Yes travel costs money but make sure you are not paying more than you need to. Learning more about travel planning is one of the best ways to pay less for travel because the information makes you more aware of resources and tools that you should be using. I get a thrill out of paying as little as possible when I travel. So I decided to write this post about the ways to cut down on two of the biggest travel expenses – your flights and accommodation. Everything in this post are travel hacks that I have used that actually work. Let’s talk about flights first and then go into the ways to spend less on accommodation.
How to pay less for flights
Flights have been the trickiest expense to cut down. I’ve spent a lot of time reading up and testing different methods on how to get cheap flights. Some popular flight hacks include
- booking your flights on a Tuesday
- Putting your web browser on secret/incognito mode while doing your flight search.
I do both of these things but it’s difficult to tell what difference they are making. For me, these two methods have actually worked to get cheap flights and ultimately pay less for travel:
Flight tip #1- Avoid traveling during popular times
The prices sky rocket over public holidays because the demand is high. I have seen return flights to Mauritius from South Africa over Easter weekend reaching R20000 but I have paid R5800 for return flights during other periods. The difference really can be that big!
This is quite sad because the public holidays are when a lot of us finally have free time to travel. If traveling locally on a public holiday, consider other ways to get there – more on this later in this post. Alternatively make sure you are the early bird that plans well ahead. Booking last minute for a popular period is guaranteed way to spend way more than you need to.
Flight tip #2 - Use Skyscanner flight tracking
Skyscanner is a flight comparison website. It has this really cool feature that allows you to track the price of a flight without having to keep going back to a website to see if a flight price has changed. Instead, you receive email notifications every time the price of the flight you want to book increases or decreases.
I have really found this useful for trips that I am planning a few months in advance. Why pay more when you can wait to see the direction that the price is going and pay less instead?
How to pay less for accommodation
Collaborate with brands
As a travel blogger, I use my social media pages and website as platforms to share about brands in exchange for sponsored stays. I do it by writing a proposal that I email to brands. Then I wait in anticipation for their response.
I understand that not everyone has a blog or is interested in blogging but maybe you have a different skill that you can offer in exchange instead.
Maybe you are great at creating websites and would be able to do some improvements to their site? Maybe you are a talented photographer and can offer them high quality images of their accommodation? Whatever it is, make a pitch, you will be surprised at what your skills can get you in return.
This is another method that is worth a try. Always tell yourself that the worst that can happen is that they say no or don’t reply. And that doesn’t matter! You lose nothing
If you are interested in starting a blog or learning about how to improve your blog, checkout my blogging tips series. You will find a step by step guide to getting your blog set up by yourself in 30 min.
Have a question or comment? You’re welcome to leave a comment below.
Pay less for travel so that you can travel even more!
Those are great tips. I love to travel as well. I have started my traveling journey last year and I am excited to visit many places. Thanks for sharing these wonderful tips.
It’s a pleasure. Thank you for the feedback!
It’s always great to hear from a fellow travel lover. Yes girl, keep traveling
I am definitely trying the hostel advice on my next trip
Yaaaas! Let me know how it goes
PAYING R650 TO CLIMB UP A FREE MOUNTAIN!! I died laughing. 😀
😂😂😂😂 Got to save all those people their R650!
Looking to explore hostels now😁
I always find great ideas on your page when planning a trip
That’s awesome! Let me know how it goes. So happy that you find my blog helpful.
I’m a hotel girl but I tried backpackers for my Swakopmund stay and it was perfect, better than some hotels I’ve stayed at before. I didn’t have any extra facilities just basic but I’m impressed. Not sure I’ll be so lucky next time. I paid R550 for 3 days VS R1150 for one night in Walvis Bay
Wow that’s such a difference! And it’s great to hear that you liked staying in the hostel. Thank you for sharing, that story will definitely encourage others
Thank you for sharing and for summarising very well (pay less for travel) I’m taking this tips with me.
It’s a pleasure. I’m glad it was useful!
Fantastic, thank you. I’m going to look more into that one of collaborating with brands. I appreciate your reads.
Thank you for reading 😊 Ah fantastic! Go for it. All the best
This was so helpful! Thank you 🙂