Looking to travel on a major budget? These cheap travel tips will change your life as a traveler.
These are the exact budget travel tips that I use on a daily basis that allow me to travel all the time. Using these cheap travel tips, I’ve been able to visit places like Bora Bora, Tahiti, Paris, the Amalfi Coast and more for cheap — without sacrificing the luxurious experiences these destinations offer.
I know from experience that these cheap travel tips work, and now I want to share them with you. Let’s dive in.
Where To Travel For Cheap
There is an endless amount of places you could travel. If you don’t have a specific destination in mind for your next trip, you may want to consider traveling somewhere where your currency is worth more than the destination’s currency.
Because your currency is inherently worth more, everything in that destination — food, accommodations, excursions, etc. — will be cheap. This is a phenomenon known as geoarbitrage.
Here are some of the places in which geoarbitrage exists for those of us coming from countries with generally strong currencies (such as the USA, Canada, the UK and Europe).
4 Cheapest Regions Of The World To Travel
- Central America
- Eastern Europe
- South America
- Southeast Asia
30 Cheapest Countries Of The World To Travel
- Albania
- Bali (Indonesia)
- Bosnia-Herzegovina
- Bulgaria
- Cambodia
- China
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- Cuba
- Czech Republic
- Egypt
- Greece
- Guatemala
- Hungary
- India
- Loas
- Mexico
- Myanmar
- Nepal
- Oman
- Peru
- Philippines
- Portugal
- Romania
- South Africa
- Sri Lanka
- Thailand
- Turkey
- Uruguay
- Vietnam
Didn’t see your dream destination on the list? Don’t worry.
There are still plenty of ways to travel cheap in even the most luxurious destinations. Trust me, I’ve even managed to travel to Bora Bora, one of the most expensive destinations in the world, on a major budget.
Best Time To Travel Cheap
Furthermore the time — the season, day and time of day — you travel plays a large role in how cheap your travels will be.
The cheapest and best season to travel is during the destination’s shoulder season. The shoulder season includes the months between the destination’s peak season and off-season. Although the off-season is truly cheapest, the off-season usually has the worst weather. The shoulder season has the best of both worlds.
Similarly, the cheapest travel day is typically Tuesday, but this varies each week depending on holidays. To check the cheapest travel day for your desired trip dates, use budget travel tools such as Google Flights, which we’ll discuss more in a moment.
Lastly, while there isn’t necessarily a standard cheapest time of the day to travel, I always book red-eye flights when they are available. Not only are red-eye flights sometimes cheaper than daytime flights, but these flights also get you to your destination faster, which means you’ll have more time in your destination. Better bang for your buck.
How To Budget Each Of Your Travels
Budgeting each of your trips — and sticking to your budgets — will transform how often you’re able to travel.
The costs of flights, accommodations, food and activities will vary depending on your destination, but, in general, you can expect to spend the following budget percentages on each trip category.
| Expense | % OF ToTal Trip Budget |
| Accommodations | 45% |
| Transportation | 25% |
| Food | 15% |
| Entertainment/Activities | 10% |
| Miscellaneous | 5% |
I always make sure to budget extra money into a miscellaneous category to prevent overspending. This financial buffer is really the key to not blowing your trip budget.
How To Find Cheap Flights
My favorite way to find cheap — or even free — flights is by travel hacking. Travel hacking refers to the use of travel credit card opening bonuses that you earn with everyday expenses to redeem for free flights
I’ve flown all over the world for free using credit card points. However, there are important rules to follow when travel hacking, so it’s imperative to know the rules before you begin travel hacking for yourself.
My second favorite way to find cheap flights is through Google Flights, which I briefly mentioned earlier. Basically, Google Flights helps you find the cheapest flights across most, if not all, airlines and plane ticket platforms.
The best features of Google Flights include the “all dates” toggle for trip date flexibility, the price tracker for automatic email updates with the destination’s cheapest ticket prices and the date grid to easily identify the cheapest travel dates for your destination.
How To Find Cheap Hotels
Most people believe that Airbnb is the cheapest option for accommodations when traveling, but this is far from the truth.
The truth is, Airbnb is actually really overpriced. Airbnb really only makes sense financially when traveling in large groups, with a family or when you need a kitchen. Even so, most other short-term rental websites, such as VRBO, are often cheaper than Airbnb — even sometimes for the same rental listing.
Instead, I prefer using Hotwire to find cheap hotel rooms.
I don’t know about you, but I would much rather stay in a fluffy hotel room bed over a possibly subpar one-blanket short-term rental bed.
There are tricks to using Hotwire to get the best hotels for the best rates possible, which I will be teaching in my upcoming Budget Travel Bible ebook, so definitely stay tuned.
How To Find Cheap Eats On Your Travels
Lastly, the final portion of travel that often sucks up an unnecessary amount of money is food. The best way to save money on food while traveling if, by far, buying groceries once you get to your destination.
To save money and time getting to and from a grocery store, I highly recommend ordering groceries to your hotel with a grocery delivery service like Instacart (click here to get $10 off your first order).
With your groceries, you can pack meals each day before your outing. You’ll save hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars with this simple cheap travel tip.
Also, be sure to purchase and pack tons of extra snacks because, for some reason, we always seem to be hungrier on vacation, regardless of whether we’re hiking mountains or laying out on the beach.
Furthermore, if you prefer to eat out on vacation, check out local cafes and delis for delicious cheap eats. Oftentimes, delis, cafes, bakeries and family-owned restaurants have a surprisingly wide range of filling meal options for a fraction of the price of any sit-down restaurant that’s next to a tourist attraction.
Have any more cheap travel tips you would like to share? Comment your own tips in the reply section below or by sharing them with me via Instagram!
More Cheap Travel Tips
How To Travel More This Year
Tips To Start Traveling In 6 Easy Steps
How To Budget For Travel In 9 Easy Steps
How To Save Money To Travel: Tips For When You’re Broke
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