Travel to Europe on the Cheap

For most people, the biggest hurdle to traveling to Europe is the price tag. A combination of initiative and online research will prove most beneficial for keeping the cost of your trip down.

A basic way to financially plan a trip is to break the costs down in three ways:

1. Getting there
2. Traveling while there
3. Daily budget

Getting there and back will likely be your biggest overall expense. There is an old idea that buying your tickets months and months in advance will result in the cheapest ticket. This is no longer true. Once you decide you want to take a long trip, start doing research online for ticket prices and plan on purchasing your ticket one or two months in advance. Play around with dates, days and destinations. For example, it is nearly always cheaper to travel mid-week and you can often fly into a major hub for less. However, if you are planning on visiting Europe during the summer months, check prices online frequently, as you may find a great price deal.

There are still times when it is possible to receive a significant discount by buying a ticket far in advance, and this is when airlines do special price sales. In January, 2005, British Airways posted a special online, with a round-trip ticket from New York to London costing under $400. Tickets such as these often have a requirement as to when you leave, but are open on the return. With the ticket mentioned above, it was necessary to leave very early in the year, but it was possible to fly back during summer - peak (and most expensive) travel season. The lesson is this: if you see a great ticket special advertised, buy it if it fits with your travel dates - the cash you save on the ticket can allow you to travel for longer or to splurge a little while in Europe.