This weeks blog is really a small basketful of ideas about websites and techniques which we’ve found to be very useful for helping us save money and time when travelling around South East Asia (and beyond). So we thought we’d share these ideas with you.
Introduction
Some of you will already be very well acquainted with many of the following items, but from our experience after talking to plenty of ‘would be adventurers’, there’s a lot of people who are always looking for ideas.
Flight Comparisons
There are a huge quantity of websites which provide information about flights, however arguably the best for making comparisons is Expedia.
We’re not advocating you have to book through Expedia, we’re merely suggesting this is a great place to start to bounce around ideas (as it includes every viable airline and all the latest deals). Pop in your current location and destination, and you’ll be given the widest range of options available, including connections and of course price. Interestingly you’ll also see a rating out of 10 for a particular schedule, which allows you to gauge ‘savings vs inconvenience’
Frequent Flyers
If you travel on certain airlines regularly, make sure you sign up for their frequent flyer programs. Nearly all of these programs are FREE, including some of the best, like Singapore Airlines. Many airlines allow you to acquire points with partners, and of course you can also link credit cards to programs (which can really help build balances).
Once you have a decent balance there are a few tricks of trade to make the most of them. A great website for getting tips (and general news on all things airlines/airports)
Visit Executive Traveller
Important note: Qantas is one of the few frequent flyer programs who do charge a fee, but it is a handy program for many of us to be part of, so next Fathers/Mothers Day, or maybe a Birthday, why not ask someone to get it for you (just a thought)
Airline Sales
Seating
You’ve booked your flight, and got a good price, but you want to ensure you’ve got a decent seat, then check out www.seatguru.com And if you don’t want to pay to secure your seat, make sure you book in online (as early as you can) to avoid those awful middle seats.
Online Check-In
Yes, its worth repeating, wherever possible CHECK IN ONLINE and reduce the risk of being caught in a horribly long line at the airport.
Airport Lounge Access
There are times when you can avoid a long layover in an airport. A cost effective way of getting access to some high quality lounges around the World can be found at www.prioritypass.com It can offer an excellent escape, and chance to re-charge your batteries. There are several payment plans available, or you can just access them ad-hoc.
Also, depending on which credit cards you use, some allow you access to lounges at airports. For example, certain levels of Amex Card will get you access to the very comfortable Amex Lounge in Sydney’s International Terminal.
Credit Cards
Whilst we’re on credit cards, there are of course so many out there, its almost impossible to keep up. But as mentioned earlier, some do provide the ability to build up some serious points on Frequent Flyer programs (so that’s always worth considering). And www.ausbt.com.au is also a good site for getting information on this.
We often get asked what we consider to be the best credit card for travelling, and generally for most people it makes great sense to use the 20 degree Card www.20degreescard.com.au It charges no annual fee, and no currency conversion fee.
Accommodation
There are an increasing number of people using Airbnb these days, and there certainly are some great deals out there, but of course there’s still plenty of amazing hotel deals available, and South East Asia has some of the best value for money accommodation on the planet. The rise of the internet has been huge for travellers in booking a place away from home, and many of you will already have a favourite website. We tend to favour www.agoda.com.au but that’s not to say, better deals cant be found elsewhere. One thing we always do is check the latest ratings on Trip Advisor for any place we’re looking to stay at. It’s rarely clear on a hotel website when a place is undergoing renovation, or there has been a drop in standards.
Whilst this is probably pretty obvious, always check where the location of your hotel is on google maps. Saving a few dollars in room price can quickly disappear if you have to use the local tuk tuk mafia everyday to get into where all the action is.
