5 Tips for Maximizing Your Travel Savings

When I find extra money in my monthly budget I like to spend it on travel. There are so many places I want to explore, but I don’t like wasting money on over-priced travel expenses. I want to feel like I’m getting a lot of value for my money. Most people I know want the same thing. Here are some tips I’ve picked up recently which have saved me hundreds of dollars on travel:

Make a Social Connection

A few weeks before you plan to book your travel, connect with the various travel companies and businesses via their social media profiles.

Know the airline you want to fly? Great! Find their Facebook fan page or Twitter profile and sign up. You might just get a good deal for your efforts. If not immediately, pay attention to their stream of content to pick out deals that may apply to you. Do the same for potential hotels, as well as any local restaurants, museums, attractions, etc.

While you’re at it, consider joining the airlines’ mileage reward programs. Doing so might get your baggage fees waived.

Leverage Your Local Connections

If you know someone who lives where you’ll be visiting, ask them about any special deals they may know of. If they offer, consider crashing at their place for part of the trip to save on hotel costs. They also may have access to local discounts on restaurants or other destinations. At the very least, they can warn you about things not to do so that you don’t waste time and money on bad food and poor experiences.

Know When to Book

When it comes to airfare, you need to book at least 21 days in advance if you’re going to get the best standard fare. If you can’t manage that, then you have a couple of options: You can look for last-minute deals from sites like airfarewatchdog.com, or you could use something like the price predictor from Bing, which let’s you determine the best time to book your flight.

If you can save $50 to $100 dollars by waiting a few days, Bing will let you know. It also doesn’t hurt to be flexible with your travel plans (mid-week departures, multiple layovers, etc.).

Flexible Food Options

Try to book a place with a kitchen, or at least a refrigerator/microwave combo. This way you can do some grocery shopping when you arrive and prepare some of your own meals. Having a few of your meals in the room would be a great way to cut back on your food spending.

Another tip I’ve seen is to dine out at lunch instead of dinner. If you have your heart set on a nice restaurant, consider visiting them at lunch for a more reasonable portion and price. Finally, be sure to bring a few snacks along. Purchased bulk beforehand, they can really help you spend less.

Consider a Lodging Alternative

The biggest expense you’ll likely face if you’re traveling for more than a week are the hotel costs. I’ve recently discovered the world of peer-to-peer room rentals. Sites like airbnb.com and crashpadder.com facilitate the subletting of couches, private rooms and entire apartments to friendly travelers.

This service is perfect for cities like New York and London where hotels can cost on average $250 a night. My last trip to New York was booked through airbnb.com and I paid only $55 a night for a private room. If you’re worried about dealing with housemates, don’t worry; you can book entire apartments for around $100 a night.

Hopefully you can apply some of these tips to your next travel experience. Do you have any travel related money saving tips you could share? Leave them in the comments below.

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December 13, 2010 • Tags: Travel, Travel Savings • Posted in: Credit Cards

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