5 Tips For Saving Money If You Travel A Lot

With the rise of the whole “experiences over things” trend, it seems like people are travelling more than ever before. You can’t log on to Facebook or Instagram these days without getting holiday envy. Every day there’s a cheeky airport check in or a perfectly framed sun lounger photo to get you dreaming about booking another trip. You probably know by now that I'm a big fan of this “little and often” approach to travel. We all work hard, so why wouldn’t we want to squeeze in as many holidays as possible? But I also know that things can get expensive pretty quickly when you’re jetting off every couple of months. So to help you keep racking up those air miles without the risk of bankrupting yourself, I thought I’d share some of my favourite tips for regular travellers - you can thank me later...

1) Change your mobile network

One of the things we all forget to factor into our travel costs sometimes is how much we spend using data abroad. How many times have you landed in your gorgeous destination, ready to upload your photo to Instagram only to be stumped with a £5 data charge? If you travel often, it may well be worth changing your mobile network to Three. Their “Feel at Home” programme lets you use your data, minutes and texts abroad for free in a whole host of different destinations. No more worrying about scary bills - score.

2) Change your credit card

Another way people get stung when travelling is those pesky fees that banks hit you with for using your debit card abroad. They can quickly rack up to make your spending money much more expensive than you’d budgeted for, so if you travel a lot it may be worth applying for a credit card that doesn’t charge you for spending or withdrawing cash abroad. The Halifax Clarity Credit Card often comes out on top as it is widely accepted overseas. However – make sure you always pay the card off in full to minimise any extra costs.

3) Utilise loyalty points

Loyalty points schemes like Nectar can be really handy if you travel often. For example, you can collect Nectar points whenever you book with Expedia or many UK train providers, and then once you’ve built up a decent amount you can put them towards flights with easyJet. It doesn’t cost you anything extra and you could end up with some free flights – what’s not to love? I've used this to help fund flights to Copenhagen and Paris and it makes the trip that little bit sweeter.

4) Buy annual travel insurance

If you’re going away a couple of times a year, you can probably save some money by investing in annual travel insurance - ain’t nobody got time for purchasing single trip cover for each holiday. Annual cover could also give you some extra protection if your trip is cancelled for any reason, offering you that extra bit of security. Always remember to use an insurance comparison site to ensure you’re getting the best possible deal.

5) Use TopCashback

If you’re going to be booking flights and hotels online on the regular then it’s well worth signing up to a website like TopCashback. They work on a commission basis, and pass some of that money back to customers - you could get over 10% of your money back if you book through them. It’s also well worth booking things like airport parking through the site too as you could save yourself over 30% – which should more than cover your pre-flight Prosecco!

Do you have any other tips for saving money while travelling?

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5 tips for saving money if you travel a lot