Many people believe that money is the only thing holding them back from traveling. Well, you don’t have to be rich to take your family for a vacation. Much of the advice provided on how to travel cheap is very effective but most readers forget about it by the time they are planning their trip months later. These tips on how to save money on holiday vacation is something you can do today.
Cross Reference Destinations
Come up with a list of all the places you want to visit this year. Then do a few tests to rank them based where you might get the most value for your money or the cheap holiday packages. There are sites like Numbeo which rank countries by cost at restaurants and cost of living in cities. To find cheap flight tickets, you may also need to find sites that help you to compare how much you will have to pay on the dates you are planning to go. Lastly, score extra points for destinations where your friends or relatives live and might offer you advice on saving money, free meals or even a place to stay.
Schedule Your Ticket Purchases
You probably have specific dates you need to visit someone or be somewhere this year-a friend’s wedding, your mother’s birthday or even thanks giving at the church. Most airlines are now selling tickets through the end of July, which means you can buy them now and lock in a good price, a convenient move for the disorganized. Unfortunately, now may not get you cheap airline tickets, so ensure that you mark your calendar with a reminder for the best time to buy. You can also set airfare alert just in case cheap tickets come up.
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Unhappy Holiday
It happens all the time. After buying a ticket to a foreign country and discover that you have scheduled your trip during a national holiday, or the first week of your school vacation or some other time where you presume hotels may be overbooked, restaurants closed, streets deserted, local flights pricey. So start searching online now for a calendar of local or national holidays and major festivals.
Sign Up For a Credit Card
Many people wish that credit card companies and airlines would abandon the convoluted, bloated, anti-tourist points and KM’s systems and turn over those resources to low fares and fees across the board. But, of course, that won’t be happening. For occasional fliers, the easiest way to get in on the game is to apply for credit cards that offer a bonus and a full year without annual fee.
You will need to do a little research on credits cards you can get for your next holiday. You can get a credit card that is offering a certain number of KM’s on South African Airlines if you spend a certain amount of money in a certain period of time. You can program a reminder in your phone 11 months ahead, giving you enough time to cancel your credit card before the first annual fee comes.
Crack the Codes
Have you ever felt like typing in your credit card number after spotting a Discount Code box on the your computer screen felt bad because you can find a discount code out there? You can install the Honey browser extension which is known to work on a number of top travel sites, like Hotel.com, Trivago.com and Priceline.com. Once you have installed it, you will get alerts of any discount codes and it will even test them automatically with a single click.
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Switch to a Cheaper Cell Phone Plan
If you will be using your cell phone abroad then it is recommended that you switch to TMobile, which offers free data and text messaging in more than 100 countries versus Sprint’s 50 or so. The data is slow, 2G or 3G, but it’s enough to message or email your friends and colleagues. If you are patient enough, you can use social media apps and Google maps.
It’s not ideal and though it has never failed, it will force you to restart your phone of switch to airplane mode before it latches on to a local carrier. You’ll occasionally need to go into your phone’s settings and test each individual carrier manually until you figure out which one works for you.
Depledge Allegiance
What is your favorite car rental company? Wrong! You should know that prices vary widely and randomly across the companies, dates and locations that it has become crazy for frequent travelers to pay extra money so that they can get a few points or get free upgrade or save a few minutes. Instead, search your favorite online travel company and choose the cheapest rates from an agency you’ve heard of.
Do some agencies have fancier cars? Well, it’s possible, but many hotels have nice beds and you don’t have to pay extra money to stay in them. And the final thing you need to do to enjoy cheap holidays is to find out what your personal insurance and credit card covers so that you can strongly decline what you don’t want at the checkout counter.
Use an Incognito Window or Clear Cookies After Booking a Flight
Reloading your browser won’t make the flight cheaper, but it can make the price go up depend on changes in demand. To avoid this, you will need to clear cookies that store the information about your browsing. This will delete your recent searches. Or, you could use an incognito window.
Book a Secret Hotel
Secret hotel rooms are holiday accommodations being sold at cheaper rates by hotels that don’t want the rooms to remain empty. Although you won’t know the hotel you are booking the room, savings can be as much as 5% off the initially listed price.
Look Into Free Amenities at the Hotel and On the Flight
Hotels and airlines often have free amenities for travelers. Certain alcohol, grooming kits and medications are often provided when you ask. The hotels also offer a number of free amenities ranging from workout gear to adapters, and electronics like iPads and Kindles.
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The post 10 Secrets On How To Save Money For Awesome Cheap Holidays appeared first on Travel Hacking.