Holiday savings tips: 18 ways to save money

Budget-friendly hacks for the holidays: 18 bargain hunter hacks

Everyone, even the pros, likes to save on travel. We ask them how they are doing.

Holidays are a break from the daily routine, an opportunity to indulge in the little pleasures of life. And to me, that equates to a good spa treatment…or seven.

But there's such a premium attached to vacation spa treatments that the joy of pampering is sometimes overshadowed by the cost.

That's why my favorite vacation hack is getting a massage from local women along the beachfront at Nusa Dua in Bali.

This location is like a Monopoly board of exclusive resorts, which feature equally exclusive spa treatment prices. But for the equivalent of $10 to $15, you can get an hour-long full-body massage overlooking the ocean outside the resort walls.

Whenever I go to Nusa Dua, I check in daily with these women.

Even with a 50% tip, a week of massages is roughly equivalent to a massage at the resort.

Let's face it, vacations can be a little harder to factor into a household budget these days, so finding ways to grab a bargain on vacation has never been more important.

But neither does a real vacation, says mindfulness expert and founder of meditation app Soul Alive, Luke McLeod.

"I think travel has a very underappreciated positive influence on our mental health and overall well-being," he says. "While it's important to make sure planning a trip doesn't add financial stress, it shouldn't deter you from traveling either. We're often happiest when we're working on something meaningful.

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Holiday savings tips: 18 ways to save money

Holiday savings tips: 18 ways to save money

So we asked the travel experts to put their money where they mean it and found 18 of the best money-saving travel hacks.

Flying

  1. There are so many hacks to get a free flight upgrade and save thousands of dollars, but Elena Fini from TripADeal found one that worked – quite by accident. "Get to the door last and your seat could be upgraded," she says. “I was about to miss my Dubai-Brisbane flight and instead enjoyed a business class flight.”
  2. Dawn plane flights are often the cheapest, but that's no problem for Escape's assistant digital editor, Simone Mitchell. "When I'm going cheap, I usually book one of those cheap flights with terrible timing and stay at the airport hotel the night before or after my flight," she says. Taking public transportation to the airport will also save you money, and you'll often find cheaper hotels at airports than in cities."
  3. Daniel Sciberras of the loyalty guide, Point Hacks, is also looking for the first flight, but for different reasons. "It's usually much cheaper than later flights," he says. "It's less likely to be delayed due to planes arriving, but also, if you're looking to indulge in low-cost luxury travel, you're more likely to get an upgrade using your loyalty points because the demand for these seats is lower at that time.
  4. Escape's business editor, Kelli Armstrong, has learned about the need to cancel or change flights over the past few years, so she's always booking one-way flights. "If I want to modify my return flight, I can do it online, and since I've already begun the booking, I don't have the hassle or extra expense of having to phone the airline to change the return."

Accommodation

  1. Hannan Kayani, CEO of Yugo.pk, says it's possible to travel with kids and stick to your budget - if you know where to stay. When visiting Fiji, his family makes use of resorts that let kids stay, play, and dine for free if they share a room with their parents and use the existing bedding.
  2. You often pay a premium to stay in the city center of any country. But not Flight Center general manager Brent Novak. The majority of the world's cities, such as Paris or Rome, have affordable and dependable public transportation, particularly trains, according to him. "Going to the suburbs and commuting is the perfect way to see more of a city for less."
  3. Travel expert Dana Brown of Wild Hearted World found that you can save hundreds of dollars on rental accommodation by booking directly with a property management company through a rental platform. “I was booking two nights in the Hunter Valley for my group of friends and found a property for $3100 on Airbnb but checked directly with the property management company and managed to save $1000 ", she says. "That's a lot of wine in the Hunter Valley."
  4. Aliisa Frassetto of Yugo.pk finds local knowledge to be a good value. She says she always talks to the concierge since there is nothing better than a local recommendation. The guides can also provide you with information about cheap museum days, free walking tours, and other activities in the city.

Transport

  1. Usually the word 'pass' comes with bonuses and that's exactly what Finder travel expert Angus Kidman discovered when he booked the NSW Discovery Pass, which helped him visit regional centers such as Wagga Wagga, Canberra, Port Macquarie, and Tamworth. "A six-month first-class pass costs $550, but I've often traveled more than $1,200 over that time," the passenger said.
  2. Public transport in some cities can be intimidating, especially when exiting the plane from the airport, but it's still cheaper than a taxi or Uber, says SkyScanner's Laura Lindsay. “In Lisbon, I hopped on the local metro and the direct Aeroporto-Saldanha line takes you downtown Lisbon in about 20 minutes, with a ticket costing only €1.50 compared to €30 in a taxi.”
  3. Daniel Finch of Wotif always checks if it's cheaper to rent a car at the airport or in town before booking. “Sometimes a quick taxi into town before you get in the car can save you money, and other times the airport is the best option,” he says. The Wotif team looked into this and found that renting a car at the airport was more cost-effective, coming in at about 15% less expensive.
  4. It can be easy to overpay at the rental car counter, but Peter Hosper of travel management company ATPI has a sure way to save money every time. “You usually have a substantial car damage deductible, but instead of paying up to $40 a day to waive it, just buy travel insurance,” he says. "Or check with your credit card provider if you have travel insurance attached to your card."

Money

  1. Using your debit or credit card abroad can add hundreds to your holiday, but not for Janeece Keller of FamilyTravel.com.au. “Use a global money account,” she says. You can avoid paying exchange rates and other costs by using local currency to access your pocket money (or US dollars if the local currency is not available). When traveling internationally for 10 days, can save you more than $100.

Booking

  1. We've all heard that it can pay off to book early and Anna Shannon of Travel Agent Finder wouldn't travel otherwise. "By booking a river cruise vacation with an airline promotion a year in advance, I was able to secure business class flights on a leading airline to Europe for $2,999 per person," he says. she. "People booking their flights a month before departure was paying that price for the economy because the planes were full."
  2. We all know we can save money traveling outside of the busy Christmas period, but Luxury Escapes co-founder Adam Schwab takes this rule one step further. Since most destinations are highly seasonal, he explains, you can benefit from incredible discounts to Thailand in July, Vietnam in late January, or Fiji in November. If you vacation off-season, you may save a lot of money.
  3. Brendon Cooper, travel manager at Inspiring Vacations, can't go past a coach ride to save money. “When you take into account that they include all transportation, lodging, and sightseeing, he explains, "They are truly amazing value for money." "Comfortable three-star coach travel can cost as little as $140 per person per day in Europe and Japan, saving me hundreds of dollars a day."

Dining

  1. For Yugo's Editorial Director Usman Ali, the best and most affordable food is often found outside of restaurants. “I always seek out the best produce markets nearby and bring a stash of snacks and lunch produce back to my room, especially in Italy where you can find fabulous cold cuts, meats, cheeses, great bread, fruit, and cheap vegetables.”
  2. Yugo.pk Editor Usman Ali says it pays to be the early bird in some cities. "If you're happy to have supper before the sun goes down and be surrounded by people called Ernie, wearing denim shorts, you can save a lot of money, especially in places like Miami, USA."

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