Don’t Stay in a Hotel, Stay in a Student Hostel

student hostelIf you’re very adventurous and you don’t want to stay in a hotel because it might be too expensive, then consider staying in a student hostel next time you go on a trip. Don’t be deceived by the name, they aren’t exclusively for students. Anyone can use a student hostel in most cases. There are some things to remember though and some differences to a standard hotel.

The first is that most student hostels will have some sort of a curfew. It’s generally very generous and it has to do with the fact that they are trying to save as much money as possible (which is why they can afford to give cheap rooms in the first place) and don’t have the resources to employ reception staff at all hours of the morning. For this reason, they have a curfew in many places.

On the other hand, you can find hostels that don’t have curfews, especially in many European cities, but the disadvantage to these is that you might have lots of very loud people coming back from a party at 3 in the morning. So the places with the curfew can be very good, because you’re guaranteed a good night’s sleep.

Staying in a hostel is also cheaper because the bathrooms are usually shared and there’s usually several people to a room. Everyone usually has a small safe for themselves with a key to keep their valuables in when they go out, so it’s usually not necessary to worry about your valuables. There are also storage areas for larger items such as suitcases which you may not need every day of your journey.

Student hostels also have communal eating areas and one advantage of these is that they are either very cheap or included in your rooms. So this is another way you can save a lot of money.

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Travel Credit Cards

There are severalcredit-cards types of credit cards for travelers. You can get hotel cars, airline cards, general travel cards and you can get so many rewards and freebies out of them that it doesn’t make any sense not to have one! Travel credit cards provide a great opportunity to earn free points that can be redeemed for airfare, hotels or cold hard cash. Here are some tips if you plan on getting a travel credit card:

First, you should get a card with huge sign bonus. Most travel credit cards offer joining bonuses of 20,000 or more miles! Don’t join one that doesn’t offer you anything or it will take a long time to exchange rewards for hotels, cash, or airfare. You want rewards now right?

Also, don’t forget to read the fine print. Are there are reward blackout dates, a fee structure, taxes, or other things the credit card company might try to sneak in there. Businesses don’t give away anything for free so for most cards they will try to sneak in some service charge. Compare the cards to make sure you pick one that doesn’t do anything sneaky.

I like cards with fees. I travel a lot and I don’t want to spend a long time earning points before my next trip. Fee cards have a much better rewards system than non-few cards. If you are a frequent traveler, it’s better to get a fee based card. Normally the first year’s fee is waived anyways. But more importantly, you’ll be able to rack up points to travel quicker. If you don’t travel a lot, it is probably not worth it to get a fee based card.

So which card should you get? A hotel card? A general travel card? An airline specific card? In order to decide, you need to consider how you will use the card. Are you loyal to one airline or airline network like the Star Alliance? Then you should get an airline card. If you are on the road for business a lot, then getting a hotel card would be perfect for you. For those who only care about price and not brand loyalty, a general card would be best. However, by getting a general travel rewards card you would have access to a wider range of brands and companies than if you had a brand specific card.

If you think about all of this before you get a travel credit card, you’ll be able to get the card that gives you the most value and rewards.

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Using Couchsurfing

couchOne of the best ways to get cheap accommodation while you travel is to use the site Couchsurfing. Couchsurfing is a site that connects travelers with locals who will give you a free place to stay. You might get a bed, a couch, or space on the floor. But whatever you get, you get it for free. This is a great way to save money. Accommodation is usually one of the biggest expenses people have while on the road and being able to reduce that to 0 will give you more money for things that are important- like beer.

Most importantly though you get the local insight into where you are going. Guidebooks and hostel information is great but it can never substitute the advice from people who live in the area you are going to! They will be able to help you navigate around, tell you about whats going on in town right, good places to eat, the deals, and possibly even be your own tour guide. Couchsurfing is a great way to meet people.

A lot of people get worried that you are going to meet freaks on couchsurfing and that you might get hurt, robbed, or worse. But the reality is that no one has ever reported something going wrong with the site other than the person turning out to be a jerk or an asshole. There are many levels of verification that goes on so to ensure that everything works out safely. In order to sure the best safety, make sure that the person you are surfing with:

  1. Has a picture so you know they are real
  2. Has friends so you know they are liked
  3. Has been verified by the service so you know they are legit
  4. Has hosted people before or been hosted before so you know that they are not some crazy psycho killer

If you follow these four princuples, you’ll find that you’ll be able to weed out the crazies and the psychos. Couchsurfing is a great way to travel the world, get free accommodation, and meet new friends.  If you want cheap accommodation, try this service!

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Stay in Local Places

PA120602Don’t stay in big hotels. Sure they are nice and offer a lot of luxury but the money really doesn’t help the local population. Travel is about broadening your horizons and expanding your mind but also about learning and helping the local population live better. If you go anywhere, whether it’s France or Thailand or Australia, and stay in a big corporate hotel, most of that money will be sent back to the corporation headquarters and the local economy will only see a fraction of that money. However, if you stay at a local guesthouse or bed and breakfast that money will go help the people right in the area. The owners will be locals who put that money right back into the local economy which will help the local people much more than if you see only a little money from a faceless corporation. If you really want to help the people you are visiting, don’t stay at a big hotel. Stay at a local guesthouse and you will do much more good. Moreover, you will get a much more personal experience. You won’t be bothered by a tourist desk- you’ll be welcomed by the owners as part of the family. They will be able to tell you all the local things to do, good restaurants, and might even act as tour guides. All in all you get a much more personal experience than you would if you had been going to a big hotel. Go local the next time you travel- it will help people more and you’ll have a better experience.

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