Most often when we travel, we get too excited and we unconsciously spend more than we can afford. This is the reason why there is a need for you to do a conscious effort to negotiate prices when you travel abroad. In this way, instead of spending more, you will be saving money at the end of the trip.
The following are tips on how to negotiate prices:
1. Travel Agent
If you are using the services of a travel agent and you are going to travel abroad in a group of 10 or family of 5, ask your travel agent if the total amount can be reduced to a certain percentage since you are going out with a number of people. Do not demand too much, be sure that the price off that you are asking is reasonable and fair enough for you and to the agent as well. Most often, there will be a discount if you are going in a group of people.
2. Fare
When it comes to plane tickets, this is not really more of negotiating the price since you can not do that with big airline companies but what you can do to save money is this. Do a phone call, talk to a customer representative and ask how much would it cost you for one plane ticket and then put the phone down. Ask your partner to call the airline company at his or her office and ask how much would be the total amount to pay for 5 plane tickets. Then, do the math and discover which you can save more, buying the tickets individually or in bulk.
3. Accommodation
About 40-50% of your total budget goes to accommodation, with this you want to be wise enough to pick a good accommodation that can offer you the best price. If you are taking a vacation for 7 days, then ask for a discount since you will be staying for 7-days and not for the night only. Some hotels do offer discounts for longer stays. All you need to do is do a phone call and that’s it.
4. Souvenirs
If you are buying souvenirs in a stall, you can ask the seller how much he is selling the item and then, you can start negotiating the price if you are buying in 10s, 20s, 30s, etc.
There you have it tips that you can use to negotiate prices, all it takes is doing a phone call or a one-on-one talk with the manager. It does not hurt if you are going to talk to them and be sincere about it. Chances are they will give you discounts and price off but of course not all the times when you negotiate it would be a yes.
