PLANNING
Start with thorough trip planning. Use free
DESTINATION GUIDES. Buy a
GUIDEBOOK,
it will pay for itself
within the first day of your trip. Visit our
TRAVEL INSURANCE page to see what
insurance options you have and how to save money on coverage if you
order through the
best
online travel insurers.
It is becoming a popular trend - to buy your holiday travel
using a
credit card. This option allows you to have an official record
of your travel purchases/bookings. Some cards also provide an
additional
insurance to the holder. American Express lets you transfer
your purchasing points to your frequent flier
program account. When you purchase an air ticket with
MasterCard, the credit company automatically signs you up
for an accidental life insurance with $100,000
coverage amount.
In order to save on your trip, travel with a partner(s). You can book a
double hotel room for almost the same amount as a single one. By
splitting accommodation and dining costs, taxis, car rental fees
travelers in a group will save money.
BOOKING
Make
AIR TICKET RESERVATIONS online, by
doing this you save up to 50% of a regular air ticket price.
For sightseeing try to travel off-season, usually October through April
in the Northern hemisphere and April through October below the equator.
You will be able to find cheaper airfare, find more budget rooms, spend
less
time in lines, and meet more local folks than tourists.
ACCOMMODATION
To cut down your accommodation costs,
BOOK A HOTEL ONLINE.
You have a
choice of 20,000 hotels, inns and motels all around the world. If you
plan to travel to Europe, your best choice for accommodation booking
would be
Alpharooms.com with prices
starting at
only
£ 4 per person!
Keep written records of all accommodations you reserved. Learn the
cancellation policies. Usually late cancellations or no shows are
charged one night stay. If you have to cancel, try to do it long in
advance. Reconfirm all reservations two days in advance by phone.
During
summer and weekends year-round, you can get a fancy business hotel room
at a cheap one-star hotel price.
DINING
You can save a lot of money by
buying food at
a local grocery store.
Eat according to the season. Order and buy food that is in
season where you travel, it will cut down your dining expenses. Avoid
touristy restaurants, instead eat where local people
eat. There you will find better food
for less money. Try to adapt to local cuisine, combine learning the
local dining
traditions with good prices. Avoid breakfasts at hotels, they
are usually high-priced. Every country has menu specials.
Learn simple words and you
can dine well with locals anywhere for under $20.
TRANSPORTATION
RENT A CAR through
TravelMake. Do
it the most convenient way, from the comfort of your house and save
big! Save money by driving in groups. For four people it is
generally cheaper to share a rental car than to buy a bus ticket or a
rail pass to travel between cities. Avoid renting a car in a big citiy,
it is less convenient than using public transit. Airports
usually have cheap and
regular public transit connections to the town center.
Carefully choose parking spots. Thieves recognize and target tourist
cars.
Learn your
EuroRail options. If you travel a
lot,
buy rail passes.
Three rides generally
cost more than a day pass.
In Europe budget airlines can often get you from one
city to
another faster and cheaper than the train. Beware though: budget
airlines
often use small airports located far from town, which can cost
a extra time and money. You also are allowed less luggage on
board for free. Learn more on our travel
TRANSPORTATION TIPS page.
SHOPPING
Use your
MONEYBELT to store the
cash safely.
Students, families, and seniors should ask for special
discounts.
Understand all fees and expenses. Ask to have all bills
itemized. Do your
own math when calculating the cost.
ALL
ABOUT
MONEY
CASH
Credit cards offer you a good
exchange rate,
but many local merchants
around the world offer best deals only when you pay local
cash. Hotels
and small businesses would have to pay
big bank fees if they take your credit card, dollars, or traveler's
checks, they prefer cash. In the developing countries it is quite often
hard to do without hard cash. Change cash only at established exchange
bureaus, preferably- at banks.
Minimize your money-changing trips to the bank.
It is expensive and time-consuming. Coins are generally worthless
outside their
country. Do not bring them home, spend them (on
postcards, newspaper, a phone call home, or food or drink for the train
ride) or change them into bills. You should do the same with local
currency bills, unless you want to bring it home as souvenirs,
because most of world currencies are worthless outside their
country.
ATM
AND DEBIT CARDS
ATMs are more convenient than
travelers checks. Through ATM you get your cash cheaper and
faster. Minimize ATM transaction fees by making fewer and larger
withdrawals. Keep all bank cards
safely in your
MONEYBELT. Memorize your PIN. Do
not write it down anywhere. Keypads in some
countries
have only numbers, so you will need to remember a four-digit PIN with
numbers and no
letters. Carry the toll-free customer-service phone numbers of your
bank and credit card company, along with photocopies of your
cards. If your card is
lost or stolen, report it immediately. Keep all receipts. After
returning home, call your debit and credit card company to verify your
balance and bill. Banks charge a maximum $50 liability fee if
thieves will empty your card.
Debit cards are more versatile than ATM cards. You can use a debit card
to purchase items from stores. And in case you run across a
non-functioning ATM machine, debit cards issued by Visa or MasterCard
can be used for over-the-counter cash advances (with a fee) at banks
that accept those credit cards.
Ask your bank about the daily withdrawal limit. Foreign
ATMs may not let you withdraw your daily limit, many machines have a
small maximum, so you would have to make several withdrawals
and incur
several fees to get the amount you want.
TRAVELERS
CHECKS
The biggest advantage of travelers checks is that they are replaceable
if
lost or stolen. They are a good back-up, so
take with you at least several hundered dollars in travelers
checks.
Look around for a vendor that sells American Express, Thomas
Cook or
Visa without the typical 1.5% service charge fee. Lost or stolen
traveler's checks are replaceable only if you keep track
of the serial numbers and know exactly which checks you've cashed and
which you've lost. So you should leave a photocopy of all your check
numbers with
someone at home, in your luggage, and in your moneybelt. Your original
traveler's checks receipt is an important document. Keep it handy but
separate from your checks. Get a police report after any
theft, and report the loss to your bank within 24
hours. For most trips, buy checks in US dollars. Get a mix of
denominations.
Large checks ($100, $500) let you save
money on cashing them because many banks are charging a fixed fee per
check rather than per transaction, cashing large
denominations can save money. Small checks ($20, $50) are easier to
cash.
TIPPING
Learn local customs for tipping. Don't overtip. In many countries tips
for good service are appreciated, if not expected. The proper amount
depends on your resources, local tipping
customs and the circumstance.
At restaurants menus usually state if service is included. If
not, consider tipping about 10-15%.
If the menu states that the service is not included, tip about 10
percent by rounding up or leaving the change from your bill. For taxis
round up to the next number on the fare, up to the maximum of
10%.
TAX REFUNDS
Many countries in the world have a sales tax. Most of your
foreign expenses include 15% to 25% of the tax. They may call
it VAT, TVA, IVA, GST, BTW, MOMS, etc. The European Union, Japan and
some South American countries assess VAT at a rate of 15-25
percent. The GST, or Goods and Services Tax, is a 7 percent
tax charged on most goods and services sold or provided in Canada. They
average 16 percent overall. Rates change, so you will want to check
with merchants when you're there. The EC countries (Austria, Belgium,
Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,
Monaco, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom),
Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Iceland, Japan,
Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Norway, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea,
Turkey, and Switzerland all refund VAT/GST to varying degrees. For the
tourist, reclaiming a VAT is a fairy straightforward
process. The typical scenario is to get some form of
documentation when you make a purchase, stipulating the amount of
refund due. You then show these documents to customs officials upon
leaving the country to claim your refund. Most countries
specify a minimum amount you must spend in a particular shop to claim a
refund. The minimum amount ranges from US$ 25 in Sweden to
US$ 340 in Switzerland.
Another way for tourists to reclaim VAT is by purchasing items at
stores participating in the Europe Tax-free Shopping
program. When your buy from these merchants you simply show
your passport and get a Tax-Free Shopping Cheque showing the amount of
refund owed to you. When you leave the country, you show your
purchases to an appropriate customs official, who stamps your
checks. You then claim your refund from a Europe Tax-free
shopping desk on site, or have the refund mailed to you. If the
retailer handles VAT refunds
directly, it's up to you to contact the merchant for your refund. You
can mail the documents from home, or quicker, from your point of
departure (using a stamped, addressed envelope you've prepared or one
that's been provided by the merchant) — and then wait. It
could be months. If the refund check comes in a foreign currency, you
may have to pay $30 or so to get your bank to cash it.
Only you can decide whether VAT refunds are worth the trouble.
USEFUL
LINKS
