Travel Hacks To Save You Money
Traveling is always fun, but it becomes quite the opposite when you fall short of money in the middle of your journey. All your planning and checklists cease to matter, and you hurry towards your home more quickly than you previously hurried towards your wonderlands. It’s not always about the spendthrift attitude of a person, but there are small things which if taken seriously will save you a lot of money. Here is a list of 11 travel hacks which will save you a lot of money.
- Avoiding Round Trip Flights
People often consider it a rich reward, being able to book the return ticket from the point of their initial departure – that is, their home. In past, it usually saved a lot of money, and people felt secure and confident in their journey. But, the times are changing now, and the increase in the pay amounts of round trip tickets is manifold. Most people don’t even notice it.
Round Trip Tickets and One Way Tickets – A Comparison
The best option to draw a parallel between the one-way ticket and a round ticket is to ask for the prices of both. You should divide the fare of round trip ticket into half and then compare it with the one-way ticket, and you will be shocked to notice that even the half of your round trip fare will be more than twice your one-way ticket.
Round Trip Flights – A Limitation
There are many flight companies available so the first thing is that you shouldn’t worry about your return back. You will surely get a return ticket one way or the other. Secondly, the round trip tickets minimize the possibility of your journey. You are bound to return the same place even if you have changed your mind, only because of your advance round trip ticket. Apart from all these possibilities one-way tickets save you a lot of money.
- ATM Budget
The word which best describes the ATM budget is “Self-control.” Yes, self-control. You should have a lot of self-control to avoid being a spendthrift, especially in a country which is your dreamland and which you always wanted to visit. In this regard many apps are available which will devise for you the course of your expenditure and how much money should you spend but finally it comes to you; the final choice is always yours. That is why the best method is to withdraw an amount of money and stick to it no matter what happens.
Making a Weekly Plan to Spend Money
Make an estimate of the week’s money which you will need and withdraw it. Spend the whole week with these funds. Next week withdraw some more. In this way, you will be able to distribute your budget throughout your travel equally. Most importantly this technique will make your initial days of the journey a little less luxurious and the final days of it a bit more. That is because most people spend most of their money in the initial days and then spend the entire journey penniless.
- Carrying One Bag
Carrying one small bag during your travels is of great charms. But most people are unable to follow this strategy because the nature of their visit demands lots of clothes – in case they are visiting someplace for the first time or they are too much conscious about the fashion trending and other people’s opinion about them. But I assure, if ever, these people enjoy the charm of traveling with only one bag they will never again dare to take a lot of luggage with them.
Discomfort of Security Procedures
Apart from comfort and freedom that one bag gives you – you don’t have to worry about the security checks and the care required transferring luggage from airport to hotels and vice versa – you will also save a lot of money. There are different airport companies which charge for checking your bags. If you have only one small bag, you will get rid of all the fuss that most people find so tiring, in a minute.
Feeling Native in some Other Country
Apart from comfort and saving money you will also feel like a native to the place you are visiting. It is likely that people won’t think of you as a tourist with all your calm and confidence of one bag. There are different types of bags available which are small, but they cover a lot of your things. For these and other discounts you can explore Groupon.
- Avoiding Dining out every night
Most people are tempted to dine in the larger restaurants every night. As there is nothing wrong in eating in big restaurants but it will cost you a fortune. It is better to limit your temptation and avoid eating at restaurants with magnificent architecture.
Taste of 5 Star Hotels in Low Prices
Most people report that while traveling in some city they got some food from a local hotel, and that was equally delicious as the previous one which they got in a five-star restaurant. What all big restaurants do; they charge you about their reputation and the quality of their infrastructure. If you want to save some money it is better to have your meals at local hotels and if you are hiring a private house you can cook your meal as well and it will cost you almost nothing only the raw material which you will have to buy.
- Travelling Offseason
While it is evident, most people plan their journey as with the wind – which way the wind flows. That is to say, there are few seasons, like holiday seasons when everyone wants to plan a tour to somewhere and summer season when everyone wants to enjoy the warmth of the beaches. In these two scenarios, the worst thing you will face is the crowd along with the increased prices of flights down to the accommodation and domestic travel as well.
Avoiding Crowd
Keeping in mind these things most budget travelers do not move in these days rather they chose a different part of a year for their trip. If you are traveling during the days when there are no holidays, it is sure that you will get a lot of discount on flight prices as well as accommodation. And it is even better if you are an introvert because you won’t have to face a lot of crowds.
- Finding a focus
Finding a focus on which places you should want to visit and which are included in the tour guides. It sometimes happens that the tour guide companies collaborate with some particular location and add it to their checklist just to get some commission from the owner of the place being visited.
Travel Guides VS Your Own Choice
Apart from that, there are always lots of travel places on any guide which you won’t like. To stay focused and only visiting those places which you love most require a lot of research. Without research, you depend completely on the tour guide, and they flow you whatever direction they want in. As the tour companies always make a group of tourists and then take them to places. It is possible that one site which you like won’t be appreciated by other persons and vice versa.
Relying on Yourself
To avoid this of-no-use visit you should delve more on your own being your own guide. Apart from money, it will also save a lot of your energy. Instead of waiting for the turn of the place you like, you can go there on your own, feeling fresh and untired.
- Avoiding Museum fees
Museums are the places like those restaurants with excellent infrastructure which can cost you your whole fortune. And this is not entirely unjustified because museums give you an insight into a long process of thousands of years in a day’s time or so. If you want to see the entire history of any culture in a day the best place is a museum. Museums charge so much, and you can avoid it all without any magical trick. There are many museums which offer free entry on some specific days. All you have to do is look online and do some research. You can save a lot of money this way.
- Picnic all day and sleeping in the trains
You are traveling for joy, then enjoy it to its fullest. Enjoy picnic all day long instead of resting in a hotel. It will save you money as well as the purpose of your journey will get itself fulfilled – that is to say, you will get maximum pleasure – and it is even better if you have a company with you.
Snack on the way and Sleep in the Train
You can grab something to eat from supermarkets and enjoy a special meal in the park or at a road-side open café. All days picnic will surely get you tired. If there are multiple places on your checklist, like you need to move from place to place every day then it is better to look for trains which provide a bed. This way you will save a lot of money which otherwise you will be spending on hotel accommodation.
- Free entertainment is everywhere – seek it
There is entertainment everywhere, and all you have to do is look for it. Different musical concerts perform at nights either in the open areas or a place where entry is free. In the same way, different places have their own local festivals which are free to join. Various parks and playgrounds also offer a free visit. If you are visiting with your friends, it is a great fun wandering here and there and finding entertaining activities. The best entertainment one gets doesn’t always come from the paid casinos or dancing clubs. You can entertain even more in the open air activities.
- Student ID
Student ID is a very useful thing for discounts as well as acts as a pass for different places where only students are permitted. It doesn’t matter whether you are still enrolled; even if you have a previous card, it works most of the time. Nobody cares to check all the details about the date and the place of your institution. It saves you a lot of money.
- Travelling Slow
Travelling slow has its own charm. Most people try to cover as many places as there are in a short span of time. It is ridiculous. You don’t enjoy the journey this way and consume a lot of money. On the other hand, if you stretch your visit to a particular place it reduces your expenditure because it saves you from traveling and thus from the fare.
Quality of the Journey, Instead of Quantity
If you have a small time, don’t worry about it and see with delight and memorizing experience whatever place you visit and let others remain unvisited because you can always come back to visit those places. And if you hurry you will lose the charm of distinctiveness of every place, and also you will need a bagful of money.
What are some of your travel hacks that help you save money?
This guest post is written by Frank Lee, he works at Rebates Zone, you can follow him @franklee84
Love this! Packing was always my struggle but recently I have started to master it. Between shrink wrapping and rolling I can do carry on only!!
Great tips! I really don’t travel much but I never thought of not buying a round trip ticket. I think that’s a must for me so I can feel secure in getting home.
Yep, Those museum fees, thats a good one. But why didnt I realize the roundtrip trick. Thanks!
Some great tips! I never thought to look at one way flights other than when I am doing multi-city destinations. To save money, especially when traveling with kids, we try to stay at hotels with kitchenettes or free breakfast.
Round trip flights is a big one for me. I saw so much by just booking one way!
These are great hacks. I love traveling off-season because I am not into crowds, and I love the intimacy of the service I receive when there’s less people around.
Great post! We always eat out because we want local cuisine. Never thought about how much money we spend.
These are all really great tips. I learned about buying one way tickets awhile ago and it’s true that they can save you lots of money.
These are definitely great tips! Some I already use but I learned few new ones as well. Traveling is one of my favorite things to do so I’m always looking for ways to save.
I always book round trip flights, i forgot to check the price one way. I can agree with the one bag, My first international trip I took two large suit cases because i was gone for 6 weeks, didn’t wear half of the items. now my last two trips packed everything in a carry on #proudofmyself
This was great information. I want to travel more so these tips I will definitely use.
You had me at save money then you lost me again at travel with one bag LOL Great tips though!