Tips for Cheap Travel
The weather isn’t the only thing heating up this summer — so is travel! According to the recent American Express Spending & Saving Tracker, 80% of Americans, or nearly 196 million U.S. consumers, intend to travel this season and spend an average of $941 each on their trips. And most of them will be looking for cheap travel hacks.
If you have yet to plan your summer vacation, you don’t have succumb to paying inflated, last-minute prices. It’s possible to book a spontaneous trip on the cheap by following these 8 tips.
Be flexible.
The key to saving on a spontaneous vacation is to be flexible about where you go and picking a place to visit based on the cheapest travel options. So while summer hot spots like Hawaiian beach resorts and Disney World will be more expensive, other destinations experiencing their off-peak season like Boston and Mexico will offer some affordable options with last-minute deals. Review the 10 Cheapest Destinations for Flights this summer to get ideas for your trip!
Pack wisely.
While spontaneity is part of the fun of booking a last-minute trip, it can result in unnecessary, costly purchases if you don’t plan what to pack. Those heading to a beach resort, for instance, will need plenty of sunscreen and waiting to buy this essential at a local shop will result in inflated prices. Even if you’re not checking a bag, you can find solid sunblock in a stick form to get through security with no hassle. Just remember to pick up such essentials before you depart using discounts like a Target coupon for $5 off $50 through CouponSherpa.com to save on everything from sunscreen to bug spray to swimwear cover-ups.
Opt for a bargain airline.
While flying bargain airlines can be an exercise in patience, they can cost you significantly less when booking a last-minute trip. Frontier Airlines, for example, is currently offer $29 one-way fares for trips between July 3 and July 16. Book a flight between Atlanta and Orlando for July 10 through July 16, and your base fare is just under $60. Even with seat selection ($10) and checked bag fees ($60), the total cost of this flight is less than $130. There are a few other cheap travel airlines out there, but be sure to read reviews before booking.
Book flights with separate airlines.
This is a cheap travel hack that I discovered from a friend on Twitter. Jetting off to Cancun from Denver between July 12 and July 21 will only cost $317 to consumers who book their departure flight with Delta and their return flight with United. The same itinerary booked just with United costs over $1,500, while bargain airline Frontier charges $424 including carry-on baggage fees and seat selection costs. Use Google Flights, Kayak or Orbitz to price flights from multiple airlines and find the combination that works best for your budget.
Pick up last-minute lodging for less.
There are tons of cheap travel sites out there, but did you know hotels offer discounted prices through third-party booking apps like HotelTonight for up to 70% off advertised rates? The catch is that guests pay for their room before they know which hotel they’re booking with, allowing these properties to offer cut-rate prices without advertising them to the general public. However, you can specify the city in which you want to stay as well as the property style, like basic, hip or luxe.
Purchase pre-booked rooms.
Tap into dining savings.
One of the biggest vacation budget busters is dining out for every meal, so it’s important to find cheap (but satisfying) places to eat. If you land somewhere you’ve never visited before, this can be even trickier. In addition to saving on restaurants using daily deal apps like Groupon and LivingSocial, Yelp can point you to places with high user ratings and those offering some type of discount. Filter results in Yelp by those places “offering a deal,” and redeem savings like $10 off your $20 check.
Review advance ticket purchase deals online.
You can often pay less for activities and entertainment by pre-booking tickets in advance. For example, you can save up to $25 per person at Six Flags by purchasing passes online before heading to the theme park. You can even do this from your hotel room the night before if you don’t have much time to pre-plan such activities before your departure.
Andrea Woroch is a money-saving expert who transforms everyday consumers into savvy shoppers by sharing smart spending tips and personal finance advice. As a sought-after media source, she has been featured among such top news outlets as Good Morning America, Today, CNN, Dr. OZ, New York Times, MONEY Magazine, Consumer Reports, Forbes and many more. In addition, Andrea’s stories have been published among leading publications and sites such as Yahoo!, AOL Daily Finance, CNN Money, Huffington Post, LearnVest and New York Daily News. Check out Andrea’s demo reel or visit her website at AndreaWoroch.com for more information about booking an interview or requesting an original written article. You can also follow her on Twitter or Facebook for daily money tips.
We tend to go to Florida around this time of year because of the cheaper flights. We've booked flights on separate airlines to save before.
These are great tips for traveling! This year, we decided to go on our cruise in January because it wasn't during peak season and the tickets were much cheaper. It saved us a lot of money.