Best tips to travel cheap at any time ?

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Individual_Stay3923@reddit

Check message boards on fodor or frommer.

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I’ve been sleeping in a tent. 🤷The campsites in Europe are very nice. Clean showers - everyone is expected to squeegee the stall when they are done. But I also brought my bike, so that’s my transport as I train hop around Europe. 😉

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Proper-Share-5525@reddit

You might find great deals by using budget-friendly train or bus passes (like Interrail/FlixBus in Europe), traveling off-peak, and booking accommodations through trusted sites like Hostelworld or Airbnb. Following travel vloggers on YouTube or Instagram who focus on budget travel can also give you fresh ideas and routes.

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BubbhaJebus@reddit

Avoid overpriced restaurants and get your food from supermarkets.

Travel in cheaper countries (Balkans, Baltics, etc.) and spend less time in places like Switzerland or Norway.

Travel by bus instead of by train.

Avoid taxis.

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munchingzia@reddit

Thats all cool but the biggest expense other than airfare will likely be your accommodation. Depending on where you are, it could be $100+ per night. That adds up.

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creativetourist284@reddit

Which is why they suggested destinations with cheaper accommodations and recommended limiting expenses in other categories to offset the high ticket items. Not sure what you wanted this comment to say…?

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Accprova@reddit

The tip is to be flexible and travel in the off season.

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RidiculousTakeAbove@reddit

How does being flexible help? I'm genuinely curious because I am quite flexible but typically it seems like being very rigid and booking flights and accommodation months in advance is the only way for it to be cheap, and I like being more spontaneous with booking

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SunsetDreams1111@reddit

I travel full time. I do it all on a budget bc I’m flexible. I go to a website like Skyscanner and just put in my starting location and “anywhere.” I choose my dates and then only travel to the places where it has the cheapest flights. I often make my trip within weeks. I have been to over 40-50 countries now. Flexibility is very key; you do NOT have to book way in advance. In fact, you can even track Google flights and watch as they go down or up.

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Accprova@reddit

Travel on a random Tuesday at 7 pm in November, land not at the main airport (think Charleroi vs Zaventem, Bergamo vs Malpensa, Eindhoven vs Schiphol), take the flight with the 9h layover, etc etc. Of course, consider the extra transportation cost from that airport, but if time is not an issue, usually it's cheaper to land at the secondary airport.9

The absolute cheapest flights I found were often 2/3 weeks in the future and during off-season (think autumn/spring).

Use the "explore" function of Google flights, set your starting airport and choose "X weeks trip in the next X months". That's how I've found some gems.

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BubbhaJebus@reddit

Last-minute flight deals often pop up unexpectedly. Sometimes it's cheaper to travel at odd hours, and be OK with waiting at the airport for the first airport bus if you arrive at 3 a.m.

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Ninja_bambi@reddit

How does being flexible help?

It gives you more options... If you insist on a direct flight at 10:00 you most likely are looking at chartering a private yet, if you insist on a specific date you may have one or maybe a few options if it is a popular route, if you don't mind a layover and are willing to fly anywhere in a certain week, there is a good chance you have dozens of options.

booking flights and accommodation months in advance is the only way for it to be cheap

It is not, obviously, things depend on where you go and when, but there are plenty of options you are not going to find on (major) booking sites, that don't take bookings, but you can walk in for cheap accommodation. And realistically, booking months in advance is a form of flexibility too, not insisting on doing how you may prefer it but adapt to get a better price. In the end, if price is important to you, you need the flexibility to adapt to make use of the better deals. You may have to pay in other ways, time, comfort, convenience etc, so cheap may turn out to be bad value for money. But that is about priorities, about how you balance the pros and cons of different options.

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savehoward@reddit

Many reasons. Some reasons are: Some flights are not daily and so we take advantage of the non-daily flights by being able to fly when those flights are operating. Also some markets are unique. Tourist destinations such as Amsterdam are expensive to on weekends and expensive departing at the end of the weekend.

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