Travelling is considered a luxurious hobby. But what if I tell you that you can go to any of your dream destinations next year? Before you start thinking that I have lost my mind, bear with me for a moment.
There are many factors which made us cancel our plans at the last moment but the most common reasons are paying tuition debt, house mortgage and daily expenditure.
So, today I will explain how to travel on a budget by following the 6+ ways which are commonly used by travel hackers that can also help you to save money while enjoying your travelling?
Join Travel Reward Program
Joining a Travel Reward Program is a great way to save a huge amount of money while travelling. But firstly, let’s understand what is Travel Reward Program?
You must have heard about airline companies are offering different types of membership or loyalty programs. Through this loyalty program, they offer you a discount on tickets or hotels with which they are affiliated.
You can collect these points by booking a ticket with the airline’s official website but the question is whether one ticket will make a huge difference. Right? But what if you book tickets for your friends and family? Think about that.
This way you can collect a lot of points which can be redeemed while you plan to book your hotel or flight ticket. Do you know? Sometimes airlines offer you a free business class upgrade because you have become a loyal customer to them.
7 Ways To Travel On A Budget
Find a cheap or free place to stay
Everyone wants to save a few dollars while travelling to expensive places. Agree? I know you do;) There are numerous methods which you can utilize to get a cheap or even free place to stay.
Couch Surfing
This is one of the most commonly used methods by travel hackers where you just need to sit on your couch and surf the internet. Here you need to stay temporarily in a series of people’s homes and sleep in a more improvised way.
Also Read: How To Live On The Road With No Money?
Work Exchange
Don’t confuse the term ‘work exchange’ with getting a job globally. But it refers to offering your service or hard work in exchange for a room. Example – Babysitting, Construction Job and so on.
Volunteering
This one is my favourite to get free accommodation. The reason is not just to get a free bed or meal but to help a local community which makes you feel good and proud too.
There are numerous ways to volunteer which you can use to get free accommodation. Here is the list:
- Cleaning an Old person’s house
- Cooking for a charity
- Offering Marketing Plans
- Gardening
- Teaching Abandoned Kids
However, you can choose an option to get free accommodation as each of these three options have their set of benefits.
Also Read: 15 Best Traveling Jobs To Make Money
Find Best airline fares
Finding the best airline fares is the first question that pops into our mind when we think about travelling. And getting the best rates is not guaranteed as the prices are fluctuating all day. But there is a hack that you can follow while booking your tickets.
- Try to be flexible with the date and time
- Use incognito mode while researching the flight tickets.
- Select the cheapest day
- Use your Credit Points
- Take student discount
There are also different websites available which offer you discounts and offers by comparing different airlines. You can try using Skyscanner and Google Flights as they generally offer the best rates.
Also Read: How To Get Free Airport Lounge Access
Cook at home
Travelling abroad and cooking at home? Is this a joke?
I know this is the first thought that comes to your mind but what if I tell you that 40% of your total budget is utilized on eating at restaurants or hotels. And there are a lot of times when we just throw the food because we don’t like its taste.
Yeah, that’s true. Because as a human, we have this concept of smelling food to visualize what the food tastes like. Right? So, what can be done to minimize your 40% restaurant bill to 20%?
- Always take a small meal
- If possible, try to buy in sharing and divide
- Check the price and tips section before placing your order
- Try at local shops (to get the best taste)
I have given you 4 different ideas but there is the possibility that you may like some or may not. But, I highly recommend you to try street foods while travelling to get the authentic taste of that region or country.
List out your priorities first
Travelling is fun but a lot of times we just forget about our budget and the priorities we have in this particular location or country. So here we can utilize a travel agent that we will discuss in the next part.
But what if I don’t want to take the travel agent into consideration? Well, I have a solution for that too.
You can follow these steps while making your list of priorities and save yourself from overspending.
- Remove all expensive restaurant and hotel bookings.
- List the location you want to travel
- Add all the basic items – Charges, Trimmer, Coffee and Daily items.
Utilize a travel agent
Travel Agent will be your prince charming or maybe princess. HAHA!! If you are planning for a long trip as they generally offer different packages for different locations. They discuss your plan and craft the best budget-friendly plan.
Travel Agents will also help you alter the unnecessary expenses from your budget and make a perfect plan which covers all your needs so that you don’t leave some of the amazing areas. Plus you will also get personalized attention in case you have to make last minutes changes.
This will help you to enjoy your vacation without any planning or making changes because your travel guide will provide you with all the required information help.
Track your expenses
If you are planning to travel without setting a budget then you will surely gonna spend more. That is the main reason behind budgeting while travelling. Apart from flights and accommodation which take a big chunk of your budget, you also have a lot of expenses like daily needs and transportation costs.
To track your travelling expenses you can use different apps like Concur, Tricount and Trail wallet which can help you to minimize your cost.
Get Travel Insurance
Travel Insurance is a type of general insurance policy that, as the name suggests, is an insurance product while you are travelling for your vacations. The cost of travel insurance is mostly determined by the expense of the trip and the age of the traveller.
You may feel that it is an unnecessary expense but it is also very common that you may end up in an accident and without insurance, you have to bear all the expenses of the treatment.
Also Read: 7 Reasons To Buy Travel Insurance In 2023
Conclusion
To sum up, you have now understood the steps to follow while planning your trip to any of your dream destinations. And always try to take different credit or debit cards to get free points on every dollar you’re spending as it will come with a number of benefits.
