Lately people ask me how I travel on a budget. How do I find such great trips at such reasonable prices? I don’t think there is one right way to travel “cheap”. After all “cheap” has a different meaning for everyone and not everyone likes to travel in the same manner. For instance; I will never stay at a hostel, because I don’t like to share rooms with strangers and I prefer a private bathroom. This makes my travels already a little more “expensive” for people who like to stay at hostels.
Ever since I bought my apartment, I started being more creative at choosing my travel destinations. I don’t know if my way of booking trips is actually always the cheapest, but I know it already saved me a lot of money and I’m sure some of these tips can be useful!

Here are my tips for booking your travels on a budget:

Don’t look too far

You don’t have to travel to the other side of the world to see amazing places. You can visit neighbouring countries, stay on your own continent, maybe even in your own country and explore another region of it.
I live in Belgium so I have a lot of nearby countries to choose from in Europe. If you’re living in the USA you can just drive to another state. When you’re Asian you can fly to another Asian country or maybe even New Zealand or Australia.

Booking flights: the timing

I read a lot of different advice on the internet about the right timing to book a flight. A lot of websites state not to book too early and wait 6 to 7 weeks before departure date. But in my experience this isn’t cheaper at all. If I check prices on those dates, they are always pricier. Also in 2 months time, my ticket from Dubrovnik to Brussels became 60€ more expensive.
I always book early. This way I’m sure I have a seat on the flight and always at low prices.

Booking flights: how & where

I already learned that booking flights via a travel agency is more expensive, IF it is not a charter flight. When you have to take a scheduled flight, it’s better to book it yourself.

First I check flight search engines such as Skyscanner. They show you which airlines offer the lowest prices for your destination and date. Then I go to the website of the cheapest provider to check if the price at their website is lower/the same. Then I check the other local airlines. For example: I’m looking for a flight from Brussels to Faro. I check the prices at SN Brussels Airlines and TAP (Portuguese). What did I discover? The same exact flight on the same plane operated by SN Brussels Airlines costed 356,9€ booked via SN Brussels Airlines and 218€ booked via TAP! That’s a big difference of 138,9€ for the same flight with the same conditions!

I always check different dates/periods to see when flights are the cheapest. The first week of September is more expensive than the last week of September. I avoid traveling on a Saturday because in my experience that is the most expensive day to fly. So I write down the prices for different periods and then check what’s the cheapest period to fly.

If you have a car and you don’t mind traveling from airports that are further away, you can often book a flight with a low cost airline. I prefer not to, especially for longer flights. Also they don’t fly that often. (for instance I couldn’t book the same flight with Ryan Air to the Algarve because they don’t fly on Friday.)

Booking hotels

I swear by Booking.com. They are often the cheapest (or strangely offer the same price as booking directly with the hotel) and I think their free cancellation option without paying in advance is a blessing! (and if you book often there are special discounts available)

I often book hotels months or even a year in advance with the free cancellation option for different periods. That way I can choose the option with the cheapest flight dates as soon as I found a flight. After that I keep checking Booking.com regularly to search for hotels at a lower price. If I do find a better and cheaper option I can simply cancel the former hotel and book the cheaper one. (or a better hotel at the same price) Also; the sooner you book, the cheaper the prices.

Examples:

– I booked my 4* hotel in the city center of Sevilla (I’m going there in July) last year in August. It only costs me 283.25€ for 5 nights, breakfast included. If I check now, it costs way more (384,25€).
– For my trip to Paris I managed to rebook the same room 2 weeks before departure at a lower price! (so I made a new booking and cancelled the former one)
– So far I only pay around 630€ for 16 nights in Croatia (=40€/night) and I still keep finding cheaper options.

Another tip that can be useful booking hotels; remember what’s the purpose of your stay. If you are going to explore cities or hike all day, you don’t need a luxurious spacious room with a swimming pool. Because you will never be at the hotel/B&B except for sleeping. If you stay at a hotel for a longer period it can be more comfortable to book a more luxurious room.

Choose the right travel period

I avoid traveling during high season or school holidays because it is way more expensive and places get too crowded. There is one exception; citytrips in the South of Europe are often cheaper in July or August because of the high temperatures and the locals fleeing their city. Going to Rome in July is way cheaper than in May. If you wake up early you can still enjoy the silence of the city without the tourist crowds.

If you want to go on a shorter trip for let’s say 5 days, it’s cheaper to travel from Monday to Friday than from Friday to Tuesday. Simply because hotel prices are more expensive during the weekend.

Sometimes it’s allright to book with a travel agency, sometimes…

For longer more complicated trips it can be cheaper to book with a travel agency because they offer packages and discounts. I booked my 10 day trip to the Azores with a travel agency because they could book all flights, all rental cars and all hotels at once.

But be careful with so called low cost travel agencies such as Travelbird. I discovered they are not cheaper at all during researching prices for my trip to the Algarve.

They offer a price of 649€ for 7 nights if you travel with 2 persons and luggage. (so total price is 1298€ for two persons)
Flights are operated by a low cost airline at an airport further away.

The hotel room costs 476€ via booking.com and flights from Brussels Airport cost 311€ per person. (total cost when booking yourself: 1098€ for two persons)
So booking yourself costs 200€ less.

But if you decide to travel solo they really rip you off; they ask 1015€!
The hotel room for 1 person via booking.com is still 476€ and the flight is 311€. So if you book yourself it will cost you 787€!
So booking yourself costs 228€ less!

Good to know, no?

Everything I wrote comes from personal experience. Maybe you experienced some things differently. Don’t hesitate to share your personal experiences in the comments down below.

None of the mentioned brands have payed me to write about them, all my opinions are my own as always.