Top Tips For Saving Money While You Travel

Before You Go:

• Find the best flight prices by using an aggregator site like SkyScanner.net or Kayak.com both these sites scrape various other flight sights on a regular basis to get upto date flight prices so you can search multiple sites at once. It also lets you search for budget airlines as well as scheduled airlines, you can choose to depart any day in a month simply to find the cheapest price. Kayak also has a really cool feature that allows you to set up a daily or weekly email alert which tells you if the fare for your dates dropped. Kayak can also provide some pretty cool charts which tell you if now is a good time to buy.
• Avoid travelling in peak season like the school holidays, flights are usually cheaper at these times.
• Midweek travel is generally cheaper than going on the weekend.
• Make your booking on a Wednesday holidays and flights are almost always cheaper as they are related to demand. This is because people tend to book when they have the time to discuss with friends and family so prices rise at the weekend and on Mondays.
• Book flights well in advance, generally the later you buy the more expensive it will be. Airlines are very good at managing their inventory these days and the low last minute flight deals of the past are over.
• Book Package Holidays Last minute- there are still amazing deals to be found last minute for package holidays as long as you are flexible with where you go.
• All Inclusive Packages are usually only slightly more expensive than self catering holidays and will save a bundle on eating out in restaurants once you are on holiday.

Luggage:

• Find out what your airlines luggage allowance is before you go away. A simple way to do this is with a digital luggage scales. Check our article on how to weigh your bags or how to find out your luggage weight.
• Try to book any bags onto your flight in advance, budget airlines like ryanair and easyjet charge a per bag charge which is much higher at the airport.
• If you are overweight pool your luggage with friends or whoever is in front of you at the airport rather than pay exorbitant excess luggage charges. (these can be as high as £20 per extra kilo)

Travel Guides and Maps

• Don’t buy maps – go to the tourist office instead.
• Exchange currency in trusted places like banks rather than in tourist areas where you are likely to get ripped off with a bad rate.
• Check out if there are free events or free museums to visit.
• An up to date guide book is worth its weight in gold but you some print all the info they will need off the internet before they go away. This can work well for small places or a short stay.

Hotels

• Check hotel prices in advance, hotels are almost always cheaper than the rackrate if you book online. Particularly with late hotel specialists like laterooms. Be careful though unlike making reservations with a hotel you often cannot cancel without losing the full reservation amount.
• Booking.com offers free reservations… if you want to ensure you have a booking but don’t want to pay up front.

Once You Are There

• Use Skype rather than make expensive calls in your hotel, skype to skype calls are free (or just the cost of using the internet cafe) and skype to landline calls are very very cheap.

• Visit off the beaten track resorts and attractions they will be far cheaper than the main sites and often far more rewarding.
• Buy your souvenirs away from the city centre.
• Stay away from the city centre – having your hotel outside the central district will save you lots of money not only on hotel rates but also on eating out and shopping. You’ll meet more local people and get a better feel for the city. Generally there are huge price rises around the central tourist areas, Leister Square in London and Time Square in New York.