With inflation keeping prices of food, fuel and other items high, making your money stretch as far as possible has never been more important than when you’re on the road. It doesn’t mean you have to skimp on travel, but when air and other fares are fluctuating, often in the wrong direction, you can soon find yourself out of pocket.
Transportation is the one aspect of trips that’s often overlooked when booking holidays, travel experts say, and buses, trains, taxis and plane costs can really eat into your budget. It’s especially true when bookings are left till the last minute, not planned well in advance, leaving you with high fares you have no choice but to pay.
So a little planning goes a long way and can turn you into a smart and calm traveller instead of a foolish and frazzled one, say those in the know. And there’s lots you can do to ensure you don’t overspend when on your next trip and stay within your already tight budget.
Solutions to Costly Travel Problems
LP Maurice knows all about rushed bookings when travelling, and how they can end up costing a fortune. The entrepreneur and CEO of Busbud, a global platform that lets people get the best fares for intercity bus travel, says much of the problem stems from simply not knowing what to do.
“I founded Busbud after getting lost trying to decipher a tricky bus route in South America,” he said. That led him to think about ways that travellers could get around more easily without spending a lot. And he wondered “what happens if uncertainty is what causes them to pay too much” and now to deal with it.
“One of the biggest mistakes I see travellers make is just booking the first search result and not looking up local operators,” said Maurice. “You’re essentially paying a premium for a more convenient and faster booking experience.”
So he came up with a strategy.
“My first recommendation is to present the concrete regional bus and train options so that travellers can compare and avoid unnecessary short flights.
“Ground transportation is not only often the cheaper option, but can make more sense over medium distances because it often takes travellers closer to downtowns, neighborhoods and offices.”
And finally, he recommends “multi-leg tickets that combine train and coach services too,” saying it’s a “simple yet effective way to save money is to book one or two days earlier than you intended”.
Saving on Accommodation Costs While Travelling
Travel writer Alex Brown says one of the best ways to save cash while on the road is to take transport at odd hours, including at night — with a major bonus of saving on expensive hotels.
“If you’re covering long distances, using night buses is a great way to get around. You are essentially getting free accommodation as you aren’t paying for a room for the night,” he says.
Brown, who writes travel blog Adventure to Every Country and says he has been to 92 countries, advises travellers to never lose sight of their valuables when on the road or they could be landed in real trouble.
“You should lock your bags with padlocks, and use a cable lock to attach bags with valuables to your leg for safety reasons. Don’t put valuables in the hold.”
Walking around new places should be limited to under an hour, he says, and to better find out where you’re going and how to get there, he recommends using an app called Citymapper. It gives detailed breakdowns of how to get around and tells you if there are any transport costs.
Brown cautions against using regular taxis in unfamiliar places, instead the more secure and usually lower-cost Uber and equivalent services, as they have driver details and easily accessible customer services.
“One mistake I make is booking buses too close to departure,” Brown says. “It means fewer seats and higher prices, so it’s always better to book in advance.” And you can avoid booking fees if you turn up in person to get your tickets instead of doing it online.
Motoring on the Cheap
Many of us need to rent a car or other vehicle when we arrive at our destination, whether an airport or bus or train station. How to find the right deal that doesn’t end up costing you substantial sums?
Alen Baibekov, head of car rental comparison site Economy Bookings says travellers should be aware of the headline rates because that’s usually not what they’ll end up paying, but a lot more.
“To get the biggest bang for your rental buck, plan the trip, not just the daily rate,” he says. “To begin with, the price you see listed is not the price you’ll actually pay by the end of your rental period.”
Baibekov advises that the best deals are often when pick-up spots are not at airports or central areas of cities but just outside them. That way, they benefit from lower rates and also surcharges that are often slapped on airports.
In addition, he says, there’s little point opting for large vehicles if it’s just one or a few people when a smaller one will do the job and be more fuel-efficient too, thereby saving on rental and also pricey fuel costs.
Consider not renting a car for your entire trip, Baibekov suggests, instead of just part of it — say, a leg from one major city to another. “While there are times when only a car will do, very often public transport can get you from A to B much more cheaply, and cost-effectively.
“You might be able to save even more by taking a train or bus in urban areas and reserving a car only for the scenic or rural parts of your trip where a car will actually add value.”
And when you book your car online, in advance, you also get the option of buying insurance and other extras that are usually a lot more expensive if purchased later and not part of the rental deal. Tolls are another issue when on the road and Baibekov recommends checking them out on your route before you travel and seeing what their costs are will help to avoid any unwanted surprises.
Micro-Travel and Transport Products
Figuring out how to get around cities big and small without unnecessary spending has been part of every trip for Viola Sender, who writes a travel blog at Away to the City. What she realised is that using one transport system instead of several often works out not only cheaper but more efficient in terms of time.
“I pick a home base neighbourhood with strong metro or tram links, and then rely on that network for most trips, rather than bouncing between taxis, ride shares and random buses,” Sender says. “A day or weekly pass pays off quickly after a few rides and removes a lot of decision fatigue.”
A travel mistake that can often lead to high costs is planning to see lots of attractions in one place, tourist sites that are spread around a city and mean you have to shell out lots in transport fees to get to them all, she says.
Instead, advises Sender, keep it local. “I plan by neighbourhood and buy the pass that fits my stay.”
Another tip she has to slash costs when travelling, sightseeing and visiting attractions is to buy a product instead of just one ticket.
“On my trips, I’ve watched people buy single fares all day because the machine defaults to the simplest option. I always check for fare caps, zone pricing and group tickets, especially in cities where a short ride and a long ride cost the same within one zone.
“I once made the mistake of buying the wrong zone ticket and ended up paying a fine of €60 (£52) to fix it, which taught me to confirm zones for my accommodation and main sights before buying anything.”
Planning a Trip with ‘Smart Routing’
Exploring new places doesn’t always have to involve paying for transport, however. You can get around the simplest way of all, by using your two feet. You get much-needed exercise along the way, after all the sitting down on planes, trains, buses and taxis, and you can come across charming areas you might have missed by using transport.
That’s the realisation of seasoned traveller Ayushi Tandon, a New Zealander living in London. “Walking short distances rather than constantly hopping between stops can also show you neighbourhoods you otherwise might skip over, and they often become the most memorable parts of travel,” she says.
Tandon, who writes travel guide Laptops & Landscapes, also focuses on something she calls “smart routing” when on the road.
“Given the short amount of time and energy real travellers have, smart routing can minimise both their financial outlay and their fatigue,” she says. “When your itinerary allows you to stay near a central transportation hub for several nights, your daily transportation costs go down and your day-trip options by bus or regional rail go way up.”
Tandon advises people to use “local travel passes, which not only have unlimited rides but often give you accumulating discounts at museums or attractions”.
A frequent travel blunder she sees is people “cramming their itinerary with far-flung sights and then ending up spending a small fortune on last-minute taxi rides once they realise that there simply isn’t enough time to get from one place to the other”.
To prevent that from happening, she says travellers should allow “for a bit of leeway within a smaller geographic region” because it “usually decreases the cost of travel and increases how much you get to know a place, as opposed to just passing through it”.
These days, the smart travel money is on those who plan ahead so they never overspend when visiting new destinations.
