I’ll get richer by spending money

“Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer.”

As much as I love traveling, I have to agree that travel is expensive. More so than anything else, I think. Also, unlike buying an object, you cannot have a predetermined budget, as you are likely to run into some unforeseen situation that requires you to shell out money. Over the years, as we travel more, my husband and I have learnt some tricks to save money during our travels. While most of these ideas are not original, they are tried and tested by us.

Here are my favorite tips:

Get a travel credit card from your bank which has zero foreign transaction fee if you travel abroad frequently.(Source: bankbigbang.com)
Plan the beginning and end of your vacation on a weekday (especially midweek) as airline tickets are cheapest during this time. Take overnight flights if you have the stamina to avoid spending an extra night in a hotel.
Travel during off-season if possible (definitely avoid major school vacations).
Try a new (ish) airline that is trying to advertize. For example, Etihad Airways offers packages for inexpensive layovers at Abu Dhabi, Iceland Air allows you to fly to most major destinations in Europe with a stopover in Reykjavik (believe me, you would not regret a stopover in Iceland ever) at affordable rates. We also did a free tour of Istanbul during a 12 hour stopover as part of a package from Turkish airlines on our way to India.

Travel light! The less baggage you have to check in, the better it is, because the fees for checked baggage can add up pretty quickly. Before we had kids, we never checked in any bags- just hauled a carry-on each. I have never packed an extra pair of footwear (usually travel in my sneakers or comfortable sandals).
Research the area of your interest thoroughly before going so that you know how to save money on transportation and sightseeing. Buying tickets online can help save precious dollars.
Choose lodging smartly. Now we do not use bed and breakfast places, preferring the predictability of hotels. We try to look for hotels downtown close to train stations in Europe so that public transportation is always accessible. In the US, we stay in chain hotels in the suburbs because they are cheaper and we always rent a car.
Eat smart. We try to book hotels with free breakfast. While traveling, breakfast is the most important meal of the day since it is the most predictable. Having a hearty breakfast with coffee at no extra cost is great. We also buy food from grocery stores when we can (especially if there is a refrigerator in the hotel room). In many parts of Europe, grabbing something from a cafe and eating it on the sidewalk is cheaper than sitting down in the same place to eat.
There is a lot written about how to shop for local goods and haggle for prices in different countries, but my take on it is to stay away from shopping altogether. The world is a small place, and you can have pretty much anything shipped to your home from any part of the world. If you absolutely have to buy some memorabilia, postcards are the best.
Keep your personal tastes in mind when you travel. For example, there are many great art museums in major European cities, but there is no point splurging on a detailed tour of a “must-see” museum that you can barely endure.