100 Ways To Save Money Part VII

For tips 1-60, please see this post!

61.  Don’t discount using a travel agent! For my stopover en route from volunteering overseas I looked at expedia, lastminute, laterooms and hote websites directly, I also phoned an independent travel agent! My travel agent was able to get the hotel for about £10 ($16) less per night and include a free breakfast! They were also able to get me a transfer from the airport to the hotel for 1/2 the cost I could find anywhere else! In the UK I use Nomadic Travel!

62. Don’t be afraid to use the secret hotel option on lastminute sites! Big hotels often don’t want you to know you can get their rooms for 25% of the cost.  I go onto lastminute.com and plug in that I want a 4* hotel or more, it then comes up with the usual hotels for generally £120+ but also a “secret hotel option” for at least 1/2 the price, sometimes less. I write down the secret hotel facilities and do a google search, for example 4* hotel at Terminal 4 with pool. I have always been able to figure out which hotel it is within about a 5 minute search. I recently got a 5* hotel advertised everywhere at £139-£159 plus £18 breakfast for £49 including breakfast!!!

63. Phone hotels directly and ask for a discount! I have found if you book last minute many hotels do offer this, the last three times I’ve used this option (all booked about 72 hours before arrival or less) I got rooms for 15-20% off the advertised price. A few years ago careful negotiation (literally at the last minute) got us an Eastbourne hotel on the seafront for £10 per person per night instead of over £90!

64. Use hotel reward cards and airmiles!

65. If there is only a £10 or £20 difference between costs of flights in airlines, think about who your reward points are with and look at how much buying that number of miles would cost. I have BA airmiles and generally speaking it is worth it to pay £30 more for a flight in order to collect the points!

66. Save towards a holiday/vacation! So much research suggests that holidays & vacations are good for families, couples and individuals, that they help with your emotional health & well-being and help cope with “modern life”. I personally have found it is easier to say no to last minute “I feel terrible let’s blow the budget and book into a spa for the weekend” when I know in 2, 3, 4, 5 months a holiday is coming up! Holidays don’t need to be expensive, you could spend a week in a yurt, go camping, rent a cottage or go to a hotel. In different seasons of my life I’ve enjoyed very varied holidays – for me some holidays are about R&R others are about learning and exploring, they key is they give me the break I need and help me concentrate on my financial goals for the rest of the year!

67. When you travel always pack drinks & snacks! Airports are expensive!! I usually take lots of granola & fruit bars, seeds, fruit, water bottles etc!

68. Set a budget for daytrips, exploring and eating out & stick to it! Google restaurants near where you are staying and look at the menu’s, get a realistic picture of what the costs will be and make your budget accordingly!

69. Always write letters of thanks to any restaurants, hotels or places you’ve visited who have gone out of their way to provide good service, often they will then tell you about special reward programs or even send you a certificate as a thank you!

70. When you’ve truly had a bad experience then do kindly (!) contact customer service. I have done this twice in my life because the service was absolutely horrible (& rude) – one gave me a free 10 day pass to a wonderful health club that would never normally be in my budget, the other gave me a $25 gift card! I would never advocate being fussy or making more of a situation than warranted, but when you’ve really had a bad experience letting customer services or a manager know actually is helpful to the company, after all they rely on customers coming back!