Oil prices are shooting up and financial institutions are closing down but this doesn’t mean we cannot travel. We only have to be creative so we can keep the costs at a minimum while still maximizing the fun and adventure!
- Buy your tickets from airline ticket auction sites. You can even get them for free or at a discounted rate as an air courier.
- If possible, avoid peak season. Not only are tourist destinations less crowded, airline rates are also lower during off peak season.
- If you travel on a peak travel season such as summer and Christmas when flights are most likely to be overbooked, consider the possibility of getting bumped off. This may have a good side. There’s a chance you can get airline credit or free airfare for your next trip if you volunteer to be bumped off (provided you are not in a hurry to get to your destination). Check the airline policies beforehand and if you find them in your favor, book and skip the electronic check in. Check in personally and inquire from the counter if the flight is full. If so, ask to have your name listed on their “bump list”.
- Weigh your luggage at home to avoid paying extra charges for overweight luggage.
Here’s a bit of luck for stocky travelers. My brother is a stocky man and he was offered a seat at the plane’s emergency exit by the attendant at the check-in counter. Although his check-in luggage was over the weight limit by a few pounds, he was not asked to pay in exchange for having him sit there. There’s more leg space too!
When my luggage was overweight, I befriended a group of passengers who were ahead of me and whose individual check-in luggage was under the weight limit. I kindly requested that we check in our luggage together so the extra weight could be carried on to theirs. The aggregate weight was computed on the total number of passengers in our group.
- Instead of buying maps, visit the Tourism office and get them for free or print them yourself.
- Eat like a local. Hit the grocery for your breakfast. Pack your lunch for picnic. If you want to taste local dishes, check out the market place and be on the lookout for budget meals.
- Go paperless. Shoot with your camera instead of buying postcards. Upload your photos on a computer and share it with your friends at no extra charge for postage.
- For women, check out bars offering free drinks and entrance fee on ladies’ night out.
- Use hotel toiletries instead of bringing your own. You save up on luggage space and money.
- As its name implies, save with saver pass train tickets instead of buying on a per trip basis. It also saves you time from queuing.
- Check out schedules of museums you plan to visit. For instance, it’s free entrance at Museo del Prado Tuesdays to Saturdays from 6 to 8 pm and Sundays from 5 to 8 pm.
- Check out entrance-free entertainment like concerts, lights and music show, or go for nature trip.
- Invest on a hidden body bag. It safeguards your passport and money. An ounce of prevention is still better than a pound of cure.
- Bring first aid or non prescriptive medicines for headache, colds, allergies, motion sickness, diarrhea and constipation.
- Save up on your calls using Skype. Calls are free for skype to skype account. If you do not have internet access, buy prepaid local sim card. Use callcard instead of hotel phone.
- Buy your souvenirs form night markets instead of malls. Be creative with your souvenirs, sometimes the best ones are not from the souvenir shop.
- Canvass and compare foreign exchange rates prior to trip.
- Visit off-the-beaten tracks. Skip the tourist guide.
Travelers want to tread on as much earth as they can and hard times are not road blocks to their destinations if they know how to stretch that dollar.
Photo of coins orginally posted by Jeff Belmonte
Leave a comment