Nothing new worth sharing today, so I thought I’d share a few tips to help you find the best deals possible whenever traveling.
- Don’t limit your destinations. The biggest mistake people can make when traveling is to aim to go to a specific place. If you want to go to a warm beach, there are hundreds of options. Just want to get away? Thousands of options – all of which are great destinations. By being open to going surfing in Costa Rica, Hawaii, Brazil or Mexico, you could spend 1/2, if not 1/4 as much as if you said “I want to go to Hawaii”.
- Try to travel on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. Depending on how long you stay, your flight can be 40% to 80% of your costs. Cutting those costs can either keep more money in your pocket, or free up cash for more fun excursions. Either way – it’s worth a little effort to try and find the optimal days to travel. The cheapest days to travel are almost always Tues-Thurs, however most people leave for vacation on a Friday, and return on a Friday through Sunday the next week. Those combinations of days (Traveling on Fri-Sun) are the most expensive days to fly.
- Don’t limit yourself to specific times for travel. My wife is a teacher – which is GREAT for finding deals in the summer. The rest of the year – not so much because vacation days are frowned upon, and her days off mid-school year are typically when everyone else is traveling. (Spring Break, Winter Break, Thanksgiving, etc.) During those times, we typically stay close to home because international fares are almost always higher than normal. (We just grabbed a GREAT quick trip to Vegas over spring break.) Rather than deciding to take a vacation week a certain time of the year, give yourself some “flex time”, and when you see a trip a month (or three, or five) in advance, grab it & schedule your vacation for then. The more “flex time” you leave open for travel, the better the deal you will find.
Combine the 3 tips above and you can get amazingly cheap deals!
That’s all for today. Hopefully I’ll have some more good deals for you tomorrow (or who knows – maybe even later today.)