Top 10 Travel Hacks That Will Save You Money
Travel Hacks
Travel Hacks are loved by everybody, especially to save some money, when it comes to a vacation. Better to spend that money there, doing things you like, than to pay some extra costs. Here are the Top 10 Travel Hacks, that we have tested and actually work.
Hotel Loyalty Programs
Everybody loves subscribers, so does hotel chains. This way, they make sure that the guests book directly through them, avoiding different commissions. It is a win-win situation. The company saves money and also the guest saves money. Subscribing to a Hotel Loyalty Program, you will be sure to get the “Members only” room rate. Sometimes they have special sales, only for the members. We recommend subscribing to the big chains, the more the better. The big hotel groups, usually have businesses opened in most of the major cities or very touristy cities. This way, you will be covered everywhere you go.
The hotel booking websites
When searching for the perfect accommodation, make sure you heart everything that you like. The trick is to only book that hotel or any type of accommodation you prefer, just in case it is at a great offer. A good idea is to put on your wish list some hotels that are a little above your budget. After a few days, you will probably receive an email, with a discounted offer for the hotels on your Wishlist.
Another idea is to take advantage of the discount vouchers or super sales on those websites. For us, a champion of great discounts is Agoda.
Reward points
Hotel Loyalty Programs and some hotel booking websites, reward their loyal customers in different ways. The hotel’s membership programs usually make a level-by-level system, but also give some reward points, for each stay. The number of points received, depend on duration of your stay, the hotel classification and the amount spent for that reservation. Those points will add up and can be used to: partially pay a future reservation, pay for a meal at their restaurants or pay for a service offered by a partner. Those services usually are: car rentals, tours, concierge or different experiences.
The websites usually use a level up system and you will receive better deals with each level. The best example is Booking’s Genius Program.
The offseason
Go in the offseason. Not exactly in the middle of the offseason, to have the best chance to encounter the worst weather. Visit that place at the beginning or at the end of the offseason. For example: let’s say you want to go to an island, somewhere in Greece. Usually the high season, in this case the summer, begins at 1st of June and end at 31st of August. For this particular example, the best time to go is from 5th till 15th of September. The weather will still be great, but vacations season is over. Most tourists return to work, the kids start school and they still need customers. The prices will be lower, but the experience will still be as great as possible.
Avoid weekends
Don’t avoid weekend entirely, but avoid weekends for flying. This is all related to work. Usually, in weekends, the airports are very crowded. There are a lot of people that commute and return home for the weekend. The business trips usually end on Friday, so another group of people that return home. Another reason is the tourists that cannot take more time off from work. If you leave home Saturday morning and return next week on Sunday, you will have approximately nine days of vacation with only five days off work.
The cheapest days to fly are Tuesday to Thursday. They are exactly in the middle of the week. The winner for the cheapest day is Tuesday.
Airline loyalty
As well as the hotels, the airline companies also have loyalty programs. Through these programs, you can be rewarded miles. Add up as many miles as you can and maybe someday you will be able to buy a ticket with them. Another bonus through their program, is that you can have access to special prices or members only discounts.
Use VPN
Did you know that the prices are different in every country? I’ve checked and yes, they are. When booking a flight check the prices from the destination. For example, if you are flying from London to Istanbul and return. Check the prices for that exact ticket, but from their Turkish page. If prices are the same, sometimes, you can save up by paying in their local currency. To be able to check the real prices in each country, use a VPN and connect to that specific country. Do the same for hotels.
Connections
The bigger the connection, the cheaper the price. If you have to fly somewhere far away and there is no direct flight, remember that first line. Usually, for a far away destination, you will have at least 1 connecting airport. The longer you stay there, the smaller will be the price. Try choosing a connection destination that can be visited and with most of the hours spent there, in the middle of the day. This way you will save money and have the chance to visit another city. Before the pandemic started, Dubai was a top city to try this. I’ve heard about people who stayed two nights in Dubai, as a layover.
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Early booking and last minutes
These terms are usually used by travel agencies for their most popular offers. If you plan on travelling somewhere where is better to book through an agency, try to take advantage of those offers. Usually, the Early Booking terms applies to reservations made from nine to three months before the departure. The last minute was invented for the packages that didn’t sell through out the entire period or for some cases, when there were cancelations. To make sure that they sell everything they can, agencies will reduce the cost of the package. If you have a vacation like this in mind, make sure to take advantage of those offers.
Airline Special Sales
Airlines have birthdays, Christmas, Easter, Valentines or New Years Eve sales. The bigger the event, the bigger the sale season. The best sales for an airline, are when they celebrate their anniversary. Qatar Airways is the champion for these types of event sales.
These Hacks work
We’ve tested all of them. Of course, it is impossible to benefit from all simultaneously, but in time we have used them all. One of the best money savers are the hotel loyalty programs and the weekend avoidance. Those saved us the most money on flights and gave us access to hotels that generally will break your card into pieces. These ten travelling hacks are extremely…Travelicious.