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Travel can be costly. Read on for ways to save if you plan to do a lot of it.
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Travel can be an expensive thing to do at any stage of life. But when you’re younger and your earnings haven’t quite peaked, affording it can be a challenge.
A little more than 68% of Generation Z consumers want to travel more in 2023 than they did in 2022, according to data from iSeatz. If that’s a goal of yours, it’s a great one. But you also don’t want that goal to drive you deep into debt. With that in mind, here are some steps you can take to make your 2023 trips more affordable and help ensure that you’re able to pay for them without having to borrow money.
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1. Plan ahead
You can sometimes manage to snag a deal on a last-minute flight. But for the most part, booking air travel in advance will result in a lower credit card tab. The same might hold true when it comes to booking lodging — though sometimes, hotels with unbooked rooms tend to discount them at the last minute.
2. Skip the hotel
You might enjoy the feeling of staying at a hotel and being pampered. But in many cases, you’ll spend less money by booking a private rental on a site like Airbnb. That might make it easier to travel with friends, too, since you could end up with a lot more room to spread out.
3. Don’t dine out for every meal
A big part of the fun of travel is getting to sample different cuisines. And so it’s okay to work the cost of dinner or drinks from a local brewery into your travel budget. But if you don’t want to end up in credit card debt after traveling, make a point not to dine out for every single meal you consume. Instead, hit the supermarket when you arrive at your destination and load up on breakfast and lunch foods you can take on the go.
4. Use the right credit card
You won’t necessarily get a discount on a flight, hotel, or restaurant meal by swiping one credit card over another. But some credit cards do offer more cash back than others. And the more of that you rack up, the more you’ll be able to offset the cost of your trip.
Plus, in some cases, using the right credit card will result in a lower cost. It’s common for travel reward credit cards, for example, to offer the benefit of a free checked bag when you take a flight. The savings there could be huge if you wind up flying multiple times this year.
Any time there’s strong demand for a given product or service, its price tends to rise. These days, Americans of all ages are making travel plans after largely staying close to home during the pandemic. So it shouldn’t be shocking if the cost of airfare and lodging is higher than what you’re used to. But you can do your best to keep your costs down to not only avoid debt, but open the door to even more travel in the near term.
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