Travel presenter Samantha Brown shares her best tips for saving money on summer travel. Joey Hadden/Business Insider
Travel presenter Samantha Brown said the rising cost of travel meant people felt unable to travel.
Rising airfare prices and the rise of luxury travel can make your dream trip seem unattainable.
Brown recommends finding alternative destinations and adopting a new travel perspective.
People are finding the prices too high to travel.
Those are the words of Samantha Brown, an Emmy Award-winning travel host who has spent the past 20 years showcasing local destinations on a variety of television shows from PBS to the Travel Channel.
With airfares rising and luxury travel on the rise, it’s no wonder that more and more people feel like their dream trip is out of reach.
But it doesn’t have to be that way.
According to Brown, you can still have a great vacation without spending a lot of money — it’s all about finding worthy alternatives to pricey destinations, hotels, and activities, and shifting your perspective.
Don’t worry about where other people are going.
A woman takes a selfie on a yacht. Kamon Supasawat/Getty Images
“I think the biggest mistake people make with travel is thinking the only way to have an amazing experience is to go to all the popular destinations they see on Instagram,” Brown says, “but when you look at social media, everyone is going on super luxurious, expensive trips.”
Instead of trying to travel to faraway destinations on a budget just to keep up with influencers and travel trends, plan your trip based on what you can comfortably afford, even if the destination isn’t too far from home.
“You don’t have to go to big theme parks or pay hundreds of dollars for hotels,” she says. “When I was a kid, I would take long trips in my station wagon, pack a cooler with bologna sandwiches, bring my dog ​​Gidget, and stay in little motels along the way. And I still love that.”
Consider cheaper alternatives to the popular spots on your bucket list.
Montreal and Paris are similar destinations. Joey Hadden/Business Insider, Corderal/Getty Images
A trip to Europe might not be on your budget this year, especially if you’re hoping to visit Paris, host city of the 2024 Summer Olympics. But you don’t have to cross the Atlantic to experience Europe. Instead, consider Montreal, a French-Canadian city that Brown says has a similar look and feel to Paris.
“Montreal is one of the best cities in the world,” she says. “It’s a 400-year-old city that gives you that European feel at half the cost.”
Take advantage of public spaces and events.
Berlin cityscape. Joey Hadden/Business Insider
If you’re looking for a full-day activity without spending too much, Brown suggests visiting cities and exploring public spaces and local events.
“Cities have great free events throughout the summer, like concerts and plays, and many have great water parks for kids,” she says. “I love places that don’t cost anything and everyone can hang out together.”
Brown especially enjoys walking around with her children in cities like New York and Amsterdam.
“We take our backpacks and our packs and our sandwiches and go on what we call an urban hike, and we just go and see what we find,” she said.
Skip the resort and cool off at a public pool.
Brown is cooling off in a pool in Europe. Courtesy of Samantha Brown
To save money on lodging and activities, especially if you’re traveling with kids, Brown suggests skipping resorts and cooling off at public pools, especially if you’re in a city outside the US, she says.
“And the European ones are phenomenal,” she added.
In 2022, the BBC reported that some of the world’s best public swimming pools are in Iceland, Sweden, Germany, and the US cities of Austin and Los Angeles.
Brown said she uses Google Maps to find public pools in her area.
“I look for little blue squares or rectangles. That’s a public pool,” she told BI. “Kids are usually free, sometimes adults are $5, and you get to use this amazing pool.”
She especially enjoys that spending time at the public pool allows her children to meet kids from other countries.
“I don’t like staying at luxury resorts where not everyone gets to enjoy the benefits,” she added.
Book a flight that no one wants.
A screenshot from Google Flights shows cheap flights between New York and Miami on Tuesday and Wednesday morning. Google Flights
Brown says that if you want to save the most money on airfare, you need to choose the least desirable flights.
Brown told BI that she typically books flights on Mondays and Tuesdays, saving 20 to 30 percent on ticket prices.
“This is especially true for international flights,” she added.
Brown said that for domestic travelers, the earliest flights of the day are cheaper and less likely to be delayed.
“It’s a flight that nobody wants to wake up on, but it’s a flight that you absolutely must be on,” she said. “It’s a flight that leaves on time.”
According to Expedia’s 2023 Air Travel Hacks report, flights departing after 3pm are 50% more likely to be delayed.
“You’ve spent a lot of money on this trip, and if your flight doesn’t leave, the next three or four days could be rough,” Brown said. “So, get up at 4 a.m. It’s going to be tough, but it’s definitely going to be worth it.”
For more ways to save money on summer travel, check out Brown’s summer travel trends report in partnership with Klarna.
