Students have a great time not only learning but also seeing the world. Traveling, however, can take all your savings. Do you remember that from your first time visiting Amsterdam? It is not a problem – nothing is going to ruin your childhood dream. At least, you become a popular traveler and soon will be writing your own book, which will be even more incredible than the papers you got from essay service last month. For this reason, students discover new tricks to make every journey cheaper. And our mission is to show how – in the next ten hacks.
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1. Travel by yourself
The main tip for traveling cheaper is to organize your trip by yourself. That means you don’t have to ask for the tour operators’ help, with their high prices. Find friends who can advise you with planning, from the process of packing the bag to the visa details.
Anyway, if you are afraid to travel alone, you can buy a cheap group tour. It is better than not to travel at all.
2. Try hitch-hiking and plan the route
Hitch-hiking is a unique option for movement between big cities on one continent. Although counting all the pros and cons, you will decide if this method is ideal for you. Pros: it is very cheap because it will cost you almost nothing. Many drivers don’t like to drive alone, and they are ready to get positive vibes from new passengers, like you. Cons: this type of transportation is quite dangerous and adds difficulties with planning your time. Also note: check the rules of the region you are planning to visit. For example, hitch-hiking is allowed in 50 US states, but each of them has slight differences in their laws.
In this case, go to the website of transportation between touristic points you picked. There should be a lot of options for public transport. Then buy the ticket for the time that you need in advance, and you’ll always be on time and catch up on all your plans in this place.
3. Find cheap tickets service
The Internet allows people to find more information for cheap traveling. Many online services provide customers with discounts on flights. For example, such functions as trip.com, cheapoair.com, and airtreks.com propose not just cheap flights, but accommodation as well.
To save on your ticket’s price, try to search flights with flexible dates, connecting flights, and special discounts like for airlines’ club members.
4. Try volunteering
Some hotels, restaurants, and guests’ houses propose you to help with cleaning up in a room or the kitchen. This new practice has quickly become popular. As an exchange, they allow you to stay for a night or two. This is perfect for students with a minimal budget, but with a kind heart.
5. Exchange your home
Accommodation services online helps you to find people with the same interests. You are making friends and communicating from your account as in any other social media. How it works: you pick up the place for visiting, then the service proposes you locals that are ready to give you a roof over your head for free. All you have to do is be careful and keep the place clean. If you want to do extra, you might propose to cook your national dish or bring some groceries on the way back.
6. Visit places with cheap food
Plan to have your dinner where locals have. It saves a lot of money for you and your friends. In central districts for tourists, you’ll only find restaurants with high prices. And if you ask locals for some help, they will provide you some advice to visit a place where you can have a cheap and tasty meal. This way, you can find out more about the national cuisine and traditions.
7. Use discounts
There are many proposals for students, young teachers, and those who aren’t in their 30s 🙂 Did you hear about ISIC, ITIC, or IYTC? You can get great discounts with it in many places such as cafes, museums, and transport in Europe and North America.
For particular types of discounts, you can search before going to the country of your destination.
8. Save on mobile connection
Preparing for the trip abroad, find out about the communication method you will use on this trip. To save you from mobile expenses, we advise you to use special offers or deals from your mobile provider. It is better to turn off your mobile data and use the Wi-Fi connection as much as you can. You can connect to it freely in any bar, cafe, hostel, or another touristic place. Use Skype, Viber, WhatsApp, Messenger, or Telegram for international calls.
In other cases, you can buy a local SIM card and use it abroad to avoid the costs of your country’s mobile service.
9. Choose night trips instead of staying in a hotel
Night trips on trains and buses will make your trips cheaper. This is an excellent opportunity to save time and money from not staying in a hotel. It is better to take first-class tickets. Even if you overpay a little, you will be more comfortable and having a good rest at night. It’s not so convenient to take a long trip on buses. However, in some countries, there are buses for sleepers. They have individual soft shelves instead of standard chairs. That is an excellent option for a budget trip without comfort loss.
10. Do Visas Yourself
You don’t have to pay in a supermarket for another person to get your product from the shelves. The same practice concerns visas. Many people think that a visa agency’s help is more reliable in not getting a visa refusal. This is a mistake because the mission of these agents is bringing the documents to the consulate instead of you. Visa agents usually take twice or three times the price of visas for their services.
Look through the consulate’s web sites, or go to the nearest visa center in your country. This will help you to prepare the right package of needed documents and pay fair prices.
As you see, there is nothing complicated in budgeting your trip appropriately. A little planning and knowledge of a few saving secrets are all that you need. If you try a little, you can reduce costs for flights, hotels, visas, transportation, food, and communications. We have shared with you a dozen useful tips on how to travel cheap. Now it is your time to use them!