I constantly hear my friends telling me how difficult is to afford traveling often as the cost of flights or accommodations are usually high. I agree that depending on the destination flights can be expensive, however, nowadays with so many options available out there, there is always a way to save money and ways to cut the costs of traveling.

After traveling the world for the past 10 years without spending huge amounts of money, and staying for long time periods in each country, I can share some useful tips here.

Recently I managed to spend 2 weeks in Amsterdam in one of the best areas of the city paying only for the cost of my flights! I actually used my miles to fly, so the flight was almost for free!

Here are some of the tips to save money:

1. Always get your frequent fly miles

Especially if you live in the US where there are so many easy ways to get miles just applying for credit cards. The only requirement is to spend the minimum amount and pay the bills on time. There are lots of blog posts out there which can teach you how to start and the best credit cards out there.

Some of my favorites are Million Mile Secrets or One Mile at a Time where you can find out how to get miles with credit cards and the best cards offers now.

I personally have frequent flier miles on almost all main airlines such as American Airlines, Delta, United, Singapore Airlines, Iberia, Air France and many others. Most airlines are part of an alliance so you can fly with airline partners to different destinations around the world.

My last travel was to Amsterdam and due to Covid-19 not many budget airlines were flying at the time, so I used one of my credit card miles to fly with Air France/KLM. Having miles is always good as sometimes you can also spoil yourself upgrading and flying Business Class.

2. Search for flight deals or redeem your miles

Nowadays if you are not traveling last minute and if you know a little bit in advance where you want to travel, there are ways to find some flight deals. Having flexibility on dates helps you search for better airfare deals and save money. Also traveling off the peak season and holidays is usually cheaper.

Redeeming your frequent fly miles can also be a good option if you cannot find any good deals. In Europe, budget airlines always have sales and promotions and the flights can cost almost the same price of a train or bus ticket. The only problem is to pay the extra cost for checked bags if you travel with a suitcase with more than 10kg.

Some of the budget airlines in Europe are Ryanair, Vueling, EasyJet, Norwegian Air Shuttle.

3. Save money on accommodations

There are now many options to save money on accommodations, some options can be finding a place on Airbnb, Booking.com, hostels, Couchsurfing and the list goes on.

The option I have been using to save money on accomodations for the last few years is house sitting and pet sitting. I am a member of the website Trusted House Sitters where I can house sit and pet sit in exchange of a free accommodation. At the end is a win win situation for me as I love animals. Additionally I get to travel the world for free having the company of happy pets!

House sitting and pet sitting took me so far to many countries around the world such as Japan, Denmark, South Africa, Thailand, Hong Kong and the list goes on. I’ve done some for stays up to 3 months! I have done more than 30 house sits and pet sits worldwide and many repeated ones. It is an amazing way to travel the world.

Once in a while I also stay in Airbnb or I redeem my miles to stay in hotels.

4. Travel in the low season

Traveling off the peak season especially avoiding Christmas and New Year’s holidays can help you save money on accommodations and flights. Some destinations increase prices as the demand is high around those times and of course you will have to also fight the crowds.

Nowadays due to Covid restrictions on travel, some destinations are a little bit less crowded and it is actually better now to be a tourist in popular destinations.