Tips for Tourists
Experienced Travelers' Tips
1 How to buy the cheapest tickets:
— Make friends with aggregators like SkyScanner or AvIaSales, which offer so-called "low price calendars" — consolidated tables with flight prices on different days.
— Don’t stick to specific dates and book in advance, ideally 2-5 months ahead.
— Fly on any day except Monday and Friday, early in the morning or late in the evening; it will be much cheaper;
— Tickets with layovers are 90% of the time significantly cheaper than direct flights;
— Enable "incognito mode" in your browser when looking at airline offers; if they remember you as a user, they will show higher prices.
2 What to pay with and where to find the best exchange rate. During trips to Europe, with some exceptions, currency exchange is a laughable anachronism. You can pay with a card on public transport, in souvenir shops, grocery stores, and museums — that is, almost everywhere. The main thing is to make sure in advance that this card is allowed for transactions outside the issuing country (this often happens with Premium class cards). In most cases, the rate offered by your bank is better than that in ATMs abroad (which also charge a service fee), but even at these ATMs, withdrawing money is more advantageous than exchanging at the exorbitant airport rates. And the main thing — in Europe, it's better to pay with MasterCard, while in the USA - Visa.
3 Why it's better to pay for the internet than for roaming. Few people like to fiddle with roaming settings. So remember the main points:
— During your trip, it’s worth turning off automatic updates on your smartphone and preventing the phone from downloading anything without Wi-Fi;
— Make calls and send messages via the internet using Skype, Viber, WhatsApp, etc.;
— Wi-Fi passwords in public places are often written in the hints of the Foursquare service.
— For communication in the country you are visiting, it makes sense to buy a local SIM card; this way, the internet and local calls will be much cheaper, just don’t call back home from that number.
— You can purchase an international tourist SIM card with reasonable rates, which can also be linked to your regular number.
4. How to visit the best places in the city for free. The most popular attractions and exhibitions have lines stretching for miles, and tickets can cost quite a bit, especially considering the exchange rate. At the same time, in every city, there are places that do not attract tourists, but where there are never any lines, tickets are free, and the impressions can be even greater.
5 How to find good accommodation at the lowest price. Get free apps for your phone with maps that can be viewed offline, handy packing lists, train and public transport schedules (which, at least in Europe, run on time), travel guides, books, and music to make your journey more enjoyable. The same apps can quickly solve your accommodation issues. The best option is HotelTonight for last-minute hotel or hostel bookings. What you need to know before you start using it:
- As the check-in date approaches and rooms remain empty, hotels lower their prices, so the best deals are shown by the app after 6 PM, when check-in time has passed and no-shows have left their rooms at a significant discount for you.
- Enable geolocation; if you are across the street from a hotel, in the "Local Offers" tab, the discount will be even more significant — up to 70%, sometimes even more.
- The maximum discount is reached on the day of check-in, meaning it’s most advantageous to travel spontaneously.
- The app has an option for booking a week in advance, but you don’t need to worry about room availability — there are always rooms.
6 How to save on public transport. Public transport, for example, in Europe, is unusually expensive. The solution is tourist cards that work like Moscow's "Troika": if you are staying for a week, buy a weekly pass. Another similar option, but for museums and attractions, is tourist multipasses. These museum cards also allow unlimited access to exhibitions for a certain period, from 1 day to a year.
7 Where to eat cheaper. It’s hard to travel without food, but if you have a minimal budget for it, the rules are as follows:
— No one forbids visiting the best establishments in the city, but having breakfast or dinner is much cheaper with products bought at a supermarket. In general, going to a grocery store where locals shop is a separate cultural pleasure.
— Grocery stores on tourist routes can be several times more expensive than those located a couple of blocks away from the center;
— Eastern food is always cheaper: kebabs, doners, Chinese noodle shops, Turkish eateries help both poor students and migrants, as well as unpretentious tourists.
