WHICHBUDGET.COM SHARES 9th BIRTHDAY TRAVEL TIPS AND A GUIDEBOOK GIVE-AWAY
Free flight search engine and destination finder WhichBudget.com is 9 years old today (15th April), and in celebration of this milestone, founder and CEO of WhichBudget.com, Martino Matijevic shares 9 of his top tips for getting the best out of the flight and travel experience:
- Don't pay through the nose on currency exchange. Using a prepaid travel money card such as Travelex will often be substantially cheaper than using your credit or debit card while abroad.
- Invest in light-weight luggage to save on precious grams too. Even premium luggage brands offer light-weight as well as hard-shell versions now.
- Weigh luggage before you leave home – use bathroom scales, or if you have the budget, self-weighing luggage.
- Save on phone bills while abroad by calling via your mobile but using smartphone apps such as viber (iphone to iphone) or skype to make calls for free.
- To save money on flights, plan to travel in less sociable periods – taking very early flights or travelling out of school holidays, for example. Where possible, be flexible on dates too.
- Save precious time on breaks by doing destination research at home. Buy a good guidebook, search online, and ask for tips from fellow travellers on our facebook wall – there's lots of information out there!
- Having said that, don't overplan – some of the most memorable travel experiences come from doing something spontaneous.
- If you find a cheap fare to somewhere you never thought of going to before, book it. Don't wait. If you decide not to go, you didn't lose much, but if you do go, you may discover a gem. I did that a few years ago and landed in Alghero. Had no knowledge of Alghero before I got there, but at £25 return including taxes I didn't hesitate and had a fantastic time.
- If time is not an issue, choose an indirect flight, stay overnight and visit the city. As well as possibly saving money it also provides an opportunity to enjoy two destinations in one trip. Better than sitting in an airport waiting for a connecting flight!
Martino adds: "WhichBudget.com has spent the last nine years perfecting ways to help our site visitors choose a flight to their favoured destination that offers real value-for-money. We must be doing a few things right as we now have over 5,000 website visitors a day and over 6,000 loyal facebook fans and twitter followers. We'll be saying thank you with birthday month give-aways on our facebook, twitter and blog pages too. Kicking off the celebrations is a Lonely Planet guidebook give-away starting on 15 April – our birthday."
To enter the Lonely Planet competition within the next nine days, simply tell WhichBudget.com your dream destination and why you really want to go there, either on Facebook or tweet your suggestion to @WhichBudget. Make your reason as compelling as possible to stand a chance of winning a guidebook to that destination.
