When I looked back on my travels in 2012, there was a lingering question on my mind. How in the world did I afford all of that travel? While some of those trips were press trips, the majority of those travels were my own, out of pockets that I don’t have. The thing about being a freelance travel writer is that you must travel to have things to write about to keep your work going. In the process, you are spending money just to keep up your job. I have to be quite resourceful to continue my travels with very little cash coming into my bank account. For those that want to travel in 2013 but their budget resembles that of a pauper like mine, you don’t have to stay home and dream. Rather than the typical advice of eating out less or cutting back on your cable bill, here are a few things that I do as I travel to cut back on costs. I can still see the world, even if my income says that I can’t.
Take More Road Trips
I found in 2012 that a large chunk of my change went to plane tickets. Sometimes traveling by air is the only way to get from A to B in a timely manner. However I did utilize the road trip more than air travel last year. I have heard travelers bemoan the expensive nature of a road trip, but I have to disagree. I think you get more bang for your buck when you take a road trip. I saw a great deal more than if I just flew, all for the price of a few tanks of gas. If you are looking to save on travel in 2013, I recommend trying out a road trip or two. When you add up all of the fees attached to air travel from bags to boarding passes, going by air is becoming more and more costly. At the same time, you aren’t even seeing anything in between here and there.
Sign up For More Rewards
If I book a hotel or schedule a flight, I always enter my rewards numbers. Travel rewards are one of those areas that we know are out there, and yet we don’t always take advantage of their existence. In 2013, I encourage other travelers to take advantage of the rewards available to them. This past year, I was able to travel to Europe for free on miles and received a handful of hotel nights without forking over a dime. This element to travel doesn’t involve saving but merely recording your points when you do travel and reaping the rewards later in the year.
All the way in Slovenia without spending a dime to get here
Carry-On Your Bags More
I rarely paid to check a bag last year, mostly because I wanted to save that $50 per flight. In most cases, if you fly once a month and check a bag, you are spending around $600 per year just to haul your stuff around town. I have that $600 in my pocket for my travels in 2013 because I don’t check bags often. If the liquids restrictions are an issue, I merely purchase a few things when I land that don’t cost the amount of a checked bag.
Travel to More Underrated Destinations
In 2012, I enjoyed places like Goodland, Kansas, Jefferson, Texas and back roads in Arkansas. These underrated destinations might not be as grand as Rome or Tokyo, but they still provide a travel experience for very little cash. Accommodations are less expensive off of the more appealing path. In the end, I often found these forgotten destinations to be my favorites over the more socially attractive places.
Search For More Coupon Codes
No matter what I am buying online or in a store, I always do a coupon code search. Even if it isn’t travel related, you can free up some extra cash to travel even while consuming. If I have to buy something, I want to get it for less. Throughout last year, I saved a great deal just by doing the coupon code search. Sometimes the codes work and sometimes they don’t. I have also found that many airlines have coupon codes swirling around the Internet. Before you buy a fare, consider searching for a coupon code. You never know if you could be getting that flight out of town for $20 less.
How do you make travel possible with very little cash coming in each month? Share your tips in the comments below.
The coupon code search is a good idea. I need to remember to do that more often!
This is a great post. I am always looking for new and different ways to afford travel, and many posts say the same things. But this offers some fresh ways to think outside the box and live a life of travel. Thanks!
Great advice Suzy. I especially love the coupon idea as well. I didn’t even think of that, and should try to capitalise on it 😉
Great ideas. We don’t have coupons in Australia 🙁 and I agree that road trips are good value.
I second searching for a coupon code, it only takes a couple of minutes and sometimes you can find really good deals. I haven’t done it for anything travel related yet but its definitely good for pizza and electronics 🙂
Fantastic advice Suzy. I completely agree with you that taking a road trip is a cheaper option when it comes to travel. I’ve actually just come back from one of my own – driving from Auckland to Taupo, Taupo to Rotorua, Rotorua to Tauranga and then back to Auckland in 4 days. Flights to each of those places separately would have cost a lot more than it cost to hire the car and pay for gas and my friend and I got to see the most beautiful countryside that we wouldn’t have got to see if we were stuck on a plane. And we could take exactly what we wanted, no luggage restrictions!
I appreciated the attention you give to out-of-the-way destinations. Although they may not be well-known, there is often a lot interesting about these places.
Search the different airline frequent flyer programs to see if they have partner programs. For instance, I usually do my online shopping from American advantage and rack up miles simply by entering my frequent flyer # on every day purchases. There are thousands of stores that work with them!
I am always looking for ways to travel and save money but it isn’t always easy. I completely agree about the road trip idea. We have been doing a lot of that since my kids were born, and it is so fun! I also love your image in front of that store–classic! Do you have any specific reward programs to recommend?
Hi Jenna!
I love road trips for saving money. You see so much more for your money. In terms of reward programs, I use two credit cards that I get miles on which helps a lot. One is a Capital One with no annual fee. The other is a Chase for United miles. In terms of hotels, I really like how Hotels (dot) com gives you your 10th night free simply if you have an account with them. Also chains like Holiday Inn and Hampton Inn have good reward programs to collect free nights if you are traveling in the US.
I need to get on those reward points. It’s pure laziness that i haven’t done it.
I am heading to Europe in February and I can say that it is costing me a lot less going off peak than peak season. Accomodation and in particular flights are significantly cheaper.
What!? I didn’t know there were fees on ALL checked luggage in the US now. Ugh, that really sucks. We haven’t had to fly domestic there in years, but will have to later this year…and as we’re coming from Europe for 2 weeks with family, there’s going to have to be checked luggage. What a bummer. As I understand there are never meals anymore either. There is really not much to love about US airlines. 🙁
Yes, we love to charge people for checked luggage here in the US. There is only one airline I believe that doesn’t charge, Southwest. If you are coming from Europe though (international flights) there are no baggage fees usually for at least the first checked bag. I know it varies airline to airline, but coming from Europe, you should be ok. It’s just traveling by plane within the US where they charge for the first checked bag.
I totally agree about overland travel. Once I hit Europe last year, all I took were buses and trains, even if the travelling time was long. It really did save a lot of money, even if it was more time-intensive. I wish I could go just carry-on, but at 60L my backpack is just too big!
While I do partly agree with your advice they are maybe not quite as relevant in all parts of the world. Roadtrips at least in Europe tend to often be more expensive than the flights; Trains are the way to do it here. For US I have been playing with the thought of doing a Greyhound trip around the country though, I am not afraid of what’s different, and I always have the most interesting times when I try the roads less travelled (and just like you suggested the not-so-hyped places are often less costly, as well)
My key advice for saving on travel at least in US is however food; Do you really need a sit-down meal for both breakfast, lunch and dinner? I love where I can self cater at least for breakfast, and often I buy lunch “to go” as well, it’s really nice to sit in a park, wiht your little picnic, and watch the world go by. I understand you need the tipping system with the ridiculously low minimum wages but it really adds up to quite a lot if you insist on eating out all the time. In Asia it is quite different, as the tipping system is nothing like US, and the same for Europe, but also there: It doesn’t have to be fancy to be good. Look at where the locals eat and don’t be afraid to try, just be careful with a few things: No buffets that have been sitting there for hours at end, and stick to places that seem to have a relatively big turn-over.
(Carry-on: In Europe most companies don’t charge you for checked-in bags, only the low-cost airlines normally do. But you get really good deals with the normal airlines if you are just planning a bit ahead so that is my advice: Plan ahead, and you can use normal airlines that fly to normal airports that are often easier and less expensive to get to and from.)
Coupon codes seem to be more of a US phenomen too, problem for me is that the coupon codes often sound good on paper but for me, at least, I normally find that when I break it down, it is actually more expensive than it would be without a coupon, simply because I get things that I wouldn’t have bought otherwise. But again, it depends on what you need and want, it’s just important to realise that coupon doesn’t necessarily mean a deal, unless the deal is exactly what you were looking for. I really like that you point out that there are ways to travel on a budget, as it makes us reflect on what WE can do 🙂
Hi Ann-Katrin,
Thanks for the thoughtful comment. Actually in the US, even the legitimate airlines (if we can all them that) charge for bags to travel around the country domestically. So we can’t really avoid them here unless we carry on our bags. There is really only on airline that doesn’t charge at the moment.
And definitely most Americans don’t eat out for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I would imagine that would cause more than just a few to go bankrupt. Food prices in the US definitely vary depending on where you are. It’s always good to get off the well-traveled path and find something more local here. The prices generally reflect that.
As far as going by car, it is a great deal cheaper here in the US, especially as we don’t have a train system in place as you do in Europe. Also you have to keep in mind that our entire country is the size of Europe. That’s a lot of ground to cover. I have rented cars in Europe several times and found it pretty affordable if you want to see certain areas where it is a nightmare to get to by train or bus. I always see more going by car, no matter where I am in the world. To me that is more bang for my buck in the travel department!
Lots of interesting and thoughtful commentary here on ways to save. Here in the UK, we do our best to save by using rail (including the Eurostar to Brussels or Paris) and booking well in advance if possible. Sometimes if you book online even 24 hours in advance, you can save significant amounts. Another UK trick is split ticketing. You stay on the same train, but by splitting the journey – for example a ticket from Southampton to Reading, and then another ticket from Reading to Birmingham, it costs less than buying the Southampton to Birmingham journey in one go. Always worth a try!
Good advices, and indeed I personally think that flights are always the biggest expanse. Used to when I was travelling for short trips for 2-3-4 weeks and always going back home and than again, I paid a lot for tickets.
I cut off those coast but travelling for 4,5 months…..so many travel and only 2 tickets instead of usual 8 or 10 🙂