Top 5 tips for a cheap vacation
With vacation expenses expected to continue to rise in the coming years, it’s more important than ever to learn ways and practices to keep your travel budget in check. Have you always wanted an affordable vacation within your means and expectations, but not sure how to start planning the perfect budget trip? Don’t worry, here are our top 5 tips for a cheap vacation!
1. Set a travel budget
Starting
Many travelers miss a critical first step, as it’s all too common to go straight to find a dream destination you’ve been reading about or just check out the city your best friends have recommended you visit. Once you’ve started planning your trip, it’s easy to lose track of how much you’ll spend if you don’t have a fixed travel budget in mind. Therefore, we recommend that you first look at how much you are willing and able to spend throughout the trip (flights, hotels, shopping, food and drinks, etc.). Once you’ve established that firm number, you can set individual budgets for the different elements of your trip. And then once you start spending, do your best to stick to those budgets and track your spending for each element of your trip as closely as possible.
Weekly planning
Another great way to determine this budget number is to book a weekly savings plan for your next vacation. For example, if you start planning your trip 20 weeks in advance and are prepared to save $100 per week, then your trip budget will be $2,000. This can also motivate you to cut back on overspending while you’re still at home, like drinking free coffee from the office pantry instead of buying a Starbucks latte or eating less at restaurants.
Travel expenses
Some people also like to set a percentage of their monthly salary that they want to set aside for travel expenses. For example, you can set aside 5% of your monthly salary for your travel allowance for that month, and if you don’t plan to travel that month, you’ll have more to spend on an upcoming trip the following month. You’ll also have the flexibility to choose between smaller trips or combine the savings for a larger trip. The main thing here is to condition yourself to have the discipline to set aside money before you start planning your next trip.
2. Find cheap airline tickets as soon as possible
long term planning
It’s well known in the travel industry that the earlier you start looking for cheap airline tickets, the more likely you’ll be able to find a great deal or special promotional rate. A good guideline is to start looking for cheap airline tickets about three to six months before you plan to travel. Read the BudgetAir.com blog, which features many cheap destinations to consider for your next budget trip. By starting to search for cheap flights on BudgetAir.com early in the travel planning process, you can quickly compare the prices of your desired destinations, and then track their prices over time to see if they’re starting to have a upward or downward trend. This may sound like a complicated process, but it’s actually quite easy, just prepare a simple Excel file with two or three cities you’re considering and update your search every few days so you can follow price developments. To make your life easier, BudgetAir.com has a special page that collects all the special promotional offers so you can quickly take a look and see if anything catches your eye with BudgetAir promotions. You can also sign up for our newsletter to receive special offers directly to your inbox.
last minute planning
However, if you’re the type of traveler who is spontaneous and likes to plan last minute trips to get away from the stress of work, don’t worry, BudgetAir.com has you covered too. If you’re traveling alone or as a couple and have the flexibility of when to go and return, you can also sometimes get great last-minute deals. We have prepared a special page that shows all the last minute offers. Please check back often as this page is updated regularly and will allow you to see exactly where to head for a last minute cheap getaway. We will do the curatorship for you, you just need to search and book at
3. Get a travel credit card
credit card options
With so many credit cards on offer these days, you’ll have countless options when looking for the best credit card to use. We recommend that you get a travel-related credit card, as these cards offer you several benefits, such as miles for cash promotions, mileage accrual with regular spending, extra miles for travel-related spending, and bonus miles when you’re on the road. foreign. Some travel credit cards also come with free travel insurance if you use the card to book your flights and hotels, and some cards provide free access to lounges so you can relax or grab a bite to eat before you catch your flight. Others offer free airport transfers or 24/7 concierge services while you’re on vacation. Just be sure to remember to activate your card for spending abroad before you take off, so you can take full advantage of the bonuses these cards offer.
Installment Plans
In addition to travel credit cards, you might also consider cards that offer 0% installment plans for large purchases. This means you could potentially pay for your trip over a 6- or 12-month period, so while your total spend will stay the same, you’ll be able to pay for your trip in smaller chunks rather than all at once. You must exercise strict discipline and always remember to pay your cards on time, or late fees and interest charges will take a big toll on your savings.
4. Take a trip off-peak if you can
Avoid weekends and holidays
The travel industry is very price sensitive based on supply and demand, which means that if you want to travel during school holidays or Christmas or Chinese New Year, you can expect to pay more than if you travel during low seasons. . Depending on the flexibility of your company’s vacation policy, you can take advantage of big savings by traveling when fewer people are traveling. For example, leaving on a Friday night and returning on Sunday afternoon is usually an option for travelers who don’t have much of a vacation and therefore the demand is quite high. If you can take an extra day of leave on Friday, you could leave on Thursday and save some money on your outbound flight. Or consider extending your trip until Monday or Tuesday, when there will be fewer travelers on the same flight and you could save some money on your return flight. You can play around with various dates on BudgetAir.com until you find the price you’re looking for and within the budget you set above.
Save with red-eye flights
Another bonus tip here is to choose a red-eye flight option. This means you fly late at night and arrive at your destination in the morning, essentially saving you a night’s accommodation. Many travelers do not like this option because most find it difficult to sleep on airplanes and prefer to sleep in hotels, but if you are a budget traveler who can fall asleep easily, this option can save you a lot of money as the demand is less. and you will save an additional night of hotel expenses. You can then use these savings on a better hotel or a few extra purchases during your trip, or on a spa treatment and a nice meal when you arrive in the morning.
Avoid baggage costs
One of the costs that many travelers overlook is baggage costs. If you’re flying on a budget airline, read in advance how much baggage is available for free and plan how much you’ll need for your trip. If you are going for a weekend getaway, normally the free hand baggage allowance will be enough for you, but if you are going to do a lot of shopping for yourself or are expected to buy a lot of gifts for your friends back home, then you should estimate how much luggage weight you will need to purchase prior to your trip. It is always cheaper to buy the weight of luggage in advance than to risk last minute excess charges at the airport. These excessive charges can really put a dent in your travel budget if you’re not careful. A worthwhile investment for regular travelers is a luggage scale so you can be sure you don’t exceed the luggage guidelines of the airline you fly with.