Don't go broke abroad

How to go abroad without going broke! ...by Josh Wolff

"Please send more money." 

Some study abroad students make this request over the phone.  Others ask their parents by email.  One of my travel buddies even used a postcard.  But everyone asks.

And usually, travel is the culprit.  International students are uniquely positioned to take advantage of travel opportunities: most have long weekends, few have exceptionally difficult course loads, and almost all are surrounded by peers who also possess a burning desire to see the world.  In many study abroad destinations- Europe especially- dozens of foreign countries are a short flight away.  Yet for almost every student traveler, money eventually becomes a major limiting factor.  The expenses of plane tickets and lodging quickly add up, stranding even the most passionate of jetsetters.  For those who can plan ahead and still remain flexible, discount airlines and hostels are the best ways to stretch a travel budget.

Discount Airlines

An international student who travels on weekends will spend half their budget just getting to their destinations.  If you do nothing else to conserve travel funds, fly on a discount airline.   These airlines are typically about half the price of a mainstream airline.  If you use them wisely, you can save money while still maintaining an enjoyable travel experience; they are ideal for the flexible international students.

How can budget airlines provide such low fares?  Most importantly, they avoid high runway taxes by flying into smaller airports than mainstream airlines do.  Airlines pay a fee, a runway tax, for every plane that touches down on the tarmac.  The fee increases with the popularity of the airport, and so discount airlines purposefully land at smaller, more isolated airports in order to avoid the astronomical fees of airports such as Heathrow and JFK.  These savings are then passed down to ticket-buyers.  Additionally, discount airlines often use only one plane model in order to simplify maintenance and training.  The planes rarely contain reclining seats- which allows for the maximum number of passengers- and they do not serve free meals.  They do, however, allow you to take food on the plane (provided it's in accordance with airport security rules).  Finally, most of them sell advertising space.  Some discount airplane interiors are plastered with advertisements, and some airlines even sell lottery tickets.

How does all of this affect your travel experience?  Because discount airlines fly into small, isolated airports, you'll usually need to take a bus or train from the airport to your destination city.  For example, Ryanair (a popular European discount airline) flies into London's Stansted airport.  While the more mainstream Heathrow airport is a twenty minute tube ride from central London, Stansted is a one hour bus ride.  Nevertheless, for the typical international student, this is not a problem but rather an opportunity to take a cheap bus ride through England.  The trick is to research ahead of time the best way to get from the discount airport to your destination.  Discount airlines can stretch your travel budget considerably, provided you plan ahead.

Hostels

Just as discount airlines are an economical travel alternative, hostels provide flexible international students with a great way to see the world for less money.  A hostel is a lodging whose quality falls between a dormitory and a hotel.  Typically, guests stay in a large, multi-bunked room with anywhere from five to twenty other travelers.  The size of the room- and degree of privacy- is correlated with price.  Each hostel will usually have a large 15 or 20 person room which is the cheapest room to rent a bed in.  Often, beds in these rooms are as cheap as $15 per night.  Whether these group sleeping rooms are coed or single-sex differs from place to place.  Most hostels will also offer more private rooms- 4 person rooms, for example- which will cost anywhere from $25 to $40.  Finally, some hostels offer private rooms.  These rooms, though still cheaper than an average hotel room, might be $40 per night or more.

Not surprisingly, a 15 bed hostel room can be noisy.  People will shuffle in from the bars for many hours after midnight, and alarms will ring as early as six or seven in the morning.  It is surprising, though, how quickly a traveler adjusts to these noises.  Nevertheless, it would be a mistake to check into a hostel without a pair of earplugs and a bottle of Tylenol PM. 

Like discount airlines, hostels rarely give anything away for free.  Expect to pay a reasonable fee (one or two Euros) to rent towels and sheets.  Most hostels now offer free wifi, and many also have computers you can pay to use.  These provide you with a convenient method to book your next flight or accommodation (assuming you are able to print your boarding pass and reservation receipt). 

The easiest way to book a bed in a hostel is to reserve it online with a credit card.  There are a variety of websites - hostelworld.com and hostels.com are the most widely used - on which you can compare prices and availability for hostels in any city around the world.  Try to book your bed up to three weeks before your trip, five weeks if your trip falls on a national holiday (for example, if going to Ireland for St. Patrick's Day).  Nevertheless, spontaneous travelers should take heart; at any time, in any city, there is a spare bed in a hostel somewhere.

Rarely are we presented with such an incredible opportunity to travel as we are while studying abroad.  For many of us, it's a last chance to travel every weekend or for a month straight before we head out into the real world of full time jobs and excruciatingly  few vacation days.  Still, it's painful to arrive back from a weekend trip, look at your bank statement, and realize you blew through three week's worth of table-waiting wages in a mere two days.  It's painful to try to buy a slice of pizza in Venice, or a bottle of wine in France, or a dumpling in China, only to find out that your credit card has been maxed out.  So long as you can plan ahead and remain flexible, taking advantage of discount airlines and hostels can help minimize that pain. 

Josh Wolff has recently graduated from the University of Vermont and is looking forward to traveling abroad in the future