If you’ve followed us for a while, then you know that we LOVE to travel! I’ve often joked about not eating if it allows us to travel more, but the truth is, there are ways to decrease the cost of your next trip. Here are our top 10 ways to make travel cheaper.
1. Set a Budget and Start a Travel Fund
Whether it’s a separate account that you fund throughout the year or just a number you can agree on, it’s important to know how much you’re going to spend on your next trip before you start planning. Then as you plan you can determine what places, attractions, events, etc. will have a place in your final itinerary. We’ve done this on a legal pad, a post-it, and a complex spreadsheet, but each time the goal is to make all the parts of your trip – transportation, lodging, meals and activities – fit within that bottom line number. Make sure to add known fees like baggage fees, which can add up.
2. Let Pricing Dictate Your Destination
Rather than select your destination first, have a few places in mind to research. As you go, you can narrow down your pick down to the one or two that meet your budget. A few years ago we knew we wanted to plan a ski trip, but airfares to Denver were really high and the cost of a ski pass and rentals were putting us over the top. A friend suggested that we look at going to Europe instead. It seemed preposterous that Europe would be cheaper, but we found that airfare to Zurich was a deal and the cost of a ski pass and rentals were considerably less. As a result, we skied in Austria that year. It sounded amazing (and it was), but really it was just cheaper!
3. Don’t Let High Airfare or Lodging Dissuade You
Sometimes airfare is high, like if you’re traveling to Vietnam or Thailand, but the cost of living is so low once you get there that you can easily fit a trip into your budget even with that high airfare. Similarly, you may find high lodging prices, but lots of free or low cost attractions and great airfare, so it fits into your budget anyways. It takes a while to research each piece, but don’t be dissuaded easily. With patience you can usually make it work.
4. Use Deal Sites
It’s impossible to keep track of great airfares with so many airlines slicing prices and then increasing them a few days later. Luckily there are many great sites that will track it for you. Google Flights will show you airfare to and from multiple airports and allow you to set an alert if the price changes. Skyscanner has the option to show cheap airfare in any given month from your home airport(s). Scott’s Cheap Flights sends e-mails when airlines offer great deals from your home airport so that you never miss a sale opportunity. Secret Flying also spotlights airfare deals on their website and social media sites. Unlike Scott’s, they don’t limit deals to your home airport, so if you’re planning a multi-leg trip, you can find deals on future segments. Don’t be afraid to subscribe to all these and more to be sure you’re ready when a destination on your bucket list comes up. That’s how we got to Australia!
5. Earn Points on Travel
If you’re going to spend a lot on travel, why not get some of it back in points or cash that you can use for the next trip? Talk with your bank about a travel card you can use throughout the year, get one from an airline or search online for one that meets your needs and start a separate travel fund for the future. I have an airline card that gives me a voucher for travel on their airline each year if I spend a minimum amount. That voucher helped fund my flight to Denver last spring to ski and part of our trip to Australia was purchased using credit card points we had accumulated on prior travel. Why not benefit from your own spending?
6. Book and Travel Mid-Week if You Can
It’s not an old wives tail – airfares are often lower on Tuesdays and higher on Friday and Saturday. Why? Because most people are looking at airfare on the weekend, so demand is high and airlines don’t want to miss out on that added revenue. But airfares change considerably from one passenger to the next on the very same flight. Make that work to your advantage.
If you have flexibility in your schedule, considering flying mid week rather than on the weekends. There are fewer people traveling mid week, which means that fares are typically lower. When you’re researching flight costs, always look to see if there is a fare change if you leave earlier or later and try to shift your trip to match the lowest cost. Sometimes you can save considerably with just a shift of one day and that could make your whole trip cheaper.
7. Consider a Vacation Rental
Staying at a hotel or resort can have many perks – a concierge, on-site restaurant, housekeeping, laundry, etc. – but you often pay a premium to have these available. By choosing a vacation rental, you may be able to reduce your cost. For us, a vacation rental allows us to spread out and feel at home. Everyone has their own bed and the boys have their own room. Plus, we can do laundry, lay on couches to watch movies instead of our beds, and not be worried that housekeeping will come in while you’re out. The biggest advantage for us, though, is having a full kitchen to prepare meals. If you’ve never booked a vacation rental, we’ve put together our top 10 tips for booking your vacation rental to help you.
8. Find Free Activities
Let’s face it, the cost of all those amazing activities you want to do can really add up. Plan your itinerary to include a balance between costly activities and free or low cost activities. When we were in Utah we spent the day at an Adventure Park, which was so much fun, but around $200 for the day. We balanced that with several days at National Parks, which were free since Tyler had a free pass. When we were in London, we did a tour of London Tower one day, but also spent a day just walking through the city and in the park near Buckingham Palace – totally free.
9. Don’t Eat Out Too Much
Eating out every meal can add up very quickly. If you’re staying in a vacation rental it’s easy to utilize the kitchen to make all of your meals, but it’s possible to cut down on eating out even if you’re in a hotel and that will go a long way to making your travel cheaper. We either bring or buy at a local grocery store snacks and food for breakfast and lunch each day so that we only have to eat out for dinner. Pop tarts, muffins, croissants or even cereal are easy to pack and eat when you’re on the go. Most hotels have coffee makers and mini refrigerators in each room, so you can also make sandwiches for lunches. It’s not glamorous, but if drinking hotel coffee and a croissant allows me to be in Paris, I’m in!
10. Limit Souvenirs
Sometimes this is hard, but another thing that its easy to spend a lot on is souvenirs. Think about what you really need to remember your trip and skip the rest. We usually opt for things that are useable and easy to pack, like t-shirts or things that are really symbolic of our trip. We picked up stuffed owls at the 9 ¾ Platform store in London, a wooden cutting board at a small shop in Austria, as well as boomerangs in Australia. We regularly come home with food. Tim discovered fennel tea in Germany, we had the most amazing cookies in Australia, and we got salt straight from the salt mine in Salzburg. I tell the boys we’re using our money for the experience and they get all the memories for free.
Traveling with your kids is an amazing experience, but it can be costly. I hope these tips helped to make travel cheaper for you. What are some ways you make travel cheaper?
