If you are planning to go on vacation and you are worried about the budget, do not stop organizing that long-awaited trip. By following 10 practical tips you can take that break without hurting your pocket. It’s a matter of organizing ahead of time and knowing where you can cut costs!
In transportation, lodging, and the days of the week in which you go on vacation are where, in general, you can save more. Then you can use that money you save for other things you want to buy, either during your trip or throughout the year. Vacationing and saving are something that is gaining more strength every day among Colombians.
Follow these 10 tips to have that dream trip at the best price
Take Advantage Of The Low Season
In tourism, there are three seasons: high, medium, and low. The high means that they are the months of the year in which people travel and occupy more places to stay and eat; the median is the months where people travel a little less and the low is where people tend to go on vacation the least. For example, at Easter everyone wants to vacation; that’s a high season.
The months that make up the high season are December and January; June and July, as well as long holidays; Therefore, if you want to save money, avoid going for a walk at this time of the year. The advice to save is that you take your vacations in the low season when the rates are cheaper.
To find out which days are holidays, that is dates of great demand, use applications. In Google Play, for example, you will find several apps like Colombia Calendar 2019 that show you holidays and celebrations. Click here to download it.
Use The Opposite Days
Not only are there high, medium, and low seasons, but there are also days of the week with higher or lower occupancy in hotels. So, when it comes to staying, staying on a Tuesday is not the same as staying on a Saturday.
So when you’re planning your vacation, take the time to find out the weekday rates and weekend prices. You will see that they are different.
Ask for what they call executive or corporate rates. You’ll be surprised how much you’ll save if you use the opposite days to stay than most people choose.
Book For Yourself
Generally, travel agencies or accommodation platforms receive a commission for doing their work, so one way to save when planning your vacation is to organize the tour yourself and book directly with the hotels.
Take the test: compare prices by calling an agency and then check with the hotel directly. It may be much cheaper if you book yourself.
Take Advantage Of Promotions
Hotels almost always have promotions like free nights, coupons, and deals. Sometimes they even include transportation. So call or check your social networks for those special deals that will make you spend less on your vacation.
Get Creative With Hosting
Hotels are not the only option to stay. You can think of hostels (hostels of a lower category than a hotel), houses or apartments for rent whose cost you can spread out if you are traveling in a group, or look for friends in the area and stay in their houses.
There is also a new form of lodging that is CouchSurfing, known as “borrowing a chair for the night”. Enter the application here to find where to sleep in the place where you will go on vacation. It also allows you to make new friends.
Did you know that CouchSurfing is growing in Colombia? So you may be in for a nice surprise. Of course, check that the place is safe.
Airbnb is another option that you can use to find accommodation at a comfortable price. This platform offers more than two million properties in more than 30,000 cities around the world. Take into account the evaluations that guests express in the application to choose a good destination to spend your vacation days.
Save Money On Food And Discover New Places
Eating in restaurants can be very expensive. Look to eat in markets or food courts, which will also help you take great selfies to upload to your social networks.
Also, check for lodgings equipped with a kitchen. So you can cook yourself, eat on your time, and control food spending. If your accommodation includes breakfast: take advantage of it.
Buy In Bulk
If you are going to travel in a group or as a family, buy everything you can take on vacation in bulk. From water, soft drinks, and other beverages to food, especially if you decide to stay where you can cook.
In this way, you will not spend buying in hotels or using their minibars. You will also save on transportation because you will not have to go from one place to another in the place where you are vacationing to buy things.
Take Advantage Of Transportation Discounts
If you are going to travel by plane, take into account that late-night flights usually have cheaper prices. For this reason, always investigate the prices of the flights according to their hours.
If you will be traveling by land, find out what works best for you: use your own car or rent a car. If you travel with more people, share all the costs of gasoline and maintenance and security of the car, such as parking.
If you are going to travel by air, take advantage of Hopper, a friendly mobile application that makes it easy to buy flights. The app sends you notifications to let you know the cheapest time to travel and when prices are at their lowest to shop. Purchases are made directly from Hopper without having to call or visit an office.
You’ll find the app for free directly on Google Play for Android or the iTunes App Store for iPhone.
Get The Most Out Of Reward Programs
This upcoming vacation is perfect for you to start using hotel reward programs or frequent travel agent programs. These programs reward you for being a good customer.
You can get free nights for accumulated nights of lodging and even free air tickets or with very good price reductions.
If you have access to those reward programs, use them! If not, start to find out how to be part of them and thus spend less.
Enjoy Outdoor Entertainment
In many destinations in Colombia, you will find outdoor entertainment, from live music and movies to recreational and cultural activities. Also festivals and fairs.
Bet on enjoying these entertainments, as well as museums, exhibitions in cultural houses, and public spaces that are usually free. If you are a student, use the card that accredits you as such and pay less at the entrance to cultural sites.
To find out where to go and how to have fun in them, use several applications such as Colombia Travel Guide available on Google Play and iTunes, or the well-known Foursaquere that gives you a restaurant guide wherever you are. It’s free and available for Android and Windows Phones.
Cartagena, San Andrés, Bogotá, Santa Marta, Medellín, Pereira, Cali, and Barranquilla are some of the destinations preferred by Colombians. What will be yours? Once again, research and planning in advance are what will take you on an unforgettable vacation paying less.
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