On the eve of the spring-summer tourist season, American Express found out how to save money on a foreign trip. External tourist routes over the past three years have gained great popularity among Russians - so, according to American Express, almost 12 million Russians have visited abroad over the past 3 years and planned to go more. The rules, which are derived from the experience of thousands of travelers, will allow you not to abandon foreign destinations even with a very modest personal budget item allocated for vacation.

Rule 1: Those who have risen before have a discount.

Advance planning makes it possible to catch the most profitable offers of airlines, which usually diverge in the first place. After all, tickets are one of the most expensive components of foreign holidays. In addition, many hotels and travel companies offer discounts to those who book a room or tour in advance. It’s easier (and cheaper) to do it online. http://www.all-hotels.com/ (Hotel offerings worldwide), http://www.eurocheapo.com (Reservation of cheap accommodation in Europe) http://www.hostels.com/ (hostels around the world) and others. Leading Russian tour operators warn that this year you should not wait for favorite Russians “burning tours”, but this does not mean that there will be no cheap tours at all. It makes sense to constantly monitor the news of airlines and travel agencies. For example, on avia.travel.ru you can compare the prices of different companies for air tickets, as well as find special offers. Among the specialized informal platforms where the hottest information about budget proposals appears is cheaptrip.

Rule 2: Trust yourself.

If you do not want to overpay for the trip, organize it yourself! Buying a finished tour eliminates some hassle, but you have to pay for the services of an intermediary. Meanwhile, everything can be done yourself – make a route, get a visa, and use the Internet to book tickets and a hotel in almost any country in the world. On the Internet there are many resources where travelers share the experience of independent travel. Read reviews and tips, ask questions – for example, on a popular forum dedicated to independent travel, in the community ru travel, etc. If you speak English, go to the portals virtualtourism.com or tripadvisor.com, where travelers around the world share their impressions of countries, hotels, restaurants.

Rule 3: Visa without intermediaries

Independent visa processing is not as scary as many people imagine, and in this case it is quite possible to do without the intermediary services of agencies – of course, not free. First of all, check out the list of countries with a visa-free or simplified entry regime for Russians on the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry – you may not have to issue anything at all. If a visa is required, it is best to find out the conditions for obtaining it on the website of the embassy of the country where you are going - addresses can be found using any Internet search engine. You can also use the database nwa.com, where this information is combined. You will need to pay the consular fee, which varies depending on the country (on average it is $ 50, but can be lower or higher), as well as confirm your solvency. The latter can be done by presenting a bank statement, and in some embassies it is enough to show travelers' cheques for the required amount. It is also better to find out all the details on the websites of embassies of specific countries.

Rule 4: At the right time in the right place

If the planned vacation suddenly was not affordable, then it can be “closer to reality”, changing the time or direction of the trip. Prices in the “high” and “low” season vary markedly, and those who want to visit the country of their dreams, it is better to choose a month when most tourists do not go there. For example, in ski resorts, the “high” season falls on Christmas and New Year holidays, as well as on February-March, and the “low” season begins about January 10 and lasts until the end of the month. “High” season for a holiday in the Mediterranean – from July to September, you want to save money – try to choose other months if possible: in October-November in many Mediterranean countries comes the “velvet season”. Study the weather forecast, find out the water temperature. The first can be done on numerous weather sites, for example, on gismeteo.ru, weather.com, intellicast.com. The water temperature is usually published on dive portals, such as diveglobal.com. If the country is not as principled as a type of vacation, you should prefer cheaper popular routes instead of more expensive exotic: as a rule, even if the cost of rest is approximately the same, then a flight to an exotic country will “eat” the lion’s share of the budget.

Rule 5: The hotel is not a target!

In any foreign trip, a hotel is the place where you want to spend the least time. So what's the point of overpaying for a room? Many European and American tourists have long favored hostels over hotels, and Russians are joining the trend. On the Internet there are a large number of portals where you can choose and book a hostel in almost any country in the world. The largest ones are hostels.com, hihostels.com, and links to country portals are contained in a special section of Wikipedia. By the way, the cost of hotels has also decreased – according to the Russian Union of Travel Industry, currently discounts on hotels in Paris are about 13%, hotels in Prague have fallen by 20%, and for a room in a number of London hotels now need to pay 30% less.

Rule 6: Save money on local transportation

If you want to explore during the trip as much as possible, and spend as little as possible, use the most economical modes of transport. Somewhere local airlines will be more profitable, some will be railway connections, some will win if you go by bus. Look at the portal. http://www.seat61.comWhere you can find links to railway sites of different countries. Do not be lazy to learn from experienced tourists - at least after reading reviews on forums and blogs - how the situation is in a particular country. Consider the option of renting a car – for example, in the US it will cost about $ 400 for 2 weeks, which will be much cheaper than public transport, especially if you take the car in fold. Renting a car is easiest via the Internet – for example, on the sites carrental.com, budget.com, eurocar.com and others. Just do not forget that you will need international rights – they will need to be issued in Russia in advance.

Rule 7: Stay informed!

Study local currency rates. There are quite a lot of universal currency converters on the Internet, for example, oanda.com, a converter on tursvodka.ru and others. It is not always possible to buy the currency of the destination country in Russia, so it is also important to find out what is better to go with in the end – with dollars or euros, so as to lose as little as possible on a double exchange. If you are traveling with traveler’s checks, find out which currency of the check you prefer. In addition, it is worth remembering that tourists are the main income in many countries, and the cost of a thing in a store or a restaurant bill for a foreigner can be much higher than for a local resident. Try to dine or shop away from popular tourist destinations, where prices sometimes reach sky-high by local standards. To do this, you should read reviews on forums and blogs before your trip, as well as familiarize yourself with restaurant guides - for example, on viamichelin.com or timeout.com.

Rule 8: The less cash, the better

The dollar and the euro continue to rise, and its decline is not expected in the near future, so the sooner you can buy the currency, the better. Without the use of financial instruments can not do. Cards are necessary at least in order to pay for tickets and services over the Internet. Traveller’s checks will be useful both as a way to accumulate money in currency, and to confirm solvency when applying for a visa, and to protect money. If cheques are stolen, damaged or lost, they can be recovered in full free of charge, usually within a day. In addition, both a card and checks will be useful as a means of payment for purchases or services. It is necessary to find out in advance in the bank how much it costs to use ATMs in the destination country. As for checks, they can usually be exchanged for local currency with a fee of 0.5 to 3% of the amount, but there are more than 100,000 points around the world where checks are exchanged for local cash without commission. You can find out their addresses using the website aetclocator.com, and additional information about travelers' checks can be obtained on the website amex.ru.

Rule 9: Save money on flights

Often, air travel is the most expensive component of travel, and it is not only possible to reduce its cost, but also necessary! First, buy a ticket in advance: the most profitable offers of airlines diverge first. Secondly, round-trip tickets are more profitable, so it is better to build a route around the country on the principle of a “completed circle”, arriving and departing from the same airport on the same flight. Fly low-cost airlines, so-called discounters – their offers can be found using specialized sites, for example, skyscanner.net, flylowcostairlines.org, wichbudget.com, flylowcost.ru. LiveJournal has a community dedicated to cheap flights - low cost air. And finally, instead of two short trips, it is better to arrange one long one - for two or three weeks. You don’t have to be limited to one country, especially if you’re going to Europe, where you don’t need additional visas to cross borders.

Rule 10: Read it!

Save on guides and guides. Arm yourself with guidebooks, maps, historical reference books, chat in forums and study the destination country properly. For example, LiveJournal has a large number of thematic communities dedicated to different countries of the world. The easiest way to find interesting information in Russian using the search engine blogs.yandex.ru. If you want "pictures" - study the photos of travelers on zooomr.com, photobucket, flikr and other photo sites. Having chosen the most interesting, make your own route. The degree of freedom will be much higher than when buying a tour - at any time you can make adjustments. It is advisable to learn at least the most necessary phrases from the phrasebook in the language of the host country – in case you still go astray, for example, using wikitravel. Prefer already ready-made routes – then you can go to such sites roughguides.com, frommers.com, where guidebooks are published electronically.

An American Express check is a payment document that represents a monetary obligation of the issuer (American Express) to pay the amount indicated in the check to the owner (sometimes less a small fee charged by the bank), a sample signature of which is put on the check at the time of sale. The most important feature of all American Express checks is the ability to recover their face value in the event of loss, usually within 24 hours.