Budget-Friendly Trip Planning in 5 Simple Steps: Choosing a Cost-Effective Travel Destination
Discovering Affordable and Exciting Travel Destinations with Google Flights
Travelling without a fixed destination in mind can lead to exciting new experiences, and one author has mastered this approach, using Google Flights to find affordable and interesting destinations.
The first step is to visit Google Flights and enter your home airport, leaving the destination field blank or selecting the "Explore" feature. This will display a world map with flight prices to various destinations, allowing you to see the cheapest options for your travel dates or budget.
By inputting your preferred travel dates or setting flexible dates, you can widen your options. You can then freely browse and click on any destination to see more details. To narrow down searches, use filters to match your preferences for budget, trip duration, regions, non-stop flights, or airlines.
Google Flights also offers additional features like the date grid and price graph to find cheaper travel dates around your planned trip, while the multiple origin/destination search helps discover more possibilities. You can also set price alerts to be notified when prices drop for destinations you find interesting.
After reviewing flight prices and itineraries, the author decided on Halifax, Nova Scotia, as their first destination. They repeated the process to search for 1 or 2 additional potential destinations, such as Alaska and Mexico.
To find things to do in Halifax, the author simply searched "things to do in Halifax, Nova Scotia" on Google. For top activities, they turned to Viator.com, where they found Peggy's Cove and a boat tour to be interesting options.
The author's process for booking a trip without a predetermined destination in mind consists of 5 steps:
- Visit Google Flights and explore potential destinations.
- Find a destination by searching for 2 to 3 options for the desired dates.
- Research things to do in the chosen destination.
- Book the trip using rewards points or discounted gift cards, if possible.
- Organize the trip using a trip organizer app, such as Tripcase or Tripit.
The author has several hotel rewards currency resources, including certificates from IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card, Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card, and Marriott Bonvoy-branded cards. They book the trip using Membership Rewards points from American Express, earning a 35% points rebate. For the Westin hotel in Halifax, they used discounted Marriott gift cards to offset the price.
The author values Marriott Bonvoy points at about 0.7 cents each and finds that booking a trip without a predetermined destination can be thrilling and allows for exploring new places and experiences. Google Flights' Explore section is designed exactly for travelers without fixed destinations looking for inspiration and affordability.
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