DISCLAIMER - If you are a lazy ass person then this post will not help you. If you're coming from Asia, USA, etc obviously, roundtrip tickets are much more expensive, duh. Everything that is written below ay galing sa utak ko charot.
Imma start with a little bit of some'in some'in about me and my boyfriend's lifestyle so you know we ain't shitting. We are both very practical, I'd call us cheap but it just doesn't sound right haha! We are two ordinary people paying our rents, bills, gym subscriptions that we never get to use and some other shit life has bestowed us. We both live in Milan, Italy. It's in Europe if you didn't know or you just didn't give a shit about geography lol. We like to travel, but we like saving money as well . So, we try to travel at least every 3 months, without spending too much and just experiencing the beauty of each city.
I have a question for you. WHY DO YOU TRAVEL? if your answer is written below, then this post might not help you or there is no point reading my post. You just wastin' yo time boo.
- Because you want to SHOW OFF
- Because you have a lot of money
- Because you like BRAGGING about shit
You see, we travel because we want to experience different cultures, traditions, food and history. We don't mind a little discomfort or a little effort to visit a beautiful place. But if you do, then maybe you don't really travel to experience those things. You travel maybe because you simply can afford or you just want to brag about it.
Moving on.. (something na di magawa ng iba jan hahaha joke walang konek)
The following are the cities we visited and the amount spent on Plane and Hotel
Verona - €53 per head including Ticket, Hotel and Breakfast for 2 days
Rimini and Igea Marina - €59.85 per head including Ticket, Hotel and Breakfast for 3 days
Venice - €80 per head including Ticket, Hotel and Breakfast for 3 days
Valencia, Spain - €65 per head including Ticket, Hotel and Buffet for 3 days
Lake Como - €35 per head including Ticket, Hotel and Breakfast for 2 days CANCELLED :'( I got sick. We were supposed to spend Christmas Eve dinner here with the stunning view of the lake.
Here are some photos from our last trip!
So, how do you travel cheap anywhere in the world?
First, you have to be FLEXIBLE. Being flexible allows you to pick the cheapest flights any day any time. If you are a working person like us, I recommend you to pick your holidays on low season and 3-4 months ahead, so you'll have time to plan everything. Being flexible is hard at first, because you'll have to deal with super early flights or late flights. But once you get used to it, you'll end up being okay with it. You'll enjoy uncrowded airports and planes. Plus, low season means uncrowded tourist spots and less pricey entrance fees or sometimes, they're even free!
They say it's cheaper to book on days between Monday-Wednesday. For me, it depends on the airline and on their current promos.
Always choose local airlines, small airline companies or low cost airline hubs.
Second, you have to be PATIENT, you have to be patient on searching for that golden ticket! The deals that I get are not found easily. Why would a company advertise their cheap stuffs? Of course they will advertise the good expensive ones where they will earn more. So, you gotta dig deep for them golden deals.
Our ticket to Valencia was so far the best deal I've ever found. We were supposed to go to Barcelona, but we were too scared from all the ISIS attacks there, so instead we went to Valencia where there were less tourists. Guess what! Barcelona plane tickets were €6 cheaper, but we didn't mind. Safety first!
Our tickets to Valencia, Spain from Milan, Italy were only €9.99 each and €15.99 each going back. With Ryanair, you still have to pay for your seat, There are choices like €10 in front, €5 in the middle and €2 at the back (I'm not sure about the exact prices). We always get the cheapest seats that are located after the wings of the plane. We paid €2 per seat, per person, with a total of €4 roundtrip. The total amount we paid for Plane tickets were €59.96, making it almost €30 per head. The departure and arrival time that we got were pretty normal. We departed to Valencia at 11am and departed to Milan at 4pm.
The hotel was the best part! I still couldn't believe how I found that deal! To begin with, it was a 4 star hotel. They have pools, wellness centre like gym, sauna and other fancy shit. Buffet breakfast was included *the best buffet breakfast ever*. We always ate for like an hour and a half, because we are pigs hahaha! Breakfast kept us full until around 2pm. Which is a good thing because we became productive and got to visit many places in such a little time. The total amount we paid were €70, €35 each.
Total of €65 per head. Cheap plane tickets and hotel room means more money for food and entrance fees. BUT WAIT! So, I already did my research on the entrance fees of the places we wanted to visit. Turned out, all of them were FREE! I don't know if it's because it was low season or we were just lucky.
Another tip: If you really wanna experience a city and their food, I recommend going to small good old restaurants. Still check the reviews of course. Sometimes, fancy restaurants serve the worst food. Did my research ok. So, don't tell me I'm just cheap. We wanted to eat at this fancy resto, but the reviews of their expensive Paella Valenciana were horrible. So, DO YOUR RESEARCH.
About strolling the city, I recommend y'all lazy asses to just walk or to rent a bike. These two are the best ways to really explore the city.
Now, let us talk about the real shit! How to find the best deal?
These are the following sites that will help you find them golden deals:
- Ryanair
Go to Skyscanner, Put your current city on the box From, then select Everywhere on the box To.
Right here, you can see that Luxembourg is the cheapest roundtrip ticket with a price of €34, that is ₱2051. That is a pretty good deal already, but my cheap ass self won't settle for that price. This is the part where we start digging deeper. Obviously, you have to click that green shit.
After you click that green shit, you will be given three options, Best, Cheapest and Fastest. I'm always on either Best or Cheapest. Sometimes you can get tickets that are 2-4 euros more expensive but with better time options. Anyway, As you can see below, €29 (₱1749) is the cheapest fare. That is €5 cheaper than the average airfare to Luxembourg.
But we ain't gonna stop there! The cheapest flights are from Ryanair Airline, right. Now, what you gotta do is to go to there own site and look for cheaper fares. Whatever site comes out as the cheapest, you go to that airline's site and look for cheaper deals.
So, I went to Ryanair's site and wrote the same thing, Milan to Luxembourg. This is the part where being flexible is important. If I was really going to Luxembourg, I'd take the dates Jan 13-15. That is €9.79 one way, so €19.58 (₱1181) without the seats.
Now, you gotta book the seats. The price ranges from €10 - €2. Of course, I'd choose the cheapest, just because I don't really care where I am seated, as long as I get to where I want to, I'm good.
Right here, you can see that Luxembourg is the cheapest roundtrip ticket with a price of €34, that is ₱2051. That is a pretty good deal already, but my cheap ass self won't settle for that price. This is the part where we start digging deeper. Obviously, you have to click that green shit.
After you click that green shit, you will be given three options, Best, Cheapest and Fastest. I'm always on either Best or Cheapest. Sometimes you can get tickets that are 2-4 euros more expensive but with better time options. Anyway, As you can see below, €29 (₱1749) is the cheapest fare. That is €5 cheaper than the average airfare to Luxembourg.
But we ain't gonna stop there! The cheapest flights are from Ryanair Airline, right. Now, what you gotta do is to go to there own site and look for cheaper fares. Whatever site comes out as the cheapest, you go to that airline's site and look for cheaper deals.
So, I went to Ryanair's site and wrote the same thing, Milan to Luxembourg. This is the part where being flexible is important. If I was really going to Luxembourg, I'd take the dates Jan 13-15. That is €9.79 one way, so €19.58 (₱1181) without the seats.
Now, you gotta book the seats. The price ranges from €10 - €2. Of course, I'd choose the cheapest, just because I don't really care where I am seated, as long as I get to where I want to, I'm good.
As you can see below, the total amount to pay is €23.58 (₱1422) That is €10.42 cheaper than the average price. That's it!
Now, let us talk about how to find a good but cheap hotel room. I can't really demonstrate pictures on how I usually do it, because it's kind of laborious and it takes longer time than booking a flight. But, I'm gonna explain everything step by step!
Have you heard of booking.com? if not, where the fuck have you been living? hahaha joke
Take note: Always book a room that is Cancellable or No Prepayment/Card Needed. You wanna know why? Because these hotels are fooling you by giving cheaper Non Cancellable deals, that turns out to be not that cheap at all. Maybe there are some really good Non Cancellable deals, but most of them are just meant to fool you. I'm gonna explain why it's better to get Cancellable deals, ok?
They say when you book months ahead, you'll get the best deal. Well, you'll get a decent deal, but not the best deal. You will get the best and cheapest deals 1-2 days before the date of your arrival. Make sure to always check the last day of cancellation to avoid problems.
Okay. So, you go to booking.com and then book the cheapest cancellable room you'll see, with good reviews. Check booking.com every night before you go to sleep or when you don't have anything to do. Look for cheaper deals. Cancel, then book again. Cancel, then book again. If you're gonna be like "Isn't that too much of a hassle?" Why are you still here reading? If you're a lazy rich person who can afford everything then stop wasting your time reading.
If you're in to some extra effort, I'll teach you how to dig deeper. When you find a good deal on booking.com, check that hotel's site. Most of the time, there will be discount codes or special promos when you book on their main site. Sometimes, they give like 10-15% off when you make an account on their site. When you do find a good cancellable room, book it. Then check that site again when you have free time. When you find a better deal, cancel then rebook. That is basically how I got our room in Valencia. €35 per night for 2 people plus buffet. Not bad right? You just gotta be patient and put a little effort! *wink*
That is all it! Follow all these steps and I'm telling you.. You'll get to travel to more places without spending too much. Have fun traveling the world! If you have other questions, feel free to ask on the comment box below! Also if you have something you want me to talk about on my next post, feel free to comment below!
Last but not the least!
If you're too lazy for all of these steps, Call me! I'll find you a nice affordable trip ;)
Thank you for reading! Hope you've learned something! Until my next blog post! ♡
- Wednesday, January 24, 2018
- 1 Comments