Frugal Travel Tips
When you’ve been traveling awhile you start to be able to travel far cheaper than when you were a travel newbie. Here are some of my tips for how you can go from newbie to expert in as short a period as possible (although there is no amount of preparation and research that will substitute for actual experience on the road).
1. Bargain
Don’t be afraid to bargain. You can always start small. For example, I asked for $5 a night off a vacation apartment rental, taking it from $65/night to $60/night. This kept it within my target budget. That’s a small amount of money in this instance, but every time you successfully bargain you’ll get better at it and more confident. Don’t be afraid to try bargaining when the price seems fixed. For example, on AirBnB. These are some good podcasts on negotiating if you need to learn – http://www.slate.com/articles/podcasts/negotiation/2011/10/negotiation_academy_slate_s_course_on_the_art_of_haggling_.html
2. Don’t plan too soon.
You’ll never get a great deal on things like vacation apartments if you plan months in advance. Why would someone give you a great rate if they still have a couple of months to find someone to fill the apartment who might be willing to pay top dollar? Of course they’ll hold out to see if they can get their desired price.
You might be competing against people arranging corporate rentals who aren’t spending their own money and don’t care too much about the price.
My best apartment bargains are often found with a week to go when the owner knows the apartment will go empty for the period otherwise.
Don’t try this for peak periods like Christmas and New Year obviously!
3. Don’t be wedded to one way of doing things.
For example, if you always use a certain booking engine for hotels or always use AirBnB and don’t consider hotels, you won’t find the best deals. Download a bunch of apps to your phone before starting out. Once you’re on the road, downloading apps is a pain, so do it before you set out. Hotel Tonight (app only, no web version), Hotwire, Priceline, Kayak and AirBnb are all worth checking for accommodation. They all have apps, and usually have a discount code you can use for your first time booking through the app. Just like with airlines, if you’re loyal to one, you won’t end up with the best deals. Don’t be too loyal and shop around!
4. Get in early on the next big thing.
If you’re a travel junkie, then watch the travel startup space to find out about the next big thing in travel, and get in before everyone else and their mother does!
