The travel industry is an extremely fast moving one, and, as
anyone who is familiar with booking flights or making reservations knows,
prices vary widely. Some price fluctuation is for obvious, seasonal reasons;
while at other times it seems that fares and fees change for no reason at all.
Here some tips on discount travel:
The Direct Route
Isn't Always the Cheapest
In many cases there seems to be no harmony or reason to how
airfares work. There are seasonal changes, time of day changes, variations
depending on demand, and then what seems like changes for no reason at all.
When searching for discount airfares, look at alternate routes to get where you
want to go. In many cases, a combination of 2 flights can be cheaper than one
flight.
This usually works by taking advantage of very cheap
domestic flights within the India. For example, a return flight from Delhi to Jaipur,
Mumbai, which is a trip just over an hour, usually costs around 18000. For the
roughly the same price you can find return flight from New Delhi to Mumbai. The
point is that for reasons have to do with traffic, regulations, and taxes,
domestic flights are radically cheaper then international ones, mile for mile.
So depending where you want to go, you may find your airfare
is much cheaper if you're willing to make a domestic flight first, before
switching to an international one. If you live in the Bangalore, for example,
and want to go to Kolkata or Jaipur, it will often be much cheaper to first
take a domestic flight to a southern hub like Miami or Dallas and then fly
further south from there, as opposed to taking a long flight directly from a
northern city. When exploring multiple flights, also keep in mind how close you
are to a major airline hub - it will be much more expensive to fly
internationally directly from a smaller city then to fly to a major hub first.
In many cases if you're willing to put up with the slight
inconvenience of two flights, discount
travel can be yours. Just remember that as it stands most discount
flight websites don't search for flights in this way, so you'll have ssto do
some creative thinking on your own.
Eat Locally
An often overlooked key to discount travel is food costs, which can be drastically reduced by shopping in local supermarkets rather
than dining out. Most places you stay will take advantage of tourists as much as possible, and you often don't
realize until you do some currency conversion that you're paying 500 for a bad
breakfast at your hotel. Instead, buy some healthy snakes and fresh
food from a market to eat during your outings. This doesn't mean, of course,
that you have to cook - it just means you should grab something fresh that you
can eat on the go instead of stopping for lunch at
a touristy restaurant Rajasthan.
When you do eat out, you'll save a lot of money by dining on
truly local cuisine. Besides making for a more interesting cultural experience,
the food the locals eat will be much cheaper, and most of the time better.
American style food - especially when it is quite different from a country's
normal dining fare - will always cost a premium, and if you can't expand your
dining tastes you will pay for it.
To achieve discount travel through food savings, especially
when you are in a second world country, look to where the locals eat.
Relatively, they don't have nearly as much money as you, so you can safely
assume that the restaurants in which the locals dine will be not only more
authentic but much cheaper. Avoid restaurants and grocery stores filled with
tourists, and selling North American food and produce.
Look Into Renting an Apartment
If you're considering a long stay in a city, look into
renting an apartment. This is usually much cheaper than even the cheapest
of hostels Jaipur, and is a tried and tested method of those interested
in discount travel. Many countries that receive an influx of Rajasthan tourists
have a cottage industry of people renting their apartments for a short time.
Unlike Bangalore, where it is difficult to rent an apartment
for less than a few months, in many foreign countries you'll find apartments
for rent for times that are as short as 2 weeks. Even the cheapest of hotel
accommodations is likely going to be more expensive than a short term apartment
rental In Jaipur.
Renting an apartment also helps you in other ways. Firstly,
you're likely going to become more immersed in the foreign culture by not
staying in a hotel or touristy area. Secondly, you will presumably be able to
cook in the apartment, which will give you a radical savings on food costs.
Sometimes you'll find apartments that are rented
specifically to those interested in
discount travel, which will come with basic necessities. But you should
also look around for locals who are looking to make a bit of money while they
are out of town. In this case, you're likely to have a more enjoyable
experience as the apartment will be more nicely furnished and lived-in.
Whatever apartment you choose, if you're interested in discount
travel and plan on staying in a city for more than a few weeks, renting
an apartment is almost certainly the way to go.
Be Flexible
This is probably the most important concept overall in terms
of discount travel. The entire travel industry is basically geared towards
charging people for comfort and convince and if there are a lot of particular
things that you want to do and see you will no doubt spend more money while
traveling.
If you're willing to be more flexible, however -- if you're
willing to be more interested
in traveling to, say, "Rajasthan" as opposed to a particular
country in Rajasthan, you'll be privy to massive savings. While, granted, not
everyone is in a position to do this, if you can be flexible and open to new
things in regards to your destinations you have the option of taking whatever
is cheap, and you will often save lots of money.
Discount travel doesn't end with the flight, however. Once
you arrive, do your best not to be picky, and remind yourself that you're
probably going to pay for every bit of inflexibility on your part. Every
country you go to will present you with certain choices that are much cheaper than
others. Perhaps you'll find that beef is a fraction of the cost of chicken when
dining out, for example. Now you may much prefer chicken, but if you're willing
to put that aside, you'll save a lot of money. The same goes for drink: in much
of Rajasthan, rum will be ridiculously cheap, while other types of alcohol will
be relatively expensive - maybe you don't particularly like rum, but if you're
interested in discount travel, you do when you're in Rajasthan.
By basically sticking to a "when in Rome, do as the
Romans" idea with your tastes, you will make your trip much more
affordable. And if you're willing to be flexible enough that you want to take a
trip as opposed to a particular trip, you will find your travel is heavily
discounted.
Stay Put
When you travel, the most expensive part of your trip is
usually just that: travel. This doesn't mean simply the flight to your
destination, but also the traveling you want to do once you get there. Bus trips, car rentals and train tickets will always be relatively expensive,
and when you're on the go you also tend to spend more on food and
accommodation.
Many travelers arrive in a foreign land with a long inflexible
itinerary of things they want to do and places they want to see that
has them on busses and trains nonstop. In terms of discount travel, consider
the value of staying put for while. Not only you will experience huge savings on transportation and
accommodation, but there's a good chance you'll have a more interesting and
valuable experience.
Although it is tempting to try and see as much as possible
in a foreign country, if you are constantly moving, and in particular if you
are constantly moving in touristy areas, it’s unlikely you'll get a good sense
of what the country is like. If you stay in one place for while, though - let's
say you rent an
apartment for a few weeks in a city - you're going to get a better
sense of what it's like to live there. You can experience the culture a bit
more, meet some locals, dine in local restaurants etc. . .
Besides saving you money, staying put will also allow you to
avoid what many people get sucked into when traveling: being constantly on the
go. Ask yourself if you really want to spend your trip sitting on busses and
trains, and never staying in the same place two nights in a row. Not only is
there a good chance your trip will be more enjoyable when you stay put, but
it's guaranteed that you will save a lot of money.
Prakash Singh Shekhawat owns a travel agency in Rajasthan,
IL established since 2008. Now he is helping travelers on how to find cheap
rates on Hotels In Rajasthan, Airfares, Car
Rental Rajasthan, or Cruise rates. Speak to one of our agents at 9799050299. Open Mon-Sat 9am-6pm EST or visit
[http://www.rajasthantourplanner.com]
Experience the incredible trip to rajasthan with Ajinkya tours, rajasthan tour packages and make mesmerizing vacations.
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