5 Tips To Travel in Luxury On a Budget

Editor's note: Today, we welcome the latest addition to our growing blogger network, Nicole Connolly from the luxury travel blog Suitcase Stories. Nicole will share tips and tales, successes and setbacks from her two years on the road pursuing a full-time luxury life. Get caught up on her adventures on the Suitcase Stories blog.

I will admit it – I’m a bit of a ‘princess’ and I like to travel in style.  However, I do not have the bank balance of a royal so finding affordable luxury travel is something I have become quite good at.  Traveling in style doesn't mean that you have to sacrifice all of the extras just to get to the destination.

It is absolutely possible to experience a life of travel luxury while operating on a budget. Following are some of my best tips for doing just that, but these are just the tip of the iceberg. If you get creative there are many ways to stretch your traveling dollars.

Off Season Booking
This is perhaps one of the best ways to take full advantage of traveling like royalty. Many hotels offer discounted rates during slow seasons of help fill empty slots. Hotels typically like to operate at 80% capacity since this generates positive cash flow. As such, managers are constantly under the gun to ensure that the rooms are full. Use this to your advantage and plan accordingly. Just because it is summer in your part of the world does not mean that it is on the other side of the globe. You can get massive discounts as a result and still experience all of the allure that your exotic location has to offer.

Lunch Versus Dinner
This is one that many travelers seem to forget about. Booking your favorite must see restaurant for lunch rather than dinner can shave as much as 20 to 30 percent off your overall tab. Ask the restaurant if they offer any lunch specials. Most of them do and though the portions might be a bit smaller, you still get the same exquisite food that is served at dinner.

In addition, check with your hotel to see whether or not they offer a complementary breakfast. This is a great way to start your day and will usually carry you over to mid afternoon. From there, slip into your favorite restaurant just before the lunch specials expire and eat for the second time. Then, go back to your hotel for a complementary cocktail to serve as your nightcap.

Packages
Check the various travel sites to see if they are offering a deal that includes a hotel stay and airline tickets. Finding a packaged deal can save you serious dollars.  Often times, travel sites will also give away discounts or free tickets to major attractions in order to fill airline seats or empty hotel rooms.

If you are planning on seeing these anyway, it is a great way to save you hundreds of dollars on your pricey vacation. Timing is everything, so do a little research to make sure you are using every bit of your travel calendar to your advantage.

House Sitting
Imagine not having to pay for your room, or resort condominium during your stay. Well, as it turns out you can. House sitting is becoming one of the fastest-growing trends in luxury travel. People will actually let you stay at their properties for free in exchange for you doing minimal upkeep. Having someone on site means they don't have to worry about break-ins or other types of property damage.

In exchange, you get to use their house for free. Often times, these homes rival accommodations you would expect to find in swanky luxury hotels.  Some of our house sitting stints have included multi million dollar homes, beach houses, Caribbean dream homes and penthouse apartments.

There are several other creative ways to stretch your dollar that include discount tickets on public transportation, where to go to get the best exchange rates, and where to eat authentic food without paying tourist prices. A quick Internet search will yield many results.

Hopefully, the ones in this article have gotten your bargain hunting wheels turning. All that's left to do now is find the deals and discounts that best suit your travel needs. Happy hunting!