19 ideas to save money on holidays –
Introduction 👋
When it comes to your hard-won money, saving every penny counts! 💰
Here are our top 19 ideas for saving money on holidays. 🏖️
Disclaimer: This website provides information for guidance and educational purposes only. The Grown-Up School does not provide regulated financial advice. You can seek independent financial advice from a suitably qualified and regulated professional advisor. Check out our disclaimer policy for more information.
1. Consider a “staycation” 🗺️
A lot of people don’t realise how many places there are to explore nearby! 🏞️
Having a holiday in your local area can be cheaper than travelling abroad.
2. Find cheaper accommodation 🏨
Hotels on travel sites can be expensive, and there are cheaper alternatives available!
You could consider doing things like:
- Booking on cheaper accommodation websites like Airbnb ✈️
- Hiring a caravan or book a caravan park 🚚
- Camping with cheap camping equipment 🏕️
- Booking glamping (glamorous camping!) sites ✨
- Book hotels directly rather than on travel websites (this can sometimes be cheaper – be careful that these sites can be trustworthy and aren’t a scam!) 🛎️
- Consider staying at a hostel 🏨
3. Shop around comparison sites 🛒
When it comes to holidays, you can shop around for everything to find great deals!
In particular, compare different sites for cheaper flight deals. ✈️
4. Stay within your luggage allowances for flights 🎒
Are you someone who always stuffs their bags with things for a holiday? 🐿️
When you’re flying, the costs for extra luggage weigh quickly adds up!
Try to stay within your luggage allowances, to avoid unexpected costs.
You could even buy your own cheap weighing scale, to check your bag weights before you set off! ✈️
5. Bring your own food to the airport 🥪
Food at the airport can be pricey – instead of buying at the airport, why not pack your own food? 🛬
6. Make sure that your passport hasn’t expired! 💳
When you book holidays, it’s really important to check your passport expiry date, to make sure you don’t have to cancel the holiday unexpectedly!
Even if your passport is valid, some countries might not allow you to enter if you have 6 months or less on your passport. 📆
Check your passport before you book a holiday – and if you need a new one, allow plenty of time for it to arrive before your holiday! ✈️
7. Travel by coach or train instead of flying 🚄
If you don’t mind a longer journey, train or coach journeys can actually work out cheaper! 💸
8. Consider finding affordable travel insurance ⛑️
Getting insurance is where you pay money to “protect yourself” from different emergencies.
If you find yourself in the emergency, you will often be given emergency money to help you.
Travel insurance can help to protect you in situations like:
- travel delays ⌚
- lost luggage 🗺️
- damaged luggage 🎒
- stolen luggage 🦹
- medical emergencies 🧑⚕️
- trip cancellation ❌
9. Travel with friends🧑🤝🧑
Travelling with friends can be cheaper because you can:
- Share transport e.g. hiring a car together 🚗
- Get group booking discounts e.g. restaurants, hotels 🏷️
- Share accommodation 🏨
10. Travel at night 🌃
If you don’t mind travelling at inconvenient times, it can actually be cheaper! ⌚
For example, overnight flights, trains, or coaches can be cheaper ✈️
11. Turn off your mobile data roaming 📶
Travelling to different countries can cost quite a bit of money when it comes to paying for your phone’s mobile data, texts, and calls. 📱
Check your phone contract before you go on holiday to see how much your data will cost abroad! 🏖️
Also, turn off your mobile data roaming on your phone, to avoid unexpected data costs! 📴
12. Consider package deals that might save you money 📦
People tend to think that package deals are more expensive because they’re easier to book e.g. you can book your flight, hotel and transport in one go!
But don’t write them off just yet! ✍️
Shop around both package deals and paying for things separately – sometimes package deals can turn out cheaper.
Package deals can sometimes take the stress out of booking a holiday, but also save you money! 💸
13. Consider using free, prepaid money travel cards 💳
Travel insurance will often protect a certain amount of money you take in cash, and pay you back if it gets stolen. ⛑️
BUT
It might not cover all of your money in cash! 💸
Free, prepaid money travel cards can help to give you another option to pay on holiday. 🏖️
14. Research your destination beforehand 🕵️♀️
Getting lost and not knowing where you’re going can cost a lot of money!
The more you know about your destination, the more you could save money.
If you know more about your destination, you could save money by:
- Using cheaper public transport instead of booking taxis/coaches 🚌
- Walking 🚶♀️
- Not getting lost and having to book transport to help you 🗺️
Researching your destination can save you both time and money! ⌚
15. Find cheap travel accessories/toiletries 🧴
Buying cheap travel accessories and toiletries before your holiday can help you to avoid any last minute purchases that could cost more. ⌛
For example, buying travel accessories/toiletries at the airport can cost a lot more! ✈️
16. Book your holidays far in advance 🔮
In general, you can often get better deals the further in advance you book the holiday.
It can be difficult to predict the future, but if you can plan ahead comfortably it can save you a lot of money on holidays! 📆
17. Consider last-minute cheap holiday deals ⌛
If you’re flexible with your travel dates, there can be some really cheap last-minute holiday offers that come up, due to hotels and travel companies having left over or cancelled bookings.
18. Be flexible with dates!📆
School holidays and different times of the year can be more expensive. ⌚
If you can be flexible with dates, it increases your chances of finding better deals! 🧘
19. Bring an empty water bottle to the airport 🥤
It can be frustrating when you can’t bring your own drinks past security at the airport. 👮
It increases the temptation to buy an expensive drink when you’re waiting for your flight! ☕
But, there is a way around this! 🤫
Airports will usually let you bring an empty water bottle with you. ✈️
You can then fill it up with a water fountain to get free water once you’ve passed security. ⛲
Conclusion 👍
So that’s it!
Hopefully these 19 ideas have helped you on your way to saving money.
If you know any friends or family members who might benefit from these ideas, share this post with them!
Finally, don’t forget to check out our similar articles below!
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