3 Pillars of Low-Cost Luxury Travel: Financial Strategies that Help Save Me Over 50% Off of Business Class Flights and Luxury Hotels

When I sit back and think about the things that have been most instrumental in keeping the costs of Luxury Travel Low for me, it really comes down to just three core things. In this blog post, I want to share with you the 3 strategies for low-cost luxury travel that have been an absolute game changer for me.

What exactly is the change? I’m so glad you asked!!! Lol! I have been able to travel 4 times as much as I previously did and I’m spending the same amount of money as (or sometimes less money than) I spent on travel beforehand. That’s right these strategies have saved me beaucoup bucks and I want to share them with you so you can share beaucoup bucks too.

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS LOW-COST LUXURY TRAVEL BLOG POST

TIMING OPTIMIZATION

It may not seem like a big deal but traveling during the right time can make a world of difference in finding good pricing for your vacations. For this reason, I schedule my vacations so that I’m traveling during the Shoulder Season or based off of flight deal alerts (for more info on which tools I use for Flight Deal Alerts, check out the blog post I wrote on my top performing FREE flight deal alert tools here).

The shoulder season is the time of the year when good weather and good weather meet. Traveling during this time of year saves you tons of money. Even better many of the activities that are generally available during the peak tourist season will still be available without the crowds. If you want a quick reference guide for the Shoulder Season in every country and territory in the world, click here.

ALTERNATIVE RESOURCE IDENTIFICATION

Multiplying how frequently I can travel by reducing the amount of cash I actually spend on travel, I must say is one of my favorite pillar of the 3 Pillars. That is why I think it is so important to make sure that you have a strong handle on the cash alternatives that you may have available to you for travel. Alternative resources are things such as membership benefits, discounts and points and miles or anything else other than cash that you can use to book travel. These are all things that you should make sure you have a good handle on to reduce the costs of travel if you are not already doing so.

If you want to use the same spreadsheets that I use to keep track of the alternative resources and get a better sense of how you can identify non-cash resources for travel, you should check out the Travel Becomes Me Guide to Travel Budgeting.

If you need help with taking your points and miles earnings game to the next level (including if you don’t want to use credit cards), you should check out the Points Earning Projection Workshop.

PREMIUM SERVICES FROM TRAVEL SERVICES PROVIDERS WITH LOW-COST MODELS

Now, this pillar has saved me on more than one occasion when I want to keep costs low but absolutely refused to doing anything less than a premium service. What I do is go to a hotel or airline that has a low-cost model and book their best (or second best) hotel or class of air service. Now in the interest of full disclosure when using premium services of low-cost travel services providers it is more like getting 4.5 star service rather than 5 star service but sometimes the 4.5 star pricing is worth it!

If you don’t have it already, you should check out the Travel Becomes Me 2019 Directory of Low-Cost Airlines. You get a FREE copy delivered directly to your inbox when signing up for our mailing list. You can sign up here.

NOW LET’S RECAP THE 3 PILLARS OF LOW-COST LUXURY TRAVEL!

Plan to travel during the Shoulder Season. Remember the Shoulder Season is the time of year when pricing is lower, weather is still good and activities are still plentiful. If you want a quick reference guide for the Shoulder Season in every country and territory in the world, check here.
Make sure you are using all of your available non-cash resources (Discounts, Membership Benefits, Points/Miles, etc.). Need some help with identifying and building non-cash resources for travel. You should check out the Travel Becomes Me Guide to Travel Budgeting or the Points Earning Projection Workshop.
Book Business or First Class or Hotel Suites and Villas with Travel Service Providers (with low-cost business models) to save money.

What are some of your favorite ways to keep Luxury Travel costs low?