How to Maximise Value When You Travel

Saving money when you travel doesn’t mean having to live like a backpacking student on their gap year. It’s more than possible to enjoy memorable and luxurious holidays whilst also getting the best value for money, so you don’t return from a trip feeling like you’ve spent more than what your holiday was worth.

This post isn’t about cost-cutting hacks or budget travel tips. Instead, it’s a reliable guide to ensuring that you maximise value when you travel, granting access to the best opportunities and experiences without suffering from things like tourist taxes or peak-season prices.

Travel Out of Season

Our first piece of advice for getting the most value out of your travel experiences is to avoid the peak season for the destinations that you’re visiting. This means researching when a place tends to be busiest during the year and then booking your trip outside of these months, which almost always ensures that you pay significantly less for everything from transport to accommodation.

You don’t have to sacrifice good weather for off-season holidays, as many places still experience ideal conditions in the shoulder season just before or after the peak few months. In fact, if you’re someone who doesn’t like overly hot weather, visiting destinations in Europe or North America in the off-season is ideal.

This is also a great approach if you’re planning a holiday where relaxation is the main thing on the itinerary, as it won’t matter if there aren’t as many events and certain places are closed for the season. Make the most of how a lot of luxury accommodation is available for fantastic deals in the off-season, and enjoy a truly peaceful atmosphere.

Search for Limited Offers

If you don’t have a particular destination in mind but know that you want to get away on holiday, searching for limited offers and deals is a great way to get more value for what you spend. It might mean finding last-minute getaways that don’t give you a lot of time to prepare, but this can add another layer of excitement to your trip and make the holiday a lot more fun.

Bookmark particular resorts, hotels or tour providers that you like and check their websites regularly, and make sure that you’re signed up to email newsletters as this is often where limited deals are first advertised. Some of the best savings you can make on a holiday come from booking it last minute when providers are trying to fill empty spots, so if you can be flexible then you’re in a great position.

Choose All Inclusive

One of the best ways to get the most value for your money on holiday is to opt for all-inclusive options. These might have a higher upfront cost, but if you choose the right experience then you can enjoy all kinds of activities and catering for the entire trip as part of the price.

Of course, not all-inclusive holiday experiences are made equal. You will need to put the work into reading reviews, researching what is actually included, and making sure that the deal is worth more than paying for the separate components individually. But if you find a luxury all-inclusive package and make an effort to engage with everything involved, you can enjoy an incredible holiday experience for a fantastically valuable cost.

All-inclusive is often associated with resort hotels, but there are plenty of other types of holidays where things like food, transfers and activities are included. Look at island hopping or river cruises, small group tours, or bespoke hotels in more remote locations that provide guests with a trip itinerary as well as somewhere to stay.

Organise Group Trips

Another angle for maximising the value of your holiday is to travel as part of a large group. Not only does splitting the cost between more people often lower the price per head, but you can often enjoy much more luxurious experiences when you’re booking for a large group, particularly when it comes to things like holiday villas or even small group tours that become private experiences.

Groups of friends can get a lot of value from this approach to travel by choosing a large accommodation option that includes activities or amenities that offer plenty to do, meaning that the majority of the cost of the trip goes on where you’re staying. For family holidays, travelling with other relatives or even other families means that you can coordinate childcare, enjoy more moments to yourself, and also keep the kids entertained by having their friends travel with them.

Invest in a Holiday Home

Our final suggestion for getting the most long-term value when you travel is to consider investing in a holiday home. The upfront cost for this is obviously high, but you then have somewhere to stay that you can use again and again for years to come, and also rent out to other travellers to get a return on your investment.

Holiday homes come in all shapes and sizes that can suit everyone’s preferences, whether you’re looking at holiday lodges for sale in the Lake District or private villas on the south coast of France. They’re a great option if you often visit the same place year after year, are someone who can work remotely and therefore make a lot of use from a second home, or tend to travel with your family and would find staying somewhere you own a lot more relaxing and flexible.

The ability to stay somewhere for free whenever you want, as well as having the option to rent a holiday home out to other travellers, means that this is an approach to maximising value that has a lot of different facets. There’s a misconception that owning a second home is only accessible to a small group of people, but there are a lot of options and routes to making a purchase like this, which means it could be more realistic than you think.

Nothing makes a holiday more enjoyable than feeling like you’re getting your money’s worth, or even better, more than your money’s worth. By trying the approaches we’ve suggested in this article, you’ll be able to enjoy a range of travel experiences, safe in the knowledge that you’ve bagged the best deal.