The best days to book flights, cheap Eurostar tickets, plus ten more budget travel tips

If the UK’s harsh winter has you scurrying to make travel plans but you’re still grappling with rising costs, we’re here to help with ten tips for travelling on a budget.

Many UK households cut back on holidays last year as the cost of living soared – research platform QuMind found that 56% of Brits planned to take fewer holidays in order to help save money.

But if you’re keen to hold on to your holiday plans, our 11 cheap travel tips can help you slash the cost of going away this summer, and still get the most out of your time abroad while travelling on a budget.

Plus, Eurostar is currently holding a sale on its tickets, and we’ve a trick to book a return to Paris or Amsterdam for a little as £70.

In this article:

1. Finding a good package deal
2. Tips for booking flights
3. Tips for booking accommodation
4. How to get cheap Eurostar tickets
5. The best way to hire a car
6. Getting around on a budget
7. How to pay abroad
8. Eating out on a budget
9. Sorting out an EHIC or GHIC card
10. Travel insurance
11. Know your rights

Read more: Passport renewal costs and waiting times

1. See if you can find a good package deal

Several websites offer package deals on holidays that include flights, transfers and accommodation – sometimes coming with baggage allowance and a free meal, too. 

Kayak and TravelSupermarket* are good places to start. It’s also worth looking at HolidayPirates and Hotukdeals.com, which feature heavily discounted and short-lived “flash” deals; you will usually need to move quickly to get them.

In any case, it’s always worth doing the maths and making sure that you can’t book the same or a similar holiday for less by buying the flights and accommodation separately.

Visit LuckyTrip

If you are trying to work out what kind of holiday is within your travel budget, and you are open to a wide variety of options, LuckyTrip is an interesting way to go.

You set your budget per person and the site suggests a holiday for you and tells you the total price. This includes flights, accommodation and something to do – for example, kayaking or a visit to a castle.

While the site picks everything for you when you do a basic search, you can adjust the search parameters. These include dates of travel, the departure airport, how many people are going on the trip, and more.

You could just use LuckyTrip as a way of coming up with ideas for a holiday that fits within your budget, and then book the individual elements separately.

2. What are the best days to book flights? Plus how to save money when booking flights

When booking a trip, the cost of holidays, including flights, are generally at their lowest on Wednesdays. However, flights that take off on a Tuesday tend to be cheapest. There are plenty of other ways to cut the cost of air travel significantly when travelling on a budget.

• Book flights in advance. If you are on a budget, often it isn’t the case that you should book at the last minute. According to cheap-flight amalgamator Jack’s Flight Club (see below), the sweet spot is three to nine months before take-off.
  
• Use your web browser’s incognito mode. When you look for things online, websites often track you and remember you. So when you are hunting for flights, airlines sometimes push up the cost when you return to their site.
  
  This is to get you to panic and book before it goes up even more. By using incognito mode, airline and comparison websites have no way of knowing you have visited them already – so you will see the true price.
  
• Use a flight-comparison site. This will show you flights from across multiple airlines, as well as travel agents – so you may see prices you wouldn’t get if you booked directly through an airline. Kayak, Momondo and Skyscanner* are all great options. 
  
• Sign up to Jack’s Flight Club*. This is a free email newsletter outlining some of the best flight deals available. These have included a return flight from London to New York for just over £200, and Manchester to Punta Cana, in the Dominican Republic, for £199. If you have not yet planned your trip, it could help you find a great deal that slashes the price of your holiday.
  
• Be flexible with your dates. Tuesday has historically been the cheapest day on which to board a plane, but flight-comparison sites normally have a calendar view that lets you see which days within your booking range have the lowest-cost flights. 
  
• Be savvy about take-off times. If you are considering a cheap evening outbound flight, make sure you factor in the extra night of accommodation you will need when you arrive at your destination. It may work out cheaper to get a slightly more expensive flight the next morning.
  
  That said, cheap early-morning take-offs can end up more expensive due to the lack of public transport options around that time. A cab to the airport is never cheap.
  
• Be flexible with seats. Many airlines charge you extra to choose your seats. If you don’t mind being separated from your travel companions for a few hours, you can save a fair bit by opting for randomly allocated seats.
  
  However, if you’re travelling with children under 12, they can often sit next to or near you on the flight for no extra cost. In order to benefit from this, check the airline’s policy on seating children and make sure you book your seats well in advance.

• See if you can snag an “error fare”. SecretFlying shows you a heap of cheap flights, including error fares. This is when an airline accidentally misprices a flight, meaning you can book it for less than it would usually cost. You can also find error fares by doing regular, wide-ranging searches on comparison sites such as Skyscanner. If you are lucky enough to catch one, you could save hundreds of pounds. 
  
  However, they require a high degree of flexibility in your choice of airport and departure date when booking – and importantly, airlines are legally allowed to refuse to honour an error fare if they can prove it’s a mistake, so you could book a trip that is later cancelled.
  
  If this does happen, you are entitled to a refund, but you may need to make contact with the airline and it could take some time to get your money back. 
  
  According to Jack’s Flight Club, 70% of error fares end up being honoured, so your odds are decent. Nonetheless, make sure not to book any non-refundable accommodation in case your ticket is cancelled.
  
• Plan your baggage carefully. Baggage allowances for the size and weight of the cases vary between airlines, so it’s key to check how many belongings you will be able to bring. If you think you will need more space, and there are a few of you going, it might be worth sharing a checked bag or two to save money on excess-baggage fees.
  
  Here are some of the main airlines’ free baggage allowances (per person, economy class where applicable):
  
  British Airways*: Two free carry-on bags, plus a free hold bag weighing up to 23kg
  EasyJet: One free small carry-on bag (up to 45 x 36 x 20 cm, weighing up to 15kg)
  Jet2: One free small carry-on bag (up to 56 x 45 x 25cm, weighing up to 10kg)
  Ryanair: One free small carry-on bag (up to 40 x 25 x 20cm)
  Virgin Atlantic: One free carry-on bag, plus a free hold bag weighing up to 23kg
  Wizz Air: One free small carry-on bag (up to 40 x 30 x 20cm, weighing up to 10kg)
  
  Make sure you also consider whether you might be bringing back more than you are taking – for instance, if you are planning on doing some shopping. It’s usually cheaper to buy additional checked bags in advance, so planning ahead is a good way to save.

3. Think carefully about accommodation when travelling on a budget

If you are backpacking on a shoestring, it’s likely that a hostel will be the cheapest option.

Hostelworld lets you compare the different options, and its star rating system gives you an idea of what to expect. That said, it’s always good to look further afield for reviews as the star rating may not paint the whole picture. If a hostel has a large number of Google reviews, it might be worth trusting that score instead.

Additionally, you may find that it only costs a little bit more to book a cheap hotel room than it does for multiple beds in a busy dorm – which may be worth it for a better night’s sleep. Hostels also often charge for extras such as lockers and towels, so factor these into your decision.

Airbnb isn’t as cheap as it used to be

When browsing for accommodation, don’t just make a beeline for Airbnb. You may find that hotels are actually cheaper and more convenient in the area you are visiting.

Have a browse on accommodation comparison sites such as Booking.com* and Trivago to see what options are available within your budget. Next, compare them with the options on Airbnb in the same range.

Nonetheless, renting a whole home might make more sense if you are in a large group, rather than booking multiple hotel rooms.

Most hotel rooms also don’t come with a kitchen, so you are more likely to eat out, which can end up being one of the biggest expenses on holiday. Staying in a rented home means you have got the option to cook, which is a surefire way to save cash.

4. How to get cheap Eurostar tickets

The Eurostar is a high-speed train that’s more comfortable than a flight and gives you a large baggage allowance included in the price of your ticket. It also goes further than just Paris; you can get to Amsterdam, Brussels, Rotterdam, Lille, Cologne and more in a matter of hours.

However, a Eurostar ticket can often be more expensive than a plane ride. Fortunately, Eurostar runs frequent sales on its website. Between now and Monday 22 January, you can bag a one-way ticket to multiple destinations for as little as £39, meaning a return for just £78. Tickets are discounted for some journeys between January and March. Find tickets at the Eurostar website now*.

Plus, if you book your Eurostar ticket via the Uber app, you can receive 10% back in Uber credit. This means you can effectively book a return Eurostar journey for just £70.20.

5. Hiring a car? Look for free cancellation

A comparison site, such as Skyscanner or Kayak, is a great way of finding the cheapest car-hire options for your trip. It’s also cheaper to book on some days rather than others, so a degree of flexibility will help you save money.

As with flights, it’s generally best to book your car hire in advance (though the price may go down as well as up after you book). Never book on the same day you need a car if you can avoid it.

When you book a car hire, consider looking for a company that offers free cancellation. It’s very handy to have in case your plans change – and if the price of the hire falls slightly before your holiday starts, you can just cancel and rebook.

Many firms offer free cancellation as standard, up to a certain length of time before the trip (usually about 48 hours). If the cheapest option doesn’t have free cancellation, it’s often worth paying a little bit more for the peace of mind and flexibility.

6. Be creative about travelling around on a budget

When travelling from one part of a country to another, or even going across a border, consider all the options.

Trains are often one of the more expensive ways of travelling around, but with fuel costs rising, they may work out cheaper than hiring a car. Trainline* lets you find train services in a host of European countries, so you can gauge how much they will cost.

BlaBlaCar is a ride-sharing website popular in Europe that lets you find spare seats in others’ cars, and it can end up being significantly cheaper than alternative forms of travel.

If you are willing to spend more time travelling, a coach can be an ultra-cheap way of getting from A to B. FlixBus* offers affordable coach travel all over Europe.

7. Pay the right way

If you don’t already have a specialist travel credit or debit card, you could end up losing a heap on fees when you pay with your card abroad. Many traditional high street banks charge an exchange-rate fee of about 3%, and sometimes add on extra fees.

For example, if you use a Halifax debit card while abroad, you will pay a 2.99% foreign-currency transaction fee plus a £1.50 charge to withdraw cash, or 50p for a card purchase. These fees can add up. For example, over a two-week holiday:

Total spent: £1,200 (€1,400) 
Six cash withdrawals averaging £100 each (€116)
30 card payments averaging £20 each (€23)
Cash-withdrawal fees: £9
Exchange-rate fees: £36
Card-payment fees: £15
Total fees: £60

That is a huge amount of money you don’t have to spend, that will seriously eat into your travel budget. There are multiple travel credit cards available that don’t charge exchange-rate fees (though some levy interest on cash withdrawals).

You can also get a travel debit card that doesn’t charge you at all – though you may need to pay a small fee on withdrawals over a certain amount. 

If you are asked whether you want to pay in pounds sterling or the local currency, ALWAYS choose the latter

If you pay in sterling, wherever you are making the transaction will choose the exchange rate for you – and can tack on exorbitant amounts.

When you pay in the local currency, your payment card provider will do the currency exchange instead. This means you will get the rate set by your provider. If you have a specialist travel card, this will be as close as you can get to the true exchange rate.

We have the lowdown on the best travel credit and debit cards in our full guide.

Buying travel money? Timing it right can help you save

If you’re buying foreign currency in advance, it’s worth shopping around to find the best deal. Money.co.uk’s useful tool helps you find the best currency vendors both for delivery and collection.

When buying currency, you can also save by doing so at optimal times, when the pound is stronger or the currency you’re buying is weaker. This means that each pound is buying more currency.

While fluctuations are minimal the majority of the time, when you’re buying a large amount of money the savings become more noticeable.

Travelex’s travel rate tracker lets you monitor changes in the values of currencies, even providing you with updates via email.

8. Keep your wits about you when eating out on a budget

It’s a sweltering afternoon and you have been sightseeing all day. You’re hungry – and tempted to just sit down at the first place you see. Sometimes, this is the best option – especially when choice is scarce and it’s the only restaurant for miles. 

However, it’s often good to check the reviews on either Google or Tripadvisor first. These sites can quickly tell you whether the restaurant is expensive and the food is worth the money, as well as if it’s any good.

If you can’t find enough information, have a cursory glance at the menu before you sit down to make sure it’s within your travel budget – and that you want to eat the food there.

It’s also worth finding out what the tipping culture is in the country you’re visiting. In the US, for instance, it’s generally expected for customers to tip between 15% and 20%, so you should budget this into the cost of the meal.

9. Going to the EU? Make sure you’ve got an EHIC/GHIC card

A European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) gives you access to the same state-provided healthcare as a national of that country, for the same amount it would cost them.

It covers you in:

• All the countries in the EU
• Iceland
• Liechtenstein
• Norway
• Switzerland

If you still have an EHIC card that is in date, you can use it until it expires. If you don’t have it or yours has expired, you can apply for a new Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC), which replaces the EHIC for most UK citizens. The government offers these cards for free (you can apply here). Watch out for any opportunistic sites trying to charge you for one.

It should be pointed out that the EHIC and GHIC are not substitutes for travel insurance cover. Find out more about the EHIC and GHIC.

10. Get insured

Relative to the potential cost of medical care abroad, travel insurance is an inexpensive way to guarantee peace of mind when travelling on a budget. It can cover you for a wide range of accidents and mishaps, which can include:

• Cancellation of your trip
• Illness and accidents while you are away
• Lost or stolen baggage
• Death

Find out more about what travel insurance covers.

Travel insurance can be quite cheap, with provider Coverwise offering single-trip policies from £5.15 and annual multi-trip policies from £11. For full details on the best options for your trip, see the top travel insurance providers.

11. Know your rights

Hopefully your trip runs smoothly, and your flights take off when you expect them to. But if you are hit by an unexpected cancellation from an airline, it’s key that you know your rights so you can get any refunds or compensation to which you are entitled. If you have been affected by flight cancellations, get the full lowdown on your travel rights.

*All products, brands or properties mentioned in this article are selected by our writers and editors based on first-hand experience or customer feedback, and are of a standard that we believe our readers expect. This article contains links from which we can earn revenue. This revenue helps us to support the content of this website and to continue to invest in our award-winning journalism. For more, see How we make our money and Editorial promise