A guide to finding the cheapest accommodation to suit your budget
#1 - Don’t be scared to use Air bnb
When searching for accommodation don’t just rely on one website or app to help find your accommodation. When we first started travelling we used hostel world for everything, not that there is anything wrong with hostel world it’s just you may find better and cheaper accommodation on other sites like booking.com, Agoda or air bnb. Another miss conception is air bnb is just other people’s homes, this isn’t the case and you can often find small hotels and hostels advertised. We often found that when staying in one location for an extended period air bnb can be cheaper due to the long term rental discounts offered.
In addition just because you want to stop in a hostel don’t think sticking to hostel world is the only option as booking.com will also often offer the same hostels including dorm rooms.
#2 - Shop Around
A follow on from the previous point, you’ve found a hostel or hotel you like. Don’t be tempted to book on the website you’ve found it on. Just because you found it on agoda doesn’t mean it isn’t on Hostelworld or booking.com for cheaper. Instead of searching for hotels in a certain area directly search the name and you may find its cheaper on booking.com (especially if you’ve said up to their genius scheme but we’ll get to that) You should also check on the hostel or hotels website direct as they may often offer better rates directly. You may also find hostel world doesn’t like advertising double beds in dorm rooms and will often sell them off as a single occupier, when if you book through agoda or booking.com you can actually sleep two in the bed for the same price (we’ve often both slept in a double bed in a dorm and can be a great way of saving money).
#1 - Don’t be scared to use Air bnb
When searching for accommodation don’t just rely on one website or app to help find your accommodation. When we first started travelling we used hostel world for everything, not that there is anything wrong with hostel world it’s just you may find better and cheaper accommodation on other sites like booking.com, Agoda or air bnb. Another miss conception is air bnb is just other people’s homes, this isn’t the case and you can often find small hotels and hostels advertised. We often found that when staying in one location for an extended period air bnb can be cheaper due to the long term rental discounts offered.
In addition just because you want to stop in a hostel don’t think sticking to hostel world is the only option as booking.com will also often offer the same hostels including dorm rooms.
#2 - Shop Around
A follow on from the previous point, you’ve found a hostel or hotel you like. Don’t be tempted to book on the website you’ve found it on. Just because you found it on agoda doesn’t mean it isn’t on Hostelworld or booking.com for cheaper. Instead of searching for hotels in a certain area directly search the name and you may find its cheaper on booking.com (especially if you’ve said up to their genius scheme but we’ll get to that) You should also check on the hostel or hotels website direct as they may often offer better rates directly. You may also find hostel world doesn’t like advertising double beds in dorm rooms and will often sell them off as a single occupier, when if you book through agoda or booking.com you can actually sleep two in the bed for the same price (we’ve often both slept in a double bed in a dorm and can be a great way of saving money).
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#3 - Join a loyalty scheme
Signing up to loyalty schemes is a great way to save you a few quid and are often free to join. Websites will offer the schemes to try and gain your loyalty and in return often offer small discounts on rates.
The best example we’ve found of this is the booking.com genius scheme.
With their scheme you earn discounts depending on your genius level. You move up the levels by complete ting stays and can earn up to 15% discount as well as perks such as free breakfasts (which is always a money saving bonus). If the price allows we will always book through booking.com to help grow our status and due to this we often find it has the cheaper rates. Hotels.com also offer a good student scheme were you can get 10% off bookings if you have a student card or hold a valid UNIDAYS account.
#4 - Consider working for your board.
This is great if time is not of the essence but money is. If you are planning on staying somewhere a long time that doesn’t really offer cheap accommodation you should look on websites like www.workaway.info where you can pick up work in hostel etc.. that will let you earn your board and often food. This may require you to work 4/5 days with two free days and if you have time on your side and want to save some money this should be something you consider.
#5 - Make friends and share.
When travelling you will meet hundreds of new people, many of whom are often travelling the same route as you. If you are willing to and you feel comfortable with the people you meet you could book a shared apartment or even just a full dorm (depending how many of you there are) to cut down the costs. There are plenty of different options you could take, for example sometimes you get monthly discount for places so if you were there for 2 weeks and the people you meet there for the next 2 you could split the cost and both get a discounted rate.
I hope you’ve found this guide helpful and we would love to here any tips and tricks you have below. It may seem our advice is aimed at people from the UK and that’s because all the tips and tricks we give are ones we have done many times ourselves. With that being said if you have any discount advice or loyalty scheme available in your area please go to our contact page here.
Signing up to loyalty schemes is a great way to save you a few quid and are often free to join. Websites will offer the schemes to try and gain your loyalty and in return often offer small discounts on rates.
The best example we’ve found of this is the booking.com genius scheme.
With their scheme you earn discounts depending on your genius level. You move up the levels by complete ting stays and can earn up to 15% discount as well as perks such as free breakfasts (which is always a money saving bonus). If the price allows we will always book through booking.com to help grow our status and due to this we often find it has the cheaper rates. Hotels.com also offer a good student scheme were you can get 10% off bookings if you have a student card or hold a valid UNIDAYS account.
#4 - Consider working for your board.
This is great if time is not of the essence but money is. If you are planning on staying somewhere a long time that doesn’t really offer cheap accommodation you should look on websites like www.workaway.info where you can pick up work in hostel etc.. that will let you earn your board and often food. This may require you to work 4/5 days with two free days and if you have time on your side and want to save some money this should be something you consider.
#5 - Make friends and share.
When travelling you will meet hundreds of new people, many of whom are often travelling the same route as you. If you are willing to and you feel comfortable with the people you meet you could book a shared apartment or even just a full dorm (depending how many of you there are) to cut down the costs. There are plenty of different options you could take, for example sometimes you get monthly discount for places so if you were there for 2 weeks and the people you meet there for the next 2 you could split the cost and both get a discounted rate.
I hope you’ve found this guide helpful and we would love to here any tips and tricks you have below. It may seem our advice is aimed at people from the UK and that’s because all the tips and tricks we give are ones we have done many times ourselves. With that being said if you have any discount advice or loyalty scheme available in your area please go to our contact page here.
