Expensive accommodation is one surefire way to bust your travel finances. Hotels and other lodgings can potentially exhaust your vacation expenses compared to other traveling fees, even including airline fares.
For instance, you might mistakenly choose an accommodation that was only cheap because you’re only paying for the bed—and only the bed without a toilet. The craziest part is you have to pay for the bathroom and toiletries separately.
You might think it’s impossible, but you’ll think otherwise once you experience it first hand. We’ve got you covered in this kind of scenario, though. Here are some helpful tips on how to save money for your next travel lodging.
Get Help from Travel Websites
Canvassing for cheap hotels is deemed necessary—this goes without saying. But you don’t have to go around the city anymore. There are several online platforms or travel search websites that can aid you with collating shop hotel rates. They collect and advertise hotel prices on their site. You can even get discounts once you bid hotels with them, too!
Alternatively, it’s always a smart move to check the hotels’ websites, too. Some accommodations don’t make their best deals available to aggregate travel websites, especially when it comes to last-minute rooms to fill. You can directly give the hotels a ring to personally ask about any special offers, too.
Don’t be blinded with the inexpensive hotel cost, though. You have to consider all your accommodation needs and look for hotels with as many amenities as possible included in its overall hotel rate, like meals, WiFi, and the like. Otherwise, you’ll be surprised at how much you paid for a supposedly budget hotel.
Avoid Traditional Hotels
It would be awesome if all of us were born with silver spoons in our mouth. But for people who are on a tight budget but love to travel, conventional hotels will more likely suck your money out of your pocket right on your first week of stay. Worse is it may potentially keep you sequestered away from the other tourists in the area.
To avoid this, you can also use the travel search online platforms earlier to look for other alternatives to hotels. You can stay in bed spaces, homestays, or hostels. You can even stay at a local’s house! Try to be an au pair. Local homeowners will typically offer you free accommodation and possibly a salary!
Share Costs with Other Travelers
One of the most exciting moments while traveling is to meet new friends. Befriending with fellow travelers seems like hitting two birds with one stone—being more secured in a foreign land and cutting costs on your accommodation.
If you’re going to travel with a friend or a group of people you already know, that’s, of course, great. However, in case you’re going to venture the world alone, it would be best to go along with other people for your safety.
You can also pull up your resources with your new friends, who can be a couple, foreigners, or family. For instance, the beautiful Santorini has several vacation villas that can accommodate a group of people. Looking for someone else who you can share the multi-family rentals fees in these places allows you to afford your desired place to stay at and enjoy better deals!
Check Your Credit Report
Gone are the days when you can’t travel due to the lack of budget. Today’s market has been giving borrowers more chances to loan, not to mention making loan requirements be more lenient—thanks to the Internet! Needless to say, there’s a need to avoid bad credit loans online with instant decision.
While online banking allows you to access your domestic bank internationally, you still have to check your credit report before, during, and after your travel. Ensure that all your financial dealing, be it physical or online, are all in order.
Otherwise, unwanted situations might happen to you in another country, like going to prison for being unable to pay off hotel fees. Unexpected notifications debt might force you to come back home earlier than you planned, as well. You don’t want your trip to be spoiled, do you?
Travel During Off-Season
If you’ve been traveling in different places and at different periods of time, you might have already noticed that traveling during the off-season can save you a lot of money. If you have a flexible schedule, you can potentially enjoy 50% less (or so!) of the average hotel rates during peak seasons.
Wondering why hotel fees change? Well, business is business. Basically, it’s the marketing strategy of most establishments. If they get fewer customers, they will apply reductions on their rate to attract people. Who doesn’t want low prices, anyway? What’s more, you can avoid contending with crowds and enjoy sightseeing better.
Takeaway
Traveling is undoubtedly stress-relieving. The thing is, we often overspend and neglect our traveling budget. We’ll get even more stressed out due to empty wallets and unwanted debts when we go home as a result. That’s why you have to be always careful. Follow the tips above and do some research!
