Last-Minute Travel Hacks that save you money.
We love to make last-minute travel plans. We’ve always liked being spontaneous, sometimes it’s the key to an exciting and unexpected travel adventure.
You can also save money with last-minute travel arrangements. In this post I cover some tips on how to save big bucks on last-minute getaways.
1. Embrace Spontaneous Adventures…and save money
Sure, it’s great to plan your holiday. But too much planning can lead to a dull, predictable trip. On the other hand, some of our best trips have been last-minute whims where we didn’t know much about the destination or where we had done little advance planning. Places like Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Cambodia and even off-season adventures to lesser-known places in Italy, Germany and Spain have been some of our most memorable trips.
There are websites that offer last minute deals on flights, sites like Lastminute.com, CheapOair.com, Edreams.com, and Expedia.com. If cruising is your thing, many of the cruise lines have last-minute deals (for example, you can book last-minute cruise deals from Southampton with Celebrity Cruise Lines).
Another resource are websites that aggregate the best travel deals on the internet. Websites such as Travelzoo.com, Momondo.com and Google Flights. You can find last-minute tours, cruises, flights and even spa vacations on these sites.
2. Finding last-Minute Lodging Deals
Lodging is usually the most expensive component of travel so if you can find a deal you can save yourself a lot of money. That’s where last-minute deals come in. Search for mobile apps for last-minute hotel bookings, like HotelTonight.com which lists unsold rooms and offers them at a cheaper rate. We also browse Booking.com and use Google’s search features to find cheap hotel deals.
3. Look at lesser-known destinations
Some destinations will never (or rarely) have great last-minute deals because they’re popular year long. I’m thinking of places like Paris, London, and New York.
Generally though, you’re always better looking at lesser-known destinations where you can save a lot of money. Consider places like Lecce (Italy), Belgrade (Serbia), Sofia (Bulgaria), Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina) or Vilnius (Lithuania). Even countries like Spain have incredible lesser-known destinations (such as Burgos, Valencia, Segovia or Antequera).
4. Travel off Season
If you want to see popular places, see them in the off season.
We’ve been to Dubrovnik in winter and paid an average of 75 Euros/night. In summer prices are easily triple that, the streets are crowded and you’ll die from heatstroke. We’ve had similar luck in Rome and Barcelona.
It’s not just lodging; you’ll save on flights and even on restaurants. I know not everyone can travel off season because of school holidays, work schedules etc…but if you can manage to do it you’ll save tons of money.
5. Save money on Food
After transportation and lodging, food is where people spend the most money. Luckily, food costs are the easiest to control.
When booking accommodation, look for a place with a kitchen or at least a kitchenette. Airbnb has always been a good option for that but increasingly sites such as booking.com offer apartments or aparthotels that have everything you need to make your own meals. A few years ago for example I was travelling with my mother through Germany and found this Aparthotel in Dresden with 2 bedrooms and a Kitchenette and which averaged less than 100 Euros/night (a last-minute deal I found on Booking.com)
Having a kitchen or kitchenette, buy your food at a local grocery store or market. Make your own sandwiches, salad and drink local beer or wine. This is what we always do and we save tons of money on food.
I know people who go to restaurants everyday and night when on vacation and easily blow $150/day per person just on food. That’s a total waste of money.
6. Take advantage of Free Stuff
There’s always free stuff to do in cities and you can see a lot without having to pay exorbitant amounts to enter museums or historic sites.
But many cities have days where even highlight attractions are free. In many places, Museums are free on Sundays. Historic sites might have a free afternoon once a week. It’s worth exploring because you can save a lot of money. Where we live for example, in Granada (Spain), you can visit most of the highlight attractions for free if you plan ahead. A few weeks ago we visited the Cartuja Monastery for free. We’ll be visiting the Granada Cathedral for free next week. My point is that most cities do have free stuff (which they don’t advertise). Do your research, you might be surprised.
Conclusion
You don’t have to organize your vacation plans 6 months in advance. That’s what the large travel companies want you to do. You CAN do it last-minute and save money.
The key is knowing what’s out there, that means having a few websites at your fingertips where you can find and book travel deals whether they’re flights, cruises, accommodation or all-inclusive tours. There’s always going to be unsold inventory, you just have to find it. And, as I say, finding these deals are always more obvious if looking at less-popular destination or if you can manage to travel off season.
Finally, there are the most obvious ways of saving money: things like saving money on food and taking advantage of free things. People think of the larger expenses such as transportation and lodging but often don’t reflect on how the cost of food and entry fees add up.
The above are the keys to travelling spontaneously while also saving money on your trips.
Related: 24 Underrated European cities that you should Visit
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