We have been travelling the last two winters for several months. We work in tourism and have 8 months of work.
Which leaves us with the great opportunity to travel for 4 months out of the year.
I wanted to share the way we dealt with the phone cost, hotel bookings, things to do, restaurants to visit.
We discovered that it was extremely helpful that we unlocked our phones in Barcelona for only € 8,-.
Whenever we would land in a place we would try to find a phone store to get a prepaid card (preferred with a data plan, this is not always possible in every country without a social security number). With the data it was great, it saved a lot of time finding hotel deals, after 4 o'clock the prices drop, getting car rentals, finding great restaurants or hotels. But even without data, all the calls you make to places in the neighborhood are local.
On top of that we discovered a simple tool called ]. With that app you can select a phone number from your contact list and press dial. This tool will call a local number and calls around the world for a few cents per minute. That was cool, because whenever we felt like it we just called to our friends, like we were in the same town.
I would love to hear more money saving tools for during your travels..
Reply to this Plan your holiday: Talk to friends who have gone on a holiday and who share the same interests as yours. Talk to clients of popular travel agents to get an overview of best travel destinations.
Travel offseason: If possible travel from October to April in Europe. You can expect cheaper airfare and affordable rooms for stay at shoestring budget.
Rent a room: A good alternative to staying in an extravagant hotel. You can save hundreds of dollars by staying at a private owner’s house. This will also help you to know about the new place you have planned to visit. Check the local paper’s classified section in a room for rent.
Have an overseas bank account: With an overseas bank account, you can save on exchange rates and carry less cash in your wallet while you travel. Don’t forget to bring account information and bank telephone numbers in your trip.
Hire a travel guide: Whether it means shopping or site seeing, saving money on hiring a guide is pennywise pound foolish.
Pick up a holiday rental car. Pick up a well-maintained car in a big city and operate it.
Try to use the same hotel and same airline for your travel: You will have the best deal if you stay in the same hotel and use the same airline as far as possible. Enjoy discounts and free night stay in hotels you often visit.
Save more by paying more: The Clubs or Concierge floors of fine hotels give complimentary breakfast, lunch, unlimited snacks and newspaper. At the end of the day, you save more by paying more upfront.
Reply to this I often work out where I want to go and approx times. around 1 yr in advance, then sign up to all the hotel and airline deals and wait for specials 😊
Reply to this We take vacations each year and don't really have that much money to spend, so we try to "go cheap". Although we are an older couple, we love staying in hostels instead of hotels, Not only are the cheaper than anything but a bottom of the barrel 1-star hotel, but you meet fellow travellers, have access to a lot of local information, and can even buy your food on the economy and prepare and eat it in the hostel. The other thing we do for travel in Europe, is book our first flight from the U.S. to Dublin, London-Stanstead, or Edinburgh, then book any other flights using RyanAir. Not a plug, just an observation of cost.
Reply to this Hostels and camping are our way of not only saving money but having more fun connecting with fellow travelers. We also try to use local transport as much as possible, and traveling during shoulder seasons. These started as money saving tips, but now we just enjoy being close to local culture instead of sitting in taxi, and having places to ourselves instead of getting lost in tourist crowds.
Reply to this One good tip is travel overnight in buses. Saves you the hotel/hostel costs. Works a treat in South America, especially Peru and Chile.
Reply to this Save not for comfortable on the trip is not my own travel plan. As long as save and comfortable is recommended. Spend something for our happy is best way to pay our life via travel. We use local tour operator and travel company is one of the way for save the money since each destination can book directly by visitor. You can choose which destination are going to do on your travel then you can search the local travel company and tour operator to get cheaper price. Of course if we book at country we are staying will spend more money since the travel company will give to the local agent at the country of the destination.
Reply to this Traveling off season often saves a lot of money, lowers the crowds and we find that the locals are much more willing to talk with you about their town. Public transportation always lowers the cost.
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