I just wanted to thank you very sincerely for downloading this book. As a traveler myself, I sometimes have difficulties in figuring out how I can plan my travels for the best value money can get. With so many sites out there, it can get confusing.

So the team got together and spent quite some time researching and testing. We wanted to build the quintessential guide to travelling cheaply, and the result is this eBook. It’s absolutely free for everybody, and I hope you’ll share it with your friends.

If you’ve got a minute, it would mean the world to me if you could check out our site at Penroads. It’s a platform for you to find travel partners. Travelling with friends you meet on the road helps you see the world in a different way, or at least, that’s how it was for me. I hope that you will share the same experiences that were so profound, it led me to start this company.

HARRY DANIEL FU

CEO / FOUNDER OF PENROADS

Although the cost of travel can certainly be decreased, traveling will never be 100%, completely free. In addition to the monetary costs, it will cost you your time. With smart planning, you can ensure that your dollar will return you the maximum amount of happiness that it can.

START SAVING

Take a percentage of your net paycheck and deposit it into a savings account with a decent interest rate. While in the short-term, your efforts may not result in a lot of interest. If you have more time (think years), you might look into investing a portion of your income and dedicate that money to your trip.

SIGN UP FOR TRAVEL CREDIT CARS AND

FREQUENT FLIER REWARDS PROGRAM

It might be worth it to sign up for a travel credit card with a large sign up bonus if you’re going to be purchasing a lot of flights or traveling to many different places. You can then redeem these points on frequent flier rewards programs to get upgrades or cheaper (and sometimes free!) flights.

YOU NEED A BUDGET

It doesn’t matter what method you use to track your expenses, but if you don’t keep track of them, you might overspend and all of a sudden, you can’t afford to eat anything but instant ramen.

FREELANCE

If you find yourself with less than enough cash and a laptop to last you the rest of the trip, consider freelancing on websites such as Fiverr or elance. You can also complete some surveys on Amazon Mechanical Turk for a very small payout. However, watch out for scams on Amazon. If it sounds too good to be true,

Smart phones are no longer prohibitively expensive and you probably already own one. Your phone is your landline. In many countries, pre-paid SIM cards are fairly cheap and will give you access to data. Boom. Your phone is now simultaneous, a phone, camera, flashlight, map, and guidebook the size of your palm. Remember to pack your charger!

You’re going traveling and it’s understandable that you might want to take photos of the sights, foods, people to show your friends and family back home. If your smartphone doesn’t cut it, feel free to pack your camera. Probably best to leave the DSLR at home though - it’s expensive and bulky. Bring a simple digital camera.

You need somewhere to store your stuff and when you’re going to be carrying your stuff all around with you, you will want to make sure that it’s comfortable. Remember that with new airline rules, you might not be able to bring your backpack with you as a carryon. Consider the size of your backpack when making the purchase.

How do I find the cheapest flights? There are so many websites out there that can help you find the cheapest fares. It’s mind-boggling, and it’s confusing. With some extra fact-checking on your part, you can save hundreds of dollars in tickets - and here’s how we think you should do it.

FIRST, START OFF COMPARING

FLIGHT PRICE AGGREGATORS

Flight price aggregators such a Kayak or Skyscanner allow you to compare prices for airlines across several aggregators, which makes your life that much easier.

CHECK ANOTHER WEBSITE CALLED SKIPLAGGED

Skiplagged  is being sued by United Airlines for offering “hidden city ticketing”, which basically means that you book a flight past your destination and just get off at what was supposed to be your layover. This can save you hundreds of dollars. However, you can’t check your bags and it’s only good for a one-way route since if you skip out on your connecting flight, your returning flight is canceled. Use Skiplagged if you’re going backpacking or only for a short trip where you don’t need to check luggage.

LOOK OUT FOR FIFTH FREEDOM FLIGHTS

Fifth freedom flights are when an airline is flying from country A to B, but neither points are in the home country. For example, Singapore Airlines flies from HKG to SFO and Cathay Pacific flies from YVR to JFK. SO! Go to Wikipedia and look for the departure airport. Wikipedia shows all airlines operating out of that airport and their destinations. These flights tend to be cheaper since they are tagged on the leg of whole flights.

IF YOU ARE A STUDENT, YOU ARE IN LUCK!

Use a website such as StudentUniverse or STA Travel to find discounted flights. You need to be able to verify that you are a current student (or faculty member), but these tickets save you on average $100.

ANOTHER GREAT WEBSITE IS YAPTA,

WHICH TRACKS FARE CHANGES

Some airlines offer a refund when prices drop. This means that if prices drop, you can claim your refund directly through the website.

NOW THAT YOU HAVE GOT A PRETTY GOOD BASELINE,

DO FACT-CHECKING

Check on the airline’s website to see if your route costs less. Then, check the airline’s foreign website to see if it’s cheaper in another currency. Barring exorbitant foreign transaction fees, you may be able to save a couple dollars due to differences in exchange rates.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST, MAKE ONE LAST CHECK

ON BUDGET AIRLINES

A quick Google search should help you find most budget airlines. For example, if Singapore is your base camp, you can use budget airlines such as Jetstar or Scoot. If the timing is right, you could be spending only $100 on return tickets to Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia. In Europe, you might use easyJet or Ryanair.

REMEMBER, FARES CHANGE ALL THE TIME

FOR DIFFERENT DATES

Since airlines often release deals on Mondays, by Tuesday, all the other airlines are scrambling to match those deals (Thank you invisible hand!). Expedia found that on average, flights booked on Tuesdays are up to $28 cheaper. Remember to also book early. Domestic flights are best booked up to 50-100 days in advance and for international flights, it’s best to book up to 150-225 days in advance.1

How do I live on the cheap? We’ve all got our own preferences. Here’s a list of options you can consider for a comfortable place to rest your head at night without having to field phone calls from your creditors.

1

First, check a hotel price aggregator to compare prices and get a general baseline for per night rates. I like using Trivago and then cross-checking reviews with TripAdvisor. However, be aware that many countries impose a room tax and these extra fees might not be shown until the final checkout.

2

Check out AirBnB. Rooms/Houses here are listed by owner and are generally nice, located conveniently, and within your set budget. (Fun Fact: I stayed in Montreal in a wonderful room for only $20/night)

3

Hostel is not exactly an accurate representation of a hostel. Hostels are clean and most importantly affordable. These days, staying in a hostel doesn’t necessarily mean you even have to stay in a dorm as private rooms are available and often much cheaper than a room you might find in a hotel.

4

Hotel Bidding: Let me be honest, it takes time and patience to do correctly. Especially in the United States, certain websites have popped up like Priceline that allows you to pick your own price. However, be careful. This option only really works if you’re ok with staying at any hotel Priceline picks for you within your dates of stay, zone, and quality preferences. This means that Priceline will give you a 4-star hotel in section A, but it might give you a 4-star hotel in the part of section A you don’t want to be in. In large metropolitan areas where there’s plenty of fast public transport though, this is OK. There’s a really handy guide here.

5

Exchange homes! Although you might get more traction if you live in a more desirable area (read: Paris, France not Paris, Texas) and you have to trust that the person you’re swapping homes will respect your home, this is a great option that is cheaper than renting out a hotel room and affords you use of the whole space. Love Home Swap membership fees starts at $20/month, which means that you pay $140 annually - that’s cheaper than a night at 3-star hotel in New York City.

6

. . . Or you can just house sit! Housesitting on websites like MindMyHouse will set you back about $20, but many homeowners are looking for house sitters provided that you pay the utilities and maintain the house to their liking. I’ve even found a luxurious house in France that’s all yours as long as you weed their garden!

7

Go CouchSurfing. Couchsurfing, while technically “free”, lets you stay with a local. However, be sure to help them out with the costs and spend time with them. It’s mostly a cultural exchange and you will learn a lot more about your destination with them than from Fodor’s.

8

Try your hand at working on a farm or just by working. Many sites offer accommodation and possibly board as well in return for work. The most popular ones include WWOOF and HelpX.

VISIT MUSEUMS ON FREE DAYS

While you would be remiss to ignore the museums while you’re traveling, it does come with quite a hefty price tag. If you’re smart and are doing some more long-term traveling, be sure to check the museum of your destination’s websites for “free days” and you can be saving yourself upwards from $20 each museum! Use our compilation of some of the world’ most famous museums as a quick cheat sheet.

MAKE USE OF TOURIST PASSES

If your itinerary is attraction-heavy, you may want to consider investing in a tourist card. While these can be very, very, very pricy – the amount of savings it provides might make it well worth it. However, the high price of tourist cards might push you to try to see all of the city in two days, which might mean that you’re missing out on the little things – like enjoying a cup of coffee at a Parisian café  or a New York Bagel simply because you can’t fit it into your four to five museums per day plan.

FLASH YOUR STUDENT ID CARD

Even if it’s been a long time since you’ve seen your alma mater’s hallowed halls, holding on to your ID can mean huge savings. Many cities offer students discounts to museums and attractions. You might even be able to enjoy a few euros off your gelato with a flash of your student ID.

COOK YOURSELF

If you are doing a more long-term stay, it might save you money in the long run to cook for yourself. Often times, it is much cheaper than eating out.

BUFFETS

While certainly not as fancy as the $100/head places where champagne flows freely and oysters abound, the $10-$15 joints will almost assuredly keep you full for at the least, a half day. These establishments are good places to carb up and often give you the most bang for your buck.

NEW RESTAURANTS & LUNCH SPECIAL

In a bigger city, it’s not unheard of that you might get a free meal as a way to get customers in the door for new cities. This might take some time and luck in order to find these deals, but once in a while, it’s a nice surprise. You can also always sample nice restaurant’s lunch specials as they are often the same meals that are served at dinner except for much less the price.

PENROADS

Penroads is a new social travel website that helps you find travel partners before you even get to your destination. On your own, you can share travel stories or participate in country-wide or hostel chat rooms. Together with the friends you meet on Penroads, you can start planning your trips together.

TINDER

Tinder is a backpacker favorite, the infamous “hookup app” is an easy way to meet people within a few  miles of yourself whether it be local, backpacker, or  normal traveler alike.

HOSTEL

Perhaps the most traditional way of making new travel friends is at the hostel itself. For the introverted, this might be a bit intimidating, but for the most part, the people at your hostel have the same goals as you, are genuine, and looking to be your future partners in crime.

   GOOGLE TRANSLATE

Google Translate is so smart that you can take pictures of words in foreign languages and it will translate it for you (works for Chinese and Korean as well!)

GOOGLE MAPS

Helpful in figuring out how to get somewhere even without data. You can download offline maps for later use in Google Maps.

     FLASHLIGHT

Having a flashlight app is useful when you have to wake up at 5 a.m. in a 6-person dorm room for your flight and wish to escape the wrath of five angry travelers.

    JETLAG ROOSTER

There are many of these calculators on the market and they’re pretty helpful in dealing with jetlag. Just input your trip information and it should work out a sleeping schedule for you to minimize jetlag.

GET VACCINATED

Do your research on the recommended and required vaccinations for the destination of your choice. It’s just one more precaution that can help ensure a better and unobstructed time on the road for yourself.

BE AWARE OF YOUR SURROUNDINGS

We often hear stories of people getting pickpocketed or at the extreme – never being found, but most of the time, this is preventable. Read up on common scams in the country of your choice. This doesn’t mean that you can’t trust any local, but take a healthy amount of skepticism until you can.

DRINK WITHIN REASON AND HAVE A BUDDY

No one is telling you not to drink, but it is no secret that that fermented seductress called alcohol can often lower inhibitions and if too much is consumed, can cause you to lose control of yourself or forget what is happening. Drink, but make sure that you are in good company. Drink, but make sure you have a friend or two who won’t let you wander off with that “nice man”. Drink, but be smart about it.

Thank you so much for reading this e-book and we hope that you have learned at least a thing or two. We are always looking for more tips and tricks that we can share with fellow travelers like you.

We want to hear from you so please e-mail us at hello@penroads.com.

Remember to sign up at penroads.com - we’ll send you a reminder when the next update is out!

Happy and safe travels everyone!

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