Traveling on the budget provides equal measures of fun and adventure. As much as it is fun to travel and discover new places without having to dig deep into ones pockets, it is very easy to get trapped by certain pitfalls that are likely to make the trip very expensive. Avoiding these mistakes will also make the difference between having the best travel experience even for the first time traveler or a frequent traveler and having to spend a lot of cash.
In today’s guide, we’ll focus on the most typical slips of the budget tourists and what you should do not to fall into these pitfalls.
1. Booking Flights Without Comparison Shopping
Of all the budget travelling mistakes that people make, not comparing flight prices is among the worst. Sometimes, people rush to take a particular deal without searching any further; there could be way cheaper offers.
Solution: Use Flight Comparison Websites
It pays to compare prices ranging from one platform to the other before making a booking. Travel sites such as, Skyscanner, Kayak and Google flight are online tools that give users the opportunity to search for cheap flights. They also provide the possibility of the special price alerts to help you book when the prices go down.
2. Ignoring Baggage Fees on Budget Airlines
Many airplanes have low-cost companies that offer cheap prices for their services like Ryanair and EasyJet. However, they cover this with high fees for checked baggage, seat, pitch, and even overhead bins for carry-ons. The last thing that the representative would like you to see is the hidden fee or charges on the contract.
Solution: Travel Light
Travel light and avoid over-packing; whenever possible, just take a carry-on with you on the plane. Before confirming the flight, please take time to go over the airline’s baggage policy. Some apps are useful to help avoid buying things you don’t actually need, such as the packing list in PackPoint.
3. Housing reservations in areas of tourism
Being in the centre or any busy area of the location times are really convenient but the hotel rates are normally very steep. Most of these places contain hotels and restaurants, so the price level is normally much higher than for locals. Simply because of its location, the price tag could be high and thus it is easy to be over charged.
Solution: Stay Outside Tourist Zones
Search for house rental slightly outside the most visited neighborhoods and places. Other sites like Airbnb and Booking.com can assist you to find some cheap options. These areas are also cheaper and more genuine in a way which other areas are not. Also, you can easily get to principal tourist sites using public transportation.
4. Not Taking the Public Transport
While it is far easier to travel by taxi or by a hired car, this can rapidly empty your travel budget, especially if you are going to big cities. This is wrong, since public transport is usually cheaper, more reliable and often faster than the conventional means of transport.
Solution: Master Public Transportation
Learn more about bus, tram, and rail transportation policies in your destination before you go. All cities provide tourist transport passes-a means of providing access to a city’s transport for a prefixed number of days cheaper than several tickets. Today, there are numerous apps, including Moovit and Citymapper, which can assist you in planners your transport travel.
5. Missing Out on Free-Descendants
Ideally, through this paper, many travelers shall be under the impression that they require to incur expenses to access a particular site in a given travel destination. This isn’t true! Whether it is a museum, park or art exhibit, most cities have what is called free or discount days. Overlooking aspects of free things to do on your trip leaves you with a lot to lose.
Solution: Prioritize Free and Low-Cost Activities
The same for shops and go-carts and other tourist amenities: write out all the free things to do before arriving. For instance, most developed countries’ museums, including the British Museum in Great Britain, do not cost any amount to be paid. For instance, New York and Paris, some of the cities that I propose for visiting some attraction facilities open their doors to visitors for free on certain dates in the month. Packaging allows identifying cheap offers, such as through the help of sites like TripAdvisor.
6. Overspending on Food
To dine at restaurants for breakfast, lunch and dinner means your money will quickly run out in the areas that contain many tourist attractions. This is (or the above) is especially true so that if you’re not careful with your choice, you end up spending more on the food than you had intended.
Solution: Cook or Eat Like a Local
If your accommodation has provision for preparing own meals then you should do so once in a while. Or why not go for local markets and street food sellers as they are going to be cheaper and probably more genuine. There are numerous apps that will help you find some of the near ateern food choices that are also affordable; some of the most famous one’s HappyCow and Zomato.
7. Ignoring the Currency Exchange Rates
Not considering currency exchange rates is one of the mistakes which most people that are thrifty and therefore cheap make. If you are getting foreign currency from the airport bureau or using international credit cards, without looking at the foreign transaction fee percentage and rates you will lose good money.
Solution: Start using a No-Fee Credit Card and look at Exchange Rates
Make sure you get a credit card with no foreign transaction fees before you travel. Also, do not made a practice of having your money exchanged at airport counters since these usually offer very very poor exchange rates. In its stead, withdraw at a local ATM or order your currency from your home country’s bank prior to the trip. Others are the use of apps such as XE Currency for exchange rate tracking.
8. Overloading Your Itinerary
Squeezing too many activities into a particular time results in high costs and much pressure. Booking several tours, transport and entry charges which may be time wasting and overwhelming if properly planned for can cost a lot.
Solution: Pace Yourself
One should stop trying to go for every experience, but should limit it to very few all through the day. Think of free walking tour as one of the ways through which you can effectively tour a city without breaking the bank. Such websites as GuruWalk provide free services in many cities, however, TOUR GUIDES expect tip depending on the level of satisfaction.
9. Neglecting Travel Insurance
Travel insurance also saves hundreds, even thousands of dollars, getting left without it is doing a costly mistake. Therefore, anything from a cancelled flight, missing luggage or a medical emergency is likely to escalate financially much faster.
Solution: Invest in Travel Insurance
Before travelling ensure that you have bought a travel insurance cover that includes health issues, cancellations and loss of luggage. There are cheap deals in plenty of company these days and they include World Nomads and Allianz for example for different reason of travelling. The loss of passport, cancellation of flights, or even worse, an emergency that leads to a canceled flight can all be avoided with the help of travel insurance, which may cost a couple hundred dollars.
10. The problem with using your phone without a local SIM card
These fees act like a double-edged sword because they can add up pretty fast in case you use your phone in a different country no bearing a local SIM card. There is a common mistake many people make when they come here, they maintain their home plan without mentioning the fact that it comes with very high charges for data usage and calls.
Solution: Get a Local SIM or Use Wi-Fi
If you are visiting a country for a long time or living in a certain country, it is wiser to purchase an SIM card with data bundles. This will enable you to make use of your phone for calling, navigation, and even navigating through your social media accounts without having to worry about concerning super high Roaming charges that can easily balloon into the thousands immediately. Or, connect to wireless connections in cafés, hotels, and open public areas to be online.
11. Thirdly, it will not take advantage of of-season traveling.
During the peak seasons most of the flights, accommodation and activities come with inflated prices. If you have no flexible schedules in your travels, it would be best you prepare three times or twice the amount you could have paid in low season.
Solution: Travel During the Off-Season
Search for shoulder or off season travel possibilities. Not only will you save money on a flight and a place to stay, but you’ll also be traveling during low season. For example, going to Europe in the spring or the fall guarantee to have beautiful, rather warm weather and find nice discounts on everything. There might be spikes of flights booking and Google flights will help to identify when there is a high possibility of getting cheaper prices.
12. Failure to Remind Clients on Visa Requirements
People do not bother to check for visa requirements and this cost them more money and time. Visa is a must to get to some countries and getting it last minute is not cheap.
Solution: You Should Try to Look up Visa Requirements Before You Travel
All details about the visa of a particular country can be found in a government’s website or the respective country’s embassy. Some countries have e-visas and you must make your visa application beforehand through a computerized system. Bear in mind that charges for visa should also be included in your travel expense.
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Final Thoughts
Still, it is possible to receive quality and have an amazing time even if you only plan a cheap vacation. If you want to watch your finances diligently but do not miss the joy of the trip, do not make these mistakes and follow our advice. Again, when planning your flights, accommodation or even the amount of money you are willing to spend on daily expenses, being aware of these possibilities will enable you save your money and therefore make the travel more fun.
