Financial planning is always the unsexy part of planning, yet necessary for such a trip. Below we've listed some of the money tips we found along the way that will, fingers crossed, keep us in the green.
Pre-tripping:
Banking & Credit Cards:
It is best to find a high interest savings account, such as ING Direct or Citibank; however, these are harder to find these days. Our 5% interest rate last year dwindled to a mere 1.5%, which is still far better than the 0.25% at other banks. These accounts won't make you rich, but an extra $500 isn't something to neglect.
Another simple way to earn extra cash is to get a credit card with cash back rewards. American Express and Chase offer numerous cards that give 1% cash back on all purchases and up to 5% on gas and groceries.
Plane Tickets:
We found that the best time to search for cheap plane tickets was on Wednesday from midnight to 1 a.m. in the time zone of the airline's head quarters (strange I know, but hey it works). For example, its best to search American Airlines (based in Fort Worth, Texas (CST)) from 1 a.m. to 2 a.m. for all of you east coasters. It's because airlines release their reserved, but unbooked, lower fare reservations during this time. The best website we found (as a starting point) was http://www.farecompare.com. This site combines a bunch of travel websites such as Orbtiz, Travelocity, etc. with other direct airlines such as Air Berlin and Jet Star. The only drawback to this site is that it doesn't support Multi-city flight searches. :-(
Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays are the cheapest days to fly, with Wednesday having the biggest discount. These days are the least expensive because business travelers/vacationers fly on the other days. If flying on holidays, it is generally cheaper to fly on that day as well.
Living cheap:
It wasn't easy, but definitely worth it. Every time we wanted to eat out we thought about the cooler things we could do with the money overseas. We started eating at home (with the rare occasional outing), renting from the $1 DVD box instead of going to the movies, keeping our heat and A/C to a minimum and not making purchases unless it was for the trip. Have to admit that the last couple weeks we did quite the opposite and it was well deserved.
While Abroad:
ATM CARDS:
"Find banks with low transaction fees abroad. I opened an account with Capital One because it didn't charge conversion fees for most foreign ATM withdrawals." -- Brook Silva-Braga, director, "A Map for Saturday," a travel documentaryexchange money at banks not airports
ATM fees could run you several hundred to a thousand dollars if you are not careful. Getting money abroad is a problem that can easily go overlooked until you are on the road. It is best to shop around at a few different banks such as Bank of America, Chase, CitiBank, and your local credit unions. The key charges you should look into are (1) what are the fixed rate transaction fees and (2) what is the currency conversion fee (usually a percentage of the transaction).
Discount Cards:
There are several discount cards out there for students, youths under 26, and everyone else that offer reduced rates on accommodation, transportation, and attraction admissions. We decided to get the ISE (International Student Exchange) youth card. It's $25 for a year and offers discounts all over the world. You can also get insurance, airline bankruptcy protection, and SIM/calling cards. We will definitely get our money's worth, but wouldn't recommend it for shorter trips.
Other cards we looked at were IYTC (International Youth Travel Card) and HI (Hosteling International).
Online Coupons:
We found several discounts for Avis, Budget, Hotels.com, and many more by searching travel coupons. We actually saved a lot of money by doing this, just make sure you know where the discount code comes from. For example, don't use a discount code only for Avis employess for you car rental!
We also found cheap car rentals in Europe by booking through the UK Avis website instead of the USA's.
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