Travel broadens the horizon and is fun, but it also involves costs. If you're not careful, you end up spending a lot more money than expected. If you want to take a cheap vacation and reduce your expenses with tips, you've come to the right place. Saving money on vacation is never difficult if you follow the necessary steps. In this article, you will discover the 9 best travel tips, with which you can avoid financial risks and save money while on vacation.
1. Define your travel budget
Before planning a vacation with family or friends, the first thing to determine is the budget. Define your travel budget before your vacation. What seems simple isn't obvious to so few travelers. If you don't define your absolute threshold for financial pain, you will most likely end up spending more than you want to and can really afford.
List all the cost points you can expect to incur:
- Transportation (cab, public transit, rental car)
- Housing
- Food
- Excursion
This way, you no longer underestimate the costs, which is the basic requirement for a low-priced vacation.
Also, for a cheap stay, take advantage of the Tohapi promo codes. Tohapi, the group specialized in the camping activity was born thanks to the merger of 2 companies, namely Vacances directes and Village Centers.
2. Compare the offers
Do you want to book your vacations cheaply and apply advice with a guarantee of success? Then compare travel costs and ideally book as early as possible. You can get an initial overview of flight costs and price trends using different flight search engines such as Google Flights or Skyscanner.
As a general rule, flight costs increase the closer you get to your departure date. Avoid searching for personalized offers, as the systems now remember your entries and provide you with targeted and more expensive offers. By the way: You can also save money if you just walk into the departure point and get inspired.
3. Look for exchange rates
Ask about exchange rates when you travel to a non-euro country. This will allow you to get used to the foreign currency and to better estimate its value once you are confronted with it on the spot. It will help you remember the conversion factor. It will help you remember the conversion factor, as it will allow you to convert quickly and automatically, which will greatly reduce the likelihood of buying expensive products.
Experience shows that the inhibition threshold for making expensive purchases decreases when you are on vacation. But if you know exactly what the foreign currency is, you can really save money when traveling.
4. Withdraw money cheaply
To be able to save money on vacations, you have to withdraw and pay cheaply abroad. In principle, you should withdraw cash in local currency and not in euros. If you have to choose between these options at a cash machine (not a "tourist" or Euronet machine) and you decide to use the euro, the local bank will convert the money. The local bank will be happy because it will use an exchange rate that is unfavorable to you. On the other hand, if you withdraw in local currency, your local bank will perform the conversion using a better exchange rate. This also applies to card payments in stores.
5. Take the right card with you.
If you want to make cheap trips and use professional advice, you should take the right cards with you. In fact, you should ideally have several cards with you in case one of them doesn't work. Often, there are high fees waiting for you when you want to withdraw money in a foreign currency. Some banks charge a fee, while other providers charge a percentage of the amount wagered. The banks will tell you the conditions in their price list, but there is a lot of fine print. Free providers are currently N26 and DKB, but other online banks also offer free withdrawals. Alternatively, you can combine several credit cards into one (Curve card), take advantage of the official Mastercard exchange rate and pay in local currency while withdrawing in Euros. Pre-paid credit cards such as Revolut or TransferWise can be loaded in euros and used to pay abroad with your credit.
6. Do not change money at airport exchange offices.
Stay away from airport exchange offices. Exchange rates there are extremely unfavorable, which can thwart all efforts to travel cheaply and implement money saving tips.
Instead, you should use automated teller machines (ATMs) at no extra charge. More expensive is the use of the services of Travelex or Reisebank, where you can ask for the foreign currency you want in your home country and thus no longer have to worry about cash on the spot.
7. Purchase appropriate insurance policies
One of the most important tips for saving money on a vacation is to buy only insurance policies that protect you from the particularly high risks that threaten your life.
Even if you can't do without foreign health insurance, especially for adventure travel and extreme sports, you should think carefully before buying trip cancellation or baggage insurance. This is especially true since insurance companies usually only pay the current value of the contents of lost luggage. In general, you should ideally carry all important valuables in your hand luggage. However, you should not travel without liability insurance, so check your international travel insurance.
8. Be careful when renting a car
Even with a rental car, you can still spend your vacation for little money. Compare the offers of different providers online and don't exclude small local businesses. These are often cheaper than industry giants such as Sixt, Hertz or Avis. Make sure you have the right credit card for payment and combine - if it's worth it - the cheap basic coverage of the company's car insurance with your German coverage for rental cars abroad. Also, take lots of photos to prove that the car has been damaged and only return it with a full tank of fuel to avoid the more expensive gas service.
9. Choose the right cell phone provider
If you don't want to miss out on Internet and phone calls while traveling, you can save money on your vacation with the right cell phone provider. If you can use your home contract throughout the EU thanks to roaming, buying a local SIM card can be interesting, especially outside Europe. In most cases you can get more GB for less money than in Germany. Especially when travelling, it is recommended to have a large amount of data available for using your cell phone as a navigation device.
Conclusion
By following a few saving tips, your vacation can be surprisingly inexpensive. However, you need to be smart when planning your vacation and compare travel offers in advance. Book as early as possible, research the exchange rate and set a compelling travel budget. You will often need cash on the spot, which you should never get at airport exchange offices. Avoid these unfavorable exchange rates and instead take the right cards with you, which ideally allow you to withdraw cash free of charge in local currency. In addition, take out only the most important insurance policies and be careful in choosing your rental car and cell phone provider. That way you can go on vacation for less money.
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