By Brontë Taylor
Wanderlust can be a very expensive addiction. Especially if you’re a student! But if you’re anything like me, traveling is a must. I have a few tips and tricks to keep the price down on your next adventure. As a frequent traveler, I have learnt the best ways to pick up cheap deals and enable you to keep checking off your Travel Bucket List.
The first and most important tip to put into practice before you even begin searching for your next destination: put your browser on Private browsing or Incognito. Sites save cookies on your computer, this allows them to know what you have searched previously, meaning that you might not get the best deal if you go back to the site. Private browsing stops websites from doing this.
Okay next, save yourself time and go straight to websites that compare flight prices and show you everything you need to know to book a flight. My go to websites are:
These sites are great; not only do they compare prices of flights for you but you can sign up for email alerts. So, if you have somewhere you want to travel to, but the flights tend to be pretty pricey, you can get weekly alerts so that you know when the prices are increasing and decreasing. Not only that, but you can also get weekly emails that show you the cheapest destinations for the week; which means if you are ever feeling particularly spontaneous, you just need to check your weekly email and BOOM you have the cheapest flights of the week in your hand. Obviously, if you want to fly for cheap then companies such as RyanAir, EasyJet and PrimeraAir are probably the best providers, although there’s no guarantee you’ll get the best service.
Unless you’re doing a day trip, you’re going to need accommodation! The best way to save money is to stay in a hostel. Hostels aren’t as scary as you may think, personally, I’ve stayed in quite a few and they’ve quite honestly been better quality than if you get a cheap hotel. Hostels are a great way to meet other avid travellers and to socialise. The website I always use for hostels is hostelworld.com, here you will be able to search for hostels in any city. I always check the reviews for these hostels because they may have high ratings but if those that have stayed there had issues, then I like to know. These reviews really help me make my decision and find the best accommodation for my trip.
Alternatively, AirBnb is also a great option if you want to keep accommodation cheap or you can always get great deals on websites like lastminute.com, where you can get flights and hotel for one cheap price. In March this year, I managed to travel to Paris for three days, (in a 4-star hotel may I add) with train included for about £150! So, it is still possible to get some luxury on a student budget if hostels aren’t your thing.
Another great way to save money while you are travelling is to plan out where you want to go and what you want to see. Most entry prices are listed online, therefore you can prioritise what you want to see and work around those prices. It’ll make it a lot easier to budget your days and control your spending while you are away, if you have a general idea where you want go and how much it will cost. A lot of tourist spots, like museums, usually have student discounts, as long as you can prove that you are a student, some places may even let you in for free.
So those are a few of my tips and tricks to travel on a student’s budget, I hope these help you reach your travel goals.
The Ruskin Journal 