How to travel cheaper - A Born Traveller

Money is often the reason why people don´t travel and I feel that´s such a pity! So if you want some tips how I try to travel as cheap as I can, scroll down.

There are two keywords to travel cheap: flexibility and research. After reading everything below you will understand what I am talking about.

What to expect in this article

Plane tickets

Compare websites for plane tickets! Use Skyscanner or Kayak to compare plane tickets. Next to that, also look for different data of flying. Some days it might be cheaper than others to fly.

Besides that both Skyscanner and Kayak have the option to fly ´everywhere.´ Then you will see which place might be the cheapest to fly to on those days. As I said… Flexibility.

Another tip for cheap plane tickets is to look for tickets on time, so not one week before. I remember in February 2019 I already booked my flight to Sevilla for June, because it was only 50 euros, while normally it costs me around 150 euros. Although sometimes last-minute deals can also be cheap.

I have never had that, but I have heard this from multiple people: Some airlines or ticket websites have alarms, so you will get an alarm when the price went down (or up).

If you are not happy with Skyscanner, you can of course also go to the website of an airline such as Transavia, Vueling, or Emirates and see what they have to offer

Errorfares

For the Dutchies here: sign up for the newsletter of Errorfares.
This is a really cool website that will give you a notification when airlines made a mistake and put a trip on their website that´s very cheap, let´s say Amsterdam to Bangkok for only 80 euros. It really happens! But again, you will have to be very flexible using this website.

Research, research, research

There we go: do you research! Research means saving money for sure. Whether it is for housing (which area is cheaper) or to the country (is this country more expensive than…).

Also before you do anything, look at both the hotel, plane ticket and calculate how much it will cost you for a few countries. When I did this for example for Jordan, I discovered that the hotel and plane tickets were not that expensive at that time.

Housing

Mostly the cheapest option for housing is to stay in a hostel, you might not have the privacy you want, but it´s often cheaper. Besides that, it is a good way of getting to know people.
Or you stay in an apartment, so you can cook food at home or buy breakfast in the supermarket. When I travel with my parents, they always want to stay in an apartment so they can cook.
On one side, it´s a pity that you can not try the local food as much as you want, but I do know that it saved my parents a lot of money as a family of five and so will it do for you!

Look for hotels on these websites:

On Booking + Trivago you often have the option to book a hotel, with free cancellation (until a certain date).

So when you see something cheap, book it now! I have often done that and for better, because days or weeks later the prices started to shoot up.

Airports

When travelling by plane, look for tickets not just from the airport most close by, but also a bit further away, it might be cheaper.

I live in Netherlands, but I flew from Brussels Airport to Jordan, because it was way cheaper and it didn´t matter with fuel costs (because we went there by car).

Transport

What about the transport? Is the plane cheaper or the car? Or even the train?

If you are planning on a day trip, blablacar is not a bad website to look at. This is a website where you can drive with someone else to the destination for a small amount of money.
I have used Blablacar at least 5 times so far. Next to that, it is cheap, it is also fun to meet interesting people/locals.
As a girl, I do admit that I only do it when I am with someone else because it might be scary to do it as a girl alone. An advantage of the website is that you mostly can see a picture of the person you will drive with.

Have you heard of Flixbus? This is a bus line which is pretty cheap. You can travel with it from already 5 euro!
I traveled with it in Italy. I only spend 12 euros for 2 people from Bari to Naples and back! If you know Italy, both places are pretty far from each other, so this is very cheap.

What you can also do is hitchhike, but be careful of that. I have never done that because I don´t feel comfortable and safe thinking about it. But in the end, it is a way of cheap transport.

Students

If you are a student and travelling around Europe, make sure you have your student pass ready, because you get lots of discounts.

When I went to the Acropolis in Athens, I got in for free, while my parents had to pay (in 2017). Believe me, the Acropolis is not cheap. It is 20 euros per person!
So make use of your student pas (don´t forget to take it with you!), because it is for many more sites all over Europe.

Sometimes it´s not mentioned on the price list, but always ask for it at the cash desk

Social media

Ask around on Social Media for the best tips. I often do that on my Instagram when I know I am going somewhere.
A little bit of help doesn´t hurt anyone. Besides that, try to make friends abroad. It can help you a lot in saving costs.

Water

Is the water from the tap reliable in the country you are staying?
Then take or buy a bottle and put water from the tap in there. It saves you a lot on costs on water bottles and besides that, it is also better for the environment (plastic).

Besides that, it saves money for when you eat out and don´t have to pay for the drink.

Work abroad

The best way to discover a country is living there or being there for some time.

I have always had the dream to go to Australia, but also work there at the same time. Australia is not a cheap country and this way you can still enjoy the country (if the job is fun) and not spend all the money you saved.

You can work for a day, or even for 6 months as I did in Sevilla. I was still able to travel a lot while working and I know I am very lucky with that.

Also as a tour guide, I learned so much about Sevilla and Spain, which made me understand the culture more. Being a tour guide in a beautiful historical city like Sevilla was the best choice I have ever made in my life.

In some countries, you can even live cheaper than the country you come from.

Free things to do

In many cities there are free walking tours, which is the perfect way to discover a city / country. If you do a tour, for example Sandemans, they are really good and interesting.

Of course you have to pay a little fee at the end of the tour, but you can also choose to not do that if you are really broke.
Besides that, every city has museums that are free to visit on different times.

If I just look at Sevilla, there are many places that are free to visit on a Monday. (I wrote a blog about this, which you can find on this link.) So again, do your research and pick your poison!