We know you love to travel. And, we know you love to travel cheap. When embarking on a tourist adventure, value for money is one of the top things that is most strictly followed by travellers of any age. Especially the youngest ones. As we are aware of the difficulties that often arise in getting these kinds of “bargains”, here is what we think are the best cheats to travel cheap and on a budget that you should know when it comes to cheap travel:
If you’re travelling by plane: the 21-day rule
One of the types of cheap travel that has had more rumours spread about its best deals throughout the history of the Internet is the price of airlines and flights. There is an unwritten code that dictates that if you book your flights two months before your departure date then your flights will be cheaper, and the sooner you book them, the better. Rubbish! The best tip for cheap travel is if you really want to get the cheapest flights, you should book them specifically 21 days before flying. Statistics have confirmed that this is the best date to book a flight. Specifically, for flights with 11 or 12 weeks in advance you will find the best offers.
But there is more, another one of the cheats to travel cheap is that Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the cheapest days to fly. And that, of course, flying in low season saves costs, avoiding July and August. Some of the networks to compare budget flights in different search engines include lastminute, skyscanner, Kayak and Liligo.
If you’re going abroad: Unitrips
It is not a matter of advertising, but of competitiveness. On the web, you will not find any offer as personalized and as carefully studied as the ones offered by Unitrips. Traveling by bus, the commitment to give the maximum whilst spending the minimum, and a fantastic company that you will find makes your trip on board a unique experience and, best of all, as cheap as possible.
If you want to take advantage of seeing several cities in a few days, experience real tourism, and don’t want to leave anything unseen then it is worth using for some of your travels. Many trips are already prepared and waiting for you.
Returning home
If you go on a weekend getaway, another one of the cheats to travel cheap when on a budget is that it is worth coming back early Monday morning and going to work somewhat bleary eyed. Your boss may not like it very much, but maybe your pocket will thank you, because coming back on a Sunday is always more expensive than doing it the next day. For just a few hours difference you could save quite a lot of money.
Saving money at meal times
When you go on your travels, eating can end up being very expensive if you are not careful of the prices. The first thing we recommend, is that on day 1 you take a homemade sandwich and a good portion of vacuum packed cold meats. Also, remember that airport food is bad and expensive, so everything you can save by taking it from home will be perfect. Once in the destination city, try to buy from street stalls or eat in the places that are recommended by the locals, they are the ones who know where is best to go. Don’t discard the option of buying food in supermarkets either. To take advantage of the latter, the best thing you can do is rent an apartment instead of a hotel and make your own food.
Choose your accommodation wisely
If you intend to stay in a hotel or hostel, the cheapest day to sleep is on Sunday. If you’re only going to be there for a weekend, hotels in big cities, especially in Europe, offer interesting deals with special discounts.
This trick is very recurrent: when booking flights on the Internet, many search engines offer complete packages with accommodation included. If you are interested, look at the prices, but, in turn, look for the same accommodation that you are recommended independently, since the price often fluctuates downwards if you look for it through the own website and not through intermediaries -it makes sense-.
It makes sense to share accommodation
Are you backpacker, an adventurer and sociable and are on a budget? Perhaps you are considering an impractical option to go alone to a hotel and share accommodation with strangers. To make the most of it, there are web pages where people with houses in the place that you are going to visit let you stay with them for free. These portals, like couchsurfing.com are usually controlled and there are many reviews from other users that indicate how their experience was. You could also carry a sleeping bag and sleep like a baby on a beach or on a hill, but only in summer of course. Oh, and by the way, sometimes it can be illegal so watch out.
Moving around the city
Another of the cheats to travel cheap – Read carefully: Do not be swayed by the attractive tourist buses. The metro and bus are always better options if you are young and you don’t have swollen legs. In addition, there will always be a municipal bus that will perform practically the same route as a tourist bus for much less money.
Visiting places and monuments
Guided tours are expensive and boring. We only consider them essential on specific occasions. Find out if the city that you are going to visit has free tours that show you the city for “free”. Some of them are actually called “Free Tours” and are available in many tourist cities in Europe.
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!
Translated by Charlotte Wells
