Hey friends,
Tomorrow is our last day in Busan, South Korea. We’ll be heading back up to Seoul tomorrow before taking a flight to Country #14 of….
….India!
Yup! In 10 short days, we are heading down to the land of curry and naan bread, tikka masala and samosas. We plan to eat way too much food, visit the Taj Mahal, and absorb the vibrant culture of southern Asia.
Now, Time to Share Our Top 5 Money Saving Travel Hacks:
- Ask for discounts on Airbnbs. Each listing price can be decreased by 20 – 40% just by messaging and asking for a discount. Not all hosts give them, but on average we’ve had over half agree. That’s only a minute of time to potentially save hundreds of dollars on a stay! Why not try?
- Cooking. When trying to stretch your budget, you can save money each week by buying groceries and cooking. Most Airbnbs come with a kitchen, and shopping is a fun way to see the foods a country prioritizes. (e.g. in Italy, the pasta aisle stretched for an eternity.)
- Budget Airlines. A few weeks ago, I stumbled across a Vietnamese budget airline called VietJet that could get us from Seoul to New Delhi for $175. Total, with a checked bag, that’ll be $400 for both Reyka and myself and to fly the same distance as Denver to Medellín, Colombia. That’s what I’m talking about. In the USA, look for Southwest, Spirit, and Frontier. In Europe, you’ll find Ryanair, Vueling, and EasyJet.
- Book on Sunday, Fly on Wednesday. Expedia helped all travelers recently by sharing this report on flight price trends. Some big takeaways were that you can save 15% on average by booking on Sundays, another 10% by flying on Wednesdays, and another 10% by booking flights early.
- Credit Card Sign Up Bonuses. We were skeptical at first because it sounded fishy, but we tried it and have been pleased with the results. Basically, you sign up for a credit card, spend X amount of dollars in Y amount of time, get the welcome bonus, and repeat. Fair warning, it’s not foolproof. If you don’t pay your bills on time, and in full, the credit card companies will get way more money out of you than you will them. But, if you are responsible, you can book travel with (basically) free points, you just have to reach that spending requirement by buying things you would otherwise. Our flights from Thailand to Japan, which would usually be about $700 total, were entirely covered by the 60,000 rewards points we received from the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card. To find lists of the best travel credit card welcome bonuses, we check The Daily Drop and the Points Guy.
If you enjoyed this and want more travel tips, our Travel Hacking Masterclass is live on Skillshare: https://skl.sh/3jBfkFF
If you know a money-impaired person who would like to travel, consider forwarding this to them!
Anyways, that’s all for today, folks. Tomorrow, we head to the “Machu Picchu of South Korea” – Gamcheon Cultural Village. It’s a neighborhood here in Busan famous for its stacked, colored houses.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this email! I’m trying to make it as helpful and interesting as possible and it helps to hear what you like. Travel hacks? Travel updates? Cultural insights? Any other fun ideas? Let me know just by hitting reply to this message.
Sincerely,
Wyatt (and Reyka)