How to Save Money on Traveling

The main rules of budget leave
1. Booking everything at least 3 months in advance is cheaper.
2. Ask about discounts, benefits, special offers.
3. Do not travel during peak times: school holidays, New Year’s Eve and Catholic Christmas. Shifting the trip by just a week before or after saves up to 50% of all costs.
4. It is better to travel not alone (or a couple), but with a company of 4-7 people, dividing all costs (for food, transfer, etc.) equally.

You can save money if:
1. Cooking in the apartment (there is always a kitchen with stove and refrigerator). Products should be purchased in large (!) supermarkets. Even in expensive Scandinavia, independent cooking will allow you to meet 10 euros per day per person;
2. Wherever possible, make a tax free (return about 15% of the price of the goods at the airport or after returning to Russia);
3. It is necessary to make purchases not in the city center, where prices are raised based on tourists, but on the outskirts;
4. Find out from local residents about the upcoming sales days, the surrounding factories of clothes and shoes (prices in stores with them are 10-25% lower than in shopping centers);
5. Bring skates and skis with you so as not to pay for their rental;
6. To travel to other cities, do not use taxis, but buses and trains (5-10 times cheaper);
7. Take the necessary medicines from home. They are very expensive abroad, and most are sold by prescription, for a visit to which you will have to pay at least 50 euros.
8. Buy group tickets to sports and entertainment centers, not one-day passes;
9. Rent a car in local companies (prices are 15-30% lower than in international rental companies);
10. Call Russia from street vending machines or from post offices. For mobile, buy a tourist SIM card (sold in cellular stores; incoming calls are free; tariffs for calls to Russia are 3 times cheaper than traditional operators). To communicate with your companions on the trip, use radios (the kit costs about 60 euros; will come in handy on the next holidays).

Flight
Look for special offers for regular flights through airline websites. For 3-6 months. on sale there is a limited number of budget e-tickets. For example, a flight to Munich (round-trip) costs at a cheap rate of 11 thousand rubles (instead of 12.5-20 thousand rubles). You can fly to Budapest for 14 thousand rubles (a regular ticket will cost 18.5-22 thousand rubles). Flight with an inconvenient departure-arrival time (at night, on a weekday) - another minus 20 euros.

Housing
1. Choose a little-known resort (housing there is cheaper by 1.5-2 times, the account in a cafe is 1.2-1.5 times).
2. Negotiate with homeowners, bypassing intermediaries (saving up to 50%). Description of housing and contact information of its owners are on the Internet (type in the "search engine" the desired city and the word "apartment").

P.S. At first glance, it may seem that all the pleasure of the trip will be lost behind the thoughts of constant savings. But it's not. All preparations will be made before the holiday.

AIF No.43