Booking affordable trips
In Mexico my husband and I were staying at a hotel with his family. The hotel was trying to sell us a timeshare. The salesman asked me how much we normally spend on travel I told him and he immediately stopped trying to sell us a timeshare and attempted to get my sister-in-laws to buy. The timeshare was well over any budget we had on any trip for half the time and half of the options.
How do my husband and I travel internationally two to three times a year on the salary of a nurse and a bartender? Patience and persistence.
1. How flexible are you?
Any travel blog you read will tell you if you are flexible on your dates and location you can save the most. However, if you are that flexible how do you possibly search everywhere and every date? You can’t. You must narrow it down such as considering is this going to be a beach trip, architecture tour, wine tasting excursion, etc. Next what month are you considering going?
Consider where you want to go and if it is a region look at prices going into all airports in the region for a month. If going for instance to Spain look prices into all nearby airports. There are a few ways to do this search. Travel comparison sites such as Skyscanner, Kayak, Travelocity and a map of flight cost on farecompare.com. Keep in mind that regional airlines can be a less expensive option to get around once you arrive in the region. For instance Ryanair, Veuling and WOW airlines in Europe, Bangkok Air in Thailand, and Spirit, Frontier, and Southwest in the United States. However, lots of regional airlines go to great lengths to not be included on search engines and therefore you must go to their individual sites. Also those discount airlines may fly out of weird airports so be aware you might have to also buy a bus ticket to get to that far away airport.
For instance, for one of our trips to Europe we used skyscanner.net to search for a month of flights to our chosen destination, Barcelona, and compared it to Kayak and Travelocity. Once a base price was obtained we looked at the map of flights to Europe and found it was far cheaper to fly into Oslo than Barcelona. We always wanted to go to Scandinavia so we decided to fly in there and incorporate it into our trip before taking a regional airline to Barcelona. We took Ryanair out of “Stockholm” but the airport was 2 hours out of town costing us the money we saved by flying Ryanair in bus fare.
2. What is your travel style?
Are you a stay in one place type of person or move to different cities? If you want to make a couple destinations, Travelzoo has premade combinations for reasonable prices. Otherwise if you have the patience you can search for individual flights to different cities.
If going to one place combination hotel and flight searches help save money. Kayak and Hotels.com are my personal favorites for these searches.
Next, one must consider if renting a car or taking public transport is the most effective for what you desire to do. Public transport is great for most large cities, but for smaller countryside visits it might be best to consider renting a car.
Are you willing to rent out a room or a couch? Airbnb has great affordable options. Guidelines for Airbnb: have a reliable way of contacting the host (most hosts prefer to be able to call you to arrange a meeting time), and leave the place as clean as when you arrived. I suggest this option only if you are staying more than a couple nights otherwise the hassle of arranging key pick up and drop off is not worth the money you save.
3. Are you willing to go off season?
Great amounts of money can be saved by going slightly off season. For instance I love going in Spring or Fall instead of Summer. However, if looking at beach destinations also make sure it is not hurricane season.
4. Are you willing to eat something different?
When traveling with others it annoys me to no end when people want to eat “American food” overseas. I also hate when all inclusive resorts or cruises make a regional food for the masses as these versions rarely embody the full flavor and style of the food. Therefore my husband and I, even if we are staying at an all inclusive, venture out for multiple meals. One of our favorite ways to find places to eat is to ask our taxi driver on the way in where they like to go. If not at an all inclusive resort my husband and I will go to a grocery store to buy fruit and snacks to reduce cost. This is also a great way to see local foods and get a sense of cost of living in that area. For those willing to be a bit adventurous, street food carts are a great way to get an affordable meal with full flavor.
5. Save money at home to use for travel
In Colorado, I drive a basic model car with a manual transmission and my husband drives an old Jeep, which is completely paid off. We live in an older but well maintained apartment complex. The amenities allow us to save money on other extras such as gym memberships and pool passes. We try to cook more at home and skip the lattes. Luckily in Colorado social activities can be free such as hiking and biking.
How do my husband and I travel internationally two to three times a year on the salary of a nurse and a bartender? Patience and persistence.
1. How flexible are you?
Any travel blog you read will tell you if you are flexible on your dates and location you can save the most. However, if you are that flexible how do you possibly search everywhere and every date? You can’t. You must narrow it down such as considering is this going to be a beach trip, architecture tour, wine tasting excursion, etc. Next what month are you considering going?
Consider where you want to go and if it is a region look at prices going into all airports in the region for a month. If going for instance to Spain look prices into all nearby airports. There are a few ways to do this search. Travel comparison sites such as Skyscanner, Kayak, Travelocity and a map of flight cost on farecompare.com. Keep in mind that regional airlines can be a less expensive option to get around once you arrive in the region. For instance Ryanair, Veuling and WOW airlines in Europe, Bangkok Air in Thailand, and Spirit, Frontier, and Southwest in the United States. However, lots of regional airlines go to great lengths to not be included on search engines and therefore you must go to their individual sites. Also those discount airlines may fly out of weird airports so be aware you might have to also buy a bus ticket to get to that far away airport.
For instance, for one of our trips to Europe we used skyscanner.net to search for a month of flights to our chosen destination, Barcelona, and compared it to Kayak and Travelocity. Once a base price was obtained we looked at the map of flights to Europe and found it was far cheaper to fly into Oslo than Barcelona. We always wanted to go to Scandinavia so we decided to fly in there and incorporate it into our trip before taking a regional airline to Barcelona. We took Ryanair out of “Stockholm” but the airport was 2 hours out of town costing us the money we saved by flying Ryanair in bus fare.
2. What is your travel style?
Are you a stay in one place type of person or move to different cities? If you want to make a couple destinations, Travelzoo has premade combinations for reasonable prices. Otherwise if you have the patience you can search for individual flights to different cities.
If going to one place combination hotel and flight searches help save money. Kayak and Hotels.com are my personal favorites for these searches.
Next, one must consider if renting a car or taking public transport is the most effective for what you desire to do. Public transport is great for most large cities, but for smaller countryside visits it might be best to consider renting a car.
Are you willing to rent out a room or a couch? Airbnb has great affordable options. Guidelines for Airbnb: have a reliable way of contacting the host (most hosts prefer to be able to call you to arrange a meeting time), and leave the place as clean as when you arrived. I suggest this option only if you are staying more than a couple nights otherwise the hassle of arranging key pick up and drop off is not worth the money you save.
3. Are you willing to go off season?
Great amounts of money can be saved by going slightly off season. For instance I love going in Spring or Fall instead of Summer. However, if looking at beach destinations also make sure it is not hurricane season.
4. Are you willing to eat something different?
When traveling with others it annoys me to no end when people want to eat “American food” overseas. I also hate when all inclusive resorts or cruises make a regional food for the masses as these versions rarely embody the full flavor and style of the food. Therefore my husband and I, even if we are staying at an all inclusive, venture out for multiple meals. One of our favorite ways to find places to eat is to ask our taxi driver on the way in where they like to go. If not at an all inclusive resort my husband and I will go to a grocery store to buy fruit and snacks to reduce cost. This is also a great way to see local foods and get a sense of cost of living in that area. For those willing to be a bit adventurous, street food carts are a great way to get an affordable meal with full flavor.
5. Save money at home to use for travel
In Colorado, I drive a basic model car with a manual transmission and my husband drives an old Jeep, which is completely paid off. We live in an older but well maintained apartment complex. The amenities allow us to save money on other extras such as gym memberships and pool passes. We try to cook more at home and skip the lattes. Luckily in Colorado social activities can be free such as hiking and biking.
Sweets at Barcelona's La Bouqueria