There are two main reasons why people do not travel more. Some people just don’t have the time. After all, they have to take days off from work, and even outside of it, their absence may be felt in their social circle.
The second reason is the fact that traveling is often expensive. Even if we discard the fact that you’re usually not earning money while traveling, you’re paying for accommodation (which is proportionally often more expensive than your daily rent), spending more on food (usually no home-cooking meals), etc. Not to mention that people who travel tend to be a bit more generous than they would be back at home. But there are ways to save money while traveling.
Keep reading for the top six ways to help you save money while traveling.
Save Money While Traveling
1. Use a VPN to avoid price discrimination
The first thing you need to understand is the concept of price discrimination. Local businesses that have the option to book online sometimes track your GPS location and charge you more if they recognize that you’re coming from a rich country.
This means that you’ll end up paying more for the same service. This is nothing new or uncommon; after all, even offline businesses are known for charging tourists more because they know they can afford it.
You should never agree to this.
After all, you’re getting the exact same deal, product, or service and paying more for it (more than you have to).
The best way to avoid it is to use a VPN. This way, you conceal your true location and get to see if there’s any price discrepancy.
You don’t even have to do this while at home; you could do it while you’re already there. According to Nick Saraev from Techopedia, by checking out the best mobile VPN for every device, you’ll be able to do extensive research and avoid any geo-restrictions, both of which are detrimental when trying to save money on your travel.
2. Prioritize online entertainment
Another thing you can do is prioritize online entertainment instead of pursuing it locally. Local entertainment can be incredibly expensive. Even if it is not expensive, you may not have a firm grasp on the local currency, which means that you might end up spending more money just because you’ve underestimated the strength of the currency.
Sure, you’re traveling to see new things and explore new options, but going to a local cinema instead of watching a movie on your Max app is not a wise way to use your resources. You can even watch it at a local beach, thus getting the most out of a beautiful setting.
There are also scenarios where it’s both cheaper and safer to do an activity online. For instance, there are so many crypto-gambling sites that will make wagering available even if it’s not locally. Moreover, you will save so much money on drinks and tips if you play online, compared to what it would cost you to do at the casino.
3. Cheaper accommodations don’t have to feel cheaper
There are so many misconceptions and prejudices about hotels that travelers believe. Not only do they believe it, they mold their decisions around them. They assume that just because something is cheap, it has to be bad or of poor quality. They also assume that just because something is expensive, it’s worth it.
This is definitely not the case, and the best way to demonstrate this is by using an example.
Just take a look at a list of cheap hotels in Orlando and try to honestly evaluate if hotels that cost twice as much per night are twice as good. The cost goes up exponentially while the quality might move only slightly (and linearly).
Moreover, the cost of a room often depends on the location and not the quality of the accommodation itself. This is also something you have to keep in mind.
4. Loyalty programs and rewards
A loyalty program is, generally speaking, an idea of an airline, a hotel, or a service to encourage you to come back. They often award points for using these services, and you can later redeem these points for all sorts of useful things (sometimes even cash or discounts).
The general idea is that you would use the services that you’re already using, but you’re squeezing out a bit of extra value through the loyalty program.
The downside is that it can backfire.
For instance, you can fall into the psychological phenomenon known as the sunken value fallacy. Here, you believe you’ve already invested so much, and you have all these points that you can’t afford to let go to waste.
Just try not to be motivated by these loyalty programs and rewards to spend more. The motivation to earn points may actually cost you more than it saves.
5. Plan the ways to stay connected
Staying in touch with people while you travel is pretty easy as long as you’re using the internet. Just find a free Wi-Fi and use your IM software to contact people back at home. However, you have quite a few options even outside of free Wi-Fi.
You see, when using mobile internet, what you’re trying to do is avoid roaming. Since your own network still wants to provide you with internet service but doesn’t have the infrastructure abroad, what they do is buy these services from the local network and sell them back to you. They still want to make a profit, so they inflate the price, and you end up paying a lot more.
The simplest way to avoid roaming is to get a local SIM card. This way, you get to use the local internet from local providers (just like you would with roaming); you just get to pay less for it.
6. Travel during off-peak times
Every tourist place has a peak time of visitation. It’s usually during summer when people are on their vacation season or in winter during the Holiday season. Events like Spring break also come to mind.
The bottom line is that since everyone is traveling during these times, local accommodation venues tend to pump up their prices. Other venues do, too, so don’t be surprised if the cost of a meal or a beverage slightly increases during this time.
Now, while there are some parts of the year that are especially appealing to travelers, sometimes the peak time is based on the location. For instance, if there’s an event there, a festival of sorts or something like that, chances are that the majority of other tourists will plan their visit around this time.
Sure, the incentive to go there while there’s something unique actually going on is strong, however, if your priority is to save money, traveling during off-peak times is the only thing that actually makes sense.
Saving More While Traveling is Always a Good Thing
We’re not suggesting that you travel in a more modest fashion if you believe this would ruin your journey’s quality. All that we’re saying is that if you want to save money on your journey, doing so might be simpler than you think. Even downloading a budgeting or travel spending app could make a huge difference. If you use some (or all) of the tips listed above, you stand to save a significant amount.
