Best Tips for saving money overseas (and win a prize worth $300)

[medhead]

Lock in a great exchange rate with the Australia Post Load&Go Travel Card.

 

[petercr]

I agree with the other posts about 'if you can't afford insurance...' but it might pay to check whether your credit card includes some form of travel insurance built in... My Commbank Diamond MC (thanks I get that free) includes a level of insurance that was on-par with any of the major providers (and covered by Zurich Assist)...

Also agree with booking online for accom and early - got great deals on Anaheim and Hollywood by researching and then going direct.

 

[yohy?!]

-sleep in airport lounges, bus terminals, shopping centres or libraries to save accomodation costs
-shower in above locations also (as best you can)
-eat all meals in fast food chains and take as many condiments and napkins as possible for snacks and supplies
-hitch hike to save on transfer costs (make a cardboard sign by picking up material from recycling bins)
-travel by sea on cargo ships instead of flying (stow away if possible)

 

[jetlagger]

WOW! I'm amazed at the variety of ideas about saving on money/costs whilst travelling overseas. I can comfortably confide in relating to most of these sensible idealisms.. Have certainly had my fair share of 'saving" in my younger & adventurous days..
Think for me the best one was putting a few drops of iodine in the local water whilst in India to save on buying excess bottled water in summer venturing around.. Spent many of my scarce aussie dollars stretching to the limits in various outposts around the world, as they were in that time.. The gracious memories still haunt & certainly put modern day comforting travel in a much refined brillant light..

 

[k_sheep]

Always travel with a set of cutlery, cup +/- mug, reusable water bottle and some kind of multi tool which includes a bottle opener +/- corkscrew. I have all that which fits into a case basically the size of a can of soft drink and weighs very little. That way you can buy cheap food and drinks in the grocery store, plus you'll be amazed what other opportunities to share food turn up. You can fill up your water bottle wherever you find a bubbler or whatever that dispenses potable water (cheap and environmentally sound!)

Plan how to change your money carefully. Use a card with no or minimal forex fees. Only change as much cash as needed, or you'll pay double commissions to change it back to your home (or the next country) currency. Research as well - some countries it is actually cheapest to use travellers cheques, some countries there are no ATMs!

Spread your money around - don't leave it all in one area or you may lose it all. I stash money in my backpack, daypack, money belt, zippered pockets amongst others. This does lead to the old "squirrel can't find his nuts" scenarios occassionally I admit (for instance, anyone need 1000 rubles that I found a few weeks ago?!) but finding forgotten money is never a sad occassion!

Research cheap and free things to do. Often museums, gardens and other attractions will be free on a certain day of week / month. Others will have a reduced fee if you enter before or after a certain time.

Lastly, stay at hostels. Even if you think you're too old or whatever; most of them have single rooms. You make instant friends which saves you money in many ways
1/ can split taxis and whatnot - there's always someone willing to split a ride to the airport!
2/ for many tours and attractions the price is reduced the more people there are
3/ the aforementioned shared food and drink
4/ cheap entertainment - most hostels have a common area where you can relax, watch tv, charge gizmos, play cards or games
5/ generally a heck of a lot cheaper than hotels!
6/ hostels are geared towards budget travellers, and often the staff and fellow travellers have the inside tips for cheap places to eat, visit, etc.

 

[Maia]

A major bargain when travelling in Europe - save hundreds of dollars and see the countries you're travelling through in comfort by purchasing minipris rail tickets about 90 days out from your travel dates. Buy from the rail websites of the countries you'll be travelling through as Rail Europe don't market minipris tickets.

I've done this in Spain, Germany, France, Denmark, Sweden and Norway. High speed trains are very comfortable and often pass through scenic areas. The central train stations are also usually well located in relation to both hotels and sightseeing areas, which saves on taxis or other transport.

As an example, my most recent trip included a journey on the spectacular Oslo to Bergen line and cost 199NOK (approx A$33).. The full price is 804NOK (approx A135).

First class minipris tickets are also available on the various websites and are even more of a bargain than standard tickets.

24 hour city cards can also save a lot of money as they usually include free transport, museum and gallery entries, etc. But do some research beforehand to make sure the one you're buying suits your needs and that the sights you want to see will be open on the day you want to use the card.

 

[Edge]

My tip is about booking accommodation. My wife and I follow this process:

1. Work out which hotel or hotels you want to stay at in your destination (tripadvisor, advice from friends, etc).
2. Plug your dates in on tripadvisor then use the buttons to compare the prices for the same hotel from 6 - 10 different aggregators, and always check the hotel's actual website.
3. Find the cheapest price that has a flexible cancellation policy. You now have a good rate locked in, so you feel secure.
4. In the lead up to the trip (every fortnight or so), have a quick check on the various aggregators. Prices change - sometimes they go up, sometimes down if there's a sale on. If the price goes up you're already ahead. If the price goes down and you have selected a flexible cancellation rate, you can cancel and rebook.

Recent examples from our USA trip 2 weeks ago:

* Trump SoHo NYC. Originally booked for 7 nights for ~$3,100. Cancelled and re-booked a month later for ~$2,650. Cancelled and re-booked a fortnight after that for $2,200 (all taxes / surcharges included). 2-3 weeks before we departed the cheapest rate for a room for 7 nights was over $5,500. Amazing hotel. We would've been satisfied staying there for $3,100. For $2,200 this was one of our biggest bargains ever.

* Encore @ Wynn Vegas. $590 for 4 nights. Booked via Expedia on a no-cancellations rate because we had the hotel choice & dates locked down and the rate was 30% cheaper than anything else we could see.

 

[PLANT]

The only one I see has not been mentioned yet is:

The best conversion place for CASH is a CASINO (Main cage) No commission and best rate.....
ie. Las Vegas American dollars from any currency, Crown any currency to Australian dollars(country your in gets the currency)
This saves money going and coming home!

Oh and nothing beats LOCAL knowledge from a LOCAL!

 

[drron]

Well I wasn't going to post because as many of you are aware I dont believe in budget travel.
Life is not a dress rehearsal.Do what you can when you can.You may never be able to have that experience again.
When we had a thread about biggest travel regrets it for most something they had put off because it was expensive eg flying Concorde.

However whilst thinking it came back to me the times we have both saved a lot of money and done what we wanted.Now this is not a tip for everyone but it has worked for us.
Book travel for ~ a month after a disaster-man made or natural.
Early 80s.Thailand 1 month after a coup.Were able to see all the sights as no other tourists.Travel around was easy and we could afford a much better hotel than our usual choices of the time.
Fiji.We were there after the first and third coups.able to ask for upgrades as virtually no one there.Had Colonel Rambuka staying above us the first time and PM Quaraise the next-able to have a good talk with him,not normally available as a tourist.
The USA 3 weeks after 9/11-New york,New York in Las vegas was $25 a night.Care rental ~ $US140 for 2 weeks-full size.
Thailand after the floods last year.Again no tourists.locals were delighted to see us and upgraded to a specialty suite at the SGS instead of a junior suite.
Japan 3 months after the Tsunami.Able to book our usual hotels in the weeks after the event for~ 30% of normal cost.Regularly in restaurants and hotels people made an effort to thank us for coming.

And no I dont think this is a winning suggestion but just putting it out there.definitely investigate but dont let fear be your master.

 

[Simo]

Don't use the hotels Taxi services. Walk out on to the street and get a Taxi.

Don't let the TA organise transfers from Airport to hotel and back. Use a local taxi or organise a local limo company for your transfer.

 

[Hvr]

Be a respectful traveller. In many countries there are two lots of prices. One for locals and one for loud mouthed obnoxious tourists. If you act respectfully you can often negotiate the prices down (where appropriate) to or close to the local level.

This is especially applicable where you are going to be staying for a few days. My next comment may be at odds with the previous comment but I really believe they are complementary.

Finally, be aware of the conversion rate, are you really saving a huge amount by bargaining hard? Or is it really just a few cents when considered in your home currency? Whilst some bargaining is an integral part of market shopping know when enough is enough and when it might be too much and you're causing offence.

 

[Blackadder]

When travelling OS, look for discount books for things like guided tours,museum entries etc also prebook to save time waiting in queues.

 

[Bundy Bear]

There are a number of ways you can save money when going overseas and my best money saving tip is:

RESEARCH

Use websites like Australianfrequentflyer.com.au, flyertalk.com or even tripadvisor.com, ask friends who have been there before, sometimes they may not be that much help but they may give you 1 tip that saves you a heap of money. Research where you are going that way you know the lay out of the place you are visiting, get an idea on the attractions you want to visit, check their opening times, get an idea of the public transport network including fare structure. I downloaded a few smart phone apps which shows GPS position but also saves carrying around a heap of maps with you.

A couple of minor ones.

Ask the hotel where the local supermarket is, that way you can save money on food and drinks.

Make sure you get your phone turned on for global roaming but don't use an Australian sim card for global data roaming, get a local sim card(Research) which can be handy to call the hotel when organizing the shuttle bus, A local sim card will usually has some data included which is very handy for maps on those new smart phones. You will know exactly where you are but can also lead you in the right direction. A local sim card can also be useful when waiting in line at some big attraction where you can post an update on AFF or Facebook to show off to all your friends.

 

[Jmrocky]

My tip

When Eating - Go Local

The best part of travelling is enjoying different culture's food and drink, but the 50 dollar Hilton Continental Breakfast isn't exactly a local experience. Leave the hotels, the tourist traps and the foreign malls and hunt down that boulangerie hidden in the tiny lane that every Parisian secretly knows. Get amongst New Yorkers woofing down a Hotdog from Grays or chance a popular street Hawker in Mumbai or Bangkok. Not only will you get a real taste of the culture, you'll save a lot of money as well.

 

[gtham]

There's been a lot of good tips so far. One that hasn't been mentioned exactly is: Bring a smart phone and get a local sim with a data plan. This has been an invaluable travel tool and saved a lot of time and money:

1. GPS & Maps: You always know where you are and can figure out how to walk to a destination (or when to get off a bus even if its in a foreign language). You get public transport options in some countries - saving you a taxi trip potentially
2. Google translate: Very valuable - I have used it to buy tickets in foreign languages by just typing what I needed in English and it's worked all the time. You can also enable foreign keyboards and then just copy the text (or the character in languages like Mandarin) and put it through the translator to work out what the sign means
3. Calls: Very handy (and usually very cheap) for calling the hotel / transport etc
4. Research: You can call up wikitravel / wikipedia to find out about nearby tourist attractions, or research hotels etc through various apps that you install
5. Currency convertor: You know how much everything costs
6. Budget tracker: Keeps track of spending and helps with budgeting (and determining whether you need to get more foreign cash out)
7. Photos / facebook / twitter / instagram: Keep your friends posted on where you are and what you're up to (and potentially saving some money having to call various people to keep them updated)

 

[shellthom]

My biggest thing at the moment is once I have my dates and travel destinations booked in I go onto the local daily deal websites (living social/groupon) and start looking for activities, restaurants and general things that I am either going to do anyway or would do if I could get the right price. I then check the validity dates and book it in as soon as I am able to so I can get it for the date I want. I have emailed to confirm availability before purchasing, letting them know my plan and then booked it in after purchase.
It saves me a lot of money (sometimes 70%), I have something to look forward too when I get there, it cost me very little - so if I can't make it I can exchange/sell/give it to a local etc, and I have spent the money months in advance of the trip so not only can I keep saving for incidentals but I didn't waste that money on a take out dinner or some other random cough I didn't need throughout the year which prevents me from getting/doing something on my trip.
As with everything always make sure you read the terms carefully. Often if you book on the day the voucher allows and you cant get the date you want you are within the refund timeframe of the deal website provider so there is a little bit of security but you have to be prompt about it.

** local being living social anaheim, not say the one sydney one where I live selling vacations to anaheim... you want to go to one thats cheap for locals!!

 

[ChrisFlyer]

I have a few different tips that I find save me a bucketload on my travels!

Communications:

FREE WI-FI - I can't stress that enough! If you can, plan where you'll have wi-fi access before you travel so that you don't waste time looking for it over there. Good examples are at airports (either in the terminal if you're lucky, or for most of us here, in the lounge), hotels (sometimes it's free in the lobby for all guests, though I always get it for free in-room as HHonors Gold (and this is one of the major reasons that I stay in their hotels)), and cafes/fast foods outlets. To this regard, I would never be seen without my iPhone overseas! For SMS messages to fellow iPhone users, iMessage makes it free when on wi-fi, and to all other users, I use an app called SMSPup (which is linked to Free SMS Australia, download ringtones & mobile phone games). It uses your phone's data connection (eg. wi-fi when you have roaming data disabled), and allows you to send real SMS messages to any Australian mobile phone. As the messages are technically sent from their end and not from your phone, there is no charge on your phone bill, and the recipient gets an advertising-free message that looks exactly like it was sent from your phone (it uses your number as the 'caller ID' on the message). Each message costs one 'point'. You can earn 'points' by clicking on advertising links in emails that they send you (I don't use my primary email for this obviously, though the emails aren't excessive). On my Dec/Jan 2010/11 trip to Europe, I spent about $450AUD on roaming (mostly data and SMS) for a 3 week trip - which was before my iPhone. Once getting my iPhone and doing this trick with the wi-fi, my roaming bill from my last 6-week trip to Europe was $0. For free calls, there is always Skype - which again can be used over wi-fi, and doesn't need a computer/laptop (and there's a Skype app on iPhone, Android and Nokia - probably others too).

Attractions and landmarks:

If you have a student card, it doesn't hurt to take it with you abroad! I have received many discounts on presenting my Australian university ID, despite it not being the 'International Student Identity Card' that you can also pay to get. While it generally won't work for public transport discounts, most places that quote a student rate will happily oblige... once such place from memory is admission to Westminster Abbey in London. I also usually never even get any funny looks when handing over a platinum Amex card after presenting my student ID

Hotel rates:

Be flexible with your dates, and when you've made up your mind, lock them in with an advance purchase rate (provided you know that your plans won't change). AP rates typically offer up to 30% off the best available rate, and if pre-paid, also usually bypass any credit card surchages that might be in place at some hotels. Also, it's usually always best value to book directly with the hotel that you are planning to stay at, instead of any third-party booking sites - which usually add their own fees even if they pass the same rate along. It also doesn't hurt to join the applicable loyalty program if you are staying in a property (or properties) belonging to a particular chain. If you stay enough, you can earn benefits such as free breakfast, wi-fi and upgrades. You could also slowly save up your hotel points in such a program to redeem for one free night, and many discount rates are only available to members (such as Rydges' Priority Guest members rates)... especially useful when there's no joining fee!

Food:

If you have a free breakfast included at your hotel (or can get it for a reasonable price), by all means utilise it! You can even be sneaky by heading to the buffet around 9:30am (for a breakfast that finishes at 11am), eating a full breakfast, sitting for a while with a coffee, and then having an early lunch from the same buffet before leaving. Still counts as your 'free breakfast', but you also get an early lunch out of it if you're really trying to cut costs If you also have access to the Hilton Executive Lounge (or similar), having a free nibble early in the evening can save you having to buy an entre if you're dining out that night - you can head straight for the main course!

Currency and cards:

I always pre-purchase my currency before travel - usually from Westpac's FX4YOU (unless they don't stock the currency I'm after). The conversion rates used are respectable, and it allows BPAY payment from a credit card as a 'purchase' (eg. your bank doesn't treat this as a cash advance, so if your card earns frequent flyer points on BPAY purchases, you will earn those on the $AUD amount spent on forex). While it may be slightly more expensive than converting $AUD into local currency overseas, I see it as good value - as I earn points on the total (which I value at around 6c each - earning 625 per $1000 spend on MasterCard BPAY brings an added value of 3.75% despite the difference in currency rate), and there's also the convenience factor of having everything organised before you depart. As others have said, for cards, you can't go wrong with the 28 Degrees MasterCard... I don't use it myself (I value my points higher than the forex fees charged when using my Amex), but if you're really trying to minimise costs, it's great! Also, Dynamic Currency Conversion (where you are given the option to be charged in your home currency on Visa/MasterCard- eg. $AUD when abroad) is an absolute rort. It pads the exchange rate by 1.5%, and although your card is then charged in $AUD, many Australian banks have a 'cross-border processing fee' (essentially a fee for a foreign transaction, regardless of the currency). You are *much* better off just charging the amount in the local currency.

Travel insurance:

No insurance? Don't travel. Simple as that. Many premium credit cards have complimentary travel insurance included as one of the benefits, though if you plan on using it, make sure you meet the requirements. If you're sneaky and have multiple cards with insurance benefits, you can always qualify for insurance benefits on multiple cards for the same trip, just in case the PDS differs slightly between the cards. As an example, my CBA Diamond cards require ~$1000AUD of pre-paid travel expenses be charged to the card before departure to activate insurance protection. Such expenses include not only flights, but also hotel pre-payments, attractions, cars, concert tickets, etc etc... Conversely, my Westpac Earth Platinum Plus card requires that the return airfare be charged to the card (eg. no protection if you only use it to pay for hotels). As the WBC card earns bonus points on Qantas transactions, I use it to pay for the flights, and the CBA card to pay for the hotels... two free insurance policies as well as bonus points - hard to beat! Also, for cardholders that have 'rental vehicle excess' cover, beware that there is no concept of 'excess' in the USA, which makes the coverage provided under these policies worthless... be sure to get the insurance from the hire company, as a small expense pre-rental can save thousands post-rental.

That's about it!

 

[Sprucegoose]

There's three central themes running through here and they are

Planning
Planning
Planning

Know the base minimum, you can still be adventurous.

Sometimes planned tours day or otherwise also represent the best value as you can see more for a fixed fee than wandering around wondering

Don't underestimate the power of research and planning


Sent from my iPhone using Aust Freq Fly app

 

[wmetz]

What is the point on going on a overseas holiday if you just want to cut corners. As long as you do not travel in peak holiday times, I have always found a discounted airfare (even at business level). More importantly, when you arrive at your destination after a long exhausting flight, by having traveled off-season you can easily get a 3 or 4 star hotel room or apartment at great prices. Even one of the places I stayed at, had its own private hot spring bath.

Next, anyone can join hotel and airline frequent programs, most are free. And if you keep in touch with them or just follow on AFF discussion blogs, many times members point out when free points or specials are on offer. From just answering some surveys or doing their online competitions, I have easily collected free meal and drinks for my next stay at their hotels.

Finally, I used the internet not just to save money, but socialize out to the web to make new friends at my next point of call. When you know a local, they show you the real tourist spots and how to have a great time, and not blow the budget.

 

[samh004]

My tip, if you could call it that, has been mentioned at least 3 times already, in different ways.

Simply, make a budget, set a limit and don't go over it. If you've done the hard work and saved up well, you'll have more money to work with on the budget, and whatever you save one day can always be put towards another day, so there's no necessity to spend what you've set for yourself every day.

That said, there are some amazing tips in this thread that far outweigh my limited thinking.