“Cent-sible”: Travel Saving Tips

Thinking that travel is only for the rich people? Along my journey, I met some travellers who showed me that they spend lesser when travelling than they are in their home country working.  Absolutely amazed to find people travelling on a tight budget. Here are the travel tips that were shared by them and some which I had discover along the travel journey…

Tip #1: Search for flights and/or accommodations through using aggregator 

There are many hotel websites or what we would termed it as third party website which act as an aggregator comparing the different hotels on a site. Just like how Skyscanner works for flights search, Trivago enables one to compare hotel prices for the best deals.

Tip#2: Online agents are offering promotions & rewarding loyalty 

Online travel agents are coming up with loyalty programs to entice you to book with them. Remember always compare the different prices for the same hotel/flights and consider if is worth to book with your preferred online agent.

Let’s just say if the website that you often booked offers a room that is slightly more expensive ($5 difference) than the other website, should you stick to the loyal one or the cheaper booking website?

My humble advice would be go with the loyal booking and accumulate points on your account. I did maintain my loyalty and used my points to exchange for 2 free nights stay in Beijing. Consider if is worth to save a few bucks or stick to loyalty and get rewarded through better deals in the form of free stay in the long term.

Tip #3: Opt for connecting flights 

Let’s say you intend to travel from Country A to Country B. Have you thought perhaps, you can transit at Country C which is along the way which could lead you in saving up loads of money and even get you to smaller cities than what you could reach if you were to travel from your country of origin.

For example, there maybe direct flights from Singapore to Japan. But if you could be more hardworking and opt to take a budget flight (E.g. JetStar Asia) from Singapore to Taipei first followed by your connection on another budget flight (E.g. Vanilla Air) onward to a Japan city, you may save up a lot. Beside, you can have a stopover at another country before you connect the next flight out. By doing so, it allows you to reach a city for instance, Okinawa that is not serve directly from Singapore or even if so, only full fledged airline such as SilkAir which operate on charter flights only.

Tip #4: Use different modes of transport to get to the destination 

The easiest way or commonly used way maybe by flying. But what if one could take a cruise or overnight coach while getting to the ultimate destination as well…

For example, most of us would think the best way to get into Tasmania from Melbourne is by flying. However, taking the cruise ship from Port of Melbourne into Devonport in Tasmania might be a better option. Why?  It is cheaper and yet able to see, experience more things during travel. One could enjoy the luxury on board the cruise without missing the scenery during cruising. I took the Spirit of Tasmania Ferry and no regrets!

The other saving tip would be when travelling in Europe, always use a rail pass (eurorail/eurail) and a train ticket so you can save money on every trip. Rule of thumb would be to travel during the night, sleep on the bus/train and wake up afresh to start the day in a new city!  You can even save on the night accommodation portion!

Tip #5: Book accommodation at last minute do work wonders! 

At time, you may not be able to book all your hotels way in advance. Don’t be dishearten! You might never know it could lead you to bigger savings. We all know that for most cases if we were to walk in and book a hotel room, we will be charge at higher price so call “walk-in” room rate. But why not make use of the free hotel wifi available, use your mobile application or online to book the hotel. Hotel might be giving last minute promotions deals with the travel agencies. I had used it and it saves me some cash!

If you are looking for more travel tips to being a smarter traveller, read up more at this link! Happy travelling and cheers to more cost saving! Travel need not be that expensive after all. . .

Categories: Travel Tips