How To Cut The Costs Of Pre-Trip Expenses Before A Long Trip

Last Updated: December 9 2020

When people think of traveling, they think of pristine beaches, lots of sun and plenty of nice food. People tend to forget the annoying aspects such as travel vaccinations, and travel insurance which can often turn out to be some of the most expensive parts of a trip. Here is a breakdown of some of our pre-trip expenses including pre-booked flights, travel insurance and other expenses. In this post we will give some tips on cutting the cost of pre-trip expenses to give you more money to spend on your travels!

Pre booked flights:

London – Singapore: £520 for both of us.
Singapore – Bali: £193 for both of us.

These are the two sets of flights that we pre-booked before we left. Depending where you’re going flights can be very expensive. Going to Asia from the UK is a fair trek and prices can be pretty steep. However there are certain ways to get a better deal.

When you’re looking to book your flight, the key thing is to make sure you look around. Definitely don’t just book the first flight you see. We found the best way to compare prices was online through sites such as skyscanner and not through a travel agent. This is because comparison sites such as skyscanner show you different airlines for your destination.

One of the best ways to get around high prices is to search for other airports in your country rather than your local airports to see if the prices are any cheaper. Our local airports are Liverpool and Manchester, but when going from London it was much cheaper. Of course we had to get transport down to London which cost us an extra £65 for the two of us. However even with that added cost it still saved us a lot. If you are doing it this way make sure you are getting to the airport the cheapest way. For example we decided not to get the train and got the coach instead. It was a lot longer but it was also a lot cheaper.

Travel Insurance:

Joint travel insurance cost: around £170
Camera insurance: around £35

This is another aspect where you could save a lot of money if you just have a look around. The first quotes we were getting were around £200 at least. We managed to find a good quote which cost us around £170 for the two of us. Just bear in mind what type of cover you are going for, and make sure any extra items are covered for. These can include sports equipment or gadgets. We ended up buying our camera insurance separately so that it worked out at a better price.

Make sure you look at the type of cover options available to you. You can buy insurance as a couple but this wouldn’t have worked for us as we don’t live at the same address. You can also buy insurance as a friends package but we’re not too sure how that works. Also make sure you read the small print. Just because an insurance company is really cheap doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best option for you. If you’re not too sure on the wording of things get someone reliable to help you go through it. In our case Jacks mum haha because we had no idea about some of the finer insurance details.

 Travel Vaccinations:

Abbies vaccination cost: around £180
Jacks vaccination cost: around £380

There is a big reason that Jacks costs were so much more expensive than mine. That is because most of my vaccinations were covered under the NHS (the UK health scheme). I only had to pay for my rabies jab privately which was optional and a £20 admin fee for the paperwork. Jacks doctors however had stopped giving that service meaning he had to pay a huge amount. The cost of Jacks vaccination equated to around 4 weeks of travel. If you want to learn more about how to sort out your travel vaccinations easily click here.

Backpacks:

Joint cost: £320

Although this is another big cost, it is probably one of the most important things to think about when travelling. A backpack is not one of the things you want to cheap out on. You have to remember you are going to be carrying it on your back when you move to another destination, on public transport, in 30C heat and in the rain. They need to be able to take the weight effectively and not cause a strain on your back. If you skimp out on costs here you could cause a strain on your back within the first week. That means no more hikes and adventures for you.

If you can go shopping with somebody who can help you see a good deal, do it! We went with Abbies uncle who loves all things outdoors and knows the best outdoor brands. This made it so much easier because in all honesty we had no clue what we were looking at.

To make the costs cheaper, shop around and look for deals. Most the stores we looked at had very similar prices, so we decided to have a quick look online. We looked at GoOutdoor and found they had a really good deal where we could save money off our backpacks. All you had to do was sign up for a £5 yearly membership card to get multiple discounts off items in store and online. We saved around £65 doing it this way which is a week’s accommodation in Asia.

Pre-booked accommodation:

Singapore 5 nights: £72
Bali 3 nights £34

Usually we only book our accommodation a few days before moving onto that destination. This gives us time to change our minds if we want to and also figure out the best route. However when you first get to your destination, you may want to book the first week or two to give yourselves piece of mind. We booked the first 8 nights of accommodation before we left the UK so we didn’t have to worry about finding a place to stay when we arrived.

Our first 5 nights in Singapore was so expensive compared to every other place we have stayed. Costing £74 for two dorm beds is a lot, when you can get double rooms with breakfast for half of this in Bali. Singapore is a very expensive place compared to countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia so keep this in mind. You may have to pay over the odds during your stay here.

We booked our accommodation in Singapore quite late because we didn’t know exactly when we would be flying out due to the issues with Jacks travel vaccinations. If you know when you are going book the accommodation as soon as possible. We found as we got closer to our departure date the prices just went up.

We generally use booking.com to book our accommodation, and then check reviews on tripadvisor just to make sure you will get what you’re paying for. A good thing about booking.com is that the more you use it, the more discounts you get thanks to the genius member scheme.

Other expenses:

So if all of these expenses don’t sound enough haha you may also need to think of other expenses. These include suitable clothing, suitable footwear and toiletries.

Clothes are pretty cheap to buy in Asia, especially in the markets. A way to lower the cost of clothing is to pack less and buy clothing while you are out here.

Toiletries are also readily available in most areas but some are more expensive than others. We recommend bringing at least one bottle of sun cream, after sun and insect repellent with you. We tended to find these items were a lot more expensive in some areas in Asia than at home. This is because people will always need sun cream in a country with 30C heat.

We also invested in a good camera and tripod before we left for our journey. This is because we wanted to get nice photos of the two of us in places, and we got a tripod because there isn’t always someone around you can ask.  Obviously this isn’t a must, it’s just something we wanted to bring with us.

We hope this has helped you realise what your pre-travel costs may include and how cutting the cost of pre-trip expenses can be easier than you think!

P.S if you are interested in getting more travel trips follow our Pinterest at:
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/acouplescalling/

Thanks,

Jack & Abbie.