23 Pro Tips for Saving Money on Travel

Our friends over at the travel recommendation app Spot reached out to a bunch of travel pros for their best money-saving travel tips. And what they came back with was the kind of smart stuff that makes you go, "Ugh, why didn’t I think of that?" Their advice hits everything from booking hacks to hotel-room upgrades to eating like a king for next to nothing. Find out the things you can do before you hit the road, and what to think about once you’re on the ground running.

"Generally I try not to buy many things. I’d much rather have the time and money to travel than work like crazy just to buy stuff. Even when I see something I think I’d really love to own, I try to think about the places I’ve been able to travel and the memories I have, and that helps me put 'value' into perspective." - Erin Spens, editor and co-founder of Boat magazine

"This is our No. 1 tip. Accommodations, tours and even food will be much higher if you’re traveling during high season or the holidays. We’ve traveled in off-season many times. It’s winter, and we’re currently working our way through Eastern Europe. And guess what? The weather has been pretty good, there are basically no tourists, and we’ve gotten all our apartments and hostels at a discounted rate. We’ve also traveled through the Caribbean during the summer, which is considered hurricane season, but have yet to come across a hurricane. All we’ve found are cheap hotels, ferry discounts and half-price tours." - Nick Wharton and Dariece Swift, full-time travelers behind Goats on the Road

"Generally, flying earlier in the week (Monday or Tuesday vs. Thursday or Friday) translates to better deals, and the second flight of the day is less expensive than the first." - Justine Goodman, travel and weddings editor of Refinery29