How to travel cheap in 2023 : our best tips and tricks

If you want to travel cheap and get to know all our tips and tricks when it comes to find the best deals… Then you’re in the right place! Today we’re talking about saving money while traveling: whether it’s about airfare, car rental, accommodations or activities… We tell you everything to help you saving money while traveling. And finally to allow you to travel more!

Because, very often the prices are soaring and a trip can quickly exceed the budget when you don’t know how to find good deals and save money. We have been traveling together since 2011 and with all these travel experiences, we have been able to learn how to travel economically and being able to travel more. Over time we have developed tips like a sixth sense! So if you want to know our 10 tips to spend less during your travels, here we go 😉

Our tips to travel cheap and travel more oftenTEN

Over the years we have developed a lot of tips and tricks to save money while traveling but also to save money at home to travel more. We didn’t necessarily realize it because it became intuitive… But our friends and families often ask us how we do it so we wanted to share them with you! If we travel so much it’s also because we manage to travel cheap. And with the price we could put in a trip we manage to make 2! So let’s go for all our tips 😉

By the way if you don’t know where to go soon here are 5 destinations to visit absolutely!

1 Book your trip in advance: yield management

I think this is one of the best tips I can give you. Whether it’s for plane tickets, train tickets, ferry tickets, a hotel etc. So you’ll probably say : ‘yes but sometimes there are good last minute deals‘… I know right? But most of the time, the best to save money is to book at least several weeks or even months in advance, when it’s possible. Often, this works with yield management. That is to say that according to the demand, the prices of the offer are adjusted. For example, if many people want to book a plane ticket to Santorini because it is the middle of August and it is the trendy destination and the high season… You will pay much more than if you go to Bali during the rainy season in February!

So, to avoid the high prices because you’re traveling during high season or you chose a popular destination… Either you book in advance or you are flexible on the dates. For activities and excursions also think about booking in advance to avoid high prices and also to avoid not having any more places!

2 Be flexible on dates and destinations

It is often more expensive to travel on fixed dates especially when it is from a weekend to another for example from Friday to Sunday is the worst combo! If you can be flexible on the dates, it’s definitely the best. Try departures and returns in the middle of the week, like going on Tuesday and returning the following Thursday. As these dates are less in demand, yield management will make the offer cheaper (and yes, we’re back to that haha).

The best thing to do is to compare the whole month, for example on Skyscanner there is a calendar and you can find the best prices per day. At this moment you can select a return ticket with a much lower price than if you had done a classic search with fixed dates. Moreover, once you have found your best deal, do not hesitate to go directly to the company’s website to avoid intermediaries and commissions (and avoid worries in case of delays, cancellations etc.).

If you have an idea of a specific destination then it’s not a big deal but if you’re hesitating, then feel free to look at the prices for different destinations. You may be surprised how much cheaper some destinations are at certain times of the year! Of course look at the seasons to avoid rain, cyclones etc. We have been to Jordan in low Season and we had an amazing experience. You can see our video of Jordan here by the way! We went out of season and it was one of our best trips ever.

3 Compare, compare and compare prices

Really, take the time to compare, don’t throw yourself on your credit card to book a plane ticket or a hotel room, look at the comparators (skyscanner, booking, hotels…). And look in detail at the different offers and prices to take the best. Don’t forget to look at the reviews (displaying the most recent ones, not the most relevant ones, otherwise they will only display the good ones).

For example, some hotels look super great in pictures and are very well located with a good price… But we quickly realize in the reviews that it can be very noisy near the clubs, or dirty etc. Imagine if the photos are old. So, always take the time to make sure that it is a good value for money not to be disappointed! Moreover, prices vary from one device to another, from one IP address to another and from one day to another. So don’t rush, compare smartly friends! Do you have the ref?

4 Use a VPN to travel cheap

Perfect transition to talk about VPN hehe! Indeed, using a VPN will allow you to do two things: first, to geo-localize yourself in the country of your choice. Indeed, countries are based on the purchasing power of the population of a country. So if you choose a country where the purchasing power is lower, the flight ticket for example will be cheaper. You will also be able to browse in a confidential way without cookies and data collection. They will not be used to make your profile, adapt the rates according to you and your income. Don’t forget to clear your browser’s cache and cookies. Subscribe to a VNP, launch it, choose a country and go! If the prices are not interesting, change the country and test again. Personally, we have cyber Ghost and it is very good. Around 50$ for 2 years so it’s quiet cheap.

5 Choose the right time to book and travel cheap

Generally speaking, prices are higher on cell phones because they are adapted to people in a hurry. It is better to sit at the computer and take the time to compare. Also, the prices are higher on weekends, because there are more people at the same time as you doing their research. Apparently the best would be to book on Tuesday or Thursday late in the evening! Check it out, let us know if it works for you! Leave us a comment if you’ve already tried 😉

6 Remove options to save money

Often airlines and especially low coast airlines make their numbers with extras: luggage, food, priority queues etc. The best thing to travel cheap is to travel light and avoid all paying options if you can.

We often travel without luggage in the hold to be sure that they do not lose it, not to wait at the arrival … And also sometimes to save money. Often one carry-on bag each is enough even for two weeks. You just have to remove all the “just in case” that you never put!

By the way, if you ever get bored on the plane, here are all our tips to keep you busy!

7 Rent an accommodation to avoid the hotel

Sometimes if you stay a long time more or less in the same area, it can be cheaper to rent an accommodation than to go to a hotel. It’s very easy to rent an apartment or a house abroad online, whether it’s on Airbnb or elsewhere. You will be able to cook on site instead of eating out. This will save you a lot of money. Cooking is much cheaper than eating out every day. Also think about renting a van, it’s a great solution to have everything included: hotel and car rental. Especially in Europe it’s the best solution for Portugal, Italy, Spain…

8 Go off-season or mid-season to save money

Sometimes going out of season is complicated as we said if it’s the rainy season it can really ruin a trip. Or if it’s really cold or there’s no light it’s a shame. But sometimes, going in mid-season can be the solution to save money and travel cheaper. For example we went to Jordan in December, well I admit it was a bit cold… But we paid almost nothing and moreover we were alone everywhere we went! We had Petra all to ourselves at the opening…I mean come on, it’s insane to admire this place without hundreds of other tourists!

9 Travel cheap … by sharing the expenses

Do not hesitate to propose to buddies, other couples of friends or your family, to come with you on a trip. Whether it is to rent a house in common or to make a road trip. You will be able to share the costs to save money : car rental, gas, accommodation and you know what they say, the more the merrier haha.

You can also reduce your expenses by working on site, which will finance all or part of your trip. By the way, if you want to know how to become a digital nomad and work while traveling, go here! In Australia for example you can make a lot of money while working and traveling in the same time.

10 Choose destinations where the cost of living is low

This is probably one of our best tips. If you choose the United States, Canada, Sweden or a destination where the cost of living is high. Then you will be able to enjoy less on the spot and go out. For example: Indonesia, Latin and Central America, Turkey, India, the Philippines : are destinations where the cost of living is low. You will be able to enjoy yourself more on the spot and do more activities. So many countries are beautiful and really less expensive!

I would like to take this opportunity to tell you not to always try to bargain too much when prices are already low. Because a few euros for us is not much but for them it can be a day’s work!

Thank you friends for reading this post, I hope it has helped you to travel cheap. And save money to travel more! Let us know in the comments 🙂 And see you soon for the next one and see you on : Instagram, YouTube and Tik Tok for new adventures!