What Are Your Unconventional Travel Money-Saving Tips?
Posted by NovelFoxa@reddit | Shoestring | View on Reddit | 39 comments
Traveling to certain countries can be very expensive, so I've been looking for ways to save money. I'm curious about how others manage to cut costs while traveling.
Specific_Yak7572@reddit
I always goofle how to take punlic transport from the airport to where I am staying. Taxis charge way too much!
South-Bass-9536@reddit
This isn’t unconventional..
Floofyland@reddit
It kinda is as the majority of people refuse to take public transportation
South-Bass-9536@reddit
No it isn’t
banginhooers1234@reddit
Yeah I was gonna say that but didn’t wanna come off as a dick 😂
This varies so much city to city, some are just way tf out there with no way to get there and others are perfectly built for it
Steamed-Barley@reddit
You sure goofled that spelling
HippyGrrrl@reddit
Things I do:
travel personal item only. Figure out laundry.
Long flights always red eye/overnight.
Use the least expensive local travel option, be that walking, rent a bike, public transport, hop on/off (with a 24 hour ticket…buy at the right point point and it’s two days’ city transport, sometimes it beats two days’ local all day pass)
Carry dehydrated soup/beans and those are two of your daily meals. Boiling water is usually possible.
I did van life before it was cool, and barter was a big part of it. My ex and I sold tie dyes and photographs. Often we could exchange merch or labor for longer term parking, etc. I remember a restaurant owner/manager offering to trade a few meals for a couple of our dyes. We ate there daily all week for three shirts and a handful of photo prints.
When I travel in the US, I have places I deem safe enough to sleep in the car. Timing can be tricky, I’d rather drive longer than get to a stop over early.
brooklawyer@reddit
Look up the large diasporas in a country (if in Europe / US) and they will typically have restaurants that are far cheaper than the national cuisine. For example, Turkish and Vietnamese in Germany. I’m not sure if this applies to takeaway spots but it definitely applies to mid-level sit down restaurants.
banginhooers1234@reddit
Sleep on overnight flight / train instead of booking accommodation for that night
It’s quite a pain in the ass, but is unconventional lol.
Did this in Europe on inter rail pass but those sleepers are pretty rough, you have to share the rooms
Big-Parking9805@reddit
I've tried this a few times. The worst nights of my life 😂
The only time I managed to fall asleep on a bus was getting a bus back to Hanoi after Ha Giang, at about 9pm - only to be shouted at "Hanoi Hanoi!" At 3am and not having a clue where I was. Trying to remember the streets for the hotel I'd booked a week earlier.
banginhooers1234@reddit
Yeah that about sums it up 😂
It’s absolutely horrible lol. As a teenager I thought it was such a genius concept I came up with, probably shoulda done it more when sleep wasn’t as needed haha.
Big-Parking9805@reddit
I'd have taken it over the hostels in Ko Phi Phi.
Floofyland@reddit
I did this multiple times when I solo traveled for the first time this summer. It sucked but as a poor college student, I have no regrets
banginhooers1234@reddit
Hell yeah love to hear it!! Makes for great stories at least.
Where did you go and what method of transport?
nomiinomii@reddit
Late breakfast, early dinner. Save on lunch/make it only a snack.
Find a Grindr hookup to spend the night, free hotel
LickStickCountPour@reddit
This person knows how to play!!!
riverpascual@reddit
Message hotels, resorts, hostels, etc. to offer whatever service you can provide with them in exchange for free accommodation.
Can you cook? tell them you'd be a kitchen assistant
Are you good with communication? tell them you can be a waitstaff
Good with social media? tell them you can help with their online presence
Photographer? Videographer? Offer them pro-grade media content
Basically, you'll be paying with knowledge, skills, and time.
Even if I have money, I do this all the time!
banginhooers1234@reddit
I’m a pro in video and still haven’t done this yet!!
Gonna have to try it out sometime, especially nowadays I think it would be a lot more normalized of a concept to them
Chemical-Arm-154@reddit
Travel in a group to save on travel costs like cars, hotels, and cooked meals.
arjun959@reddit
yeah and then as a bonus u have to deal with the politics. no thanks :)
Chemical-Arm-154@reddit
It’s always give and take. Or don’t travel unless you have the full budget
Floofyland@reddit
Like the other guy, I also would way rather travel by myself as that’s how I am but it is a good way to save some money!
banginhooers1234@reddit
I think it’s cool that they can even find compatible people, that’s an awesome method if you have them but personally idk who I would do that with haha.
I Just go solo and enjoy the brief interactions with strangers along the way.
cthart@reddit
Stay in accommodation that has a kitchen and cook all of your own meals. This will save a lot of money vs eating out.
jopi745@reddit
no point in cooking all your meals. Should stay at home then
banginhooers1234@reddit
Yes and no, I mostly eat out and it’s cool to try the different food.
But it’s annoying as hell if you’re not really trying to eat anything crazy and just want some sustenance without wasting money
scstang@reddit
Not really unconventional but I buy food at the grocery store for some of my meals.
Annual_Asparagus_408@reddit
Yes and look that the hotel is close to a Food Store ... That tiny drinks in bars n hotels for 5 bucks is a shit of money extra... Mini Bar in Hotel is taboo ! Many times i book hotels like book 5 night get 6 for free .
Elegant_Amount8526@reddit
When we went to Switzerland, we had four children with us, and when we went to the grocery store, they had to buy two things that they couldn’t get in the US. It was a neat way to experience the local culture pretty cheaply.
addicted_to_blistex@reddit
My husband and I just went to France and cannot speak more highly of the local market then picnic system of eating. It's great because you can find beautiful places to sit and have a meal, you can try lots of different kinds of local foods, and save's a TON of money.
Also many museums will have a "free day" once per month. If you plan in advance you can save a ton of money by going during these times. Years ago we were able to save about $200 across 3 museums in Barcelona just my planning for free days.
PastaLaVistaBaaaby@reddit
Book hotels ahead of time, look for discounted tickets, take public transit, not splurge on food every single time (like occassionally eat convenience store or grocery bought food)
Brown_Sedai@reddit
They said unconventional options
South-Bass-9536@reddit
🤣
Hour_Association7890@reddit
I plan in advance what attractions I'm going to visit when I get there, I book tours in advance on Trip, and I look to see if there's a “day tour” that covers exactly what I want to see because I realize it's cheaper than just buying tickets to all the attractions!
VIP_yap@reddit
Maybe not “unconventional” but try booking spots for free walking tours. Many countries and cities have tourism boards that give free tours where they highlight special sights and give spiels about them.
It’s the first thing I would do when I arrived in a city, then I would decide which places I wanted to explore further or avoid. And tour guides always know the best places to eat
banginhooers1234@reddit
Hmm I’ve actually never done this, sounds cool.
Oftentimes I’ll stay a night or two somewhere but literally not even do anything and this seems like a good way to avoid that
deleted_by_reddit@reddit
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Annalisokl@reddit
Flight tickets are often the biggest expense. For example, if I'm traveling to Guangzhou, China, the overall cost in China might not be high, but the flight ticket can be quite pricey.
A direct flight from London to Shanghai costs around €600, and if I want to go from Shanghai to Beijing to see the Forbidden City, I need to add about €150 for that flight. However, if I search for "cago" events on trip .com, I can find "buy one get two free" offers, allowing me to fly from London to Shanghai, then to Chongqing, and finally to Beijing before returning to London—all for the same price.
This means the legs from Shanghai to Chongqing and Chongqing to Beijing are effectively free. I mean, who can resist visiting Chengdu to see the giant pandas, right?