Until the recent time, the phrase “budget tourism” evoked persistent associations with hostels, heavy rucksacks and hitchhiking. But now, almost any student-holidaymaker is to some extent saving on the holiday. For all the students, who need to tighten their belts, in this article are collected 9 tips, which allow you not to overspend.
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Checking with the calendar
For the working students, using public holidays to prolong the precious vacation for free- is a good, though not a new idea. To enhance the effect, it is advised not only to know the schedule of public holidays for the current year, but also to be aware of which travel-offers are the most reasonable in different months. For example, if you take a vacation for four days immediately after the official holidays, you will have a rest of eight-ten calendar days.
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Inter-season reboot
According to www.boking.com price categories, February is a good choice for a short rest in Europe. Of course, it concerns not every destination: in Venice, for example, in February there is a carnival, which automatically makes tickets to Treviso (and other nearby airports) unreasonably expensive, and the prices in hotels become beyond expensive as well. By Valentine’s Day, romantically minded travelers, unwittingly, will get too high prices for romantic destinations like Paris and Rome. Nevertheless, it is not a touristic season in Vienna, Prague or Berlin in February: no significant events are planned there, the prices for flights and accommodation are more than acceptable.
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Starting with spring
Going to the Mediterranean countries during the May holidays is always quite expensive, the prices in early May will greatly increase. Experts advise to pay attention to Istanbul (shopping and excursions) or resorts of Georgia (for beach lovers there is not yet a season, but the weather pleases with comfortable 20-24 degrees Celsius). At the beginning of summer you need to hurry and buy tickets for long distances in advance, since, there are many of those, who wish to arrange a vacation these days. By the way, in March, the airlines hold sales for the June flights to Morocco.
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The ‘Velvet’ season
November is a great opportunity to go to the southern countries of the near abroad. The holiday can be spent, for example, in Georgia, where it is still warm in November. Travel experts advise to look for the cheap tickets in September or October.
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The strategists are in profit
It’s no secret that people, who know how to plan their lives for six months and more, are the most successful budget tourists. The purchase of a ticket approximately 29 weeks before the trip (or 7 months) saves 12 percent of the average ticket price, while just before the departure, the price rises by 15 percent of the average one. When booking tickets 6-8 weeks before the trip, you can save only 5 percent of the average ticket price. However, the right choice of dates and the foresight are not enough. There are other opportunities to save on vacation.
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Searching for alternatives to the airplane
Sometimes it is useful to find out the cost of traveling by land transport instead of booking domestic flights. For example, in the US and many European countries, you can find low-cost intercity and international buses for only one dollar or one euro. But you need to buy tickets in advance. In addition, car rental at Rentalcars24H is a great idea to save time and money.
A good solution for tourists, who like to visit several places during one trip, is a cruise, which is providing you with transport, hotel and food for a reasonable price. For example, if you take the tickets for the Riga-Stockholm liner, you will be able to visit both capitals in two days, and spend the night in the cabin.
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Stopovers and flights with transfer
Flights with connection are inexpensive, but flights with a really comfortable waiting time (1.5-2 hours between flights) are often not much cheaper than the direct flights. If you want to save, it’s better to choose the so-called stop-over, which involves stopping at the connection point for more than a day. So you can save, take a breath and visit another new city. The most popular cities for the stopover are Istanbul, Dubai and Doha. The only inconvenience is taking your luggage with you from the airport.
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Visiting Asia
Admirers of Asian countries have long taken the rule: if there are discounts for any such direction – it is urgent to take a ticket, even if you do not need to fly exactly to this city. You cannot miss the chance, because from any airport in Southeast Asia, you can easily and inexpensively move to other countries and cities by buying a ticket for a local flight. The best way of flying in the region is to choose budget airlines. The largest are AirAsia (the Malaysian airline, the main hub in Kuala Lumpur, more than 88 destinations), Tiger Airways (based in Singapore, flies to 80 cities), JetStar Asia and Cebu Pacific.
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Type of accommodation
How important are the differences between 2 *, 3 * and 4 * hotels? Sometimes they are so small that they can be neglected in favor of a significantly different price. Many travelers are afraid of hostels, but, in fact, they have not only dorms for six to eight people with amenities on the floor, but also double rooms with a bathroom and a toilet, which are cheaper than at the star-rated hotels. When booking online, it is often possible to pay in cash directly at the hotel. Not the worst decision in the conditions of currency instability: it will be easier to calculate the budget of the trip without unnecessary surprises.
Recently, the preferences of tourists have changed: there are more people, travelling inside the country, flying with connections, reserving cheaper hotels. It should also be noted that the top directions have changed and continue to change – from distant and exotic to the closest and simpler ones (Prague, Berlin, Istanbul). In other words, there are variable attractive offers for the travelling students.
