By using cheap airlines, and the discounts offered by the Polish transporters, you can reach basically every place in Europe. This will only cost you between 50 and 400 PLN per person. In this article you will find some suggestions on how to travel around the world cheaply and safely.
Flight reservations should be made as soon as possible, at the very least a few weeks in advance. However, there are exceptions from this rule. They are, for example, charter tickets available on tour operators' websites. When using the “last minute” option with flight within following days, you are able to fly to the Greek islands or Turkey for 300 PLN. Of course, a bigger budget increases the choice of destinations. A flight to North America or Asia should not cost more than two thousand PLN. On the other hand, if you wish to visit South America or Australia and Oceania, you will have to pay at least 2-3 thousand zloty.
A good way to adjust your budget to more interesting destinations is using Kayak.pl website. The “Explore” option presents possible costs of a journey to selected destinations presented in an easy to understand map. When searching for the best offers, it is also worth registering for the newsletters of such websites as Fly4free.pl, Loter.pl and Mlecznepodroze.onet.pl. They will give you access to many flight discounts immediately when they appear on the given websites. The forum on the www.flyertalk.com is also as useful, especially regarding flights abroad. Enthusiasts from all over the world search for the best tariffs there.
Hotel or suite?
The flight is only the beginning of your adventure. If you wish to relax for a small amount of money and in convenient conditions, you will find the hotel browsers very useful. Websites worth checking out are Trivago.pl and Hotelscombined.pl. They will help you not only to find the cheapest hotel in the given location, but also show you the highest-rated accommodations and the ones which fulfill your demands (swimming pool, amount of stars, transport from the airport, etc.). Renting a flat abroad is becoming increasingly popular. In order to do this, it is worth getting familiar with the offers of websites like Airbnb.pl, for example. The websites such as this one, will help you find any room: from a dormitory to a luxury penthouse.
However, regardless of whether you choose a luxury hotel in the city center or a cheap motel by the road, first you need to check out what the guests' opinions are, and what it really looks like. You can find such information on pages like Tripadvisor.com. Apart from the detailed opinions of travelers, it also contains photos submitted by guests. Very often, these photos significantly differ from the ones you will find in catalogs.
Transport
In Rome, Paris, or London it is better to use public transport, even if the airport is several dozen kilometers away from the city center. However, if you plan taking a trip to south of Spain, or the West Coast of the USA, it is definitely better to rent a car. It is especially profitable for groups of travelers.
When booking a car, however, you need to focus on few aspects. First of all, make sure that your Polish driver's license is valid in the country of your destination. Realistically estimate your driving skills. Left-hand traffic on the British Isles and some Asian countries may be quite demanding. Another matter is the car's insurance. You should focus in particular on “excess”, which is your own contribution into the insurance. Usually the basic package includes a provision saying that the damages up to a certain amount will be covered with your own money. If this amount is high, it is worth buying an additional insurance.
You also should take a so called embossed credit card. Usually, it is not possible to rent a car using a flat credit card. You are also going to need digital maps uploaded onto your smartphone. The reason for this is because the navigation may cause problems in some places, and renting a GPS is very often even more expensive than renting a car. Once you receive the keys, it is worth checking carefully that the car does not have any existing damages which were not included in its documents.
After all these warnings we have some positive information. In the majority of countries you might travel to, it is possible to rent a car for anywhere between 50 and 200 PLN per day, including insurance. This is a relatively low price, especially if you share the costs with three or four people.
Discounts, coupons, mistakes, and tricks
A few hundred zloty for a flight to the United States, Japan, or South America, is an offer which can sometimes, albeit rarely, be found. However, it is very often a tariff error. Sometimes it may also be a deliberate discount from the transporter, who fakes such an error. In this case, it is dependent on the airlines whether your ticket is canceled, or you made a “deal of the year.”
A similar story concerns hotels. A lot of information regarding this topic can be found on the previously mentioned forum of the flyertalk.com. Multi-level luxury hotel suites can very seldomly cost approximately ten to 15 dollars. However, travel enthusiasts may sometimes find an even bigger bargain, and save even a few thousand zloty.
Discount coupons are a very good way to find savings in your budget. They can reduce the cost of your accommodation by 10-20%. Let’s take flyertalk.com as an example, where you can find access to specific conversation groups, free of charge, and you aren’t even required to register. Money that you have saved can always be spent on the next journey.
When searching for savings, it is worth getting familiar with the offers of online currency exchange websites. One of the most popular, Cinkciarz.pl, offers very attractive exchange rates for 24 currencies.
As soon as you start searching for cheap travels, it is still worth remembering to be cautious about every offer. If you manage to book a flight by an extremely low price, wait a little before you pay for the hotel. You may find out later that the ticket has been canceled. It is also worth reading online travel forums to share your doubts with other internet users. However, after gaining some experience, you will be able to visit exotic countries and relax in luxury conditions for the price of a holiday trip to Egypt.