Wrote and edited: Yair Bar-Zohar

Date: 31.12.2004

You need to estimate your expenses in addition to the flight and hotel: food, public transportation, parks, and pick pocketing (sites you visit - museums, beaches, parks and more). 

Payment

Traveler's checks – the safest method for the long trip. These checks have insurance against loss and theft (you must keep the receipt and the serial numbers – or else you won't get your money back). The recommended type of traveler's checks is the "Thomas Kock" which can be converted to cash at any agency or bank. The signature on the checks needs to be identical to the signature on the passport.

Credit cards – not every location accept credit cards. It can be used as a voucher for many companies in case of a problem, and without a credit card you won't be able to make car rental, accommodations, and more. Also serves as a backup in case the cash or checks run out. Due to high fees, it's recommended to cash out big amounts of money.

Cash – money in cash doesn’t have any insurance in case of loss or theft, therefore you should only hold 20% of your estimated expenses in cash.

Car rental

Reserving a rented car at your home country is the cheapest way.

There are companies that give an upgrade automatically in one class.

In case you rent a car for a few days, check what is the price for a week, since in some cases the price will be cheaper, and also you'll need to find out when the branch you rent the car from close.

Check if there are rental companies that give cars with free GPS.

Don’t forget to bring back the car with a full tank, otherwise you will pay an expensive price for not filling.

Restaurants

Consult with the locals about where to eat. Usually the cheapest restaurants are located a few minutes walking away from the center and the hotels.

Breakfast served in Europe, usually include coffee and cake, and the price of a breakfast while you stand varies around 5 euro, while breakfast served around a table varies around 15 euro.

You can save money if launch becomes the primary meal of the day – in some countries dinner is considered to be the primary meal of the day. There are restaurants that offer business meals that include soup, salad, main course, dessert and a class of wine or beer, and all that costs about 8 euro per diner.

If the food is too heavy for you at lunch, you can receive lunch that consists of: wine, cheese and seasonal fruits.

Ask for the fixed menu, it will be cheaper than anything else.

Always ask for the local wine. The price is cheaper than a wine from a different area.

Beer from a barrel is cheaper than one from a bottle.

Drink from water jugs (only in places that water from the tap is allowed) – it's for free.

If you want to drink coffee or beer, you should drink at the bar and not around a table, it's cheaper.

Check if your check includes service. There is no need to pay for it twice.

At stores 

Its recommended to buy at stores that gives you back VAT. For more information: http://www.globalrefund.com .

Take in account that a product above 200 dollars requires tax.

If you know what you want to buy abroad, find out how much that item costs at home (you need to remember that foreign currency costs more).

Find out where the surplus stores are. They are usually located at the edges of the city.

Be sure to receive the buying receipt. There are some international companies that respect products bought abroad. Don’t be shy to bargain for the price. No one expects you to pay the initial price.

Museums  

Membership in the friend's union of the science and technology national museum gives many benefits, aside from the pleasure visiting the museum: free entrance to 536 museums and science centers around the world listed in the ASTC site.

The annual subscription fee: family subscription (including children till the age of 18) – 200 shekels, renewal – 180 shekels; single subscription – 130 shekels, renewal -120 shekels; pensioners, students and youth till the age of 18 subscription – 65 shekels, renewal – 60 shekels; single subscription in the "science flowers" union – 45 shekels, renewal – 40 shekels; family subscription in the "science flowers" union for owners of the above family subscription – 25 shekels, renewal 20 shekels.

For registration call: 04-8628111, extension 253, ask for shlomit or click here to apply in an email.

Coupons and tabs

http://www.destinationcoupons.com – here you can find free coupons to hotels, restaurants,etc. You only need to print the coupon at home and you can save quite a bit.

Inside the telephone books there are coupons to restaurants. It's worth a look.

When you arrive to the city, where you'll spend more than a day, it's recommended to go to the local tourism bureau and find out about deals and mostly ask them if they own discount coupons to the city's sites.

Take advantage of tabs designed for the locals only (for 24 hours, a few days, weekly or monthly). The price for the tourists is doubled and sometimes it's even tripled than to the locals.

For example:  http://www.ratp.com – tabs that combine discounts to museums, shops, travels (sometimes free) and more.

http://www.amsterdam.nl – in Amsterdam.

http://www.romacaputmundi.it – in Rome.

Remember that there is a significant discount for the golden age.

Before you travel to the United States, go to:

http://www.restaurant.com –order gift certificates to restaurants where you pass. There are discounts that reach up to 50 percent. You can also log in to eBay and buy certificates with discounts beyond 50 percent.

http://www.istc.org/sisp/index.htm - here you can find all the student's discounts.     

Transportation

It is recommended to travel by foot and thus save transportation expenses. There are cities that navigating inside them is very easy, such as: Venice, Amsterdam, Madrid, Vienne and more.

Traveling between cities and from airports – the cheapest way is with buses or trains.

Taxi drivers charge a high price and therefore it is recommended to order a taxi from a known company. In case you haven’t found one from a known company, don’t take a taxi that addresses you, you should address the taxi and sum in advance the price or ask to activate the counter (it's sometimes better). Don’t use service taxis from the hotel, they are very expensive.

Usually a daily ticket in the underground train is very cheap after 09:30, so start your trip as off that hour.

If you sleep around a big or central location, consider buying a ticket to the local transportation for a period of 3 days up to a week.

General

When you arrive to the city, where you'll be staying for more than a day, it is recommended to go to the local tourism bureau and find out about deals and mostly ask them if they own discount coupons to the city.

When you look for an accommodation in the big cities, consider finding one at the center of the city. The price might be higher, but it will save you a lot of money travelling, it's more comfortable and it save you valuable time (which equals to money).

In the United States, the prices that are shown are without VAT, so you'll need to take that in account when you go shopping. We also would like to mention that the VAT in the United States varies from one state to another.

If you have a membership card of a hotel that belongs to a network, you should join their trips' program, it's sometimes for free or at a low price. Moreover, there are bonuses, like upgraded rooms, free meals, fast checkout and more. All of these are without additional price.

It's cheapest to call home using a dialing card in a public phone, or from internet-café.

If you are a part of a discount club or a big workers union, you should check at the traveling agency if you deserve a discount. At flights, a 5 percent discount is usually accepted, and at hotels the discount can reach 10 percent.

When you receive cheap offers abroad, take in account that there are different additions that might make the price expensive and not worthy taken. For example: road taxes, additional driver, insurances, port taxes and more.

                                                                                           In many places around the world, there are attractions, and the popular ones are those you need to order a ticket months in advance. For example: Dully's house in Spain (north to Barcelona) - after a very long drive, without ordering in the internet, they simply wouldn’t let me in, due to high occupancy. Very not pleasant. You can save quite some money (euro/dollar) by ordering integrated tickets to attractions or use different coupons (which are given free at the hotel). This is very common in parks around the United States.

Weekend trips – not recommended because they waste time. In action, you get to be abroad between a day and a half, and two days. The solution, if possible, is to "steal" Thursday or Sunday. This solution is excellent for those who are unable to take longer vacations.

Towards any independent trip, you should be a member in the "AAA" if you fly to America or the "AA" if you fly to Europe. The owner of the card is entitled to significant discounts in: restaurants, motels, amusement parks, nature reserves and more. Also, you can enter each of the company's offices scattered all over the state and receive books and maps or assistance building a trip route, and all this for free after you show them your membership card.

In the United States:

AAA = AMERICAN AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION
In Europe:

AA= AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION

Links to those companies can be found here:
http://www.memsi.co.il/    http://www.aaany.com/

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