Planning your next travelling experience? Saving money should be right at the top of your list of priorities when you’re planning a trip, whether you’re just going to take a road-trip from one state to the next or whether you’re gearing up for travel abroad.
It’s not as hard as you might think to save money while you’re travelling, and the same basic techniques to save your money are the same no matter which part of the world you’ll find yourself in.
Here are some of the best money-saving travel tips that’ll ensure you have more money at the end of your trip that you can put towards planning the next one.
- Book Travel Early
Things like plane tickets are usually much cheaper when they’re booked ahead of time a few weeks or even months before the actual flight. Plan your trip ahead and make your bookings early to make your travel as much as 20% cheaper or more.
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- Avoid the Rush
The period referred to as the “rush” is the time when all the other tourists just like you flock to holiday destinations. This often means that almost everything will be overrun with people, and local places often inflate prices to prepare – for cheaper travel, avoid the rush and book during off-peak times.
- Pack Well
Most of the money spent during travel is spent on buying essentials that you forgot to pack – clothes, toiletries, basics. These things are always more expensive, and you could save yourself a lot of money if you just packed these things in at home. Keep a thorough travelling checklist that tells you what to pack before you leave.
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- Take Public Transport
From buses to trains and taxi’s, every part of the world has their most popular form of local public transport – and it’s usually cheaper to travel like a local instead of getting a rental car. Drivers are also often the guys who can tell you where the best spots in town are when you’re looking for some great food – or excellent nightlife.
- Use Airline Benefits
Do you know what kind of benefits the airline you’re travelling with offers? If not, it pays to find out. Making use of airline benefits can save you a lot of money when you travel, especially if you fly regularly and will almost certainly make use of benefits like frequent flyer miles, free hotel stays or discounts that come with airline benefits.
- Eat With Locals
Locals always know the best restaurants and the tastiest, value-for-money food in town, and sometimes it can save you a lot of money just to ask them where to find the best restaurant in the area. Spots known for tourist traffic are often far more expensive, and you don’t want to deal with inflated prices just because people see you as a typical tourist.
- Steer Clear of the Souvenir
It’s a great idea to buy things you can remember your holiday by – but if you’re saving money, start approaching it differently. You want to steer clear of the obvious gift and souvenir shops that you’ll find around hotels and airports – these will inflate prices on everything they sell, and you’ll almost always find it cheaper just a few streets away from the shop.
- Booking Travel Packages
Keep an eye out for travel packages from agencies and airlines that offer you several benefits in one – this can cut the cost (and effort) of seeing the world in half. Travel packages can often include your food, your hotel stay and sometimes even a huge discount on the cost of a rental car that you would normally pay for per day.
- Document Check!
You should always make sure that your travel documents are in a safe place, and that you have copies of your documents stashed away.
How can this save you money? A lot of tourists misplace their documents while they’re travelling, and having to replace these documents can cost you a boatload full of cash – and it can delay your holiday, your flights and mean that you have to shell out more money at the last minute.
Always prepare – it’s one of the top secrets for travel.
- The Travel Fund
If you want to save money while travelling, it’s a great idea to set up a travel fund that’s there for emergencies – things like delayed flights, replacing documents and buying things in the event of an emergency that’s bound to happen at some point if you travel regularly.
This travel fund can save you a lot of money should an emergency happen – and if you learn to be better at saving, it’s likely that you can even take some money out of the travel fund to pay for your next trip to a location you’ve always dreamed of.
