The crucial thing to any trip is being smart with your money – It’s vital to know how to save and plan your trip in such a way so you don’t need yourself running out of money during the trip. Here are my best tips and tricks on how to save money for any trip. I’ve found lots of ways to multiply your savings!
Here, I will share many tips, interviews, and reviews with other travelers, and some ninja tricks that will kickstart your travel fund!
Planning is Key
Once you have enough holidays in your kitty, the next big step is to plan your vacation. Arranging and planning splendidly can help you with saving an upright deal on your trip.
Karan is a passionate traveler who plans his trips well ahead of time to get the best deals. “We book our tickets and hotels somewhere around four to five months ahead of time to get the lowest airfares and Hotel price,” says Karan. Karan figures out how to an average of two vacations a year, each 7-10days long. With careful planning, he is able to keep his budget under 1lakh for each international trip. “When you settle on a destination, settle on the mode of travel, local transport, and accommodation well ahead. Always check local passes and discounts offered by local online travel sites,” says Karan.
Pro Tip: Always book a hotel that is offering free cancellation till the check-in or which is offering free cancellation before 72Hrs-48Hrs of check-in time. Believe me, you will Final Many.
Also, choose a refundable flight instead of a non-refundable one. You can check with your Travel agent for SME or Corporate fare also which gives a free date change option and free cancellation option.
Travel to places where your home currency makes you King
Throughout our years of travel, one thing is without a doubt — you can live like a king and feel more stress-free with a set budget assuming you travel to destinations where your home currency goes farther. Irrespective of whether you want to go near or far, destinations like Indonesia, Cambodia, Colombia, Laos, Sri Lanka along with Hungary, Belarus, Iceland, Japan, Tanzania, Nepal will give you a huge chunk of your money.
When traveling to destinations that have a lower average cost per day, you would be able to stay in better hotels, eat out more as often as possible, and can opt for services like hiring a private driver for a long-distance overland or domestic flight for long-distance travel. So plan a trip to go where your money is worth a treasure instead of where it’s worth a pittance. E.g. You’ll spend one-fourth of the budget of Norway if you go to Eastern Europe. Also, most of the countries in Southeast Asia are almost one-third the cost of Japan.
Pro Tip: Don’t exchange currency at the airport, you will get a higher rate. Always Exchange your currency from a local travel agency / Forex Agency / Bank to get a better rate.
Be flexible with your travel dates
Mr. Ashok who runs a jewelry business and travels twice a year said a big way to save money when traveling is by being as flexible as possible with your travel dates. Being flexible with your travel dates can also offer a surprising perk to your vacation.
“Consider flying on a weekday,” he said. “Aside from cheaper flights, there is another advantage: The cities are usually less crowded during the weekdays and some hotels offer less rate on weekdays”
Pro Tip: Check the Airfare first then apply for your holidays once granted you are good to go.
Consider various stay options, from hotels to hostels
Before booking a hotel, you should check the price of the same hotel on multiple platforms to make sure you are getting the best possible rate.
You can check the particular hotel rate by just searching it into Google search bar, it will compare all of the options for you. Just make sure that you’re clear on the inclusions and exclusions, too, as sometimes the rates will include breakfast or resort fees, and other times they won’t.
You can also choose different forms of accommodation. But we know this is not possible all the time especially when traveling with Spouse or family.
A hostel can be an unbelievable, fun, and luxury experience for half the price and twice the fun. Especially in countries like Vietnam, Thailand, and Nepal, you will find many high-end hostels providing services like a 5star hotel. An Apartment, Homestay, and BnB can also offer great deals, too, as long as you use booking portals and do some research.
Pro Tip: Search for a newly opened Hotel/Resort which is offering an introductory price that will be way cheaper than other Hotels.
Bring food/Snacks while travelling
You can see many travelers carrying food/snacks while they are at Airport or on board, to save money while vacationing. We all know how expensive food can be when you get through security and are waiting at the gates or while we are onboard flying above 30,000 feet. Even a simple sandwich can be marked up huge.
Pro Tip: You can carry ready-to-eat food/Tea/Coffee sachet along with you during the trip.
Use an airline or travel-specific credit card
You’ll save money if you get an airline-specific or travel-specific credit card which comes with multiple benefits.
For instance, I have the Axis/SBI Vistara credit card, which is amazing because it gets us four free tickets in a year if you’ve spent a certain amount. This indeed makes travel more accessible, especially for extensive destinations that you usually wouldn’t be able to afford multiple tickets to.
Pro Tip: You can convert reward points of any card into miles (Vistara etc) and can book your flight with these points. Also, you can purchase Amazonpay Voucher from rewards points and can book your flight directly on the Amazon website or use Amazonpay balance on websites which have Amazonpay option on the payment page.
Don’t go hungry
Several airport lounges have reopened — from Plaza Premium, Priority Pass Lounges to Amex Centurion Lounges to Airlines lounges — and began serving meals once again. With many premium and non-premium credit cards, you could get access for free or with a steep discount.
Grabbing food at a lounge can easily save a family INR 3000-INR 4000 or more at the airport. You can check with your bank for Travel benefits that come with your card, many credit cards are offering free limited domestic lounge visits. Though many premium credit cards offer unlimited lounge visits and free Lounge access to co-travelers also.
Pro Tip: Many Banks are offering Lifetime Free credit cards with free Lounge Visit options, choose one and get it before your trip.
When traveling globally, always use a credit card that has no foreign markup fees and be aware of currency conversions
One needs to be aware of the type of credit card you use when traveling overseas. Always use a credit card that has no foreign markup fees — otherwise, you will most likely be paying 3% (or more) on top of your buying. Also paying in your home currency is a complete rip-off since the Hotel/Restaurant/Store that do so charge a higher exchange rate than your bank does back home.
So always pay in the local currency.
The same goes while withdrawing money from local ATMs. Sometimes ATMs overseas will give you the option between withdrawing in the local currency or your own currency: Always choose the local currency.
Moreover, you don’t need to get foreign currency ahead of time — you’ll nearly always get the best exchange rate at the ATM as well. While clearing the Immigration counter at the destination country, the officer may ask about the currency you are carrying, so carry enough cash to avoid the last-minute hassle.
Pro Tip: One can use procure a Forex card which is offering No Foreign Exchange fees, before your travel. e.g. Niyo Global Card, Zolve etc.
Bottom line
While traveling is certainly easier (and safer) this year, it likely won’t be any less stressful. And unfortunately, prices have bounced back to pre-pandemic levels — and in some cases higher. Thankfully, that doesn’t mean you can’t still save on holiday travel with the right tips and tricks.
Since the holidays fall around the time of year, be sure and book the trip with a card that conveys trip insurance (or buy your own) in case you hit delays or cancellations (which have been more prevalent this year due to).
Cheaper holiday travel is a very real thing, as long as you are strategic with when you fly, where you travel, and what type of rewards you use to help you get there.
