9 Great Tips to Save Money when you Travel Abroad

1. Use a travel credit card

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When you travel abroad, you will use your credit card a lot. Unless you are on an all-paid vacation, you must eat at the very least. And you will probably use your credit card for that.

Did you know you will pay hefty fees with most credit cards when paying with other currencies?

Most credit cards will have a fee of between 1.5% and 2.5% when you use them with other currencies. Moreover, they are also using currency rates that are not the best. Some are using inferior exchange rates. It will make you lose a lot of money.

But there are solutions! Several travel cards will help you get rid of these foreign exchange fees:

• Neon is the best Swiss credit card for travel. Neon is the only Swiss bank to offer free purchases abroad with the card. You can save a lot of money by using this credit card.
• Wise is also a good option. It is not entirely free. Unfortunately, you will pay from 0.3% to 0.7% fee for each transaction. But this is much lower than regular credit cards. And the exchange rate they are using is also better than most credit cards.
• Revolut is a good card for travel. It is also great, but it is not a Swiss bank. The only time when you should not use it is during the weekend. Indeed, they have extra fees during the weekend. However, you can easily convert the money in advance so that it will still be free during the weekend.

If you do not know which to choose, I have compared Revolut and Wise for you!

Make sure to charge your card balance in advance. It is better than being there and not being able to use it. If you have to use your standard credit card, you may well lose quite a lot of money!

You must also check whether the country you go to widely accepts credit cards. Some countries take it everywhere. But in some other cases, it is much harder to use them. In some countries, it is much easier to pay with your phone, for instance.

2. Prepare some foreign cash

In almost all cases, you should convert cash before you leave your country. It is cheaper than in the destination country.

If you need some cash during your travel, you should probably convert a little before you leave.

It can be convenient to have some cash if you need to take a taxi or metro ticket when you arrive in another country. Airports are probably the worst place to get some foreign cash. They are using terrible exchange rates. But they know they are the only ones there. And they know you need your cash!

And when you are doing that before you leave, you can compare several rates. Some banks will have a significant difference in exchange rates. Find the best bank and get some cash in advance.

Unfortunately, this is not always possible. For some exotic currencies, you cannot get them before you arrive there.

And for some countries, you must prepare local cash, especially U.S. dollars. For instance, in Egypt, they prefer that you pay with dollars than with their currency. It is much more stable. And they know it will not lose value too much.

So, you need to do your research in advance to know which currency you need for the country you go to.

3. Be flexible with your dates

You can save a lot of money if you are flexible with the vacation dates.

Some times are significantly more expensive than others. For instance, traveling on Christmas or New Year’s Eve will cost you more money than in early December.

If you have children, this is more difficult. You generally have to go during the official holidays. But if you do not have children, you should try to leave outside of standard holidays.

Another thing that you save money on flights is to fly during the week. If you can fly on weekdays, you will save a lot of money. Sometimes the difference is impressive. We have saved about 50% on flights by doing vacation from Wednesday to Wednesday. We would have paid more if we had gone from Saturday to Saturday.

4. Book your tickets in advance

When should you book your tickets to get the best deal?

It is a complicated question. And people do not often agree with it.

5. Consider Last Minute offers

If you do not know exactly where you want to go, last-minute offers can save you a lot of money.

Last-minute offers start around two weeks before the arrival dates. And you can still fetch some offers one day before your arrival. Sometimes the savings are impressive. It is especially interesting for hotels.

However, you will not have all the choices you have three months in advance at the last minute. If you are open about where to go, it is often okay. But if you do not like some destinations, you may be disappointed.

We have taken last-minute offers a few times with my family. If you are not too picky and you want a relaxing vacation, it is quite okay. However, if you want to discover something great or some historical places, it does not offer much choice.

6. Research frugal tips before you go

If you plan on doing some tourist sightseeing, there are often some tips you can learn in advance. These tips can save you a lot of money.

For instance, when we were in Barcelona, we discovered that several tourist attractions were free on the first Sunday of the month. And they were also free each Sunday starting at 3 pm. The Louvre in Paris is also free every first Sunday of the month!

In some places, you can also find some outstanding deals in the tourism office. They often have offer packs. These packs can save you a lot of money if you plan to do several attractions.

Another terrific deal is that some cities offer city passes. I used such city passes in Houston, for instance. I paid 62 USD, giving me access to five tourist attractions in the city. I went to four, saving me more than 40% of the cost! I went to the Houston Space Center with this pass. And it was great!

Sometimes, there are also deals between hotels and attractions. And sometimes booking.com does offer deals within cities. When we went to Paris, we took this offer. And we saved about 50% off the big tourist attractions.

If you search on Google for money-saving tips for the place you plan to go, you are guaranteed to find some! It will take you only a few minutes and can save you a lot of money. And this can also give you good ideas on what to do!

7. Consider an apartment over a hotel

Sometimes, you can save a significant amount of money by taking an apartment over a hotel room.

Sometimes it is cheaper than a hotel room. And you also have the advantage of cooking by yourself if you take an apartment. And cooking in your apartment will be much cheaper than going to a restaurant.

You will also have more room, usually. That is not always true, but most apartments are bigger than hotel rooms. And even if you could take a huge hotel room, it could be costly.

Of course, there are some disadvantages. You will not have breakfast in the apartment (unless you prepare it yourself, of course). In most apartments, they will not make your bed every day. And the towels will not be changed every day either. However, there are some apartments where they will make your bed.

One other disadvantage is that it is more complicated to check in and check out of an apartment. It is especially true if the owner only has one or a few apartments. Once you deal with a building manager for tens of apartments, it becomes easier.

We have found some pretty great apartments over the years. I would not always choose this over a hotel. Sometimes, the comfort of the hotel feels great! And I really appreciate hotel breakfasts! But when we want to save money, we take an apartment.

8. Use the cheapest transportation onsite

If you visit a city, you probably do not need a car during your vacation.

The cheapest way to get around in a city is to walk. You should walk as much as possible. Walking is also a great way to experience more of the town. But of course, you cannot walk a very long distance, or at least most people cannot.

So, you must find the best transportation method to save money. In most countries, taking the bus is the cheapest way of traveling. In some cities, the subway is very affordable. Personally, the subway is my favorite means of transportation when I visit a city. But in some cities, the subway is expensive. In others, like Shenzen, it is very cheap.

If you want to save money, you should avoid taking taxis. On the other hand, Uber and Lyft can be very affordable in some places. In Shenzen, I was amazed at how cheap Didi (the Uber equivalent) was!

Moreover, you need to take advantage of daily passes for your transportation. In Barcelona, we took a five-day pass for all subways and buses. These passes are of great value. In Paris, we used a pack of metro tickets to get around. And it also saved us money!

I recommend that you research in advance which means of transportation is the best for your destination.

9. Do not forget to have fun

This tip is probably the most important of the tips!

Traveling for cheap is great, but traveling for fun is much better! Some people are so focused on traveling for the least amount of money that they forget to have fun.

The reason to take a vacation is to learn new things, have fun, and relax. It is not to save money. If you want to save money, the best way is not to go on vacation. It is good to save money, but you should not take it too far.

If you budget correctly for your vacation, you should be without guilt when spending the money on them!

Conclusion

As you can see, there are many ways you can save money when you travel abroad. Many of these ways are also applicable when you travel in your own country. You will not need a travel credit card, though!

If you follow these tips, I am sure you can travel abroad cheaper! However, do not forget to focus on the fun, as well. If you get lost in saving the most money possible, you may forget to enjoy the vacation!

If you want more general tips, I have a list of 12 ways to save money in Switzerland.

What about you? Do you have any tips to save money while traveling?

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