Secrets of the savvy saver

languagelearning

13 May

“I've been very fortunate in life to have been able to travel to many different cities and countries but what I've realised over the years is that fortune can only take you so far if you want to find the best travel deals.”

I've been very fortunate in life to have been able to travel to many different cities and countries but what I've realised over the years is that fortune can only take you so far if you want to find the best travel deals. From trains to planes and every mode of transport in between, as much as the companies might advertise money saving deals, they all want us to pay as much as 'justifiably' possible and almost rely on you just accepting the shown price as the 'final offer' but us frugal fare-finders know that the price doesn't always have to be the price..it's just like buried treasure, you have to do a little digging but they're there to be found! I know for the sake of convenience, many people prefer to keep the booking process of travelling simple but if you'd rather the pennies in your pocket, it may be worth taking a little extra time to check out the deals available. A little disclaimer - you may strike it lucky at other times but the following tip works best during off peak travel.

Let's take the London to Manchester train route as an example...the key to this one is all in where the train stops at in between the first and final stations..in this instance, we'll say the train is due to stop at Milton Keynes Central, Stoke-on-Trent, Stockport and Manchester Piccadilly. Rather than purchasing a ticket from London to Manchester at the standard rate of £64.40 (correct at time of writing), look at the option of London to Milton Keynes then Milton Keynes to Manchester. Now they say the best fares are available from 12 weeks in advance but as most of us don't always have plans confirmed that far ahead, for argument's sake, we'll say this booking happens 2 weeks before as this is a real experience for me. London to Milton Keynes was £8 and Milton Keynes to Manchester £22..that's less than half price for the same journey (on the same train) just because I broke the journey up in the booking!

With flights, savings mostly occur if and when airlines have seat sales. You can of course split the journey if that significantly reduces the price but more so than with trains, the compromise with that method is that for the most part, you have to be willing to give up a lot of time (hours not minutes) by transferring to different flights at different airports. If you don't mind that, then go for it! Whichever mode of transport you travel on, remember to consider alternative routes and options..it might just save you a pretty penny!