It’s always good to get more value for your buck when it comes to spending money on a holiday. Getting more value from your holiday shouldn’t mean sacrificing your comfort or missing out on experiences.
Rising travel costs, though, seem to be contributing to fewer trips made to dream destinations because, for many, they may feel financially out of reach. However, it’s all about being strategic with your booking habits, knowing what works to help secure the best deal.
If you’re looking for a richer holiday experience and you want to make your budget stretch further, then this guide will help.
Strategic Timing and Shoulder Season Booking
If you’re travelling just before or after peak summer and school holidays, then this is a great way to get a substantial discount. It’s considered the shoulder season and therefore a good time of the year to take advantage of for savings.
It’s a good idea to look at booking flights and accommodation for Tuesdays or Wednesdays when demand and prices tend to plummet.
Flexible searching is something to be aware of, too. Utilising flight aggregation tools with open dates helps to spot the cheapest departure windows available.
Accommodation Tweaks for Big Savings
Apartment rentals over hotels are a great way to gain access to kitchen facilities and to reduce your dining costs as a result. With apartment rentals, it’s not the same price as having to pay for an all-inclusive experience. Whilst part, full-board and all-inclusive offer convenience, they end up costing a fortune on top of the holiday itself.
It’s good to consider the area where you’re looking to stay too. Staying just outside the main tourist zones, near public transit links, will often offer lower room rates as a result.
Contacting boutique properties directly will often help to score perks like free breakfast, upgrades or lower fees on the rooms themselves. All-inclusive cruises are a good way to help save money if you want to try something different from a traditional hotel stay.
Smart Spending on Food and Activities
It’s good to be mindful of your spending habits when you’re out there, especially when it comes to your food and activities.
Eating your main and heavy meal at lunchtime is useful, as this is when restaurants will offer their fixed-price, set menus.
There’s often plenty of free stuff to do when visiting a new place, and so it’s good to research ahead of time for free museum entry days and local city-run walking tours available. Visiting neighbourhood markets is useful for getting to know the locals and taking advantage of their fresh and affordable picnic supplies.
This is much better than eating at tourist traps where you’re going to be spending a lot more money.
Maximising Tech, Loyalty, and Currency
The use of travel credit cards is useful as they eliminate the foreign transaction fees that come with international spending.
Redeeming supermarket, credit card or airline loyalty points for hotels and car rentals is something to make full use of too in order to make some savings upfront.
Local apps are worth making sure to download before you travel. Downloading ride-hailing apps and regional transit will help to avoid overpriced airport taxi rates.
Maximise Your Holiday Budget for Your Next Holiday
The more you can make your money stretch, the better. It’s all about being intentional with your spending, rather than depriving yourself.