As bloggers, the question we got asked the most was how do you guys get the most out of your travel budget?
1) Cheap flight tickets. We normally have our travel plans all laid out at the beginning of a brand new year and bought our flight tickets 3-6 months ahead. Despite its name and reputation, low cost carrier is not always cheaper than a full service airline. Make use of sites like fare compare or this app call sky scanner to look for the cheapest flight.
2) Cheap accommodation. Explore your accommodation options – home stay, budget hotel, hostel, hotel, couch surfing or even friends/relatives house. Look out for genuine travelers review in trip advisor before deciding.
3) Make good use of public transformation. If you have a sense of what you are going to do, then it is best to plan out your driving route or check public transportation information. It is often the cheapest way to get around and to experience a day in the life of a local.
4) Plan ahead, visit your destination’s official tourism website to look out for travel tips and discounts. The nice people from the tourism office often entice tourists with freebies such as free tourist buses, tourist pass and tourist discount vouchers. During our recent trip to South Korea, we made use of those tourist perks a lot.
5) Purchase online coupons to lower costs. There are dozens of deal sites out there, but not all of them are useful. Go for a reputable deal site such as Groupon to look out for deals from your travel destination. For example, if you are traveling to Penang then you should be looking out for these awesome Penang deals. Going for rooms for rent in a residential neighborhood will give you more of an opportunity to interact with locals than staying in a hotel in a touristy part of town.
6) And lastly, avoid losing more money (rather than saving money) by watching out for unscrupulous locals who try to scam you. Read about 8 things travelers should watch out for in Bangkok at CNNGO.
