Whether you are looking to escape from wintery weather or just get a break from the news, you deserve a vacation as much as the next person. But there is no reason to spend more than is necessary to enjoy your well-deserved rest and relaxation.
Regardless of the destination, there are some time-worn tips that can help you avoid artificially inflating your costs. This way, you can focus on using your hard-saved vacation funds for fun stuff instead.
1. Being inflexible on date and location
Being dead set on a specific location or very particular dates is a fast track to potentially paying more than you otherwise would — so introduce some flexibility into your planning. One smart hack is known as “destination dupes.” For example, “if you’re a Francophile but can’t swing the trans-Atlantic trip to Paris,” then you might “try a shorter flight to Montreal or Quebec City” instead, said NPR. For cost comparison, a “June round trip ticket from New York City to Paris averages $1,104, whereas a summer round trip ticket from New York City to Montreal averages just $409.”
Being adaptable concerning the season and the days you travel can also open up vacation savings. This might mean going in the off-season or not “flying on Sundays and Mondays, which tend to be the most expensive due to weekend trips and business travelers,” said NPR.
2. Booking late
If you wait too long to book an international flight, “you could be looking at significantly higher airfares,” said FinanceBuzz, a personal finance blog. Ideally, you will start “keeping an eye on flights to your intended destination up to 10 months out,” and then “once you’re familiar with travel trends,” aim to “book around six months in advance.”
The same advice applies to domestic flights. For these flights, “buy your ticket three weeks ahead of a trip,” said CNBC, citing Alexis Tiacoh, spokesperson at travel site Expedia.
3. Not shopping around for accommodations
Whether a hotel or a vacation rental, we all have preferences of where we prefer to stay when we travel. But interrogating those tendencies can lead to some cost savings.
For instance, “travelers often assume that a vacation rental like Airbnb or VRBO will be more affordable than a hotel, but that’s not always the case,” said NPR. “According to reporting from The Points Guy, the average daily Airbnb rate in 2023 was 36% higher than it was just three years prior,” whereas “during that same time period, Hilton’s average rates increased by 7.8%.”
The more economical option can also vary if you are traveling with a group. “While booking a hotel room may work for one or two people, it may make sense to look elsewhere if you have more in your group,” said CNBC.
Do not forget to look out for fees when comparison shopping, which both vacation rentals and hotels can tack on. Extra costs “such as cleaning fees, fees for additional guests beyond a certain number, and service fees” can add “hundreds of dollars to your bill” for an Airbnb, said Kiplinger. Meanwhile, in an April 2023 survey by Consumer Reports, “nearly four out of 10 (37%) U.S. adults said they had experienced a hidden or unexpected hotel fee in the previous two years.”