A Study Abroad Student’s Guide to Travel on a Budget

1. Discounts

As a study abroad student, you have so many discounts available to you and many of these discounts require no more than a few clicks of effort to find. If you’re studying in Europe, you likely have a student visa to stay in the country for an extended period of time. This visa along with your international school ID will be the key to get into monuments and events for FREE (every college student’s favorite word).

Always check a monument’s official website to determine if you fall into any of their discount categories. Throughout Europe, one of the most well known ways for young people to save is by purchasing a reduced ticket. Reduced tickets are available to youth between the ages of 18 and 25 years old. Although Europeans are very familiar with reduced tickets, many study abroad students assume they do not qualify because they are older than 18. Don’t be fooled! Purchasing a reduced ticket can save you anywhere between 3 to 7 euros.

In addition, many monuments and museums have one day a month where admission is free to the general public. THIS IS A COLLEGE STUDENT’S DREAM. Pay attention to these days and consider coordinating your trip dates. It goes without saying that during open admission there is always an increase in attendance making it slightly more congested. However, if you plan ahead and allow for more time at each monument, the savings can be worth the sacrifice.

Tips:

         Paris

• When my friends and I traveled to Paris, we did not pay one single cent to get into any of the monuments we visited with the exception of a 12 euro ticket to climb to the top of the Eiffel Tower. Check out my Paris blog post, Paris- Je T-aime , to see a detailed itinerary of the trip!
• Admission to the Louvre is free with a student’s international school ID although this is not often advertised. I went to Paris twice while abroad, both times visiting the Louvre, and never experienced any issues. In addition, on the first Saturday of every month, admission is free to the general public and on Friday evenings from 6:45pm-9pm it is free to anyone under the age of 26 years old.

          Rome

• While in Rome, I visited the Collusium, Pantheon Museum, Palatine Hill, and the Roman Forum with one, 12 euro ticket. That single ticket granted me entrance into all of Rome’s must-see monuments with the exception of the Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps which are free to visit.

2. Skyscanner

My discovery of Skyscanner was a massive saver when it came to flight fares. Skyscanner is a website/app that compiles flight times and rates from a multitude of companies and centralizes them on their site (similar to websites like http://www.kayak.com or http://www.priceline.com which are popular in the United States).

If you find a flight but aren’t ready to buy the ticket, Skyscanner will send you emails when the price increases or decreases. One of my favorite features of Skyscanner is that it shows you what the price difference would be if you left a day earlier or later than the date you selected. In my experience, these savings can be as much as a 50+ euro difference. In addition, you have the ability to filter by price, preferred airline, duration of flight, and expected departure and arrival times if you have specific time constraints to accommodate.

Tips

• Take note that budget airlines are awesome and I flew them all the time however, companies like RyanAir typically fly into smaller airports that are farther from the city center. With this in mind, plan accordingly and research the best form of transportation from the airport ahead of time so you’re not stuck paying for a taxi.
• When you’re searching for flights on Skyscanner, you can type “Anywhere” into the destination panel and it will show the cheapest places to fly to based on the dates you selected. My friend and I traveled to the island of Tenerife in the Canary islands for 20 euro thanks to this handy feature!

4. Traveling within the Country

If your travel itinerary takes you to destinations within the same country,  take note of the following frugal modes of transportation.

BlaBlaCar: BlaBlaCar is a long distance carpooling platform that connects travelers with drivers that are going to the same destination. Drivers post in advance their trip along with the number of available seats and the price per passenger. Once posted, travelers can search for and view all available rides for the dates and destination that they selected.

In November, my friend and I planned a trip to Porto, Portugal for a long weekend. Rather than suffering a 6 hour bus ride, we took a 3 hour BlaBlaCar. Our driver was incredibly friendly and we communicated ahead of time to pinpoint a pick-up spot as she agreed to pass through Salamanca on her way to Portugal. The total  cost to Porto there and back was 45 euros (22.50 euros each way). In comparison, the cheapest one-way bus ticket was 32 euros.

Trains: Trains are great when traveling within the same country because they are relatively low cost and allow passengers to carry luggage without having to pay per bag. If traveling by train, you will need to decide whether to take a normal or high-speed train (called the AVE). The distance to your destination often determines which option is best. While I was abroad, I never took the AVE strictly because it costs substantially more money (at least as a college student, it felt like a lot more money). For instance, if you want to go from Madrid, Spain to Seville, Spain, a normal train costs about 55 U.S. dollars and takes 3 hours to get there. In contrast, the AVE costs $90.00 and will arrive in 2.5 hours. It is worth pointing out, however, that in other cases, although the AVE is more expensive, it can save substantially more time.

Buses: Traveling between cities by bus is very popular in Europe. Companies like Avanza, Alsa, and Flixbus are well known options. These are all coach buses and usually come equipped with Wifi, restrooms, a USB plug in, and a tablet screen on the back of each seat.

Tips

• Overnight trains can be a great option to save on a night in a hotel/hostel/airbnb and provide comfortable sleeping quarters for long-distance trips.
• BlaBlaCar drivers have the ability to cancel trips up to two hours before the ride time. Be sure to communicate with your driver ahead of time to ensure this isn’t a possibility.

5. Hostel vs. Airbnb vs. Hotel

During my four months in Europe, I stayed in several hostels and many Airbnbs. Perhaps for some people who have family that work in the hospitality industry or have saved up points with a specific hotel company, that option makes perfect sense. However, I always found hotel rates to be steeper than those of Airbnbs or hostels.

Hostels are well known for being a cost effective option and I highly encourage them for travelers looking to save wherever possible. They also have the added benefit of meeting people from around the world (several of my friends still stay in contact with people they met in their hostel).

As female travelers, my friends and I only felt comfortable staying in a hostel if we had the entire room to ourselves. Sometimes, this was no issue as the rooms only accommodated four people. Other times, when there were more people to a room, we were required to pay extra to rent the entire space for ourselves. The increase in price often made the cost of a hostel equal or more than the cost of an Airbnb split four ways. Keep this in mind as you plan your trips. I don’t see one option as better than the other; it solely depends on what you are looking for out of the experience. An Airbnb will provide more space however, it lacks the opportunity to meet new people. Decide what you are looking for and plan from there!

Tips: 

• Airbnbs will not give you their exact address until officially booking the space. Although they provide a general idea of where they are located on a map, I have found it most helpful to read reviews left by previous guests in order to get the most accurate information on how far the airbnb is in relation to monuments, restaurants, and nightlife.
• Regardless of how good a hostel’s ratings are, always be proactive and check for bedbugs. I know it sounds silly but a quick 30 second sweep of the bed can save you and your friends unwanted stress later.