Travel Smarter and Cheaper

The famous Danish poet Hans Christian Andersen said: “To travel is to live” – and he did live! He was an avid traveler back in his time. Back then it was by horse carriage or steam train at the most. Today it is a quite different story. All the world is within our reach, and if you know how to find the best deals, almost everybody can afford to travel. Even travel to other parts of the world like for example Europe.

How can you travel so cheap?

My wife and I get that question quite often. We are avid travelers, and we enjoy Europe – maybe because we both are Europeans by birth. When we talk with oour American friends about our trips, we often get questions about how expensive it must be to travel across the Atlantic Ocean, stay at hotels and have a rental car at our disposal.

We smile a little – mostly because we know the truth: That we are traveling so cheap that sometimes even we can’t believe it. We have also realized that a lot of people (and I mean a LOT) are worried about making their own arrangements for traveling abroad and thus ending up with some agent or agency that absolutely does help. But it is not for free!

Let me give you an example of how cheap it can be done.

In 2016 we went to Budapest, Hungary for 9 days. We stayed at the absolute most luxurious hotel available in Budapest: The Kempinski Hotel Covinus

We flew out from Miami and via Austria to Budapest. And now this 9 nights at the most unbelievable luxurious hotel and round trip flight (Economy)… How much do you think we paid?

$1,230 per person! Yup – you got that right! Including EVERYTHING! Before I tell you how we do it, I want to give you one more example:

Italy and France road trip 2017

In the summer of 2017 we went to Italy and France for 2 weeks (14 days in total). We flew out of Fort Lauderdale to Paris and from there to Turin, Italy – and the exact same route back to home 2 weeks later. We rented a car for all 14 days and we booked a hotel for the first night in Turin as well as for the last night also in Turin.

Flight round trip, car rental including free miles and insurance and the 2 nights pre-booked at a hotel summed up to $1,180 per person all included!

How is this possible you might ask? Well… There really is no “deep dark secret” to it when you realize how this works.

We travel CHEAP and in luxury (sort of)

We are fine traveling Economy for leisure. When I travel for business it is a different story though. When it comes to accommodation we will not compromise at all. We want good hotels with clean rooms and all that. And we want a decent or better rental car.

When we bundle flight, car and at least one night at a hotel, we save a ton of money. And we always use the same website to find and book everything: Expedia

Sometimes – well almost constantly – Expedia offers some crazy deals with prices so low that you might get suspicious if they are for real. They are for real:

OK – let’s dig a little deeper and try a search for a trip for 2 people. Let’s say we travel out of Florida to Prague (one hell of an amazing city!) and we want a hotel there in the center of Prague for a week. Let’s say that we will travel in early September – the perfect time of year to visit Prague.

How to save money on travel with Expedia

We do this search on Expedia

And I find this:

The Grand Hotel Praha is an outstanding hotel! I’ve stayed there and the location is LITERALLY the center of the Town Square in Prague! Seriously! Breakfast is amazing (and included) and the staff and service is nothing less than exquisite! And yes – you are reading this right: The price per person with round trip flight, hotel, breakfast and all taxes is $1,177!

You have no need for a car in Prague. In Europe public transportation is efficient, cheap and clean. But let’s just play on a little and say that you want to have a car as well for the stay. There os a lot of amazing places outside Prague to visit, so it could make sense to rent a car as well. Now you might think I’m pulling your leg here, but I promise you: This is for real. OKAY?

Here you have the price per person for round trip flight, hotel, breakfast AND a car with free miles:

There you have it: A car with no limitations on miles etc for 6 days in total for an extra $109 per person!

Now remember that in Prague a HUGE (and I do mean HUGE) meal on a really good restaurant in the most expensive part of the city will set you back maybe up to $20 per person. With wine or the famous Czech beer of course. Trivia: Budweiser is actually a Czech beer – and you will find the original beer everywhere in the Czech Republic under the name “Budvar”.

No matter where you go – Expedia is the one to rule them all

Also if you travel in the US there is literally no other company able to beat Expedia. Every time I travel, I always do a check on some of the other travel sites. Only if you are simply booking a hotel for one or two nights and you book directly with the hotel you might be able to do it for the same price or even a little bit cheaper than on Expedia. Sometimes – if you only need a hotel – you can find some pretty good discounts here:

Why use a travel agent?

Honestly: Unless you are almost helpless, there is not one single reason to involve a travel agent!

With Expedia you can do everything from their website. If you wish to book a cruise, buy tickets for the opera in Vienna or the Royal Danish Theater or whatever: You can do it yourself on Expedia!

The customer service is amazing as well – by phone or by email. They are more than happy to assist you if you need it.

End note

I will provide you with some links below here to interesting deals etc. on Expedia – and I really hope that you will embrace traveling. It is a lot cheaper than you think, and it is so easy to handle everything by yourself.

If you have any questions about this, about traveling in Europe etc.: Please comment below and I will do my best to provide you with useful answers. I have traveled every single country in Europe thin for decades and I know a thing or two 🙂 And if you are eager to visit Denmark: I’m your expert! Now hit me 🙂

Happy Travels!

Thomas Rosenstand