Solo Travel Savings Tips-10 Ways to Save Now

Solo Travel Savings Tips. Here are our 10 tips beyond airfare and lodging savings. One of the biggest  challenges is figuring out where hidden costs may be lurking and planning around them.

Solo Travel Savings Tips:

Planning ahead:

1. Before you leave home, research and plan an inexpensive way from the airport, especially if you are going abroad. If you are going to an unfamiliar city, try to arrive in daytime. Getting to and from the airport: Every major capital seems to have expensive options for getting into the city center. Combined with the fact that airports often are 45 minutes outside the city, the best alternative for daylight arrivals may be a local train, subway or airport bus/van. In the south of France, I paid $2.00 for a commuter train ticket from the Nice airport to arrive within walking distance of my 5-star hotel. (The hotel pickup would have been $200!)

Solo Travel Savings Tips:

Saving on eating out:

Meals are one of the biggest costs after airfare and lodging.

2. Especially in remote locations, a resort meal plan may be cheaper than having to take additional transportation to find better prices.
3. On arrival, find the local mini-mart or better yet a full-service grocery and plan a series of picnics. (If you have a kitchen or refrigerator to store your purchases, that is the best savings.)
4. Interested in wine tasting or just a cocktail before dinner? Visit the local liquor store and make your own selections to save significantly every day.
5. Have your major meal at lunchtime at cafes and restaurants that have a lunch special.
6. Find restaurants that have an early prix fixe for dinner.

Solo Travel Savings Tips:

Shopping:

7. Shopping for souvenirs or gifts to take home? Avoid gift shops and take a public bus to places where local residents shop. (I tried this in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The only challenge? The return bus apparently had a different route than the outbound bus.  I found myself excitedly shouting out for directions as the bus continued  further in the wrong direction.
8. Watch out for credit card and ATM fees for international transactions. Check out the rates before you leave home. To find the right credit cards for your next trip, see this Money Magazine guide “Best Travel Credit Cards of 2020”.
9.  Use a calculator to understand what you are paying in foreign currency.
10. When traveling in exotic locations, it can be tempting to go clothes shopping to have something special popular at your destination.  Before spending the money, consider whether once home you will never have any place to wear something perfect in Hawaii but maybe not in Manhattan. (Think of all the comedy skits featuring men wearing outrageous “Hawaiian” shirts not strolling along Waikiki.

Solo Travel Savings Tips:

Final thoughts:

One extra tip:  One of the ways to avoid a huge bill on return home? If you use your smartphone as a camera or receive an incoming call, check that your data plan has not jumped back on. Keep it in airplane mode absent an unlimited data plan. (I took only one quick snapshot in the Dominican Republican. The next thing I knew the data plan had switched on sending me best wishes from Santo Domingo for a good trip.)

For tips on how to pack and a packing list to tailor to your trip and budget planning and tracking, go to our free app, the Solo Sherpa. The Solo Sherpa is available at the App Store and for android devices, Google Play Store.

See also, “5 Small Travel Costs that Add Up“,  “6 Offbeat Tips for Saving on Vacations” and “5 Tips How to Save on Hotels“.