Between ridiculous airline fees, lousy exchange rates, and an all-round terrible world economy, traveling has become an incredibly expensive prospect for most people, especially those who haven’t had much travel experience. While the era of Europe for $5 a day is certainly over, there are many, many ways to make sure you’re saving money when you travel, or at the very least, not wasting it unnecessarily. When you’re in your vacation rental this year, consider these very simple money-saving tips.
- Always use the bank (and only the bank) to get money.Independent exchange facilities, especially ones at major tourist attractions and airports, not only offer terrible exchange rates but sometimes charge a significant fee to change your money to the local currency. Banks not only consistently offer the best exchange rates but, with ATMs on every corner, offer the easiest way to access your cash on a 24/7 basis (unlike private money exchange stores). They also almost always offer English touch screens, so there’s no need to worry about dealing with a foreign language computer system.
2.Do not touch your cell phone. Even with a reasonable international plan, using a cell phone overseas can cost a fortune and it can be shockingly easy to run up an enormous bill with just minimal usage. An easy way to make sure you’re keeping a cap on your phone budget is to use a good, old-fashioned phone card which you can almost always find at local newsstands or drug stores. You can purchase them in amounts of just $5 and up and they are incredibly easy to use. The only extra effort you’ll have to make is scratching off a code on the back; other than that, it’s no more difficult than just making a regular phone call.
- Eat lunch, not dinner.Depending on where you are in the world, the difference in price between a lunch menu and a dinner menu can be enormous. If you make lunch the big meal of the day, you can not only save a lot of money, but you can also find yourself eating in places that might have been cost prohibitive otherwise. Also, if you happen to be in a city that’s known for its theater, like New York or London, try scouting out pre-theater menus. You might need to eat a little earlier, but you’ll be saving quite a bit.
- Schedule museum trips carefully. If you’re like most travelers, you’re probably going to hit a lot of museums on your vacation and that can get really expensive really quickly. That said if you’re strategic about when and/or how you go, you could save a lot in admission fees. For example, an adult ticket to the Museum of Modern Art in New York City is $25, but on Friday nights, admission is completely free. Many cities, like Paris, offer museum passes that not only offer big discounts, but line skipping as well, so be sure to investigate offers like this in your vacation rental city.
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