Here is another thought provoking guest post from our friends over at the Coupon Mountain blog. Check out their post here too, for more travel saving tips :
5 Ways to Make TravelMore Affordable
For many, summer has officially ended and with it, the doorfor travel has closed. However, just because the official start to fall iscoming around the corner, it doesn’t mean that you can’t travel – locally and internationally.If you’re on a budget, there are cheap ways to get out of your local city andfeel like you’re on a getaway. Plus, even if you plan on taking a flightsomewhere far, there are plenty of ways to save without feeling like yourvacation is a financial burden.
1. Research yourdestination: There’s a big difference on what you’ll be spending if you’revisiting Orlando, Florida versus Rome, Italy. Figure out how much you’ll needto cover the cost of food, drinks, hotel and other expenses you’ll incur. Plus,if you’re travelling internationally, then you may want to know how far yourdollar goes. Knowing ahead of time what your expenses will be forces you tocreate a budget and try to stay within those means. And of course, with thecost of the vacation in front of you, you can truly determine if you arefinancially ready to go or not.
2. Reserve hotel andairfare early: The early bird gets the worm, so they say. The earlier youbook a hotel room, airfare, or a vacation package, the more likely you’ll savebig money. Hotels and airlines both know that they can make a few extra dollarsby profiting off your urgency for a last minute hotel or airline deal. Does itmean you can’t always get a good deal at the list minute? No it doesn’t! Youcan find deals on Coupon Mountain for sites like Expedia anddiscover great last minute deals. Butmore often than not, you’re not saving by waiting.
3. Always use arewards card when on vacation: It doesn’t matter what type of rewards cardit is, but you should be earning points to redeem for other items when you’reon vacation. I often use my credit card to pay for expenses and have earnedover $100 this year in reward points. While you can redeem for gift cards orother rewards, I choose to get cash – which is essentially a small way for meto get “cash back” on my vacation. The idea of rewards extends to hotels aswell – so use your hotel rewards cards if you have one.
4. Plan your tripwithout the travel agent: Local or not, it’s cheaper to remove themiddleman while also giving you more flexibility with your days. You can planeverything from the restaurants you go to, hotel you stay at, shows you watchand so forth – at your own pace and budget.
5. Bring as much asyou can from home: You should bring as muchof what you need from home, rather than buying it elsewhere. For example, ifyou want to simply do a weekend getaway a few cities over, bring snacks anddrinks with you. This will cut down on your food costs. If you have a sensitivestomach, bring some medicine with you from home to counter the effects of badfood. While hotels do provide you with soaps and shampoos, they might not be the quality you prefer and thus there is a need to bring your own. I re-use small bottles to store my shampoo, conditioner, face lotions and other goodies in. In my opinion, it’s better to be over prepared, than underprepared.
In short, know yourbudget and plan ahead. Last minute trips won’t allow you time to look forbargains and you may face some inflated prices because you’re booking hotel orairfare late. Before spending your money, invest time into planning the trip tosee if you can afford it.
Daisy Kwan is anOnline Merchandising Specialist and Savings Strategist at Coupon Mountain.Above all, she’s passionate about personal finance and is always hunting forcreative ways to save.
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