One of the most common questions I get from people who want to travel is how to save money on travel so that it’s more affordable.  So in this week-long series, we’ll be covering all parts of travel and how to save money so that you can travel more and spend less!

On top of hotels and flights, activities while traveling can often really add up in price.  After all, you’re in that destination to see it and enjoy it, so you want to make the most of it and experience things while there.  But there are a few different ways out there to really cut cost in this area of travel.

Groupon

Seriously, what did we do before Groupon?  While most people just use it for around their homes, it’s actually really valuable for travel too.  I see things come across on Groupon all the time for places we’ve been to cut cost on activities.  So subscribe to all their email chains and keep an eye out for anything related to your destination.

Research

Probably the biggest way you’ll save money.  Do your research.  Don’t just book the first thing you see.  A lot of times people will look up an activity at their destination and just book the first thing they see instead of looking at all the options available.  If you do your research and look further, it’s very likely that you’ll find a better deal.

Instagram/Recommendations 

One of the best ways to save money on activities at a destination is to get recommendations from people who have been there.  Often they will have options that will save you money or things not to do in a place.  I like to watch on Instagram and as people I follow go to a certain place, I’ll screenshot their locations or recommendations.  This a great way to find local food with a lower price tag in a place too!

Car rentals & Transportation

Sometimes a big expense on a trip can be car rentals or transportation while in a destination but I hardly ever pay for car rental anymore on trips!  Using points for car rentals is a great way to cut a lot of cost and because they generally don’t take a ton of points, it’s easier to use for things like this than flights which take a lot of points.

For transportation around when not renting a car, look at all the times and see if you can do an early or a night train or private driver, often in the off hours things will be cheaper!

 

I hear a lot “travel is so expensive!”  And while yes, if you are just booking the first thing you see or not scheduling your trip according to dates you can travel cheaper, it can be.  But here’s the thing, there are tons of locations and flights out there that you can get at relatively low prices.  When we first started traveling abroad after we got married, Nick and I would just search Orbitz not really knowing anything about airfare or how to get deals.  We always figured on planning about $1,000 per ticket to fly anywhere abroad from the US West Coast.  But in all actuality, we rarely pay that anymore and many times we’re getting both tickets for not much more than that.  There are lots of ways to save on travel, but good airfare is one of the biggest.  So here today, I’ve found you 3 affordable Winter trips abroad (from the US) and I’m telling you what they cost!  If you’re looking for a great Winter getaway with a lower price tag, I’ve got you covered!

All 3 trips below are to cities I have personally been to, as I wouldn’t recommend them if they weren’t great deals and great locations!

Los Angeles – London | $644.50/person roundtrip

6 Dec – 10 Dec

Book directly through Norwegian Air’s website.  (Tip for flying Norwegian from LA, they fly Dreamliners on this route, so choose the last row of seats on the plane, they have a ton of extra space!)

Fancy a Winter escape in one of the world’s most beautiful cities?  I know that a lot of people shy away from visiting London in the Winter but hear me out… it’s actually one of my favorite times of year there!  The crowds are smaller, the shops and streets are all decorated for Christmas and what better way to escape the rain than to sneak into a pub and enjoy a warm plate of fish and chips?  And with fares like this, I’d jump now!

Another great thing about this… you get to fly into Gatwick which lets you miss the craziness of Heathrow!  Once you arrive, grab a spot on the Gatwick Express which will transport you right at Victoria Station in London.

Need a hotel recommendation?  Here are my fave spots to stay in London.

Boston – Paris | $359.35/person roundtrip

14 Jan – 21 Jan

Book directly through Wow Air’s website.  (Tip for searching for the best deals, search in full month mode so you can see the best fares!)

As the famous quote from Audrey goes, “Paris is never a bad idea.”  I whole-heartedly agree and for $359 a person, if I lived on the East Coast, I’d be there all the time!  This flight from Boston to Paris via Iceland is a fantastic option for a trip to Europe.  I haven’t flown WOW Air yet (I can’t wait until they set up shop in LAX next year) but really with this fare, you can’t really go wrong!  I would suggest however doing carry on only to save on fees and to make sure and read the fine print to make sure you don’t have a lot of added extras on their fees.

But Paris in January?  Incredible!  Hardly any crowds, a chance at snow in the City of Light and the perfect excuse to bundle up and eat macarons along the Seine.  The other great thing about this fare, once you get to Paris, you can hop on a train for not much money and get pretty much anywhere in Europe or take a cheap EasyJet flight onto another warmer destination!

Need a hotel recommendation?  Here are my fave spots to stay in Paris!

Philadelphia – Rome | $935.48/person roundtrip

12 Jan – 20 Jan

Book directly through British Airways’ website. 

Looking at a Roman holiday?  Here’s a decent deal from the US to Rome!  While it’s not the cheapest of the three options it’s on British Airways, which is one of my favorite airlines.  Even in economy, your going to get better service, food and an all around great experience.  The other great thing about this?  Coming back, it’s a direct flight which means no stop overs and can save you a lot of travel time!  Take the chance to wander the ancient streets of Rome, meandering around the Colosseum and the Pantheon and eat as much gelato as you want!

Need a hotel recommendation?  Here are my fave spots in Rome!

*All of these fares were found on 11 November.

When it comes to travel, it still does take money to be able to do it.  No matter how many flights or hotels you get on points or miles, at the end of the day you still need money when you get to your destination or to the pay the taxes and fees on those points-booked-trips.  But how much money do you really need to travel?  How much do things really cost?  This totally depends on where you go and how you travel, but for today, let’s talk about traveling to Europe from the US.  I’m particularly looking at heading to Europe from the West Coast of the US as that’s what I do most often, so from other areas of the US it might be a bit different but generally not that much.  So let’s talk about budgets and how much money do you really need to travel to Europe.

(PS, of course I’m being totally transparent here and this is from my own travels and experiences, so it will always be different than everyone in different circumstances.  While we definitely save money in certain areas of travel, we also might spend more than others in other areas.  So take this and adjust according to your own budgets and travel accordingly.)

FLIGHTS

Ok, starting with your transportation to get to Europe.  We generally fly direct to Europe (usually to London Heathrow, Paris CDG, or Amsterdam Schipol) from either LAX or Sea-Tac airports as those are the main hubs we prefer on the West Coast.  Seattle is easier for us, but it doesn’t have as many options as LAX, so we find what works best with connections and such and usually go through one or the other based on circumstances.  But if we’re paying out right for flights (not using points which we’re doing more and more) we plan on around $1,000 per ticket in economy in shoulder and high season and a bit less (around $800-$900) for off season fares.  Now with that said, you can find amazing deals and we do often for way less than that.  With airlines like Norwegian and Iceland Air offering incredible fares from the West Coast, we use those as well to save money. (Norwegian often offers fares like $300 one way from LAX to Europe and Iceland Air flies out of Seattle and Portland for us and usually offers fares like $400-$500 one way to Europe through Iceland).

If you’re looking at Premium Economy to upgrade a bit, plan on around $1,600-$1,800 per ticket.

Another tip to save money, to get to those major hub airports like Sea-Tac or LAX (or wherever you fly out of) if you don’t live there, use miles on your loyalty airline to book your tickets there and home.  We fly Alaska domestically, so we always use points for those flights to and from, that way you’re just paying the base fare from the hub airport to Europe and nothing for the connections from your home city.

HOTELS

Hotels are tricky because they are so different in cost wherever you go.  But let’s stick with the main hub cities like Amsterdam, Paris and London.  In big tourist cities like that you’re going to pay more.  For us, we really like a good hotel so we budget more.  If you don’t really care where you stay or want to opt for AirBnB or other accommodation options you can get a lot cheaper.  But for us, we like to budget a little more for our experience.  We budget between $150-$300 per night for hotels, based on location and our overall trip itinerary.  Sometimes we’ll opt for a cheaper place in one city so we can splurge on a better hotel in another.  But I try to not go much higher than $300 a night for hotel because there are so many great options out there for under that amount.

MONEY WHILE ON THE GROUND

We like to use cash when we travel, so I take out cash before we leave at my bank in the local currency.  That way you aren’t charged fees from local ATM’s or currency exchanges at your destination.  For the amount of money you need while on the ground in your destination, we generally budget about $1000 for a week to 10 days of travel in Europe.  That will cover everything day to day: activities, tickets, food, tips, etc.  Once on the ground we use only our “trip money” which we save all year in a separate savings account for trips, and that way when we get home we have nothing to pay off on our credit cards.

This also really depends on where you go, for example when in larger cities like Paris or London, we usually use all of that cash.  On our recent trip through Spain and Portugal though, we came home with extra since everything was cheaper.  So it totally depends on where you go.

A final tip on this, try to use up all your coins while on your trip before coming home.  Often times most currency exchanges in the US and banks won’t buy back foreign coins and sometimes a handful of Euro or pound coins can add up to quite a bit considering they can be $1 or $2 per coin.  So if you end up at the end with a bunch of foreign coins, use them before getting on the plane!

TOTAL EXPENSES

Ok so looking at this as if you were to pay for everything on your trip (which we hardly ever do anymore, when you factor in points and such), for a 10 day trip to Europe with airfare, hotels, activities, food, etc., we budget spending between $4,000 and $6,000 depending on time of year, length of the trip and where we’re headed.

CONSIDERATIONS / HOW TO SAVE

Now as I mentioned, we never spend that on a trip.  That’s why it’s so important, if you want to travel often, to understand how to use points, loyalty programs, blogging perks and whatever else is at your disposal to cut that cost.  Sometimes we walk away from a trip paying out of pocket barely anything, other times it’s a real mix of paying versus using points/rewards.  I’m a big believer in using your points and miles to the most advantage and learning how to do that takes time and research.  So if you want to travel but can’t afford that price tag above, don’t worry!  There are lots of ways to cut that cost in half or even less and still have an incredible trip staying in nice hotels and flying good airlines.  That’s what Land of Marvels is all about, helping everyone be able to travel and do it economically.

I have lots of posts about how to save throughout my archives, but if you’re curious about anything in particular, leave a question in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer it in a future post!