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Retirement means you have extra to travel to places that have long been on your bucket list. But now that your highest-earning years are in the rearview mirror, it’s important to enjoy your travels while also preserving your wealth.
Some people may think that means cutting back in the number of vacations you take. But there are smart moves you can make to travel without overspending.
Travel during the off-peak season
Travel costs are based on supply and demand, and if you are willing to avoid busy seasons, you can save significant amounts of money. Many vacation spots generate high demand in the summer, as well as during the holidays, but become more affordable in the late spring or early fall. (Though you should also try to avoid traveling during major holidays of those seasons like Labor Day and Memorial Day.)
The spring and fall can also come with warm, comfortable weather in many vacation spots.
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Swap homes and housesit
You can also save money by trading traditional accommodations with a home swap or housesitting gig. House swapping platforms such as HomeExchange connect homeowners with families who are traveling at the same time, while house sitting platforms like TrustedHousesitters can connect them to sitters. If you go the sitting route, you can get paid to watch over someone’s property (and their pets) for a few days in a new place.
However, you aren’t getting paid to be a tourist. Home sitters have to balance the responsibilities of the job with seeing the sights. But home sitting can also give you a more authentic experience of how locals live.
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Use your credit card points and loyalty programs
The best travel credit cards allow you to rack up points when you make purchases and redeem them for flights, hotels and other travel expenses. Some cards offer better rewards for specific spending categories, so make sure you compare the rewards programs of multiple travel credit cards before choosing one.
Airlines and hotel companies also offer loyalty programs that can give you extra deals for traveling with them more than once. If you live near an airport that’s the hub of an airline, like Delta’s hub in Atlanta or United Airlines’ in Chicago, it can make sense to book consistently with that airline, since you may also have more flight options.
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Pick the right destinations
The vacation destinations you choose also play a role in total costs. You’ll likely have to spend a lot more money for a one-week vacation in Manhattan, for example, than you may in Portugal, Mexico or Southeast Asia.
You can save even more money researching hotel prices before putting money down on a luxury property. Staying in a nearby suburb as opposed to a city can also help you save big.
In short, you can travel more than you think in retirement if you are intentional about where, when and how you travel.
