Frugal Travel: How to Save Money on Airfare, Hotels, and Vacations
No advocate of frugal living would suggest that you can’t have fun and live a frugal life at the same time. In fact, the goal of frugal living is to have more fun and save cash at the same time. Frugal travel isn’t an oxymoron; thanks to the Internet, travel opportunities are becoming more affordable than ever. The trick is, you have to do a little bit of legwork in order to save money on airfare, hotels, and vacations.
Even though the price of plane tickets and the price of plane travel is going up, you can apply some frugal living tips and enjoy frugal travel by airplane. Gone are the days when travelling by car was cheaper than plane travel: thanks to high gas prices, the expense of hotel rooms, and the cost of food on the road, it may actually be cheaper and more convenient to travel by airplane.
Saving money on airfare, like saving money on anything else, means setting aside some time to plan. Purchasing your airfare well in advance is the best way to save money on plane travel, since costs increase the closer you get to your date of departure.
Another way to save money on airfare is to pack as light as possible. Most airlines are charging as much as $40 per checked bag, depending on the bag’s weight. As much as possible, condense to carry-on bags and other means of packing to save on airfare expenses.
Hotel rates vary widely: a hotel room that costs $50 during the “off season” can go for two or three times that during busy tourist times. Also, hotels offer special rates to discount websites that you won’t find unless you do your homework and check those sites for better rates. Like any act of frugal living, saving money on hotels means planning to save money, working with your family to spend less on hotel rooms, and preparing for your trip well ahead of time.
How to Save Money on Vacations
Saving money on vacations means combining the above money-saving tips on both hotel costs and airfare and also planning to spend less money while on vacation. You don’t have to sacrifice having fun to save money on vacation, just sit down with your family before you leave and establish a budget, research less expensive fun things to do while on vacation, and be realistic about your spending levels.
