6 Traveling Hacks That Still Save You Money

Traveling can be fun, enlightening, and at times, expensive. Traveling can really hurt your pockets, especially when made without proper planning.

Your limited budget should never be a reason not to enjoy your vacation.

Today we prepared six easy hacks when traveling (while still actually saving money!) that you can incorporate in your next budget travel.

1. It Pays To Plan Ahead

Set a travel budget before you leave, and swear that you follow it.

You can make an estimate of all costs associated with your travel, including those unexpected ones.

Book your hotel room months early. This way, you can set your travel budget more accurately. 

If you wish to save more money, get yourself familiar with the public transportation in the area and how much it costs.

Do not set aside a large chunk of money for souvenirs.

Your friends and family will appreciate funny stories better than unoriginal, mass-produced bracelets.

2. When Booking Flights or Hotels, Use Your Points Instead Of Your Money

Using your credit card miles and points is the best and cheapest way to book your flights and hotels.

If you have a Jet Blue credit card, you can choose to redeem your accumulated miles and points to saveyou hundreds of dollars.

Watch out for flights leaving on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays as these are the cheapest days to fly. 

3. Be Your Own Tour Guide

Most people tend to pay for guided tours as this is the easiest way to explore a city.

Guided tours do not usually come cheap, and they do not give you enough time to explore on your own as you should always stick with your group.

We have listed some free apps below that replace those expensive tour guides in case you enjoy wandering off alone:

- Detour – This is not your typical audio tour as the app can pinpoint your exact location and give you an overview of a destination, complete with interviews.

- Filed Trip by Google– This app by Google will run in the background and give you helpful information about several spots in the world through popup notifications. 

- Cities Talking – This app will prove to be really helpful for tourists because it provides its users some audio tours of major cities in Europe like London, Berlin, and Paris.

4. Live Like A Local

To live like a local is to save tons of money. 

Not only that, it is also meant for you to experience the real country.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with staying in five-star hotels, if you have the money for it.

But if you are strapped on cash, you may try Couchsurfing, or better yet, make friends with the locals who are friendly enough to offer you their sofa.

Forget about fancy restaurants and just eat at a simple shack where locals go to for lunch.

Order whatever delicacy is written on their menu, or get whatever food the place is exactly known for.

5. Get Yourself Walking

Traveling is walking. Period.

No matter who you are or where you are, you will always get to your destination cooler and cheaper if you simply walk.

Walking provides you with a lot of perks—seeing beautiful street arts, learning hidden streets and alleyways, and meeting interesting people along the way.

Walking is also a good exercise.

Did we mention walking is also free?

6. Keep Your School ID Handy (If you’re a student, of course)

You have no idea how your being a student means discounts and perks all around the world. 

Get yourself an ISIC, or International Student Identity Card.

In some countries, this card will get you lower rates in cinemas, public transport, restaurants, and even museums.

Other countries even offer discounts to students who are traveling abroad if they wish to visit Going back to our previous hack, it is important to always stick to your budget. 

Properly managing your travel budget will give you extra money for other things that you wish to buy or see during your trip.

Once you get the hang of traveling on a budget, you will soon realize that this way of traveling is the best way to go.

It allows you to open yourself up to new things and experiences, and you cannot put a price tag on them.

Do you wish to travel more? Then save more and spend your money more wisely.

Which of these travel hacks appeal to you the most?

Let us know what you think by leaving a comment in the box below.

Kristoffer Canimo is a Manila-based writer who strictly needs a coffee fix before accomplishing anything. When he's not writing stuff or finding ways to earn money online. He loves Raymond Carver.