How to make your trip budget friendly?

When we think of a trip, first thing that comes into our minds is money. When you think of a trip the first thing that should come to your mind should be FUN, isn’t it folks? Yes. Fun and adventure should be what we are looking for. Money is definitely an aspect that one should think about, but not worry about. And how does this happen. This happens with proper planning and timely execution of the plan. Here in this blog I will give you some tips which one can use to reduce the trip cost and not sacrifice on the quality of the deal.

1.     Air Travel-Choose the destination well before time and start looking out for ticket prices on various available sites for your date combinations. Try not to keep travel dates on weekends. Flights on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are relatively cheaper. So while planning your trip, plan this way, this reduces your cost of airfare tremendously.

2.     Hotel-While planning your hotel stay you have to decide what kinda stay you are looking at. If you are a backpacker, you might like to stay in hostels. Staying in hostels does save you a bomb. If you are a family you should compare various online sites for your desired hotels and book well in advance to save a lot. Sometimes some hotels do give more discounts on their own websites, so when you have selected a particular hotel on for e.g Expedia, do not forget to go on the website of that hotel and check for the prices even there. I have got better deals on the hotel websites and have booked their directly many a times. While you are doing an online research you will see prices fluctuating on a regular basis. At times on weekends prices will be on a higher side so wait a while and book on a weekday.

3.     Food- Food is a major cost when we are travelling outside. Be it a European country or Asian, Food does shell out a lot from our pockets. Supermarkets are the saviours here. Buy buns, breads, cheese, fruits and juices from the supermarkets and you will realise you have saved a lot and got a lot of food with you. You can save this for your breakfast and lunch. For your dinner you can go to a street food joint in local market and save a lot there. Eating fast food from Mc.Donalds and KFC saves a lot but that does not stand true for European countries. In European countries one must go for their local food there in the street cafes. Never prefer in room dining in your own hotel room. It will cost a lot for the service. Water is another expensive product that we need a lot while we are on the run. Buy water from the supermarkets and store in the room. So that in your next tourist destination you have water handy with you in your own bag. I remember I almost cried when I had to pay 10 CHF for a bottle of water in a tourist spot in Switzerland L. So If you are travelling to Switzerland do buy water from COOP supermarket where they sell their own in house water named as Coop so go for it, that does save you a lot.

4.     Local Travel-Travelling from one spot to another is a cost and that depends on what mode of travel you opt for. Metro trains are the cheapest mode of travel in any country. So on landing at a destination, grab a train route map and be guided by that. This saves you a lot. In some cities like London or Tokyo, taxis are too expensive so one must get his travel card and route map ready. You can also depend on google apps for train timings and routes, I prefer RometoRio for my local travel in any country.

5.     Tickets for attractions-Ticket prices for attractions do make a hole in your pockets. So at your planning stage only enlist the attractions you want to visit and check whether the prices are fixed or season dependant. If they are season dependant I suggest you should buy them in advance. Online you also get good deals and hence you save a lot.

6.     Phone-Buy a local sim and do not use your own phone for your calls. Connect your phone with your hotels wifi and stay connected. I advise you should buy sim card with data which will help you save a lot of time on the go when you use Gps apps. I personally use Google apps for routes and that does save me lot of time and money.

 I have been planning my own trips and I have had wonderful experience at lesser cost. Life is short, why miss on anything. Travel , live and laugh!