Planning Your Student Holiday - Our Top Tips! ✈️🌴
Round up your mates and get some sunlight, WITHOUT breaking the bank, with our top tips for planning your next student holiday!
Plan Ahead!
Planning ahead for your student holiday ensures that you can minimise stress as much as possible.
It's great to know in advance who’s going, where you're going and what you’ll need to bring.
Also, giving yourself time to check your passport is valid before you’re on your way to the airport is a must! Some countries won't allow travellers to enter their borders unless their passport has 6 months left on it, so make sure you check!
Pack (and weigh!) in Advance
Get a mini first aid kit and buy your sunglasses, swimsuits and SPF out-of-season, before they’re too expensive.
Travel minis can also be pretty costly, especially in airports and holiday destinations. Save a bit of cash by decanting your own travel minis!
You could also save on buying meal deals, by packing your own lunch and snacks for travel days.
If you’re flying, only bringing a carry-on is often cheaper, and if you’ve pre-packed you can weigh your suitcase prior to checking-in to avoid extortionate baggage fees.
Get Travel & Health Insurance
It might seem like a waste of money at the time, but travel insurance can cover you if you need to make cancellations, or if your belongings get stolen.
Alongside this, it's worth planning anti-theft strategies such as buying a money belt for carrying travel cash around, or padlocks for keeping your bag closed. Think about how you’ll keep your devices, ID and passports safe while travelling.
To help further prepare you for the unexpected, your UK Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC) gets you free/cheaper medical help if you need it!
Consider a Staycation…
With the UK weather finally warming up, why miss out on it? Holiday close to home with a staycation!
The UK has a variety of picturesque places you can visit like the Lake District, where you could go wild swimming, camping, hiking, or simply head to a cosy pub garden.
If a beach holiday is on your bucket list – but you're tight on travel funds – you could head to Formby beach, which is less than an hour’s drive from Salford.
Or why not have a city break and visit places like London, Leeds, Liverpool, Newcastle to soak up a bit of British culture and nightlife! You could even stay with a friend from uni!
Travel by Train
If you have a 16-25 Railcard, you can get a third of the price off every ticket you buy!
And if you have a Santander student account, they offer a free 16-25 Railcard so make sure you don't miss out.
You can split up your journey’s tickets to save money, through Trainsplit or Split-save. And speaking of trains...
Go Interrailing
Interrailing has almost become a student rite-of-passage, offering you the spontaneity of flexible travel dates so you can explore Europe as you please.
There's 2 main options – you can choose either a One Country Pass, or travel throughout Europe with a Global Pass.
Young Person discounts are available if you’re under 25, and there are a variety of different Interrail passes out there that come with discounts on local bus travel and accommodation. So with strategic planning, you can work out the cheapest pass for your planned destinations across Europe.
Stay in Hostels
Consider staying in hostels like YHA and HostelWorld to save on accommodation costs!
Youth Hostels Association has over 150 locations throughout England & Wales, and if you plan to travel outisde of the UK, Hostelling International provides access to more than 90 Youth Hostel Associations worldwide, with a total of over 4,000 hostels in 90 countries.
Plus, HostelWorld's new update lets you see who’s staying at the hostel before you arrive, so you can connect online with other travellers staying in the same area as you. Soon there's going to be an activities and events group, which lets you sign up to take part in activities with other hostel guests - from surf meets to bowling trips.
Not a fan of sharing? Some hostels offer the option to book a private room, which can be more budget-friendly than shelling out for a hotel room. Hostels usually offer self-catering kitchens, so you can save money by cooking meals for yourself while you’re away.
Make sure that you make the most out of student discounts, home or away. You can get a year-long ISIC (International Student Identity Card) with TOTUM, offering you extra student discounts on hotels, hostels, events and sightseeing across Europe!
House-Sitting/ House-Swap
Cut accommodation costs by house-sitting or swapping with a friend or family member, or find somewhere online!
Sites like Nomador and TrustedHouseSitters allow you to apply for free accommodation in exchange for you looking after someone’s house, pet-sitting or simply watering their plants. Pretty simple, right?!
Go Anywhere!
The modern-day answer to throwing a dart on a map and seeing where it takes you... Using sites like Skyscanner, Momondo, Google Flights and Jack’s Flight Club, allows you to filter flights to ‘anywhere’ from ‘cheapest first’, meaning you can find bargain flight tickets with ease.
This is the most spontaneous travel option and flights can be booked last-minute if you’re open to travelling wherever is cheapest.
Who knows, you could find the next hidden gem!
Comparison, ‘Cookies’ & Cashback
And finally, comparison sites for travel and accommodation allow you to see which companies are offering the best prices for your trip. Useful sites include Kayak, Trivago and DealChecker, but there’s plenty more out there.
Also, one of our top tips... use a private browser while on your holiday search so websites don’t use cookies to hike up the prices on a page you’ve visited before or a term you’ve recently searched (e.g ‘cheap flights to France.’)
On any bookings you make, use cashback sites like Quidco, Topcashback and Honey so you can earn back a percentage of your spendings and put it towards your next trip!
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