How to Holiday On the Cheap

Whether it's the call of the wild or the lure of sandy beaches, planning your next holiday is what gets most of us through the year. But with the SA economy being downgraded and everything – including travel expenses – getting more expensive, it can be hard to stretch your hard-earned cash to achieve your dream holiday. We look at lots of out-of-the-box ideas to vacation in style and on budget.

Rand-friendly destinations abroad
Book long in advance, plan carefully and you can still enjoy an exotic holiday abroad, with flights starting from just over R5000 return. Think Zanzibar (R5400), India (R5400 if booked 6 months in advance), Istanbul (R6200 for Durbanites), Morocco (R5800) or Bulgaria (R6400).

Once you're there, you'll spend as much or less on food and drinks as you would in South Africa. For example, in India a local beer would cost R26 and a cheap meal just R32. Eating in Morocco is cheaper than in SA (almost 10%), with hotel rooms going for around R800/night. An average hotel room in Bulgaria would set you back around R600/night with eating out being 44% cheaper than in South Africa*. In fact, most of the the former Eastern Bloc countries – Hungary, Albania, Yugoslavia, etc. – and some Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) are popular rand-friendly destinations.

How to book the cheapest flights
From being flexible with your dates to booking your outbound and inbound flights separately, there are many hacks to booking the best-priced flights. Make full use of credit card loyalty programmes to earn frequent flyer discounts. For local flights, always play around with an airline's one-month low rates window, to see when the best-priced flights are.

For flights abroad, check cheaper haul carriers like Qatar Airways, Etihad, Ethiopian and Turkish Airlines first, and keep an eye on the petrol or rand price of oil, as this filters down to the ticket price. Use a flights aggregator such as Cheapflights or Travelstart to see all price options in one place, then check with airlines directly to see which one has the cheapest price. Be sure to sign up to all relevant newsletters too in order to buy the moment they advertise a flight sale.

Earn money with Airbnb
Thousands of South African homeowners have already taken advantage of Airbnb – renting out their homes over the holidays for extra cash or to fund their holidays – earning on average R28 000 a year. It's easy and safe as you can read reviews of visitors and contact them via social media. Rent out your entire house, a granny flat or even just one room to make some extra cash.

House swap and stay for free
Want free accommodation? Then check out the likes of Homeexchange for overseas homes or local version Houseswap.co.za. After paying an initial sign-up fee, you can browse homes and start interacting with hosts to see if they would want to stay in your home – often including cars, pets or even a boat! If you own a second property, you don't have to do simultaneous stays. Just imagine – a month in New York or two weeks in Berlin could be yours.

Don't feel comfortable with strangers in your home? Then why not put feelers out if any friends or family (or people in your social media circle) will be interested in a house swap? Everyone benefits and you get to explore a new city or region for free.

Read the full article at: https://www.sanlam.co.za/blog/articles/Pages/how-to-holiday-on-the-cheap.aspx 

December 13 2017 By Sanlam.co.za Financial Planning