Budget Travel: A List of Compiled Tips

For anyone on a budget (and I would hope that includes everyone, of all income levels) traveling can seem daunting. The hospitality and travel industry are increasing their pricing every day and very few options seem to be available to people who want to travel at a decent price. Over the years, I've heard and tried many tips on how to reduce costs. Budget travel is no easy task; it requires extensive research, an incredible amount of flexibility, and a thick skin, but it can be done.

Tips on Finding Cheap Lodging:

Try alternative methods of lodging like hostels, local accommodations, or even sublets.

Hostels: The best internet resource for hostels is hostelworld.com. I've stayed in many of their hostels around the world and if anything can be said is that uniformity is lacking. Not all hostels are your average run-of-the-mill dorm room look-alikes. You can find really amazing accommodations for cheap prices. Make sure to read the reviews and look at the hostel's site. Some hostels restrict their visitors by age, so please check with each place, but overall these are great accommodations for anyone. I once slept in the same room with a 67 year-old Australian woman.

Local accommodations: These can be tricky to find and you might not always be able to book in advance but they can be a great avenue of cultural immersion and savings. In places like Portugal, Africa, and parts of Latin America, you can stay in family homes and communities for a fee. These also benefit the local areas by providing income that goes directly to them.

Sublets: International subletting is a huge market. For anyone visiting Australia, Europe, Argentina, and major cities in the U.S. for an extended amount of time (at least a month with the exception of some places, which may accept visitors for as little as a week), subletting provides a chunk of savings.

Non-traditional methods: I once knew a woman who spent 3 months in South America and spent $1800 for the entire trip, including air fare. She camped. If you have the time or comfort level to camp or couch surf (meaning stay in strange people's places for free) you can save on average 80% of your lodging costs. Swapping homes is another method of creative lodging.

Traditional methods: If you want to stay in a traditional hotel, your best bet is to extensively research discounts. Follow the simple discount rules: book directly through the hotel's website online or call to negotiate a better price, stay away from city centers if you can, and when visiting on a major event date try to get discounts through the visitor's center. Many agencies offer self-made packages, but often times they charge hidden fees that negate the savings. Packages created and offered by the agencies, however, tend to be great money-saving methods of travel.

One new trick I recently learned was to check and see if local restaurants and businesses have corporate deals with area hotels. A friend and I stayed at the Hampton Inn in downtown Indianapolis for 119$ for a suite by stumbling upon the website of a local and famed blues club (Slippery Noodle Inn) that offered up it's corporate rate code on its main page.

Saving on airfare:

Airfare continues to get harsher and harsher in pricing these days. I have a mantra that no one should pay more than 200$ to fly domestically. Making that happen is tough and requires a lot of work.

The best way to fly is to book directly from the ground at the airport. Although this idea can be seizure-causing for some people, buying your air (and ground) transportation locally often produces better fares.

Websites have better fares than agencies. Sites like kayak.com are magical in letting you know when is best to fly, with what airlines, and from what airport for maximum savings. Airfarewatchdog.com publishes unlisted fares that go by quick because of their surprisingly low rates.

If you're an around-the-world traveler buying air passes saves you a ton of money. If you plan to see Oslo, Rome, and Athens in a month try the European budget airlines like ryanair.com. Budget airlines are also available in Southeast Asia and South America. In the United States, Air Tran seems to be the best bet. Also, take advantage of economical methods of travel that are region-specific. By taxi, horse, ferry, tram, train, or air, think of different alternatives for getting places, especially if nations are in close proximity to each other.

Always remember traditional advice on finding good fares: when you fly and how long you stay matters. Make sure you always keep track of sales from sites like expedia.com and the airlines themselves.

Research saves you money. Magazines, guidebooks, other travelers' advice, and budget-oriented websites can do wonders to help.