Over the last few years I've had the opportunity to travel to quite a few places.
All without using credit card rewards, and without breaking the bank.
These are my top 10 tips for traveling on a budget.
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tip number 10 which is to travel in off seasons.
Obviously during holidays, during spring break and the summer, your flights and accommodations,
activities, everything is going to be more expensive around those times so if you can
it's best to travel in odd months or during odd seasons so that you get the best price
on your travel.
Tip number 9 is to book flights and accommodations in advance.
Book all of these things with plenty of time left until your trip.
So a couple of months out or a month out is probably best.
If you can do it even sooner, great.
But the closer that it gets to the date that you're leaving, the more expensive that it's
going to get.
If you are taking a Europe trip, you can definitely get really cheap flights if you book a couple
of months out.
You can get flights or train tickets for anywhere between like $30-$70 roundtrip.
And if you don't need to go roundtrip you can get them even cheaper.
Now even though you do want to book your travel in advance, you don't necessarily want to
book activities and tours and things like that until you get there and I will share
why later in the video.
When you're booking anything, use a private browser window, because your browsing history
can and will affect the price that you see.
And my roommate and I we tested this and we saw this first hand where we would both be
booking the same ticket, but one of us wasn't using a private browsing window, and the prices
were different.
For flights I always like to use Google Flights.
It's super easy to use and if you have a flexible schedule it's great because you can see how
the price will change depending on when you want to travel.
But after you find a flight you actually want, also go to the airline's website, because
sometimes they run special discounts and promotions based on the destination you're going to or
on the dates that you're traveling.
There's also something called hidden-city ticketing.
Which, technically, I think you can get in trouble for this.
I haven't done it, but it's basically where you book a flight to a different destination
that has a layover in the place that you actually intend on going to.
And basically you just get off at the layover and ditch the last leg of your flight.
I'm not saying that you should do it.
I'm not saying that you shouldn't do it.
I am just bringing it up, and you do with that information what you wish.
For booking trains in Europe I used GoEuro which I think the name changed.
It's now Omio.
I will put it on the screen.
They had a really nice system where you could sort it by arrival times or departure times,
and they had tickets to pretty much everywhere, and they were usually really really cheap.
I'll give you a little bit of insight into overnight trains.
I did it once.
Would not recommend.
If you're a very heavy sleeper or if you just anticipate not getting any sleep, go for it.
They're super cheap, which is great, but they're kind of awful.
They're just like little, tiny boxes that you, ya know, are sleeping in with like 3
other people and the whole night it's like AHHH.
If it's like $40 vs $400, we can make it work but you also get what you pay for.
Tip number 8 is to skip the hotel.
And again this depends on your preference, but if you're young and you don't mind a dorm
type setup, then hostels can be a really great way to go, especially if you are traveling
alone.
Hostelworld and TripAdvisor are great for finding hostels and for finding reviews, but
when you are actually booking a hostel, book it through the hostel's website if they have
one.
Now not every hostel will have their own website, but if they do a lot of times they will give
you a discount for booking directly with them.
If you're not really into the whole dorm type setup thing, a lot of hostels do actually
have private rooms.
And it's basically like a hotel room, you just don't have the amenities of a hotel.
Hostels are great if you're traveling alone.
Hostels will host group dinners or group activities.
And a lot of times they will also give discounts because obviously if they have a large group
of people going somewhere, they can get better rates.
I actually think that the biggest upside of hostels is that almost every single one of
them has a free luggage storage room.
So if you get to the city before check-in, or if you are leaving after your check out
time, you have a place to keep your luggage.
Usually for free, and you don't have to worry about dragging it around the city with you.
Another option is of course AirBNB.
And I feel like this doesn't really need an explanation.
It's where you rent out a room or a house...and that's where you stay.
But what I did want to say is that AirBNB has referral codes and you should definitely
use them.
So my friends and I would do this where we would all refer each other if it was our first
time using AirBNB.
And since we were all staying in the same place anyways, we would just earn points on
one person's account and get a discount basically when we were staying somewhere.
So first ask your friends if they have AirBNB accounts and if they can refer you, because
then they will earn credits, you will earn credits, everybody wins.
But if they don't have AirBNB accounts I will put my own referral link down below.
You get $40 off your first stay, and then you can start referring your friends and earning
$25 credits.
Tip number 7 is to only pack in a backpack.
And I know it seems hard but I promise it's not that bad.
Just don't do what I did and don't use a college canvas backpack because it gets wet and it's
just - it's not good.
Get a nice quality backpack but only bring that.
With a lot of budget airlines and European airlines as well, they'll have really cheap
flights, but then if you want to bring more than just a carryon item they'll charge you
like $70 for it.
So, ya know it makes it cheaper if you're only traveling in a backpack.
Then you don't have to pay for luggage each way.
To pack light, just bring like half the clothes you think that you need because as long as
your hostel or hotel has laundry facilities that you can use it's usually only like $1
or $2 to do a load of laundry.
And again, I think that that is more worth it than paying $70 to bring on a massive bag
onto the plane.
Also, when you only bring a backpack, you are less tempted to buy a bunch of junky little
souvenirs that will get thrown away anyways.
So just pack light, keep it light, don't go filling up another suitcase with souvenirs.
Tip number 6 is to eat like a local.
So the basic things that everyone says are like bring food to the airport, pack snacks
so you don't get hangry.
Ok, great, good, yes.
All of that - accurate.
But when you are actually looking for meals that is where you can waste a lot of money
on really bas touristy food.
So if you're near a large tourist attraction or touristy area, just try walking like a
block or two away and usually there will be smaller, family owned restaurants.
And the food is going to be a lot better and a lot cheaper.
And don't be afraid if you see locals walking around or if you go into little shops or things
like that - don't be afraid to ask them where good places to eat are because they will probably
tell you.
Also if you're in an AirBNB, ask your AirBNB host because they will usually know.
You can also save money on food by going to local markets.
You can make a little event out of it and make a little picnic and go somewhere fun
or do something like that.
But depending on what country you're in, do be careful of street food.
And just use common sense and also look up what other travelers recommend for the region
that you are in.
Because getting sick in a foreign country is not fun.
Number 5 is to walk or take public transportation.
Walking is going to be the cheapest option, but not necessarily the fastest.
As long as you have a route though and know the general areas that you want to be in,
it's definitely doable, and I'd recommend it because you see a lot more of the city
that way.
A lot of cities will also have rental bikes which are also a great option, but by bikes
I mean like bikes that you physically pedal.
If you have never driven a moped, a foreign country is not the place to try it.
Stick to your traditional, like, pedaling bikes.
Yes.
Please.
Depending on where you go, walking or biking may not be the best option, or it may just
not be feasible at all.
So in that case you want to look into what public transportation options are available.
Passes for trains, buses, ferries, boats, all of those - it's usually going to be cheaper
than using a ride sharing app.
And depending on what city you go to, they'll usually have different options available at
different prices depending on what you need.
In London they have the Oyster card, which works on buses and trains.
And you basically just put a certain dollar amount on there, then each time that you ride
on public transportation, they deduct that amount from your card.
In Venice they have waterbus passes, and you can get different ones depending on the length
of your stay.
So I think they have like 24 hr ones, 72 hr ones, and then like weeklong ones.
And the longer it is, the less it costs per day, so just get whichever one makes sense
for the length of your stay.
Number 4 is to find deals on activities and attractions.
So bringing this back to what I said earlier, you may want to wait until you actually get
there to book any activities because you can usually negotiate the price down.
Now if there's something that you really want to see, or that might be sold out go ahead
and just book it beforehand so that you don't miss out on it.
But if there are other things where your'e like ah maybe I'll do it, maybe Iwon't - wait
until you get there.
If you are a student, bring your student ID and your visa to EVERYTHING because you will
be able to get a lot of discounts on things that you probably didn't think that you could
get discounts for.
A lot of museums and even some hostels will give you discounts just for being a student.
Or if you're already graduated and you still have your student ID, that works too.
Sometimes once a week or once a month some galleries and museums will have a free day.
So definitely look into that before you go.
The only downside to these days is that as you can see from this clip is that it gets
a little crowded.
Something that you should do is to haggle the heck out of people trying to sell you
tours outside of major tourist attractions because they will go down in their prices.
They usually have a few set times that tour groups leave.
And these groups are almost never full, so as it gets closer to their departing time,
they get really desperate to fill the spots, and you can usually negotiate the price down.
So if they're like $40 for a tour?
You can be like $10 and I'll go on the one leaving now.
And after you go back and forth you can get like a $20 guided tour of the colosseum and
roman forum which doesn't really make sense because they didn't make any money off of
that.
It's also pretty easy to do when you have another person traveling with you, because
these tour selling people will come at you with a price, and you can be like "for both
of us?"
And sometimes they'll just straight up say yes, but other times they will want to negotiate
with you, but you can usually get a better deal if you have someone else.
Tip number 3 is to figure out your phone plan.
Do not let your phone provider rip you off.
If you have no foreign travel plan added to your normal plan, they will charge you insane
amounts to use your phone everyday.
And even if you do add on a plan, it's usually like $60-$120 just for a very very small data
limit.
And if you go over that, they charge that to your account again.
So when you're not on WiFi, turn off your phone data.
Or if you're in that country for an extended period of time, you can get a SIM card and
they're usually like $20, but it'll make sure that your phone works in that country.
You can download offline maps with Google Maps where it just saves that city's map to
your phone and you can access it without data.
You won't be able to get directions, but you can always see where you are.
It has the little blue you are here dot and then it also shows the little directional
field so that you know which way you're facing and which way you're going.
Number 2 is to understand your credit card and your bank fees.
Credit cards, debit cards, and banks will charge you a foreign transaction fee, just
for using their service in another country.
And usually that fee is somewhere around 3%, which doesn't sound like much.
But if you are traveling, especially for an extended period of time, those costs can really
start to add up.
So look up your cards, look up your banks, and make sure you know who charges what.
Now for credit cards and debit cards you want to get a card that has no foreign transaction
fees.
And for this I would highly highly recommend CapitalOne 360.
I've used this card in 11 countries so far and I've had zero issues with it.
It has no foreign transaction fees and there are also no fees at ATMs which is really nice
when you need to take cash out.
Because usually other banks and other companies will charge like $5 per transaction or a certain
percentage per transaction at an ATM.
So if you are interested in that, I will leave a referral link down below to the CapitalOne
360 account.
Something to take note of is that when you buy something in a foreign country sometimes
on the card reader it will ask you if you want to pay in USD or in the local currency.
Always always choose the local currency.
And always always choose the local currency.
The reason for this is because whether or not you have a transaction fee card, when
it asks you that, if you choose USD it's actually the merchant that is charging you a transaction
fee.
And they get to choose what that amount is.
I had the fortune of experiencing this at an airport when I bought a sandwich.
I accidentally chose USD and then they charged me a 12% transaction fee.
12%!
So just avoid that, always choose the local currency.
You'll be good.
So my number 1 tip is to actually use your social network.
And this sounds weird, but I mean both online and in person.
If you need someone to travel with, put it on your instagram story, be like Hey I'm going
here does anyone want to come?
Or reach out to people and see if they have any friends or any family going to the location
that you're going to be at.
This is by far what saved my roommate and I the most money.
We would go and stay with friends of friends or family of friends or extended family - things
like that.
And it saved us so much money.
If you have a skill that is useful for advertising or if you have a large online following, you
can definitely leverage that to get free food and free accommodations.
And you don't have to be weird about any of this, about asking friends or asking restaurants
or hotels.
Like don't be weird.
Don't be rude.
But you know as long as you're tactful it never hurts to ask.
So I hope that some of these tips were helpful.
If they were, remember to subscribe, hit the like button, visit our blog Arvabelle.com,
and I will see you next time.