Its always a good time to travel the world and create new memories with friends and family. But when you travel do you feel like its stressful and too expensive to do on a tight budget? Fret no more. Christen and I travel throughout the year and most of our trips are less than $500 total, including flight, room, transportation and spending money. I want to give you some of the tips & tricks we use to find cheap flights and travel like a frugal shopaholic!
Tip 1: Visit SecretFlying.com to sign up for their email list. This subscription service will send you emails daily on all flight deals domestic & international. Flights ranging from as low as $85 up to about $600-$800. They send emails to you anytime there are flight glitches or fuel dumps. It's a MUST if you want to book cheap flights around the globe. We traveled to Iceland for $250 because we got an email from Secret Flying about cheap flights! So its proven that they are legit!
Tip 2: Travel with a group of friends who are down to explore and stick with them. Its nothing worse than traveling with people who drag their feet. Once you have a good group that meshes well and is down to have a good time and lose sleep if it means you'll get the most out of your trip then only travel with that group, it'll be in your best interest! We've learned this lesson the hard way! Time is money.
Tip 3: Before traveling to your destination, make an itinerary so you know what you will be doing each day and time it helps keep your trip on track and leaves no room for those travel mates who would rather stay at the hotel or Airbnb. You paid to see the world, MAKE MOVES!
Tip 4: Hotels are cool but Airbnb's can be the best bang for your buck especially if you are traveling with a group of more than 3 people. Most Airbnb can be as cheap as $35 a night and sleep 6+ people. It really just depends. So I would suggest that in addition to looking at hotel at your destination that you check Airbnb as well.
Tip 5: Book excursions & tours in advance if at all possible. It cuts out the expense when you are on your trip. Use Viator.com to search excursions and tours at your destination. They give you tons of options to choose from that vary in price. Its also good to search google as well and always search for a promo code for whatever site you choose to book on. By now you know our motto... NEVER PAY FULL PRICE!
Tip 6: Erykah Badu said it best... Pack light. It proves true when traveling abroad for sure especially when you are flying on airlines like Wow Air and Spirit. They charge you for your baggage each leg of the trip if it more than or bigger than a bag that can fit underneath your seat. At a minimum it will be $40 each way for your bag. But if you pack light or utilize packing cubes and vacuum seal bags purchase a smaller carry-on bag you should be good to go.
Our next international trip is to Havana, Cuba. Talk about excited. We got our tickets for $215?! Talk about cheap... right now that flight is cheaper than a flight to Miami, FL... crazy right. We are still looking at Airbnb's but I definitely take my own advice and follow the tips above.
If you have any other tips that will help frugal travelers comment below!
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