You Don’t Have to be Rich to Travel Well

How do you travel so often and so cheap?!

I can’t even count on the amount of times I would get that question. However, I am happy to share! I want everyone to experience traveling around the world and knowing that it won’t break the bank either! I enjoy being a budget traveler. Honestly, I do anything I can in life to save money. Therefore, I do whatever I can to cut costs on all my trips (but still have a really enjoyable vacation too). Here are some of my personal travel tips when it comes to saving money on vacation:

1. Let travel search engines do the work for you! Most times, I never have a set destination where I want to go. I always tell people, I travel anywhere that is cheap based off flight deals. Years ago, there was a time where airlines kept having flight glitches (not sure if you all remember the MAJOR flight glitch to Dubai on Christmas Day for $198 but yea…moments like that REALLY had me traveling all over the world). I am part of two group chat that just drop flight deals all day, I follow @secretflying on twitter which shares flight deal as they come, I signed up for daily emails with AirFareWatchDog and I’m part of a number of travel groups on Facebook that share flight deals.
2. Google Flights is CLUTCH! Google Flights lets you search by departing and arriving airport and the calendar allows you to see the price of flights for the entire month(s). Its so helpful when you have a flexible schedule to see if its better to fly the day before or after based on price. Also, it shows all airlines and their prices with the exception of Southwest. You have to go to Southwest’s site directly. A lot of people ask me what site I use to book trips and Google Flights is ALWAYS my go-to site.
3. Book now, plan later! Most times, where there is a REALLY cheap flight deal you have to book quickly. You get 24 hours to cancel a flight so you have at least a day to decide if that trip is indeed something you can take or you will need to cancel. It’s best to have quick booking travel buddies to decide on a date and book too if you don’t want to go on a solo trip.
4. Budget monthly. For larger and more expensive trips, it helps if your trip is months out in which you can book something each month. For example, if its January and you have a trip in June, you can book the flight in January, book the hotel in February, book the car rental in March, book excursions in April, and leave May to cover any outstanding items needed for your trip. By the time June rolls around, your entire trip is paid for and all you need is spending money.
5. Utilize hotel, flight, and car rental points! That helps to save money on trips. It’s even better when you can share hotel points with your travel crew to help lower the cost of the trip.

If you have any questions on how to get the most bang for your buck when it comes to traveling, shoot on over to my contact page and send me a message. I would be happy to hear from you!