of money wasted.

10. Take Advantage of Public Transportation 

If you don’t want to rent a car or can’t find one at a good rate, then don’t be afraid to make use of the public modes of transportation. It not only adds to the excitement of the adventure but it enables you to experience more of the culture, see more of the country, and save tons of money. 

11. Be aware of your surroundings

The last thing you need is to have saved loads of money with your thrifty travel skills and then get pick-pocketed on the bus or have your purse taken by someone hopping off the subway. Be aware of your surroundings! Likelihood is that you look like a tourist and that instantly makes you a target.

 

12. Travel with a Companion

I am definitely one for recruiting a co-pilot for my adventures. Most of my trips were escapes with friends, fabulous father-daughter getaways, adventures with a significant other or mother-daughter trips. When you travel with someone, you not only have a welcome compadre but you are able to split the cost of hotel rooms and rental cars or taxis saving you both a considerable amount of money.

My love of travel is an expensive addiction and I hope these tips help you as much as they help me. There are just under 200 countries in the world and I want to see every one of them. Well aware of the sheer magnitude of this dream not just due to political controversies but logistically & financially as well, I do not expect to be able to accomplish this. However, I do not doubt that I will get pretty darned close!