Now that we may be close to finding a vaccine for Coronavirus, we all have travel on our minds.
But with travel comes the worry of saving up, planning, and booking while ensuring that the travel plan fits your budget. Sometimes travelers have to cancel their travel plans due to money constraints especially when it comes to visiting Europe.
Little do they know that a few tips and hacks can help them save money while traveling to any country across the globe.
What are the ways to save money while traveling?
While these tips are useful even for short trips and vacations, they are especially useful for travelers and backpackers who like traveling and exploring for a long period.
Using these travel hacks can help you travel on a budget to any country of your choice.
Use Couch-surfing and hostels
Any traveler that intends to visit different countries or a destination for an extended period to thoroughly explore the place doesn’t think about luxury.
If you want to save money while not compromising with comfort, you should opt-in for hostels, Couchsurfing, or Airbnb.
With proper research, you can find clean, hygienic, and safe hostels that offer dorms and private rooms.
In fact, in a few countries, you may find hostels costing more than a decent place on Airbnb.
The other advantages of staying in a hostel are the opportunity to meet like-minded travelers, gain insights on events that you may be interested in, and make life-long connections. Many hostels even provide access to activities and events.
On the other hand, if you are looking for free accommodation, you can try the Couchsurfing app. It is a platform that connects you with local hosts who offer couches or rooms in their houses for free. Some hosts provide an exceptional experience with a beautiful room.
Book tickets from the best Travel portal
A major part of your travel expenses is the outcome of flight tickets. Flight tickets not only include the return ticket from your home city to the destination and back but also if you intend to visit other countries. For instance, in Europe, you can easily visit different countries using buses, trains, or flights.
To book the cheapest flight tickets you have to skim through different sites and compare prices only to find that the prices increase at checkout on your selected site.
Therefore, to steer away from such challenges, it’s best to use travel portals such as Booking.com, Skyscanner and Momondo. Skyscanner offers the best deals on flights especially if your dates are flexible.
You can even set alerts on these travel websites to notify you when there is a drop in the price of the flight tickets. Momondo is another travel software that compares flight fares from over 1000 travel websites and airlines to offer you the
lowest prices.
Travel during Off-Season
If you are looking to save money while traveling, the best time to travel is during the off-season. Traveling during an off-season doesn’t necessarily mean that the place would be boring and there wouldn’t be much to do. As a matter of fact,
many countries are worth experiencing during the off-season.
That’s when you can experience the beauty and culture of the country, and also have a peaceful time without attractions being overcrowded.
The cherry on the cake is that the flight tickets, accommodation, and even food prices are significantly lower during the off-seasons. You can easily find the best accommodation as there may be more availability.
Souvenirs or entry tickets to tourist attractions may also be cheaper.
Look for Deals or free activities
Keep your ears and eyes open for deals, offers, and discounts. You can always refer to various travel apps to get access to deals for the particular country you are visiting.
You can also connect with other travelers or the locals if you are staying at hostels, Airbnb, or Couchsurfing accommodations. The locals and experienced travelers may be able to give you a lot of insider details about
freebies or deals for activities that interest you.
You can also find out about city cards offered by different cities for tourists. These cards with a plan help tourists to get discounts at restaurants, free or subsidized public transport, free access to certain attractions, and many more benefits. You may also find free city tour guides in some cities.
All of these will be worth it and help you save a lot of bucks while on-the-go.
Volunteer at a local’s place
Something that usually backpackers do is a volunteer at a local’s place in exchange for accommodation and food. Backpackers use travel portals that connect them with local hosts.
These travellers then help the local host with their business which maybe a farming, restaurant, or anything imaginable. In return, the host provides free accommodation and food to the traveller.
Saving up on food and accommodation will save a lot of money which you can use up for different activities. While this may sound unsafe or infeasible, the experience will be worth it. Travelers who are interested in learning more about
the culture of a certain country and experimenting with local food will find this to be a good idea.
What can be more authentic than staying at a local’s place and eating home-cooked meals?
Walk or use the cheapest transport
Travelling to a certain destination is all about experiencing and living every moment of your time there. Many travellers usually spend a lot on taking cabs or expensive transport to get to a place or even for shorter distances.
If you really want to consume every small detail of your travel destination, walking is the best.
It not only saves money but also lets you experience everything going around you.
Of course, where walking is not possible, using cheap transport can also save a few bucks. For instance, you can use ride-sharing apps such as Uber or BlaBlaCar to commute with the cheapest fares. For longer distances, you can search for
buses or trains that charge the least amount.
Most of tourist destinations also offer travel cards with travel passes that reduce the travel amount significantly.
Conclusion
These 6 ways to save money while travelling can transform your travel destination dream into a reality.
You can start sketching out a plan for your next travel destination as we may soon receive positive news about the vaccine for COVID-19. A few international flights have also resumed their operations to different countries.
However, we should still take extra precautions while travelling and should limit the travel to essential travel for some more time. Until then, let’s keep discovering more ways to save money while travelling.
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