This article will offer you some travel life hacks and tips to make it easier to travel to any place in the world. I understand that many of you are struggling with money.
Soon, you will need to travel for business or a weekend getaway, so stick around to learn more about saving money and travel with ultimate comfort.
For all the adventurous and wanderlust lovers out there, Awesome Traveler prepared for you some travel life hacks and tips. By following them, you can both save money and have a better travel experience.
Be ready to venture and prevent some common mistakes with preparation. In the meantime, you might also find some helpful tips and hacks for traveling abroad and domestically. Let’s dive in:
What Are The Best Travel Hacks, You Might Ask? Keep On Reading And Find Out:
1- Always Search/Book Your flights In Incognito/Private Browsing:
Some airlines and flight search engines use cookies on their website as a trick. It registers your visits if you look carefully at the price; it increases after a couple of visits. It is a tactic used to encourage impulsive buy before the price increases.
You can avoid this using incognito/private browsing because the cookies can no longer detect your data. Thus, the price would still be the same. Using this trick and choosing the right day can save a lot of money.
Travel Tip: Wednesday is the best day of the week to fly because it is usually the cheapest.
2- Expedia And Rakuten Rewards:
You can find flights, car rentals, and hotels in Expedia, and combined with Rakuten Rewards, you can save a lot of money. Rakuten Rewards, formerly Ebates, offers up to 25% cashback from 40 online retailers. Also, the Skyscanner app is a good one to find cheap flights.
Travel Tip: you can also get a travel credit card reward. So, you earn more points and use that to travel for free. A good example would be the Chase Sapphire Card
3- Always Check The Flight Status 24 Hours Ahead:
By doing so, you can change your seat. If you are like me and prefer to sit by the window, then this tip can be helpful for you. You can call and ask to assign a better seat for you. Otherwise, the seat will be given to you automatically.
It is also helpful because sometimes you can get an upgrade for free. Yes, it is rare, but it is possible.
4- Travelling Life Hacks For Packing Light:
I would not recommend you pack many clothes and unnecessary stuff into your luggage. First, you probably would be worried if you acceded the weight allowance, so keep it light. Be smart and keep Minimalist Packing.
That way, you could also have a little space in case you bought something and want to return it home. You could also pack a small bag as a backup. In addition, backpacking around the world can be tiring and a burden if not done correctly.
Travel should be hassle-free and healthy. You should know how your heavy backpack can affect you and what to do about it. You may not feel it initially, but your back might hurt over time. It is essential to choose the correct pack-back size.
The smaller, the better. A 40-50 liter rucksack is recommended. It would help if you looked up some backpacker’s travel tips so you have a healthy and comfortable journey.
Travel Tip: if you often travel, you should list what to take. This way, you can ensure you do not forget anything and take what’s needed. Plus, it will help you pack better in terms of space, time, and having a healthy body.
You can use PackPoint to pack lightly. It would help you pack based on the length of your flight, the weather in your destination, and the activity you plan to do in your trip
5- Important Strategy: Mark Your Luggage As Fragile:
This travel hack can be applied even if your luggage is not fragile because they are more likely to be handled more carefully
They also put it on the top pile of the storage compartment in the plane. This means that you will get your luggage faster, and you will get to enjoy your trip without waiting much longer.
6- Inform Your Bank And Credit Company That You Are Travelling:
I am sure many of us travelled without notifying our bank about our travel and then ended up being declined and unable to use it because the bank assumed the card might be lost or stolen.
When your card is used in other countries/cities that haven’t been usually used, the system recognizes it as an unusual activity.
Therefore, block the activity. You could save yourself the trouble and inform them beforehand. You don’t need to call them later, so they reactivate your card.
7- Use A Credit Card Instead Of Using Your Cash:
Bill currency exchange can take both time and money. Most of the time, using a credit card is cheaper and more convenient.
First, if you lose the cash, it will probably be gone forever, but if you lose the credit card, you can call your bank and cancel it immediately. Therefore, nobody can use it. Even if someone did use it, you can call and have them get your money back.
This is a simple travel hack that ensures you don’t look for a billing currency exchange location; instead, you can look for the nearest ATM.
Travel Tip: The international transaction fees can add up when purchasing, so have a company with low transaction fees. If you want to look at the currency rate at a specific date, you can use Statistical Data Warehouse because they have a reliable currency Converter.
You can also compare it to the international fees of your credit card. It is usually somewhere between 3–5 dollars. There are also some currency converter apps on your phone that you can use, such as XE Currency Exchange.
I know StarlingBank in the UK does not have a transaction fee for withdrawal and wiring internationally. In addition to that, here is a list of other banks that has either zero transaction/low transaction:
- Ally Bank®
- Aspiration
- Capital One
- Citibank
- Discover Bank
- HSBC Bank
- TD Bank
- USAA
- Wells Fargo
Note: you should further research those banks to know more about their policies.
8- Scan All Your Important Documents And Send Them To Yourself (Or You Can Also Print A Backup Copy):
You will never know you might lose your passport/Identification card. It is essential to be prepared just in case anything like that happens. You should also include any vital itinerary, such as reservations, health insurance, location, emergency numbers, etc.
If you get your stuff stolen/ lost, you have a backup plan. I prefer using your email as backup storage for your essential documents rather than printing a copy because they might get lost or water-damaged.
9- Have A Brief Knowledge About The Culture And The Law Of The Places You Are Visiting:
Knowing about both cultures and the laws is essential because sometimes, you can put yourself into situations that are probably acceptable in your home country.
However, it is unacceptable in other places. You can also learn some keywords and essential phrases if you go to a place where you do not know their language.
10- Download The Directions Beforehand In Google Maps:
Not many know this, but you can download and use all the directions offline. This can be helpful as you don’t need to worry about finding an internet source while heading to your next adventure.
I would prefer to use Maps. It is better than Google Maps because downloading a destination also gives you the time it takes and offers reviews and ratings for the place, such as restaurants.
Note: this can also be a safety reason as you can download the way to your hotel/home, so you can find your way back if you have no Wi-Fi or signal, especially if you get lost at night.
If you want to know which is better, Google Maps or Waze; Brief Riding offers excellent tips and comparisons. Click here to check it out.
11- You Can Charge Your Device From The Room You Stay In:
May TV has a USB converter in the back. You can plug your phone in and charge it from there. It is a good tip to know, just in case you forget to bring a USB converter for your phone.
12. Bring A Portable Charger:
I wouldn’t say I liked it when my phone ran out of battery during my trip. I cannot take video photos, check the time, etc. Furthermore, I rely on my phone for most of my digital things, so I always carry a portable charging case with me on every trip. It would help if you did that, too.Â
Life Saver Hack: thanks to Utility Hacker, you do not need to worry about your phone not being charged, especially while camping. You can transform the heat energy into electricity to charge your phone.
How cool is that? You can enjoy making a barbecue while charging your phone simultaneously. I bet it would make your life much easier.
13- Use Internet Tethering For Your Network Provider:
You can use your phone, for example, as a router or a modem to enable the internet for your other devices, such as your tablet, computer, etc. All you need to do is to ask your network provider for the service and use your phone hotspot from the setting. It probably would cost extra, but it is worth it.
This tip is for you, especially if you are a YouTuber, blogger, or business person who needs the internet most of the time.
You do not find a hotspot, and it is probably more expensive in some places. You would not worry about the internet anytime and anywhere because it is in your pocket.
Travel Tip: Foursquare is a website where many people share Wi-Fi in different places. You can search for the password of a specific location, and you might find someone who posted the password of what you are looking for.
14- Live In A Hostel:
I have only known about the hostel experience a few years ago. I wish I had known it earlier. From my experience, it can be better than living in a hotel/motel and cheaper. The reason is that because you meet many people who are taking the same journey as you, opening communication can be much easier.
In addition, some hostels offer breakfast, tours, and other services, which can make your travel even better as you do not need to worry about food or being bored if you are travelling alone.Â
Sometimes, if you have nothing to do at a particular time, you could either take a tour they offer or simply hang out with the people staying there.
15- Make Sure To Use App Transportation:
I would recommend using both Uber and Lyft because their rating can vary. Sometimes, for a specific trip, Lyft is cheaper than Uber. Other times, Uber is more affordable. You can also search for other apps locally where you are staying.
For example, Saudi Arabia has both Uber and Careem. They do not have Lyft, but they have an alternative. It is essential to check for other transportation apps related to the country you are going to if you want to save some money. You can also use Rome2Rio to book any kind of transportation.
16- Useful Apps To Find A Traveller Just Like You:
The list goes on if you are on a strict diet and want to target a specific kind of food, such as vegetarian, vegan, or halal food.
Having a specific app for that is vital, as it makes searching much easier and faster. It eliminates the stress of searching online. Here is a list of apps that make it much easier to find your preferred food provider:
- Vegans and vegetarians’ restaurants: Happy Cow (suitable for vegans and vegetarians, but also gluten-free restaurants), forks over knives, and vanilla bean.
- Halal Restaurants: Zabihah (useful anywhere in the world to find halal restaurants and supermarkets), Hoobie, Halal Dining Club, and halal trip.
- Kosher Restaurants: Kosher GPS and My Grocery Master (Apple Store).
Travel Tip: you can save Oatmeal in the bag because it is the best backup meal. You can save money by asking the closest restaurant/coffee shop to give you hot water; just pour it into the Oatmeal and enjoy it.
You can also pack a life straw as it can contaminate water drinkable. It is essential, especially if hiking, biking, or camping.
17- You Can Have A Longer Layover For A Couple Of Days:
I took the United Emirates Airlines when I went to the United States. My first layover was to Dubai, and I purposely made it a 4 days layover.
I stayed in a hotel and met a couple of friends. We saw Khalifa Bridge, Ferrari World, water adventures, and many more. I would recommend you do that If you can, so you can visit many more places.
18- You Can Use Other Platforms To Save Your Photos And Memories:
If you lose your camera or phone, you have a backup plan that saves your photos, videos, and any memory related to your current trip. You can use OneDrive for Microsoft, Prime, Amazon Photo, cloud app, shoebox, etc.
There are many apps out there; you can choose based on your phone and preference.
19- Global Entry:
Global entry is a trusted traveller program identifying the person as a low-risk traveller. You can apply for it online, so you can skip waiting in line for the immigration process. All you have to do is wait for a couple of days for approval.
If they accept you, then you are good to go. It costs a bit of money depending on the location you are heading to, but it might be worth it for some of us.
20. Make Sure To Take Special Occasions For Special Perks:
If you are traveling for a vocation or a birthday, tell the world about it. You can tell the hotel staff, restaurant you are visiting, or airline. You might receive a surprise or a free meal.
In restaurants, they might give you a free meal or cake. In hotels for anniversary, you might find a bottle of champagne or chocolate covered with strawberries in your room. What even better, you might be gifted with a room upgrade for free.
Conclusion:
There are many tips and hacks for travelling, but in this article, we selected the best for you to have a better journey travelling to your favourite destination while saving some money. I hope you have an extended, safe journey.
Which of these 20 travel tips and life hacks will benefit you the most for your next destination?
Claimer: This article is not sponsored. They are gathering information from my experience.
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