Ill start: I saved a ton when i started booking hostels instead of hotels, took overnight flights/trains/buses (during weekdays), used VPN/Incognito when checking travel ticket prices online, used a bank card with no foreign atm/transaction fees, packed light, and some more. How about you?
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Doing things the cheapest way, I've never understood this 'travel hack' meme. I sort by price when I'm looking for a hotel, I sort by price when I'm booking a flight, I buy the cheap food, I don't buy things I don't want or need. This somehow has put me in the top 0.1% of people in terms of quality of life I can afford despite making a few measly thousand pojnds a year.
This, but the opposite. Sort by highest price and then scroll down to what I believe is the best price/quality balance.
I have travelled on zero budget and I’ve splurged on luxury trips, and the latter has always been more fun. I’d happily pay $400 more now to stay in a swank hotel rather than a shitty hostel. Or pay extra for more legroom on a long flight or convenient departure times to arrive well rested. The $400 I’ll forget about in a month. I’ll adjust and make it work. But the good memories of staying in a cool place will last a lifetime, while the bad memories of staying in a shitty place after a shitty flight I’ll regret forever.
Basically this. To save money, you should spend less money, that's where most savings are to be made, but I can add a few tips:
Overnight buses are common in many countries and tend to be by far the cheapest form of transport (for appropriate distances). You no longer have to pay for accommodation for a night, and also don't waste time travelling during the day.
Many famous tourist traps have alternatives. Santorini is overpriced and gets boring after a day. Instead go to any of the islands nearby that look almost the same and cost literally half the price, and have less tourists. Obviously, not all tourist traps have alternatives and many are still worth visiting.
Go to the supermarket and learn how to eat cheap with minimal cooking. Save your money for the nice restaurants if you're into nice foods, eating at "cheap" restaurants and takeaway places for every meal makes money go away much faster.
Make enough money that you don't worry about splitting hairs
>hacks to save money
>go to a cheap hotel
Thank you genius. And that photo. It's like this thread was made by an AI.
Poor travelanons are the closest equivalent of NPC, so unsurprising. nice stock photo thou, might use it for my next bait thread.
I don't save money when I travel though, I spend the money I saved it specifically for travel. My two week trip to Japan (including flights) cost around $5500 but I had saved up $8000 for it to really treat myself to A5 wagyu, sea urchins, eels, pufferfish, sake tourism, etc. If I'm abroad I want to spend a lot and enjoy my time as much as I can. I use credit cards to maximize points and try to get free flights that way, while going medium tier expense on hotels (as I'll be out most of the day and night anyway), while out and about I use credit cards to buy the rest and keep track of spending to maximize point gain to do it all over again.
Back home I don't spend money on much. I can get like 25 pounds of chicken for $100 from Costco, with some pasta and asian market deals giving me decent food to eat at home for pretty cheap. Gas and car expenses suck but is what it is, rent is under 1k a month for a 1 bedroom, going out is like $250-400 a month.
Live cheap at home but lavish abroad.
I do the same;
Also, if i was a poorgay, i'd rather have a 4 night stay at a good hotel than a full week at a shitty hotel. If someone can't afford 3 weeks in a good hotel, then just stay 2 weeks, at last, that's how i see it.
what the frick is the reason to pick a good over a shitty hotel? all you need is a bed and a shower, maybe aircon but even the shittiest hotels have that in tropical countries
like what the frick are you doing staying in the hotel room anyways? it's just a place to sleep then you go out and do other stuff
i understand not staying in hostels though because there's other people there, it's annoying as frick they snore, it's cramped there's always noise and you can't bring girls (and i assume hookers even less so)
although i did make some nice encounters there years ago, maybe i should go back before i'm too old for it
It all comes down to what is your standard of living.
If you live in a shitty place, then off course you can tolerate a shitty hotel.
I'd rather have a hotel where other customers are not AIDS ridden prostitutes, drug dealers and migrants. It doesn't mean the Hyatt but normal hotels, let's say starting $/€100 in most places.
well i'm from a shitty part of paris (18th, the one with all the blacks you see on the pictures on /misc/) so honestly a 15€/night hotel in pattaya feels extremely safe and clean by my standards
I don't need a picture, i'm french too. I'd rather kms than live where you live, no offense.
Whenever i can i skip Paris altogether, i'd rather have a connexion flight from my local airport to Bruxelles than a direct flight from Paris CDG to wherever i go.
kek no offense i get it, it truly is a shithole
i was born here so i'm used to it by now, whenever i go out i feel like tintin in congo
Shitty hotels are fine if you aren't used to anything better. When I used to be a student, all I did was shitty hotels and hostels.
But I'm older now and hotels that are significantly worse than my own appartment really bum me out. Also, I have experienced some genuinely luxurious rooms and resorts (I either got upgraded free of charge, or my employer paid for a company trip, or I splurged here and there) and always thought 'fricking hell, I missed out on all this' and ever since I don't want to slum it anymore.
>normal hotels, let's say starting $/€100 in most places.
do you even own a passport?
>like what the frick are you doing staying in the hotel room anyways?
>this
i know ive fricked up if im looking at the four walls of the hotel room
I don't get this though. I might stay in a nice hotel for 1 night a week, or every 2 weeks even. But if I'm travelling ideally I'll be spending the least amount of time possible in the accommodation. I don't take trips to see nice hotels, I'll save that money and stay in shared rooms or cheap hotels.
I think sometimes (or at a certain age), you travel to relax and enjoy yourself, rather than go wild, cause life is stressful enough has it is. The nice room is part of that. It's more like booking a session at a spa, rather than just having a roof over your head.
Like, after a day of sightseeing and drinking, I could go back to my dank hotel room and sleep in my uncomfortable, smelly bed in a loud shitty hotel, and immediately leave again in the morning.
But I could also go back to a nice hotel, and have a nightcap in their luxurious lobby and chat with the bartender, and then take a nice bath and fall asleep on a huge fluffy bed while watching some tv, and in the morning have a nice breakfast freshly prepared in their restaurant, or go to their gym and work out, or even go for a swim for half an hour before I start my day. I'd much rather do any of that for 4 nights then the other one for 7 nights.
This is exactly how to do it. Don't be cheap on vacation unless you plan on being away for a long period of time. Be cheap at home so you can enjoy yourself to the fullest abroad. A nice hotel during your down time can really add to the experience.
book an AirBnB for a week and then negotiate for a monthly rate off site.
Earn points. Fly and stay on points.
What’s best credit card?
Depends entirely on how you spend money. The best car is the one that'll give you the highest return. For someone just getting into the game, Chase Sapphire Preferred is probably the best starter card.
i dont know how but probably using travel as a way to facilitate making some money
i wouldnt put myself on camera so i dont think it would work for me but vlogging all the cheapest or worst rated things on your trip?
I think some really niche blogging would work. I've often thought of doing videos on the convenience stores I go to just to show people the prices and availability of items at that specific time. Not exactly a food blog, more like a snapshot in time.
I always use skyscanner to look flight deals. It works best when you don't have a particular destination in mind. You just look for a great deal and book it. I've had awesome luck traveling in September/October in Europe. I usually $500/roundtrip flights from the west coast of the US to Europe. Ive flown into Germany, Prague, Italy, Barcelona and Switzerland for 500/roundtrip.
The last time I flew to Switzerland, we were able to get a full refund for a flights plus $500 extra by submitting a form to Lufthansa because our flight was delayed and we lost a day of our trip. It was a pretty minor inconvenience for a $1500 refund. Our Airbnb host actually let us stay for an extra day free to make up for it.
You are mostly likely to get scammed by big companies like for car rentals and hotels (especially motels). Don't go too cheap ironically. Get like a step up from it.