Money-saving tips for traveling abroad—see the world without breaking the bank!

Four Mommy

This first encounter with Minister Bear actually happened in Taiwan, haha!

Back then there weren’t so many budget airlines, and the farthest our family could go was Hong Kong. I really wanted to visit Japan, so we could only live vicariously through free travel fairs—pretending we were in Shizuoka, wow!!

But ever since budget airlines became popular, traveling abroad as a family has become an achievable dream. Aside from occasionally earning airline miles with credit cards for free Cathay Pacific tickets, the most commonly used option now is budget airlines.

So far, I’ve bought one-way Tokyo trips for under 4,000 NT per person, a winter Kansai trip for six people at 29,000 NT total, a spring cherry blossom trip for two at 8,500 NT, and a summer Hakodate trip for five people at 19,000 NT. Almost the same price as a high-speed rail ticket, yet we get to explore so much of Japan. Isn’t that exciting?

Actually, I don’t even get the absolute cheapest deals, because with four kids, I have to spend a bit more on seat selection, and I can’t take the very early or very late flights, so my prices are a little higher even within the budget airline range.

But when buying tickets, you don’t need to get the absolute cheapest—just grab a price that makes you happy, and don’t overthink it!

SoBefore every ticket purchase, I roughly check backpacker forums or other flight comparison websites to get an idea of the general price range, set a mentally acceptable price for myself, and if a good deal comes up, I go for it!

Use Facebook too—follow all the budget airlines you’re interested in, such as Scoot, Vanilla Air, Peach, and Tigerair. Then I also follow some bloggers who are great at sharing flight deals, like Lao Tian Naozhe Wan and 943 Value-Sharing Group. Have your available time slots, acceptable price range, and passport info ready at all times. As soon as you see a special offer, jump on it—orbook right when the budget airlines first release their seasonal tickets, which are usually the cheapest.

1. Once booked, it’s not recommended to make changes, becausethe change fee is often more expensive than the ticket itself, so if you’re someone whose plans are uncertain and prone to changes, it might be better to skip trying to grab cheap budget flights, as the overall cost could end up being higher!

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2.Budget airline seats are more cramped, many even lack jet bridges, or have boarding gates in extremely remote locations, orthere’s also a higher chance of flight delays or cancellations.

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If none of these bother you, and you can enjoy the thrill of scoring deals, then come join the big world of budget airlines!

Although every trip abroad is tiring and costs money, after several of these trips, I’ve accumulated a lot of wonderful memories. Memories are priceless, and the experience of exploring the world with the kids will be the most treasured savings we share.

And also, it’s not just traveling abroad that’s fun—Four Mommy also introduces cool spots in Taiwan. Whether you’re traveling abroad or staying local, the key is spending quality time with the kids!

[Women and Kids] Authorized reprint. Original article from [Four Mommy Loves Sharing: Money-Saving Tips for Booking Flights When Traveling Abroad—Even Big Families Can Travel the World!!]