Booking a Europe Trip, Advice on How I Can Get The Most out of The Money I Am Spending?

Mrmijaki on 03/10/2018 - 21:00

Hi all,

I am booking to go to Europe with my S.O within the coming weeks, for travel in mid july for 5 weeks.

My last Europe trip went way way over budget, and i was oblivious to the many ways in which you can get great deals or rewards for spending

I am wondering if there are many tips that help get the most out of money here. For example I mean like cheap flight centre (or other flight agency) gift cards, getting the most out of my qantas points earning CC, buying gift cards from private sellers, cashback rewards sites,

I will be spending almost $3000 on flights alone for myself and S.O, + accomodation will be much more on top of this, surely there is some things I can do to squeeze every penny?

Please send all travel booking advice

Travel

Comments

  • dasher86 on 03/10/2018 - 21:35
    +2

    Travel more Eastern Europe.
    Cheaper.

    • Mrmijaki on 03/10/2018 - 21:49

      I was thinking more on the lines of, points I can earn from all the money I’m spending, ways to get cheaper airfares etc

  • jjjaar on 03/10/2018 - 21:42
    +1

    If you’re 25 or under there’s loads of discounted or free entries to museums and tourist attractions.

    • Mikerobertsn on 04/10/2018 - 10:07

      How can I find out more info about this?

      • jjjaar on 04/10/2018 - 16:15

        Some will advertise, at ticket booths or online, but many don't.

        General rule I found was when buying any ticket, ask if there's a 25 and under discount entry. Always have your passport on you to prove it.

        • lainey13 on 04/10/2018 - 20:17

          Or, grab a IYTC, and keep using it even when expired… in 2 years only got pulled up on it twice :) And ask for student discount…

  • Flanders on 04/10/2018 - 00:02

    I would expect that AirBnB could save you lots of dollars in Europe. I know it certainly can save you approx 50% or more usually in Australia (compared to similar hotel accommodation) .
    Maybe some who has been to Europe and stayed in AirBnB there can comfirm though.

    Since you're traveling for 5 weeks, if you were planning to rent a car for much of that time, I would buy something very cheap, and then sell it week before leaving. I dont mind at all driving round an old cheap vehicle myself though, something like a 94' Toyota Camry are very reliable and very cheap to buy and cheap on fuel also. Even if you buy for $1,000 then sell for $600 week before you leave, thats 4 weeks car rental for $400 :) . Definitely comfirm whether its easy enough to buy vehicle, and travel from country to country though I have EU citizenship, so Im sure it wouldn't be an issue for myself. Maybe not so easy without EU passport though. So be sure to check if you're allowed to buy a vehicle and then later sell a vehicle, in your own name, as a foreigner. Probably some countries are cheaper and easier to find a suitable vehicle also.

    • afoveht on 04/10/2018 - 03:35

      Sounds good but you'd want to be sure of insurance implications before getting a car that way.

    • brih on 04/10/2018 - 09:50

      Agree re airbnb - can confirm for Europe. Especially in the bigger cities! You don't get points but you do save a lot of money.

      Aim for places with a kitchen so that you can make breakfast and some other meals, and a washing machine!

      • melay0326 on 18/10/2018 - 21:48

        You can still get points from airbnb just use Qantas website to book and a credit card that earns points.

  • chillybags on 04/10/2018 - 08:04

    How old are you? We were just in europe (im 24) and wanted to rent a car for 3 days and drive it around france. It was $300 for the three days and almost half of it was young driver fee. We were right on the border near germany so took a 5 min train over the border and rented the car from there where a young driver is only considered under 23 years old. Cost us $100 for the three days instead with a better/bigger car too.

    Also book train travel as far in advance as possible as it will be cheapest then. Avoid airports as the trains are better for shortish hops. We also took a 3.5hr flixbus which was very good and quite comfortable, also very very cheap.

    • tomsco on 04/10/2018 - 09:01

      Avoid airports as the trains are better for shortish hops.

      And to add to that, just the fact the train drops you of centrally (generally), rather than having to get off at the airport and finding another means of transport.

      • brih on 04/10/2018 - 09:51
        +2

        Overnight trains save you a night's accommodation!

        • tomsco on 04/10/2018 - 10:17
          +1

          My best memory of an overnight train…

          We were getting a midnight train (I think from Valencia, Spain). So anyway, the train was delayed, which sucked, but it was warmer weather, so at least being stuck at the station we weren't freezing.

          Anyway, we had checked out of our hotel at 10am that day, so by the time the train arrived at 3am we were pretty annoyed, but we had gotten a private room, so at least could get to sleep in peace. Anyway, opened up the door to our room and we had a shower. Hallelujah! Best feeling ever after being stuck in a Spanish city for 15 hours during summer.

      • dasher86 on 04/10/2018 - 14:14
        +1

        Don't forget about buses. Usually cheaper than trains!

  • Real Bill Pullman on 04/10/2018 - 10:01

    Don't get too hung up on CC points. I was planning to accumulate heaps of points from all the bookings on a similar trip recently, but with currency conversion costs it worked out so much cheaper to just use my Macquarie debit card.

    • Mrmijaki on 04/10/2018 - 18:05

      is this while you were overseas? i plan to do a lot of booking before i go

      • Real Bill Pullman on 04/10/2018 - 23:22

        Bit of both. Definitely used the Macquarie most overseas, but a lot of hotel sites will take your booking in the local currency regardless. I booked car rentals on my CC for the excess reduction, but otherwise it was mostly limited to the occasional "did I remember to move more money over after I paid for those train tickets last night?"

  • Stopback on 04/10/2018 - 10:33
    -3

    You should of 5 months ago exchanged your AUS for EURO. The aus is prob gonna drop even more.

    It was at .79 usd in feb. now its .71

    Man it was almost at parity at one stage.

    • spiff on 04/10/2018 - 10:42
      -1

      It didn't stop at parity, at one point 1 AUD = approx 1.10 USD.

  • MeesusEff on 06/10/2018 - 09:24

    Currently in Europe and have also gone way over budget so can't give advice there! One thing that I highly recommend is pre-booking tickets when they are made available online (Eiffel, catacombs in Paris etc) and you'll save so much time as the lines are seriously crazy.. Usually first Sunday of the month, lots of museums are free.
    I didn't bring much cash with me as I preloaded on citi plus and have 28D, Paris is pretty unsafe, got my bag opened from behind while I was on the escalator and two luggage got opened in the train. Bring minimal valuables.

    Sign up to all the hotel websites asap, booking.com gives genius rates and I got a fairly decent price. Wotif also emails frequent discount codes. Make sure to check Cheaptickets and Orbitz (US based version of Expedia) as they have 16/10% discount codes running most of the time and I found some really cheap prices. Also make sure that your car booking includes CDW. I nearly got caught out but checked 1 week before I left and managed to rebook as it would double your end price when you add it on.

    If you have Youi insurance or know someone that does, you can get 15% off by buying a GC and then price matching to the lowest price you find online.

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