From saving money to beating the crowds we love using these tips when we're traveling. #10 is our all time favorite and has saved us a ton of money throughout our adventures!
1. Stay a little outside of the major city
You don't have to stay in the hustle and bustle of a major city to experience its culture. Try staying just a few miles out. You'll find yourself paying much less and taking advantage of major bonuses like free parking or free breakfast (sometimes both!). Don't fret, you don't need to bring your car into the city just to give up on parking and declare you despise everything about city life. Call an Uber, call a cab (they still exist), catch the train or subway in. Hey, your hotel may even have a complementary shuttle. If you're not miles away, walking is a nice healthy choice as well.
2. Check out all of the free activities
If you don't utilize the actual goddess that Pinterest is, you're missing out. There are people all over the world who want to give you (yes, for free) their itineraries of their travels. Sooo many of these include free activities for the area you will be traveling to. Better yet, add the word F R E E before your search for a little extra pizzazz. We always create a list of these activities to check out before we leave. We love outdoor stuff like hiking and nature walks. Many times you can see famous buildings and sites for free and if you choose to do so, pay a fee for entry.
3. Travel in the off season
Save money on flights and accommodations all while enjoying your travels with less crowds! Seriously though, if you book your trip anytime outside of the busy season, you can save hundreds of dollars. We generally like to book right before or after the busy season. You still get the desired weather you want, for the most part, with less cost. We always like to do a winter destination because most people don't want to be cold which equals better prices for you adventurous souls out there.
4. Choose accommodations that include a meal
This is such a nice addition. This tends to be less common, especially here in the United States but so worth it. A lot of the "chain" hotels have this feature as well as hostels. We've even stayed at places that give each person one free drink! Using your hotel booking apps is a great way to set filters for these requirements.
5. Ask for gift cards for holidays and celebrations
If you celebrate holidays where gifts are given, ask for gift cards to your favorite travel companies! We love getting AirBnB gift cards. Airlines and sites like Expedia and Hotels.com are great options as well. If you're looking to cut the cost of transportation ask for Uber or Lyft gift cards. For us, this is a much better option than material items.
6. Get to places right when they open to beat the crowds
We cannot stress this enough. Wake up with the sun. Yes it can be difficult, even more so if you've had a little too much to drink the night before; but it's so worth it. You will very often find that you have the place to yourself for at least an hour or so. Perfect for exploring and taking crowd free photos. The tourist buses usually arrive late morning and early afternoon, just in time for you to make your way out of there.
7. Talk to locals and hire local tour guides and drivers
Utilize your resources people, and make new friends! No one knows their town or city better than someone who lives there. Ask your waitress, bartender or random person on the street about their recommendations. Use your social media outlets to connect with other people around the world who have traveled to the places you will be going. Before you go, research public transportation, see if anyone you know has contact information for a driver, always check to see what is safe and what is not. We really love using AirBnb Experience. Local people post their travel services and you can find anything from transportation to tour guides to cooking classes.
8. Utilize public transportation
If the idea of public transportation freaks you out, chug some wine, get on that subway train and handle it. We get it, we don't like to be sardined into the worlds smallest space either but it saves a ton of money. Google maps is a great way to help navigate subway, bus and train transportation in cities. Give yourself some extra time if you're new to it and ask for help if you need it. Luckily for us, Derek is basically a human map. Uber and Lyft are other great options, especially if you're traveling with a few friends to split the cost. Or even try the pool option to share cost with others in the area. Many areas have their own version of carpooling apps so keep that in mind too.
9. Book accommodations, excursions and rental cars on apps that have a rewards program
We love our apps! We generally stick to Hotels.com and Expedia when booking hotel accommodations because we love their rewards program. Hotels.com offers free nights and Expedia works on a point system for discounts. We love Hopper and Skyscanner for the best deals on flights. SpotHero is great for reserving parking if you'll be traveling with a car. Trainline is great for, well, trains. We always love to learn about new apps for traveling so if you have some you recommend, click on the Instagram icon located around our site and send us a message!
10. Get a travel credit card
Here it is, our favorite and most used travel tip. Get yourself a travel credit card and stop letting people in your life tell you that credit cards are bad. Credit cards can literally change your life. Yes, you must be responsible and yes, you should make your credit card work for you. Not only is having great credit an absolute must in today's society but you can literally earn free things. There was a point in my life where I was the girl putting $3 in my gas tank just to make it to my next bartending shift so I could pay off the never ending amount of debt I had accumulated on my credit cards (that's right, multiple) as a naive eighteen year old who was out to make something of herself.
Fast forward eleven years, I'm literally booking flights across the world for FREE with mileage points. Derek and I both have the Capital One Venture card and cannot say enough good things about it. We earn reward miles for every purchase we make and can redeem those for any travel related purchase. We also earn 10x the rewards when we book on Hotels.com and get awesome discounts on TSA pre-check, global entry and plethora of options to redeem for giftcards. You should purchase everything you would normally be paying for on your credit card, pay it off immediately and BAM, you have reward points and no debt! The Venture card also saves us a bunch of money on foreign transaction fees.
There they are! We hope you can take something away from this and apply it to your travels or even better, try something new!
Safe travels,
Meg & Derek
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