Maria is a single mother with three children, but she wanted to go to Tuscany, Italy since she was a little girl. Knowing that she was on a tight budget, she started planning early, watched for specials and put away a little at a time. She treated herself to first class airfare, but saved money in other areas. It took time, but she fulfilled her dream of going to Tuscany.
You’re probably thinking, “I’ll never get to go away.” Not true. With a little planning and some resources, you can take a first class vacation on a budget.
Here are five tips to get you started:
- Start early: Want to go to Italy, but don’t have any money put aside? Of course then you won’t be going next month, but you can start to plan and put a budget together. Pick out where you want to stay, decide on first class or economy airfare, and pick out the activities you want to partake in. You’ll have fun making lists of what you want to do.
- Budget it out: How much money are you going to need? Budget out the trip to include plane fare, accommodations, rental cars, and food, etc. Add in money for souvenirs and incidentals. Don’t skimp. If you want to fly first-class, put that in your budget.
- Research: Look up the amount of the airfare so you know what it is and then keep searching for sales. Book your flight once you know when it’s dropped. Find out how much the hotel will cost you. Follow them on social media. Sometimes hotels offer flash sales and, if you can one, you can get a significantly discounted hotel rate. Sometimes paying for a trip one item at a time is easier to deal with then dishing out thousands at a time.
- Package it: On the other hand, many trip organizers will allow you to pay off your trip in installments. So find the trip you want and then budget in to pay it off. Keep in mind, however, you will still need spending money and cash for incidentals. You don’t want your first-class trip feeling like a budget buster once you get there because you didn’t put extra money aside.
- Decide what’s priority: If you want a first-class vacation, decide what will make it feel that way. The other stuff? You can either find free activities or save money by eating some meals at the hotel instead of fancy restaurants.
Your trip is only a little planning away.
Travel Makers MD