Planning a big trip? Traveling can be cheaper than you think! If you do the right planning, you can get flights, hotels, tours, and everything in between at an affordable price. Stop claiming you “can’t afford to travel,” and start planning your dream adventure!
- Plan Ahead for Free Flights
If you plan ahead with the right credit cards and mileage plans, you can actually score free flights! Sign up for a few travel credit cards, collect miles, and then fly for free. Many cards offer sign-up bonuses of 50,000 points. Plus you can sign up for both an airline card and a general rewards card to combine the point balances and get a cheap flight faster! Try and do all your shopping at the preferred stores for your credit card/airline and you’ll get more miles, faster. If you can’t sign up for credit cards, there are still ways to hack your flight. Sign up for all the airline mailing lists and watch out for special 2-for-1 miles deals, or special card offers to get extra miles.
- Go With a Group
Book your trip through a travel site like STATravel.com and StudentUniverse.com. These sites offer massive discounts on flights, hotels, and tours to students traveling in a group of 10 to 12 or more. Plus, you can use their planning tools to get an idea of how much the entire trip is going to cost, so you can budget better. Plus you can split hostels and hotel rooms. Traveling with a group also makes it easier to watch each other’s stuff at train stations and airports.
- Take Advantage of Student Discounts
Almost every country offers student discounts at museums, parks, and historical sites. Purchase an International Student Identity Card to get access to a wide variety of discounts at hotels, restaurants, tours, and individual attractions. It’s recognized in 120 countries, so bring one along just in case. You never know what discounts might be available to you.
- Airbnb or Couchsurf
There are tons of sites that connect travelers with locals who will let them stay with them for free! Couchsurfing helps you find places to stay all around the world. Sometimes it’s a room, sometimes a couch, sometimes an air mattress, but its always free. There are also local Couchsurfing group meet-ups that can help you make friends in your new city.Plus, your local host will know where to find deals.They know which supermarket is cheapest, which stores offer the best sales, and where to find the hole-in-the-wall restaurants and bars with the tastiest food at the lowest prices. Talking directly to them gives you access to that knowledge.
- Cook Your Own Food
Sure, you want to enjoy crepes and escargot in Paris. But you’ll save a ton of money by cooking at least some of your meals in your hostel. Your host or hostel will probably have a kitchen, so you can whip up something simple. And if you don’t have a place to cook, pack your own container and silverware to make sandwiches and salads on the go. Eating out can quickly add up, so plan on cooking a few meals.
With these tips, travel doesn’t have to be so expensive! What tricks do you use to travel for cheap?