How to Travel on a Student Budget

Amongst all my family and friends, I'm the local travel agent. While I do love the luxury of traveling, i also enjoy the stress on planning a trip. While there's plenty of ways to save while planning a trip and many of them you might already be familiar with; these are my personally "GO-TO's" when I'm planning a mini vacation on a student budget.

1. USE GOOGLE. Especially if you have an android or use Google Chrome. If I'm flying, i always look at the charts, and data calendar to see when is the best times to travel. You can also set updates to alert you when the price changes.
2. Become a Member. For the longest time, i was a die-hard Expedia user. I booked all my flights through them and earned points for it. Unlike Hotels, you can double on points if you're an member with that travel site and earn point through the airline. The pro and con of 3rd party travel sites is, you don't see all the available flights . If you're in need of a flight regardless of price, book through the site directly or use google to compare other airlines but if you have time to shop around, compare 3rd party to Google then check the site directly. Don't forget to add that loyalty membership number!
3. If it's more than 3 people traveling, look into getting a rental. You can add a AAA discount to most rental companies and some credit cards companies have discounts codes as well. Look into the weekend and weekday deals and if you are a member, check your spam for free upgrades and dollar amount off discount codes.
4. Check out the companies that your job and school are affilated with. You'll be surprise how many of schools and businesses have discounted rates for rental cars and hotels. Always ask if your job has an corporate rate!!! It never hurts
5.  Use your student ID!! I use to have the student discount for Amtrak and Greyhound and it was well worth the money. While these aren't the most glamorous ways to travel, its fun with friends and sometimes the cheapest route. 
6. Hotels are tricky. If you book through a 3rd party, YOU WILL NOT earn points with your hotel loyalty membership. When it comes to hotels, its best to explore all options. If you have point on your 3rd party travel site, use it for a night stay. If you have have points on your loyalty card for the same hotel, create a new reservation for the following days. (Sounds like alot of work but its worth it to save a few dollars here and there). While i've been bragging about 3rd party sites this whole time, dont under estimate the hotel sites. The prices might seem steep but they offer a lot of free/discount on rooms during slow times of the month and points add up quicker than 3rd party sites. 
7. The love for Skyscanner. Everything I mentioned earlier goes out the window if you have the money to buy NOW rather than shop around. Skyscanner shows everything thing and everyone. If I'm planning a trip based on my ability to find a deal on cheap transportation, Skyscanner is my guy. Skyscanner and Google Flight are my "go to" if i'm about to buy my tickets early in advantage.

How much we all dispice those junk emails, it pays off when you're a cheap traveler. So, to summarize the key to being a cheap traveler, you need to:

1. Search 3rd party travel sites and compare to direct sites
2. Be flexible about your dates or book in advance
3. Enroll in loyalty membership rewards
4. Check for dicounts through your credit card companies
5. If the weather isn't bad and the destination isn't days away, get a rental and split everything with your friends
6. Always ask for a Student Disount, AAA Dissocunt, Corparate Discount
7. Use those loyalty points

Thats all I have for you all, until next time!!! Young Bliss