5 Ways to Save Money While Traveling - Budget Travel Tips
Galavanting Travel 101 Video Series
Top five ways to save money next time you travel:
1) Study up on airline fare cycles and alternate routes when booking your flights and save a lot of cash. Knowing the seasons that airfares change and not reserving a flight in peak travel times will be much cheaper. Be inventive with the routes you search for and don't rely on default search results when using travel bookers online. Combining that with searching dates that are somewhat flexible will likely save you a bundle.
2) Rent an apartment or consider a house-swap to save on lodging costs & provide flexibility. Most apartments come with a kitchen and you can save on the cost of breakfast and some dinners this way. Plus if you're traveling as a group or as a family, renting an apartment is a great way to save money. Another way to have very low cost lodgin is a growing trend of house-swapping, it's a clever way to make the most of the assets you already have, and experience local-living in your destination.
3) Learn to say "no" to tour guides you hire on site. Many times you'll be approached by independent guides once you arrive in a city's airport, train station, or ferry port. They can actually be a helpful way to see a city and offer affordable rates -- but -- keep in mind they may be receiving kickbacks from restaurants and shops along the way. This is illegal in most countries, but not always 
enforced. If prices of souvenirs and food seem far above the local community standard, tell the guide you would like to go elsewhere. They will likely protest, but stand firm.
4) Avoid the kitsch and be creative when souvenir shopping. If you're feeling pressure to bring something back for absolutely everyone you know, don't discount the simple ways to share your experience. A fun photo of you in front of a monument can be framed once you get back home and will last a lifetime. If you also concentrate on buying from smaller local shops or rural communities, you'll end up with a souvenir that's not only authentic, but budget friendly. Buying prints of original artwork from artists on the street is a good way to have something affordable and easy to pack.
5) Don't use traveler's checks, they'll only weigh you down in fees and are a pain in the butt to exchange. It's very rare to even have them accepted as payment anymore and you'll have to exchange them to even have money while traveling, and you'll lose a lot in the transaction. The better route is to use your debit card to withdraw money from bank machines along the way (bonus travel tip: don't ask for an 'ATM' abroad, ask for a 'bank machine'.) Using your credit card for as many transactions as possible will also reduce he amount of cash you carry around and hopefully rack up some airline miles too! Be sure to watch the entire video for Kim's bonus tip about ordering currency ahed of time either online or at your local bank. You'll have money on hand to get out of the airport, and away from the high airport exchange fees.
We'd love to hear your ideas of ways to save money while traveling, so leave a comment and a link to your blog!
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Kim Mance is editor-in-chief of Galavanting and based in Chicago, IL. Her other writing on everything from travel, to politics to parenting can be found in places like MarieClaire.com, The Huffington Post, Babble, AlterNet and Women's Voices for Change. She has lived abroad, is always up for an adventure and has visited 25 countries...so far.
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Reader Comments (8)
Great post! Thanks Kim. My only addition is to point #5 - most banks/credit cards have international fees you should be aware of. They still beat travelers checks on just about all accounts, but different banks and card companies have different fees. You could save as much as 3-6% on a $100 transaction by shopping around and talking to your providers. Just did a writeup on my blog about the fee breakdown and how they go about it.
Good advice Kim! I'm just now blogging about cheap souvenirs myself, so here's my tip: just about anything small can be purchased abroad and turned into a Christmas tree ornament. For you, or the folks back home...
You can thank me later ;)
Great tips, another way you can save money on souvenirs is to head to local thrift stores (we wrote about our experience here.) We had some Italian friends visiting us here in the US, and they really wanted to buy iconic American things...tshirts, a flag, etc. for friends back home. They found some really fun tshirts and quirky Americana that they wouldn't be able to find in a traditional tourist trap, and for very little money.
I haven't tried this myself abroad, but I bet open air markets in Europe would be a great place to find inexpensive vintage treasures.
Wow, you guys are awesome!
Alex, your post on International Credit Card Fees is fantastic.
Jamie, I'm totally gonna use your tip, that's a great idea.
Kelly, I'm off to check out your post, why didn't I think of that?? Genius :).
Great post! I just posted here on my favourite spot for souvenirs - the supermarket. Lots of quirky, cheap gifts there, and no, you don't have to just stick with food.
Not only can you save money with a house swap, it's a great way to make new friends.
We started house swapping for financial reasons - wanted to travel more often and for longer. On a limited budget this wasn't always easy to do.
With our first swap, we learned that the other benefit of home exchanging is the friends that you make. Something that doesn't usually happen when you book and stay in a hotel.
We loved the concept so much that we started our own home exchange website, 1stHomeExchange.com .
And here is another tip to help stretch a travel budget.
You can save time and money by letting a travel search engine find you the best airline fare. It will search hundreds of airlines and travel sites and display the results including price, number of stops, and more. Clicking on a result, redirects you directly to the vendor. Nothing could be easier!
Kayak and Momodo are two popular ones. (Because we think this is another great way for people to save on airfare, we've included a flight search engine on our website.)
Have you considered taking a mobile (cell) phone abroad? It can be done cheaply and is invaluable for many purposes .... eg pre-bookings, emergencies, etc...
You first need a multi band GSM phone. Then have it "unlocked" so it becomes a "world phone" ..... ie it will now accept a SIM card from any phone service provider in any country.
My quad band GSM phone cost less than $100. To have it unlocked cost $35. Around $20. will get you the SIM card, a local phone number and lots of airtime no matter what country you are in. I've used it in Turkey, Chile and Hungary and I don't know what I would have done without it.
Remember, all incoming calls are free, when outside of North America and calling back home (Canada) is not at all expensive.
Cheers!
Is there anything I really need to know about Fiji? I'm going all by myself in May (17 days actually!!!). I'll be at a resort on Denarau Island. Anything to be wary of, to avoid, must sees. Any suggestions?