On a Budget and Saving Tips on Oversees Travel

In planning our vacation adventures, it is easy for us to call a travel agent and have them take care of flights, hotel and tour booking and when said and done, we show up with everything ready for us. What some of us don't know, for that wonderful service, we are being charged service fees where as if we went online and booked it ourselves and were our own travel agents, we could save a lot of money. For many of my travels, I always went through a travel agent and booked tours. It was safe, hotel, transportation and tours were figured out for me. All I had to do was print my boarding pass and show up. It was too easy, but later found out I could have saved more if I would have done it myself. For my recent trip to Rome, Italy I decided to book everything myself. In being "my own travel agent", I was a newbie in some areas and at times might have gotten a little ambitious, but with trial and error, I was able to have a good and memorable trip. When booking my hotels, I went through booking.com. Even though Italy is expensive and the euro wasn't working in my favor, I was able to find some good deals on hotels. I didn't stay at any hostels except for when I was in New York which were decent, but have heard you can find good prices on hostels in Rome as well. Some of the hotels I stayed at were not located in the centre of the city, but were close to Metro stations in which you could take to the city centre and around Rome that also go to the Fiumicino airport.

To take a taxi could cost over 100 USD. Traffic is terrible in Rome and it takes awhile to get to places and would not recommend renting a car and just either walk or take the Metro. Most of the hotels provide directions and the distance from the Metro train. Make sure to convert km into miles and meters into feet or else you will be walking a long time to the hotel. To take the Metro train, it is 5,50 EUR. Some of the trains will get you close to center of the city and have connection routes. The Leonardo Express which costs 11,00 EUR. It is good to take going to the airport for it is nonstop. Trip will take around 30 minutes. Depending on your stay, if you are going to be in one place for a week or two, buy a ticket that is good for a week. It will cost 16 EUR and will be well worth the price. I found this to be a cost saving option versus buying a ticket every day. It can also be used on the metro buses as well. Routes are posted in the train station, but I recommend buying a map that includes train routes as well. Some hotels offer shuttle service in which there may not be charge for staying so many nights. Regardless of what transportation you choose to take, give yourself enough time to get to the airport. I left 3 hours before my international flight and just barely got to the gate before boarding. Be sure to check how long the buses and trains run for. Last stop is at midnight and may not start up until 0530. So either plan on taking a taxi in which be sure to ask if there is a charge for luggage. When I got to the airport, I was giving the total, but then the driver also added a charge for my luggage. Another option would be to show up at the airport the night before and stay the night there. I haven't done this, but in observing, there are many who do this and there are plenty of chairs to sleep on.

When booking my airline tickets, a friend recommended going through cheapoair.com. At the time I thought it was a good website to go to. I was going to add Cairo into my travels and I found a ticket to Cairo for a good price. Caution on going through websites other than the airlines offering good deals on plane tickets. Before buying and this goes with any website selling plane tickets, be sure to read the terms and conditions. I saw that the ticket was non refundable, but it was also non changeable. The only exception would be if the airline cancels your flight. Of course we all think nothing will happen that will cause us to miss our flight. I missed my flight for I didn't give myself enough time to get to the airport. At the time I was not familiar with the trains and the time it took to get there, get through the airport and security. Depending on how much you really want to fly to your destination, in my case I really wanted to go to Cairo, you will have to buy a plane ticket or accept the loss and plan for another time. I decided to buy another plane ticket and went through Sato Travel (satotravel.com). I like going through them for I have the option to make changes to my plane ticket. When I have gone through them, I have either had to pay the difference for the plane ticket or got a refund due to the price of ticket going down.

Most airlines charge for baggage exceeding the weight limits. On my way to Italy, the first time this occurred, I ended up paying close to $200. I found myself in the situation again and was encouraged to pack my back pack with belongings from my suitcase to reduce the weight. It worked and I didn't have to pay a fee. So when you are told your baggage is over the weight limit, if you have a carry on handy and not 100% full, try filling it up to avoid paying a fee. When packing, if you are going to be on vacation for a week to a couple of weeks, pack for a couple of days. This will also help to avoid that over the weight luggage fee. Or don't pack your luggage 100% full and just buy clothes when you get to your destination. This will leave room for souvenirs and you won't get stuck buying another suitcase.

Let's say you decide to bring a couple of clothes. At some point they will need to be washed. Some hotels may offer a laundry service and/or facility. If a laundry facility isn't available, go to the local grocery store, buy some laundry soap and hand wash items in the sink. Most windows have shutters and open all the way. Clothes can be put on the hangers and hooked on the shutters or they can be hung in bathroom on a shower rod. By the time you get back from sightseeing, clothes should be dry.

Just like it can take awhile in a taxi to get to the airport, trains can take awhile as well if you don't leave early enough, I was taking the train to go to the airport to fly to Cairo and there were delays on the arrival of trains. Then a train said it was going to the airport, but ended up going in the opposite direction from the airport so be sure to map out which platform the train is leaving. I was able to get on another one, but by the time I got to the airport, I missed my flight to Cairo. I went to see if I could get on another flight. Because of the terms and conditions of my ticket, the only option was to buy another ticket which would have cost me double what I paid. So at the time I was out of luck and had to change my travel around a little and stay in Rome. This is going to make you shake your head and this has never happened to me, but I decided to try it again and buy another ticket. Again I missed my flight. Obviously it was not meant to be or I didn't really want to go as much as I thought I did. Because I went through Sao Travel and missed my flight, they offered to get me on another flight. I decided to cut my losses and save Cairo for another time. I asked for a refund and didn't get all my money back, but they gave me a partial refund. Note to self, don't be afraid to ask for a refund! Also, it wouldn't be a bad idea to buy travel insurance just in case.

One of things I like about Rome is the hospitality when it comes to lodging. The places I stayed at were small hotels and bed and breakfast. One bed and breakfast I stayed at was Hotel Residence Magnolia. My room looked like a small apartment with a kitchen (additional fee for use). Upon arriving, a bottle of mineral water was delivered to my room. For 5 EUR, continental breakfast was available. I had mine delivered to my room which consisted of a couple of pastries, juice, coffee and milk. If you don't need the best, hostels can be a good place to stay in for a good price. Be sure to pay attention to the reviews, cleanliness and safety of the place. Some have you sharing a bathroom and shower, but some of the one's I stayed at were clean and included a continental breakfast and most located right next to the Metro. One other thing about booking lodging away from the centre of the city is that if you need to ask for directions, either make sure you can speak and understand Italian or make sure your phone has GPS and can provide directions to the location. When I would ask for directions, most of the locals only spoke Italian so it was a challenge in not understanding all of the words, but by using hand gestures in pointing to which direction, I was able to figure it out. My iPhone came to the rescue many times. I just plugged in the address and from my location, told me where to go. Translation application comes in handy as well to learn Italian or to communicate. I had to check out early to go to the airport and that application was very helpful.

You can really live on $40 or less a day in Rome. Many hotels that offer a continental breakfast with bread and meat available to make a sandwich to enjoy as a snack or lunch. Food in tourist places can be over priced especially bottled water. I go to a local market and/or grocery store and buy fruit, water and pop, etc. Prices I saw for bottled water ranged from 1 EUR to 2,50 EUR for a little bottle. I went to two places in which I never spent over 1 EUR and it was for a 1.5 litre of water. This will leave more time to splurge on a good dinner, shopping and/or more sightseeing in Rome!

For tours, I went through Viator (viator.com). They offer a variety of tours to choose from. They also have arrival and departure transportation to and from the airport, but like I mentioned earlier it will cost you. When they show the prices, you think it is a good deal $50 for a person, but you can only get that price if it is a party of two or more. You can also ask locally and some have shuttles to the airport for less. Since I missed my flight to Cairo, I bought another ticket and was able to get a good price. With different dates of travel I had to change some of my tour and sightseeing plans. Viator was able to assist me in rescheduling my tours. The only thing is if you have to cancel, if it's the day of or the day before, you won't get a refund. Be sure to read terms and conditions through a tour website. They can try to get you booked on another day with or without a charge. If you aren't completely sure of your schedule, maybe wait until you arrive to book them or just be spontaneous, with map in hand, make up your own tour. I saw a tour for crypts and catacombs for 70 USD. I went online, found where it was located, took a bus there and it only cost me 6 EUR. We had a person there explaining the history, but the tour wasn't long. I enjoyed it more than any other tour I have paid for. They also offer transportation to places like Naples and Pompeii that don't include a tour.

When calling to reschedule a tour, be sure to check the times they are open. I ran into a problem of offices being closed and decided to call the local tour agency hosting my tour in Rome and was able to change my dates that way. If you want to be spontaneous and skip the tours, some hotels offer bicycle and scooter rentals for a couple of hours, up to a couple of days. Also, some tour websites if cancelled a couple of days before, don't offer a refund. Like I mentioned earlier, it doesn't hurt to ask. I was able to get a refund on one of my tours out of "good will" they called it. Note to self, don't be afraid to ask for a refund. The worst thing they can say is no.

I was in Italy for a couple of days, but flew to the United States to briefly visit family. That flight I did make. Well on the way back to Italy, I got my days mixed up on when I would be arriving there and booked a hotel on the day I flew from MN. Forgot you can a day flying to Italy. Well got to the hotel, we realized the mistake, but it was non refundable. They decided to compensate me for the next time I was in Rome in which I happened to need a room later that week. If this happens to you, don't be afraid to ask for other options.

Overall, I can say even though my trip didn't start out of the right foot, it was very memorable. I liked being spontaneous and the challenge of arranging my trips, sightseeing tours, learning Italian on the fly and enjoy my time in Rome and not always know where I was going. By going out on my own and asking around for recommendations, I felt I was able to take in and see more of Rome than if I was on a tour. With the lessons I learned on this trip, my next one will definitely be different in terms of planning the trip, lodging tours, etc.