Luxe on a budget - How to save money on your travel

Champagne lifestyle, lemonade budget could not be more true to my life right now. I'm currently putting away half of my wages towards a house deposit and each day that goes by I have itches to book holidays abroad, go shopping or eat out at my favourite restaurants. Saving money and still wanting to lead an extravagant lifestyle can be really tough, but it is not impossible. 'Luxe on a budget' is going to be my new blog series which will show you how you can splash the cash, but save money at the same time. Even if you are trying to budget, you should always treat yourself once in awhile as it will only motivate you more to save. 

I'm starting my luxe on a budget blog series with one of my favourite topics - travel. I love to travel whether it is travelling through the UK or going abroad and my life doesn't seem quite right without my mini trips. Holidays are often one of the first things we cut out of our plans when we are trying to budget, but here's some tips to make going on holiday while saving more achievable.

Hotels

If you're not too precious about the hotel you are looking to stay in,  look into booking a mystery hotel stay. Companies such as Last Minute and sites like Superbreak offer heavily discounted 5 star hotel breaks, the only catch is that you don't know which hotel you are staying in - just the location and amenities.

To save money on the hotels that you really want to stay at,  try schedule your holidays so they are at the beginning of the week. Many hotels offer large discounts for Sunday - Tuesday stays as these are unpopular times and they want to fill up all their rooms.

Always remember to shop around and don't rely too heavily on comparison websites, you can sometimes get great deals by going direct.

Travel - UK

Trains in the UK are very expensive and always on the rise, but there's still a few ways you can grab a bargain. Firstly, keep an eye out for any sales like the Virgin £5 London sale that pop up regularly throughout the year. The Virgin sale offers a limited number of single tickets from most major UK train stations to London for only £5.

Secondly, if two of you often go on holiday together you can apply for a 'two can travel' National Railcard. The two can travel railcard gives users a third off train travel as long as they travel with the person whose name is on the card.

If you have plenty of time on your hands and don't mind travelling at anti-social hours, look for super off peak train times which are usually in the early hours of the morning and very late at night. 

Travel - Abroad

If you're looking for holiday inspiration on a budget, Ryanair, Monarch, Jet2 and EasyJet all have 'fare finders' where you can type in your budget and it will show you plane tickets for that price and where you can go.

To save even more money on your flights, travel out of season and stay away from school holidays where possible. The best time to book flights are Sundays for short haul and Tuesday for long haul and 70 days in advance.

Always delete your cookies when searching for deals as prices will go up when you return the website if you don't delete them.

Activities

If your ideal holiday is visiting museums and sightseeing and you're visiting a well-known city, consider purchasing a city card. City cards offer great discounts and free entry to many museums and sightseeing tours and often offer discounted travel within the city, as well as airport transfers.

Transfers

Always book your transfers in advance to save money and use comparison sites such as Cheapflights to find the best deals. Cheapflights also have lots of tips on how you can save money on your airport car parking on their blog if you plan on taking the car.

What are your money saving travel tips?

*Collaborative post with Cheapflights