Getting to a destination cheaply matters, but so does what you spend once you're there. Here's what has actually made a difference for us, organized by the categories where it's easiest to overspend without realizing it.
Biggest overall recommendation
Pick one thing each day that you really want to do or eat or experience, and spend freely on that. Be more intentional about everything else. You'll have better days and spend less overall.
Flights
The single biggest lever on flight costs is flexibility: with dates, with destinations, and with how much lead time you give yourself.
Start looking earlier than feels necessary.
Good deals disappear fast, and prices climb as departure approaches.
Let the deal pick the destination.
We keep a long list of places we want to go. When a deal comes up for somewhere on the list, we're ready to move. Some of our favorite trips started because a flight was cheap, not because we planned it that way.
Use comparison tools seriously.
Google Flights is our go-to, especially the “Explore” view, which shows you a map of prices to everywhere. Skyscanner, Hopper, and Capital One Travel are also worth checking. Midweek flights are almost always cheaper than weekend ones.
Subscribe to Going (formerly Scott's Cheap Flights).
They track mistake fares and deep discounts and send them directly to your inbox. The free tier alone is worth signing up for.
Accommodations
Search multiple platforms.
Booking.com, Airbnb, and direct hotel sites all price the same rooms differently. Always compare. The difference is sometimes 20–30%.
Stay slightly outside the tourist center.
Prices drop dramatically even a mile or two from the main hub. You often get a better experience and a more authentic sense of a place.
Look for accommodations that include breakfast.
Free coffee and breakfast for two every morning adds up quickly.
Check for active promotions.
Hotels and rental platforms run promotions constantly. If you're flexible on exact dates, spend ten minutes looking before you book.
Food
Eat where the locals eat.
Skip the restaurants with photos on the menu and a host outside waving you in. The best food, and the cheapest, is almost always at the hole-in-the-wall spots, the market stalls, the places with no English signage.
Stop at a grocery store early in the trip.
Stock up on snacks, breakfast items, and drinks. The markup on snacks at tourist locations is genuinely ridiculous.
Avoid airports for food whenever you can.
A sandwich and a drink at the gate can cost what a full dinner would at your destination. If you have lounge access through a travel card, use it.
Getting Around
Public transit is almost always the best deal.
Rideshares add up fast, especially in cities. Buses, trains, and metros are cheaper and often more interesting.
Check your credit card perks before renting a car.
Many travel cards include primary rental car insurance, which means you can decline the rental company's coverage and save $20–30/day.
Look into Turo.
Renting directly from a local car owner is often cheaper than a traditional rental company, and the selection tends to be better.
Fill up on gas before remote or touristed areas.
Prices near national parks and tourist centers are often significantly higher.
Banking and Spending Abroad
Use a card with no foreign transaction fees.
Cards like the Capital One Venture X, Amex Gold, and Amex Platinum don't charge them. Using a card that does adds 2–3% to every international purchase, quietly and invisibly.
Skip the airport currency exchange.
The rates are genuinely bad. Just use an ATM when you land.
Use a bank that reimburses ATM fees.
Ally and Fidelity both do, including international ones. This matters more than people realize when you're abroad and need cash.
Notify your bank before traveling internationally.
It takes two minutes and prevents your card from getting frozen at the worst possible moment.
The Free Stuff
One of the most reliable patterns we've found is that the best parts of any trip tend to be the cheapest. Parks, trails, coastlines, viewpoints, local markets, walking around a neighborhood that isn't in any guide. Nature and exploration often don't charge admission, and they're almost always where the real memories get made.
Do a little research before you go. Guided tours are heavily marketed in most destinations, but a lot of the time you can have the same or better experience on your own with some basic planning. That's a big part of why we put together the guides on this site.