I might be biased but in my view, one of the best things in the world is travel. Seeing the world, exploring different countries and cultures is a lifelong passion for me. However, travel can cost a lot of money. Before the children, we have spent all my saved money on travelling, but of course we can’t do that anymore. We still travel a lot, you can often see my travel posts on the blog because we think it’s also important for the children to see the world – so we do travel a lot as a family, ever since the children were born.
These days though, we are more careful what we spend our money on and we try to save money wherever we can when booking a holiday. So I’m bringing a few trips on how to travel on a lower budget and travel cheap. With more than a decade working in the hotel industry, I spent a good deal of it in sales and revenue management. (The latter is responsible for the hotel’s yearly contracts and prices with travel agencies, tour operators and third party websites.) So, take my advice.
1. Book in advance or book last minute
Booking well in advance means you not only secure a cheaper holiday but you also will have something to look forward all year! This is true if you book a hotel, airline tickets, packaged deals with travel agents – every aspect of the holiday. Last minute, however can be risky. If you don’t mind and you’re quite flexible you can gamble – you will almost always find good deals, but not necessarily the the one you wanted. So be prepared to compromise.
2. Travel off season or shoulder season
Naturally, out of season everywhere is cheaper. This doesn’t work of course if you wanted a ski holiday in the Alps in July – but for example city trips in Europe in November or January can be quite fun!
3. Monitor price changes
If you are uncertain about a hotel you picked, or you want a particular one but it’s too pricey for you, keep watching the rates and book when the price is right!
4. Use budget travel companies
A few big and reliable companies are specialising in cheap, budget holidays at popular destinations. check out Holiday Gems cheap holidays for example – they have unbeatable prices.
5. Breakfast only or all inclusive
I always book my hotel stay with breakfast because it’s part of the experience being on holiday – but it’s different for everyone. Check how much you can save by not booking meals or the opposite: going for all-inclusive. Going for all-inclusive can actually save a lot of money and hassle, so you can consider that, especially when traveling with youn children
6. Self-catering holidays
Food can be very expensive and mealtimes unpredictable when you’re on a holiday. Booking a self-catering apartment can also save you some money on food.
7. Use public transport
It’s not only cheaper it’s a good adventure too. We never use the local tour companies selling overpriced hop on-hop off type of tours, we just use public transport and a map. Saves a lot of money!
8. Avoid overpacking
You will need the same amount of “stuff” for a week and for three weeks. Look up options for laundry nearby if you need and avoid forking out extra cash for the extra kilograms at the airport.
9. Stay as close as possible
If you’re going for a beach holiday for example, my advice is to stay as close as possible to the beach. Same applies for ski holidays, city breaks, etc. Why? Because if you try to save £10 a night on accommodation rates will result on petrol, public transport payments and most importantly you pay with your very on, holiday time. Don’t waste your holiday by driving an hour each way to the beach if you want to go to the beach every day.
This is a collaborative post.
6 comments
We always travel Feb and Oct half terms as prices are much more affordable
that’s so true, will have to remember this as my little boy starts school this September.
These are some great tips! We always try and go out of season but I guess we are lucky enough to be able to do that.
So far we did the same, but my son starts reception class in September, so all will be changed sadly.
I always try to book my holidays well in advance, you notice that you can get cheap deposits and a huge discount when you do x
that’s exactly how it works