With the recent economic downturn, one place Americans are probably going to cut back on is traveling.
As students, we should not follow their example. As I learned on a recent trip to Europe, even the most expensive countries are manageable on a student budget.
I spent a few weeks traveling around Ireland when the dollar was at an all-time low against the euro, yet I still managed to be under budget and paid off the entire trip with my earnings from a part-time job I only worked at for four months.
Here’s how I did it:
“¢bull; I planned ridiculously far in advance.
I booked my airfare eight months before the trip. I watched airline prices for a few months and signed up for e-mails from budget sites like Hotwire, which would alert me when the price for airline tickets dropped.
I managed to book a round-trip ticket from LAX to Dublin for under $500.
I also saved a lot of money by booking hotel and hostel rooms in 2007 instead of 2008. Hotels, hostels and even bed-and-breakfasts raise their rates every year, usually in January. By booking before the increase, I was able to get all of my rooms at the low 2007 prices even though I was staying in 2008.
“¢bull; I didn’t let my bank or credit card company take a cut of my precious vacation money.
Get a credit card and an ATM card from a company that won’t charge you any fees ““ whether they’re for using the ATM or withdrawing money in a different currency. The most popular one among travelers I’ve talked to is Capital One.
“¢bull; I packed my student ID card.
When I was visiting museums and historical sites in Ireland, the difference between student and adult admission at some places was as much as 8 euros, or about $12.
“¢bull; I did what the locals did.
In order to get from Dublin Airport to the city center, I had to take a bus. I observed a lot of British and American people getting onto a coach bus that cost 7 euros. I followed some Irish people onto a city bus that took the same route and cost 2 euros.
This rule also applies when you’re in non-English-speaking countries. When I lived in Germany a few years ago, I noticed that the restaurants with the English-language menus charged a lot more than the ones my German friends and I visited. Breaking out of your comfort zone can literally pay off.
“¢bull; I stuffed everything I would need into a small backpack.
Airlines are beginning to catch on to a new trend: charging you for checking bags. US Airways, for example, charges $25 for checking a second bag. American Airlines recently decided to take this a step further and announced that beginning in June they would charge $15 for economy passengers to check their first bag.
“¢bull; I took advantage of tax refunds.
In Ireland, the sales tax, called a value-added tax, is a whopping 20 percent. Thanks to programs designed to attract tourists, however, most countries will allow you to have all of the money you spend on sales tax refunded at the end of your trip.
Research this carefully before you leave. Some countries have rules about which items do and do not qualify, how much you need to spend to qualify for a refund and what kind of paperwork is required to receive it.
Aside from avoiding outrageous baggage charges, taking only a carry-on has the added benefit of reducing the amount of vacation time you spend staring at a baggage carousel, waiting for your luggage to be unloaded. You also won’t need to worry about how you’re going to afford to buy a new wardrobe if your luggage never turns up.
As students, we tend to lack a lot of extra money, but we possess something far more valuable: youth and flexible schedules. No one bats an eye when they see someone our age hanging around a cheap hostel. We also have the time to take off to a foreign country for a few months between quarters if we choose to. Don’t let a bad economy ruin such a valuable opportunity.
Send your postcards to kstrickland@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.