How to save money during international trips
Traveling to foreign and international holiday destinations doesn’t come cheap. It requires months of planning and saving ahead of time. However, there still remains a lot of things you can do additionally to save money during international trips. Let’s get down to how you can do so.
Consider Getting a No Foreign Transaction Fees Credit Card
This is one of the best hacks to save money during international trips, if you are always worried about your bank or credit card issuer applying foreign transaction fees. These fees can add 2% or 3% to the cost of each card transaction that you do abroad.
Therefore, you can consider switching to a competitor that doesn’t levy any foreign transaction fees. Alternatively, you can also apply for a no-foreign-transaction-fee credit card up to a month before your trip. A good place to start looking would be the Discover range of cards even though they’re not as widely accepted as Visa or MasterCard. If you happen to have a more than good credit score then you can easily consider a higher-end travel rewards credit card such as Chase Sapphire Preferred or Citi Prestige.
Consider Starting a Travel Fund
Right off the bat, if you have a travel fund to dip into for your expensive international trip then you needn’t look for additional strategies. To do this you first need to understand how to set up a travel fund. Since the entire concept of ‘travel’ is the category of luxury, it absolutely must come after emergency savings and retirement savings.
Once you’ve successfully accounted for those two buckets then you are completely free to focus on your travel fund. Also, always try to segregate your travel fund in a separate savings account which is FDIC-insured. Now, if you keep adding to it early and often, then you will end up saving more than you need for a single international trip. This will give you a head start when it comes to saving up for your next trip. Also, once you have done some rough planning and have a pretty good estimate of the likely cost of your proximate vacation, then you can probably adjust your saving rate to meet your target dates and budget.
Choosing Between Time and Place
You have to be flexible on either your time or place if cost control is paramount. If you have made up your mind on a particular destination, then you need to start considering a range of different start and end dates. However, if you have to travel internationally within a fixed time frame itself then you have to learn how to be opportunistic about your destination.
This brings us to the end of our discussion on how to save money during international trips. Now, let us know some of your personal strategies for doing the same. Also, let us know which international countries you feel offer the cheapest travel opportunities for someone who is on a budget.
