How to Minimise Travel Expenses
Travelling for either business or pleasure is often plagued by unforeseen expenses. Parking charges, excess baggage and the need for adequate insurance cover all appear to conspire to drain your limited financial resources.
But there are a number of ways that a wise traveller can lessen those unforeseen expenses and even make some significant savings. The first step is to predict what you will need in advance rather than leave everything to the last minute. This will give you time to shop around for the best deal.
Your currency requirements are a good example. We all need money when we go abroad but most of us leave it until the last minute and then just accept the exchange rate offered at the airport. Thinking about your currency requirements in advance and then shopping around for the cheapest currency from a commission-free provider can provide some significant savings.
Car hire is another service that many of us simply leave until we need it. If you know that you are going to require a car at your destination then it is well worth researching the best deals before you embark on your journey and booking in advance.
Another example of where significant savings can be made is in airport parking charges. If you are opting to leave your car at the airport while you are away don’t waste money by paying the full airport parking charges that would be applied if you just turn up without booking. Pre-book your airport parking space in advance and you will receive savings of up to 60%.
Travel insurance is essential for peace of mind when travelling abroad. You can get 10% discount on a whole range of travel insurance policies from gosimply.com if you have also booked your airport parking, hotel, lounge or car hire with them. Discount offers like this are not uncommon but are often not well publicised.
Keep your baggage to an absolute minimum and be sure to make an allowance for those holiday purchases that you will want to bring home.
Hopefully you will have noticed how anticipating your travel requirements in advance gives you time to shop around, pre-book and gain some significant savings.
By Tony Gee
I never like to pay full price for anything when I travel, least of all for airport parking and travel insurance.
December 9th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Hey
Great article. When i am not on my companies tabs this info will be useful.
I have found that when i visit nyc from the uk its cheaper to get what you guys call a limo than get on the express bus, and it takes me right to my hotel.
Booking transfers through the agent has saved me some big bucks too.
I also usually book flights and hotel seperate as i feel i get a better deal, and usually do. Negotiate direct with the hotel.
But hey, when its on the companies tab and they are paying for the lot, i get it all in one and fly business. Perks of a company tab i guess.