For all the wanderlust you may harbor, the one barrier to travelling to your heart’s content is indeed the cost associated with travelling and whether or not you can afford to book your next flight to that destination which has captivated your imagination. The biggest of these travelling expenses would undoubtedly be the plane ticket to wherever it is you plan to go, especially if it’s an exotic, faraway place you can’t otherwise just visit on a whim. In general however, travelling abroad is probably way more affordable than you think and being able to afford your cross-border travels just requires a little bit of investigative skills, the bulk of which can easily be developed and sharpened by paying attention to details and making simple comparisons.
Markets Don’t Lie
Naturally, as someone with an appetite for experiencing new environments you’ll at least be up to date with what’s going on in the world, usually by way of political news that is very closely related to economic news. Following the markets in this way can have some major cost-saving implications to your planned travels because those places where the economic situation isn’t ideal inevitably turn to their tourism industry in order to boost their local economy. Take the recent Dublin City Centre fire for instance, which broke out in Ushers Quay. A fire of that significance is always newsworthy, but to the vigilant traveler such news shines a light on some eyebrow-raising observations, such as the fact that the fire partly engulfed a disused building, which is just one of many disused buildings in Dublin. This is a direct result of the recent economic crisis suffered by the Republic of Ireland and as a result, many accommodation options in the center of Dublin are available on the cheap.
Your Lehman’s analysis of the markets can be taken a step further. Property value pretty much dictates accommodation prices and if for instance you compare the price of a beach house in Cape Town, South Africa to a city apartment in Paris, France, you’d find that they fall within the same price range. So purely based on the location of your destination, your pennies can be stretched much further and you can afford accommodation you might otherwise not afford locally or in other more expensive destinations.
Discounts, Travel Agencies and Group Deals
Travel agencies, group deals and discounts make up the holy trinity of saving big on travelling costs, from your plane ticket to your accommodation and even destination-specific entertainment. If you were to try and book your plane ticket directly through an airline, you were travelling alone, and you attempted to book your hotel directly through the hotel’s website, you’d pay up to double what you’d otherwise pay booking through a travel agency. Travel agencies particularly love facilitating group deals because it means more commission for them, but it also means more savings for you and your travelling buddies. These travel agencies have become really good at negotiating extensively discounted deals, taking full advantage of various travelling dynamics such as cancellations, low-season pricing structures, international exchange rates, and the spin-offs of international markets.