TIPS TO TRAVEL FOR THE LOW OR FREE!
Traveling can definitely come with a price tag, especially if you are traveling to multiple destinations each year. The flights, the accommodations, the transportation, souvenirs and all the other miscellaneous costs can add up!
Here are three (3) ways I either travel for the low or free to tremendously offset my travel expenses as a frequent traveler.
Travel Hacked with 8K United Miles
Egypt 2023
Leveraging Travel Hacking
Travel Hacking is definitely a skill I am happy I learned in my 20s, because it has saved me so much money! I am a travel hacker who uses reward credit cards as a way to offset my travel costs and essentially travel for free using points/miles or lower my travel costs tremendously. For example: I use travel hacking to offset costs by purchasing a portion or at least a one way ticket with points/miles and paying cash for the remainder or I book a completely covered flight or hotel using points/miles.
Since I officially began documenting my savings using travel hacking in 2022, I’ve leveraged thousands of points/miles to save over $20K+ in about one and a half years. So imagine my total savings in the past five years with no debt being accumulated!
Learn More About Travel Hacking Here.
Utilizing Low Budget Airlines
Budget airlines get a “bad rep” at times, but I’ve used them over the years as a frequent traveler in both the US and internationally without major issues. One of the key travel tips I can provide with mastering travel using budget airlines is to read.
I’ve never had an issue when it came to the policies of each airline because I always read and researched what was allowed and what wasn’t allowed. When booking, these airlines explicitly display their various rules, such as baggage requirements and costs, costs for selecting your preferred seat and how to avoid additional costs at the check in counter. Over the years, some of my favorite destinations I’ve used budget airlines for are: Colombia, Spain, Jamaica, Costa Rica, St. Thomas USVI.
You can also utilize the travel hack of purchasing tickets at the airline counters, specifically for US budget airlines (Spirit and Frontier), to pay less than the online price! I’ve definitely used this hack multiple times and I’ve also done it for others. A common misconception is that you can only use this hack when you’re booking last minute travel, but that’s not true. If the flight is available online, you can purchase it at the airport counter and grab the discount.
Off-Season
Traveling during off season or “shoulder season” is an underrated travel hack, I want more people to utilize when planning travel. It is important to research each destination’s peak season, which can vary. Some of my best trips have been to destinations where it was cheaper to fly to during the off season; cheaper flights and accommodations, less tourists!
Did you know Google Flights can provide you with tons of amazing analytics, to see when is the best time to book a flight to a destination? Sometimes the best way to travel for the low is to travel to places where most people aren’t traveling to. I find flight deals all the time by using the tools Google Flights have to offer and book flight deals accordingly!
