The Cheapskate’s Guide to Travel
Many, many articles on the interwebz purport to detail how to travel for free. Newsflash: you can’t. You can spend money to earn points, spend labour to earn “free” accommodation or, in the case of writers and bloggers, “free” trips, swap the house you’ve paid for for another house someone else paid for, or get, ya know, a job overseas.
You can, however, travel cheaper. Yes, even if you’re not travelling longterm. Here’s how.
1: Travel in Shoulder Seasons
Yes, yes, yes, I know this isn’t possible if you have kids in school. But if you don’t, what on earth is the point of having a summer holiday over the school holidays? Travel outside the school holidays, and everything’s cheaper – from flights to accommodation – and way less crowded, while you’ll likely find it easier to get time off. Also – unless you happen to live in a tourist destination – home tends to be much, much nicer at peak holiday season.
2: Take Advantage of Airline Sales
Airline sales periods have two advantages for the cheapskate traveller. First, you may actually want to go on one of the routes that are on sale during the period they are on sale for, in which case, go for your life (after checking weather conditions in your destination at that time of year, natch). Secondly, sale routes are often great indicators of routes that are going to be cheap on other airlines anyway, which will come in very handy if, let’s say, you’re looking to head from Asia to Europe or vice versa.
3: Learn How to Use Skyscanner
Skyscanner is a fantastic flight search engine. But to get your money’s worth, you’ll need to know how to navigate it. They have three great tools which are worth using: first, the “everywhere” option, which is great if you’ve got time but limited money and no fixed plans, secondly, the “search whole month” option, and thirdly the “nearby airports option”.
It’s also worth being aware of their country sites: because each local site will pull up slightly different deals from local travel agents. If you’re flying from an airport that’s not your home airport – let’s say you’ve already identified that Kuala Lumpur to Paris is your cheapest route from Asia to Europe over Christmas – use the local site (in this instance, skyscanner.com.my) to search for local agents that may already have deals on those tickets. Run multiple searches for slightly different date permutations over a period of a few days. Also, don’t be afraid to buy two singles rather than a return.
4: Don’t Get Hung up on Points
Sure, if your work pays for your flights, points come in extremely handy – use them, if you’ve got them. For most of the rest of us, you’ll lose more in the brand loyalty needed to acquire “free” points than you’ll gain by using them. Don’t even get me started on credit card points. You’re not travelling the world for free if you’re spending thousands of dollars to get the “free” travel (as this entertaining post explains), and if you don’t have the money in the bank to pay down all those credit cards, you’re looking at the demon compound interest.
5: Balance Flight Cost and Flight Comfort
Take a close look at apparently bargain tickets to see what layovers are involved and where, and what airline you’ll be on. We once spent a nine-hour layover in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia – fun facts! The transit terminal has no cash machine, and you can only get online with a Saudi mobile number – and really we’d have been better flying elsewhere. You really want under two hours or 12-18 hours (depending on time of day): either a quick breather, a coffee, a snack and stretch your legs, or enough time to get out of the airport and do something (check whether you’ll need a visa to leave the airport, too). For long-haul, get nerdy on the type of plane and leg-room (seatguru can help with this).
6: Work Out How You’ll Get to and From the Airport
Most airports have a public transport solution that’s often almost as quick as the headline express service and a fraction of the price. These are, however, generally rather less well-advertised, due to not having marketing budget – Barcelona airport is one of few that’s transparent about cheaper options. Want an Express service? Consider booking in advance: if you’re organised 90 days ahead of time, the ludicrously exxy Heathrow Express will cost only slightly more than the tube fare. Be especially cautious when arriving late or leaving early: be sure there’s a public transport option. That flight might just be cheap because it’s going to cost an extra $50 in taxis to get to the airport.
7: Check Baggage Allowances
Most budget airlines charge extra for hold baggage, and they all have slightly different sizing for what counts as cabin baggage: some will allow you a handbag or a laptop bag in addition to your carry-on, others won’t. I’m a big fan of flying cabin baggage only when possible, but do check the dimensions before you go, measure your bag and be sure you’ve got space for whatever you’re bringing back to avoid ugly and expensive scenes at the airport.
8: Take the Train
This sustainable travel option comes a long way down the list, sadly, due to the FUBAR economics of travel in most countries and the lobbying clout of the aviation industry. EuroStar is by FAR the best way to get from Paris to London, bringing you centre to centre for as little as 45 euros, provided you book about a bazillion years in advance and travel off peak. China is an honourable exception, being one of few nations where train is, as it should be, cheaper than planes. Booked well in advance, long distance bus services tend to be the cheapest way to cover medium distances. They’re also typically a brutal way to travel.
9: Use Agoda
Disclosure: I’m an Agoda affiliate. I find Agoda great for last-minute travel in particular – not only do they have a best price guarantee, but they have “insider deals” for members. I tried this function – where you learn the star rating, the review score and the broad location of the hotel before you book, but not which hotel you’re booking – on a whim at an airport, and scored a room in a perfectly nice five-star hotel for under $40 including breakfast. They’ve also got a very good and flexible search engine, while their reviews, being harder to game than TripAdvisor’s famously fakeable reviews, tend to be reliable. We used a combination of Agoda and LateRooms.com to travel Italy in high season, and consistently found decent, central three-star hotels with ensuite bathrooms for under 50 euros a night. You can also use Agoda when planning travel further out – keep an eye on availability and wait till prices drop. Even if you know where you want to stay already, check the property listing for discount rates as it will typically be lower than rack rate.
10: Use AirBNB or Similar
I don’t like what AirBNB does to communities, but I do like it as a way to get multiple rooms affordably, important if you’re a family with older children. Watching and waiting can be a great strategy to get a good deal here, while most hosts will discount if you’re filling a gap in their calendar. If travelling in peak season (do please try not to!), check off-peak rates to see what wiggle room there might be. Depending where you are, and how many you are, self-catering can also save a fortune (and, in winter, you’ll be thankful for a washing machine, too). Note that you’ll often get better deals on smaller AirBNB clones, like Wimdu, Roomorama and 9Flats, but you’ll also spend much more of your time sending messages to accounts that haven’t been updated since the late Stone Age.
11: House-Sit or House-Swap
House sits, due to their very specific duration, tend to be best suited to people doing longterm travel, i.e., not most of us – the most fabulous homes can sometimes come with quite onerous obligations. But home exchanges, if you have the time to devote to juggling calendars and nurturing relationships, can make an excellent way to travel – especially for families, who need multiple rooms.
12: Never Eat or Drink Anything Within Sight of a Tourist Attraction*
*There are some exceptions to this rule: I’ll pay a premium for a cocktail with a sunset view over Florence, I quite happily shelled out SGD20 for a coffee and a Coke on top of a giant light-up tree in Singapore, I’m a sucker for rooftop bars, and I couldn’t resist the chance to have a drink in a 2000-year-old tomb at Petra, either. But, generally speaking, if you eat or drink within sight of a tourist attraction you’re paying extra dollars for much worse food and drink. (I could have got much better drinks elsewhere than I had at all of these spots, but that was not the point. 10 euros for an espresso on Piazza San Marco? F off.)
13: Never Eat or Drink Anywhere with a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence in the Window
You know what? If a restaurant’s that good it won’t need the TripAdvisor advertising, and it likely won’t want to be full of tourists either. Further, the TripAdvisor effect – soaring prices, deteriorating food – is now at least as potent and as toxic as the Lonely Planet effect once was (more, probably, given the numbers involved). Want to find a great restaurant? Use a guidebook, read the restaurant reviews in the local newspaper, talk to folk who know, Google (with due attention to paid-for or comped-in-exchange-for-flattery “reviews” and old city guides with a recent date put on them), Duck Duck Go or just wander and check menus till you find somewhere that looks good. (I’m not a fan of TripAdvisor.)
14: In a City? Stay Central and Walk
Walking is the single best way to see a city. It’s also cheaper than public transport or taxis. In all but the most expensive cities, it’s usually possible to find somewhere central and walkable, which will vastly improve your mood and not involve mornings spent waiting for buses. (London Underground has a great map of walking distances between tubes.)
15: Bring Coffee or Tea
OK, so this is a real cheapskate move. However: whether you’re fussy about your coffee (or tea), or simply averse to paying hotel/restaurant/Starbucks prices whenever you fancy a cuppa, bringing your own makes a whole bunch of sense. See also, in some countries, wine.
16: Balance Splurging with Cheapskatery
Good food is a major part of travel for me. But pick where you’re going to splurge. Around those splurges, explore street food, do picnics, feed your face on a hotel breakfast, eat at cheap cafes, or check out prix fixe and set lunch deals.
17: Want Data? Buy a Local SIM
Data roaming prices are usually ridiculous. If you can’t live without your phone, can’t wait till you get wifi and are only visiting one country, pick up a local SIM with a data package and use that.
18: Don’t Buy City Passes Unless You’re Sure You’ll Use Them
Most people have a cap to how many sights they can see in a day – although see this nightmarish $120,000 luxury route march for an idea of how some really don’t. Group attraction tickets can seem like a great deal. Very often, they’re not.
19: Buy a Guidebook
Yes, I’m serious. If it’s your first visit somewhere, that lump of dead tree can help save a fortune, whether it’s avoiding common scams, finding a cheap route from A to B that’s not the one your hotel or tout or neighbourhood link-buyer wants to sell you, understanding weather and peak seasons, and, perhaps most importantly, giving you background on the history and culture of the place you’re in. I like Lonely Planet, Rough Guides and Bradt, depending on destination, but the date of the edition will likely trump most brand and style preferences.
Awesome tips, and I like the animations you have used in your writings. Overall i like the blog.
I like your blog. It have some utile informations and other are for enjoy, of course! 🙂 I wrote a fictional story about a zombie apocalypse. OK, I know thats a cliche, but you can confer my version of it above:
How escape a zombie apocalypse:
James and Kade were two teenagers spending their school holidays at the same hotel in green and lush Bali, although their stories are completely different: James is an young Canadian boy who’s studying Biology at paradisiacal island of Bali and Kade is a Balinese girl, daughter of the owners of the hostel where James is. At the second day of beach, James climb out of bed, somnolent, and try to send a message to Sam, his best friend, but Sam replied it of an unusual form: Sam was screaming and crying, and said that his dad was bitten by any animal who was acting strangely, and, with a few seconds, became extremely aggressive and tried to bite other persons of the home, so, they had to left the house. But other persons in Ontario were acting of the same manner, all of them were apparently bitten by an animal. James don’t became concerned at first, because he was in paradise Bali, at a beautiful hotel located near to Sanur beach and with a charming girl. What are the chances of it going wrong? None, so it’s all OK? Yes, yes, he thunk it at first, but Kade called him, screaming and crying like a baby, saying that her brother became aggressive and tried to bite her hand like a dog. He simply became irrational as a rabid animal. And other persons at the island started to complain of similar situations. Some of them said that it was rabies, other said that it was caused by a new virus or bacteria, but the tension was killing them. The collective hysteria was installed. Nobody wanted to stay without a concrete answer about what was it. When James ringed to Sam, he said that persons at the island were with the same complains, but it wasn’t only in Ontario and Sanur, but yes the virus spread to Rio de Janeiro, London, Paris, Melbourne, New York, Cape Town, Beijing, Cancún… Nobody was safe. And so it begins.
‘Mmmm… This’s pretty strange’, James said.
‘What can be causing it? Do you have any idea?’, Kade asked him.
‘Not yet. But I think that it can be a mutation on rabies virus, a new virus, who can be used as biological weapon or anything similar’, he said.
‘Oh my God. What we should do?’, Kade father’s asked.
‘We need get out of here! Just get out of here. And try to find an infectious disease expert, such as those people of WHO or anything similar. But, first, we’ll found if have any vaccine’, said James. Kade and her dad agreed. And them they get out of the hotel, Kade adopted a small black puppy that she named as Winnie.
‘It’s a Bali dog, no? In other times, I would think it great, but, now, a dog is the last thing we need! It’ll only cause more problems for us. And we don’t know if this outbreak started with a dog!’, James screamed.
‘But we don’t let Winnie here. She can be attacked by other dogs! And why you need to be too boring?’ Kade said. James obviously wasn’t convinced of the necessity of having a dog at this moment, but he just accepted the fact of that he was taking care of a 17-years-old girl AND a mischief puppy who don’t know how to be a puppy at all. Poor Winnie. When they think that things can’t become worst, Winnie started to bark. And it appears to attract both zombies-like persons and animals.
‘Oh, great… You condemned all of us. And all that confusion due to a dog! Due to that stupid dog that you insist on bringing up to a escape to none place!’, James complained to Kade.
‘No! She’s my doggy. And I won’t left she become attacked by a zombie. Do you would like if I made it with you? Do you would like it?’, she screamed with James.
‘No! I won’t like! But just run! Those zombies are running faster than you!’, James screamed. And the pack continued the long journey, until they became too exhaust to go and had to stop at a café. But there were none person, except by the sympathetic attendant.
‘Oh! It looks like that we have clients. What do yours would like?’, she answered, loving and tranquil, despite what was occurring outside the café.
‘We just need some refrigerant and we’re going out. Oh… Do you noticed some persons acting strangely, like rabid dogs?’, Kade asked.
‘Oh! It’s occurring with others? I thunk that it only occurred with my son. He was normal when I left the shop, but when I returned, he was obviously very sick, and developed an encephalitis. He’s now at the hospital, battling for life’, the attendant said, mournful.
‘Oh. So sad to hear about your son. But we’re now trying to found what’s occurring. And we’ll find the vaccine! Do you want to go with us?’, James asked.
‘Oh, no, no. I’ll stay here with my son. And you and your pack will discover what’s happening! Go now, my little James Holmes!’ the attendant said to the boy, without hiding her hope.
‘T-thanks! You almost killed me of shame’, James said, laughing a lot. And they leaved the café. They took a bus to the airport, who was only with a few people, obviously. James and Kade’s family picked up a plane to New York, to found a doctor who had discovered that it was a rabies-like virus who causes abnormal comportment, but not closely related with rabies, but rabies vaccine seems to prevent it. So, the doctor equip vaccinated some persons against it and treated the infected, so, the other rest of population became free of that disease. What do you think about my story? 🙂 this story shows how good humanity can be and why we don’t have to lost our trust on it.
Hi Rosita, I like it. But try to show not tell – so describe what he did that made him like a rabid animal! Theodora
Its a fictional story, but I’ll try to show more and tell less! Thank you. It’ll be utile if I want to become a good writer 😀
Hi, Thea, do you would like a puppy? If yes, visit BARC sanctuary or BAWA shelter. If not, OK. But you maybe miss your beloved Winnie. How sad! And that was a pretty scary story, no? Yes, yes, I know. What I think that was pretty avoidable was the fact of that she caught any disease due to dog bites, perhaps an infection who wasn’t rabies, thankfully. If you want another puppy, you should to be more attempt to those outbreaks of rabies who occurs on Island of Gods and don’t let your puppy go out when he/she don’t had all shots to prevent those horrible diseases, as rabies and distemper and also worms. Rabies in dogs can have so many symptoms further than the classical vicious dog drooling and biting other persons. This’s just the memory who’s on our imaginary, but those aren’t necessarily rabies symptoms. Rabies can have a variety of symptoms, so, an excessively fearful and scared dog can be rabid. A dog who’s barking with a bitonal sound can be rabid (the bitonal bark a big differential of the disease that no one who had heard will forget). A paralyzed dog can be rabid. A dog who’s having convulsions can be rabid. So, as you can conclude, the disease can have lots of symptoms who can be mistaken with other diseases, as distemper and epilepsy. Rabies don’t have cure, unfortunately, and the vet will probably euthanize the animal to relieve its suffering. Personally, I’m against the idea of euthanizing a rabies suspect animal, I would like to maintain it on an isolated and quiet place, in observation, with restrict access. I would never hurt any sentient creature, because I believe that bad karma may follow those who torture or kills animals and persons. I also belief that dogs can accompany persons on the path to Heaven. But those are my beliefs, you maybe have another beliefs on that way. I’ll not approve killing of animals, but if the animal’s showing rabies symptoms, you may face a dilemma, because it’s a disease who causes so much suffering and the animal won’t be better and can also be facing a risk of catching the disease, so, you’ll not have so much choices. I can understand why you preferred put your beloved Winnie to sleep, although it wasn’t a rabies case. Luckily, rabies is an easily preventable illness (in thesis, at least). Unfortunately, some countries don’t have money to prevent it or simply don’t import with the gravity of the situation (I hope that it isn’t Bali case). OK, I know that Bali isn’t a country, but I putted it on separately, because its culture is too unique and different of another places of Indonesia. To prevent both rabies and distemper, you must vaccinate your dog, if you want to have another, but I’m pretty sure that you won’t do it, because Winnie’s experience was traumatic. I really can understand it. But if, just if, you see a dog showing any of those symptoms that I listed above, stay out of it, because can be (and is) dangerous to you, specially if you don’t know if it’s a vaccinated one (example: a street dog who’s showing a weird comportment). This’s just an advice from your Brazilian-with-Balinese soul dog-lover-friend who understand a lot about dogs and their illnesses, although I’m not a vet.
My NEW puppy story:
I was really wanting to have another dog to make company to Cleo, our beloved Yorkshire Terrier, so, I googled “cachorros para vender no Brazil [dogs for sale in Brazil]”, and clicked on an advice that I liked: some puppies for sale in Minas Gerais. And then there was Winnie. Gorgeous, floppy-eared, black Winnie, who didn’t seem to know how to be a normal puppy at all. I loved Winnie at first time, she was practically a canine version of Bob Marley, what made me laugh with her canine version of dreadlocks. I liked she, and, if the dog at the posts about your Winnie (part 1 and 2) was really she, my Winnie may be a reincarnation of your one hahaha but the hard thing was to convince mommy to have another dog at our tiny apartment. Could I do it? Well, yes, I could try. I didn’t knew if she would really accept that, but it was OK. I showed her a photo of the puppy, but, to talk the true, I was really hoping that she would refuse it. Luckily, she accepted it…with a promise: that I would walk it all weekends. Weh, I could try, because the idea of having that puppy was mine. Yet having already inflicted two dogs on our long-suffering family, there was apparently no space for poor, forlorn Winnie, but I was decided to keep it with me. Even if she resolutely refused to play with her ball, or her squeaky toy, or show any interest in the foods I desultorily threw, and seemed positively resentful about being removed from the sofa. I am fresh back from a travel around Chile, and gripping with the vicissitudes of local internet connection, when the gate opens.
Several months ago, the long-awaited day finally arrived, and cute Winnie was on our home! The first step was taking it to the vet, to an appointment. On release from the vet, I discovered that Winnie was even more quiet than Cleo, so, I really wasn’t waiting anymore of her behavior, because if it was more calm than Cleo, it was a zen puppy. Luckily, Winnie, like Cleo, don’t had the worst phase of a puppy: chewing furnitures. The vet said that Winnie really need walk, like all dogs. Mommy and I hold a summit meeting. We ARE, we decide, going to do this properly. We will buy a leash, and take Winnie for walks on the front of the condo, like a pedigree dog. We will spend a small fortune on stupidly expensive pet food so that she gains weight. She might be born onto a little city, we conclude, but Winnie’s lifestyle aspirations are firmly cosmopolitan. And so it begins. Winnie does not like her leash. Nor does I like the idea of walking a dog. I literally have to drag her out of the house. Yet, the more we walk her, the more socialised she becomes. She stops and sniffs at other dogs – occasionally yapping at them, rather unnervingly. I interact with other dog-owners, as the dog person that I am. In one night, I was feeling bad, although it just a mild case of dengue, but the true is that it isn’t a restful night’s sleep for me, who was feeling bad, with intense pains and I was missing a pet to make company at that night, so, I decided to pick Winnie to my room. “Only that night”, I tried promise to myself. It takes me approximately three seconds of inspecting the terrified, disoriented creature in the sofa to conclude that Winnie is somnolent, and, when I took it, she bit me on the right arm. I really wasn’t much concerned about that, but, at the next day, I washed my right arm frenetically, fearful that I was contracting rabies, because the puppy was too young for take its rabies shots, but, of course, I was just exaggerating. So I am immersed in a nonsense movie when Winnie jumps on the couch and starts running up and down it. This seems both odd and unlikely to improve the cushions, so I pick her up and put her on the floor. She jumps back on, and sleep on the couch. Winnie always had that odd “sleep ritual”, I don’t know if it’s common to other dogs, because Cleo never did it.
One of our friend’s baby had routinely play with Cleo, and she wanted to know our new puppy, Winnie. Ignoring all advice from interested parties of ‘for god’s sake, the dog will make the baby sick’, and breathing a quiet sigh of relief that I’ve mentioned nothing about having a new dog to the neighbors, but they probably had noticed until that, mommy and I decide that we will go walk her properly, and bring her a toy to play with while Cleo’s also wanting to play. I delve deeply into the complex and wonderful world of canine breeds and animal health books, and I solemnly decide that I need to train Winnie, as I did with Cleo, but, first of all, we bough a toy for Winnie, who is, after all, only a puppy – and a much-loved puppy, with lots of canine and human friends, as one of our friend’s daughter. And so, they finally visited us, or better, Winnie. “Oi [Hello]”, the child says, brightly. “Au au [Woof Woof!]”, she said, pointing to Cleo, although she wasn’t obviously referring to Cleo, but yes to Winnie. I seemed a little surprised, but take them through. Winnie putted herself on a cage, pretty isolated from Cleo, both food and water bowl untouched. She is more forlorn and skinnier than usual, although we noticed that she was eating a lot, but she’s very active, so, she wouldn’t be an obese dog, thank God. She was growling and snarling to Cleo, and brought her own toy to our friend’s daughter. They looked at each other, without saying nothing. Winnie’s always doing funny things, that make me laugh. I scream like a girl and leap in the air. I am, I decide, smiling, definitely a dog person. If, only if, anyone want Winnie to be a police dog, I’ll probably refuse, because she’s my little big dog, although she have so much potential and uses it during the canine shows who occurs sometimes here on my city. Only more one time, if the dog on the photo about Winnie story (part 1 and 2) was really Winnie, I can conclude that my Winnie may be a reincarnation of your hahaha Weh, what do you think about my new puppy story? 😉
Fantastic article, It was very interesting to read it…
Excellent in-depth guide to saving money … #12 and 13 are so true!