Travelling can be an expensive hobby. It’s such an enjoyable lifestyle however that people do it anyway. Whether it is a yearly month around Europe or 6 months a year on the other side of the world, the costs can add up. It could even be that you end up doing around 6 or 7 long weekends away. It depends on work, how much annual leave you acquire, and quite simply whether you can afford it. Don’t worry though, here are a couple of ways you can cut the costs if you are a regular traveller.

Look for annual savings

In every way of life, the more regularly you do something, the more likely it is that you can find cheaper options. Take commuting on the train as an example. If you know that you are going to be travelling every day into the city for 5 days a week, you can buy a train season ticket. For most commuters this will tend to work out cheaper than buying a weekly or daily train ticket.

It’s not just trains though; it can be the same for car park tickets and even airlines offer some sort of cheaper fee if you are a regular flyer. For example, there are frequent flyer points which allow you to claw some money back for the constant trips you make. Following on from the annual cost cutting theme, if you are regularly going abroad, whatever way you take a trip you will need to be covered. Another way to lower costs is to look into annual travel insurance. All of these little tips not only save you money, but they also say you time and stress, as you are not having to rebook every time.

Sign up to newsletters

Okay this may not sound the greatest or most thrilling idea, but it honestly works. A lot of the population actually spend half the time unsubscribing from emails. But actually, in amongst the emails you don’t want to read, there are usually some hidden gems. In the same way a clothing company will let you know about any deals which are 10%, 20% or even 30% off, airline companies and travel enthusiasts will send you deals you simply cannot miss out on.

One quick search on the internet and you can find a lot of travel sites who source the web looking for deals. They then send you an email letting you know which tickets are cheap and when the prices are expected to rise. Make sure you don’t miss out on Virgin Australia’s Thursday Happy Hour promotion or Jetstar’s Friday Frenzy. In the same way you’ll take advantage of the latest ASOS sale, take advantage of cheaper flights.

Think about accommodation

Sometimes, hotels can be just too expensive. If you’re a constant traveller then the costs will add up. Fortunately, there are now more flexible solutions that you can look into. Companies like Airbnb are a great way to ensure you can get affordable accommodation and really feel like you are living locally.

If you do rent a home for a week or a night, then the accommodation is already made for you. There’s internet, a kitchen, bedrooms and access to pretty much anything. It just makes sense to live a local for however long you are there for. It’s also cheaper and is a great way of cutting costs.

All in all, you just need to look at the bigger picture. If you know you have a few trips booked within the next year, then looking at flexible, annual options that insurance companies and travel organisations will provide. It saves money but it also saves time.