A Few Awesome Tips That Will Help You To Travel At Major Discounts
The frugal traveler does a lot more than look for discounted flights online. The creative traveler looks for creative ways to spend those travel bucks. Transportation is a huge part of your budget and often includes airfare so be sure to look around.
How to Use Free Stopovers: The first time I traveled to Australia with my significant other, we flew Air New Zealand. The reason we did this was so is that we got a free stopover in New Zealand, which worked out perfect because we were planning a tour to New Zealand and hadn’t ever made it. By taking advantage of free stopovers you’re able to visit places you may wish to visit without having to pay airfare. When we went back to Australia the following year, Air Tahiti Nui was the airline for us due to them having a free stopover in Tahiti on the return flight.
Hidden Cities: Some airlines openly offer free stopovers as benefits; however hidden cities are typically discouraged and unadvertised by airline companies. The cheap traveler is then able to gain huge savings by taking advantage of such stopovers.
An example of this is a trip from New York City to Las Vegas. Sometimes a flight from New York City to Los Angeles is less expensive, even though this same flight stops in Las Vegas to pick up more passengers. So what is to stop the frugal traveler from getting off early, at the destination he or she really wants to visit? A few things: Luggage will be sent to the ticketed destination so this trick is for carry on only passengers. Also the flyer must remember that the return ticket should start at his or her real destination.
Getting Bumped: If you’re an easy going traveler, something that is similar to winning the lottery is being bumped from your flight. This is because there is compensation more often than not and someone who is very desperate to arrive at their destination on time is now able to do so.
Travelers knowing the rules know the compensation offered (check the carriers website), know the next flights out (be wary of carriers with once a week flights), and can weigh that against the pain of disrupted plans. The hubby and I always decide before arriving at the airport (early so we have a boarding pass to give up) whether or not it’s worth it. That way we can be the first to offer up our seats should the opportunity to arise. It’s almost always free round trip tickets or up to $300 in travel vouchers per ticket!
To increase your chance of being bumped you can use the strategy of booking on flights that are typically quite full later in the day. By making use of discount sites and being creative, travel doesn’t have to empty your bank savings, and this allows the thrifty traveler to get more for less.
Booking Your Ticket Online: By using an online travel site, you’re typically able to get much better deals than with a travel agent.
If you are going to Zurich, for example, you will want to make sure you find your Zurich hotel online before heading over. You generally want to do this a few weeks in advance before the hotel fills up and the prices are driven up.
Alejandra R. Machado is part Swiss and was born in Geneva though she was raised in Brazil. Traveling all over Europe and particularly her wonderful homeland of Switzerland is her greatest satisfaction. She writes of her travels on her blog as well as posts reviews about each hotel in Zurich she visits.