How to go on vacation. Routes for those who are afraid to fly. Useful phone numbers

In one of the publics in in social networks, one of those who publish philosophical parables for middle managers, I came across a rather plausible story of one person. He voluntarily wandered for 20 years without a cent in his pocket, and at the same time traveled all over the world. Can't believe it? Me too. I don’t know how to travel completely free. But I can tell you how to do it as cheaply and interestingly as possible, without tour operators and vouchers.

There are plenty of ways to save money while traveling. I have distributed them according to the tasks facing each traveler and according to the degree of extremeness. The risk here is inversely proportional to the price: the cheaper it is, the more adventurism will be required of you on the road.

Quest No. 1: get there

Level one, for beginners: traditional low-cost airlines; reserved seat carriages, where at the last moment you are always happy to offer the best place, 38th, on the upper side of the toilet; electric trains in which you can ride like a hare, if you know how; night intercity buses, which also help you save money on overnight stays, and so on. The entire wide range of budget vehicles is at your fingertips. Here you risk nothing but your comfort. Such transport, of course, can save costs, but it will not make a difference if the final goal is almost free travel.

Level two, for advanced. In many countries, especially in Europe, communities of travel companions have been developed - sites like roadsharing.com (even in Yekaterinburg there was a “podozilka” project, which, however, did not take root very well). Here you can find a driver with a car, people who need to get to the same point as you, share the cost of gasoline with them and have a nice chat on the road.

“I used this method to get from Berlin to Prague,” says Dasha, a Russian student from the Czech Republic.

– There were some pennies in my pocket, we were traveling in a car with three Italians and a German. We communicated in “intuitive English”, which I had completely forgotten then, and shared our impressions

Finally, the third level, for the brave in spirit: hitchhiking, a method glorified by the beatniks in the 50s of the last century, which for many has become almost the meaning of life. There is an opinion that this dangerous way travel, suitable exclusively for athletic men. Olya, a 22-year-old student at Moscow State University, debunks stereotypes with her story:

— When I hitched a ride for the first time, I was 15 years old. We went with my seventeen-year-old friend, whom we met at a summer science camp for schoolchildren. We told our parents that we were going to summer school, and we rushed to Altai, watch full solar eclipse. This was, of course, just an excuse to travel. We got to Novosibirsk in three days - it was very hot and we didn’t feel like eating at all, we only bought water. The drivers were not surprised by our age; they treated us very well and fed us. We spent the night in truckers' cabins and in a tent.

We arrived in Novosibirsk at night and set up a tent in some vacant lot in the city center. In the morning it turned out that this was someone's garden.

We lived in a tent in botanical garden and went to brush our teeth at the local museum, which is free for schoolchildren. And then they went to the mountains. There we lived in a tent for about a week, cooked over a fire and immersed ourselves in nature. When it was raining, I read Remarque aloud, and my friend braided my hair. Braided 64 pieces. Then it turned out that we had about a hundred rubles left between us, and we went back. The return journey took about four days. The drivers fed us, although we didn’t tell them anything about the lack of money.

In fact, it’s impossible to describe - how you stand on the highway, wave your hand and sing, how you ride in the high cab of a truck, listening to “Radio Chanson”, the murmur of truckers’ radios and their bikes, how you understand that money is not needed at all, because the world is good

— Since then I have not been afraid of hitchhiking. I have traveled this way in more than 15 countries. I’ve never been in a dangerous situation, but I always carry pepper spray with me just in case. More likely from suspiciousness. Going alone is also not bad - it usually turns out faster, and the drivers treat you more kindly.

Quest No. 2: get some sleep

Level one, low-budget: hostels. This is the way that even your parents will agree to. A bed in a common room and a shower on the floor will cost several times less than hotel room, and if the hostel is good, then in addition to this you will get free internet, hosts, great those who know the city, a stand with maps and a kitchen where you can cook your own food instead of spending money in cafes. If you're lucky, you'll find interesting neighbors. Although once I lived in a room with an 80-year-old grandmother, who came to Kyiv for treatment, went to bed at 9 pm and filled all the shelves with pills. Also interesting, of course, but a little not what I expected.

Level two, free: couchsurfing. A community of people around the world who are ready to receive guests “for nothing”, because it’s interesting and they want live communication. A great way to make new friends and get to know your destination better. Ekb Room tried this method on myself - you can read about the pros, cons and pitfalls here: http://site/v-poiskah-divana/

Level three, extreme: the house is on your shoulders. If couchsurfing doesn’t work out for you, you can always drive away from the city, pitch a tent and spend the night wrapped in a warm, cozy sleeping bag. There are, of course, some subtleties here. In Russia this will not always be possible due to climatic conditions. What kind of tent is it if it’s winter in the Urals for seven months - your own unfrostbitten feet are still more expensive than a night in a hostel. In Europe, in most cases you will have to pay to set up a tent on a neatly trimmed lawn with an equipped toilet and shower, and you may be fined for parking in the wrong place. In Asian countries, on the contrary, according to stories, you can even pitch your tarpaulin house in a park in the middle of the city - no one will say a word to you.

One traveler I know told me how in Africa they slept in a tent almost next to the road, and when they opened their eyes in the morning, they were met by a crowd of armed aborigines, whose appearance somehow did not encourage pleasant conversations. So it’s better to find out from the locals in advance how things are with camping in a particular country. Or buy a trailer-house on wheels, but this is no longer about free travel.

Quest No. 3: eat and have fun

If you ask the locals, google it thoroughly, or be a little smart, you can do anything for free. Even in big tourist cities aimed at extracting money from visitors.

Pay for excursions, for example, (and even more so, buy sightseeing tours) – the last thing, in my opinion. What could be worse than, for a decent amount of money, finding yourself in a crowd of Russian tourists, led by a boring tour guide running past postcard attractions, interspersing all this with boring facts from Wikipedia? It is much more convenient to take a good guide map or wander around the city at random. Even better is to ask one of the locals to show the city “from their point of view.”

You can get into numerous museums much cheaper with various benefits, and if they don’t exist, you can convincingly portray them. For example, we tell Russian museum grandmothers with honest eyes that we are students in the Czech Republic, but they don’t issue student cards there. Also, in many cities, once a week or month there is something like an open day, when entry is free for everyone. Even the above-mentioned excursions can be listened to for free, simply by quietly following the tour group, which honestly paid for it.

It's easy to save a decent amount on moving around the city. IN major cities Western countries there is a so-called bike sharing: you can rent a bike for a small amount, with a deposit for documents, or even completely free if you return it vehicle in safe. It’s also a good idea to immediately find out from the locals how safe it is to ride a hare in public transport, whether the fines are high and how to avoid them: crawling under the turnstiles or pretending to be a law-abiding girl from the Institute of Noble Maidens.

Free food is often included with your overnight stay: good-natured and hospitable hosts, even if they don’t show you miracles national cuisine, then a cup of tea with a sandwich will definitely not be denied. Another thing is that you often don’t want to abuse hospitality, and it’s easier to buy a pack of pasta at the local supermarket or bake potatoes in the fire - depending on where you are staying. Particularly resourceful people are looking for freebies in big cities: Tastings in stores, free beer snacks in bars, drinking fountains with water and even free tea and coffee machines can be found here and there. In general, you won’t die of hunger.

The most useful thing about traveling is learning to trust people and making casual acquaintances. This is a lifesaver that helps everywhere. Once, for example, during the seven minutes we spent on the ferry on the way to the Baltic Spit, we met a wonderful woman photographer who completely disinterestedly gave us tea and gave us a jar of jam to take with us, showed us all the most interesting things in the area, and offered her own bikes for a ride and spent a long time trying to persuade us to stay overnight with her.

Bonus for the determined: turtle teams and strawberries

There are dozens of programs according to which, with only a foreign passport and a fair amount of adventurism, you can travel around the world, starting with the well-known “Work and Travel” and ending with volunteering from the UN in some Sudan. In England, there are free weekend trips - people of similar interests unite using a website, choose a route and go on a hike. You can visit the coasts for free Pacific Ocean In exchange for the simple work of preserving turtle populations, the site seaturtles.org recruits volunteers.

There is, for example, the WWOOF project - “Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms.” Under this program, volunteers work for a farmer for no more than six hours a day, and in return they are provided with housing and food. The organization exists in 53 countries around the world.

“I went to Finland five times to pick raspberries, strawberries and all sorts of different berries on farms,” Lena from Petrozavodsk told me. - I really liked it. Not only did the owners provide us with housing, it was also a good source of income. The job, of course, is not for everyone, but it is interesting. Many Russians go there every summer. There are also those who make a career out of it. Professional strawberry makers, so to speak.

How do you feel about the prospect of going to work in vineyards in Italy? Or to Hawaii to collect... I don’t even know what they collect there. Coconuts?

Photos taken from the Internet

Looking for a cheap tour? Find out 7 secrets on how to find and buy a trip online at a profit in 2020. Independently and on your own best price. And let the travel agencies turn green with anger. Have a cheap holiday!

Attention! Read below about coronavirus and safe purchase of tours this year.

I don't like overpaying for a vacation. I'm sure you do too. There is always the opportunity to fly to a resort inexpensively: to Turkey for , to Greece for , to Thailand for , to the Dominican Republic for rubles. These are real examples of cheap travel packages that I have found. Find out where and how to find such last-minute tours.

This guide is already four years old. If you are a reader my travel blog, then you know that I am an avid traveler and a passionate hunter for cheap tours and tickets. In this review, I outlined my experience and knowledge of finding inexpensive travel packages. Learn how to relax without extra costs!

Rules for searching and purchasing the cheapest tours:

How to buy a tour safely during coronavirus

What a year it has been, friends!

The epidemic and closed borders prevent normal travel. The situation in the world is tense, almost all countries are closed to entry, tourism has come to a standstill. But all these are temporary measures. And although this spring we will definitely have to forget about traveling abroad and even limit movements within Russia, closer to summer the borders should open, and the world will live as before again. I believe in it!

The question arises: how to plan a vacation in such a difficult time?

It's actually quite simple.

Firstly, in April it’s definitely worth staying at home. It is not yet safe to ride even in Russia. Let's wait out the crisis and not let the epidemic spread across our country. If the quarantine is lifted in a month, then in May it will be possible.

Secondly, you can safely buy a tour for summer and autumn right now. Some tour operators now allow travel packages to be purchased with free cancellation. I advise you to look for such tours on the services and, where I most often buy tours myself. Just check the box next to the inscription "Free cancellation". Please read your tour operator's cancellation terms and conditions carefully to understand the rules. Still, there are restrictions there, and you should be aware of them. And don’t hesitate to ask questions to the managers of these sites: helping you with the purchase of a tour is their job.

At the moment, free cancellation is available for tours to Tunisia and Greece, and may soon appear for other destinations.

Please note that prices for tours have dropped significantly now - you can take advantage of this.

Below, read my tips for buying inexpensive tours.

Be healthy and have a speedy holiday for all of us!


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1. Buy tours online

Travel agencies on the street sell tours at a higher price than online tour search engines. The last time I bought a ticket at a travel agency office was back in 2012. Then convenient and reliable online tour search services appeared - now I only use them. I no longer go to the offices of greedy travel agencies - it’s more convenient and profitable to buy tours on the Internet.

Why are travel agencies more expensive? The reason is human factor- cunning managers in travel agencies by all possible ways they encourage the client to buy a more expensive tour package. They fundamentally do not want to sell tours for 5, 10, 20 thousand - the percentage from such transactions is not enough for them, they need more gold!

Where to look for cheap tours online? I use three search engines: , and . All three are reliable and very comfortable. Choose which one you like best.

Install mobile app . Travelata has an excellent app: download it for or and use the current promotional code when purchasing a tour AF600MOBmake-trip- you will receive a discount of 600 rubles on any tours costing over 50,000 rubles.

How do tour search engines work? They compare prices among 130 popular tour operators and find the cheapest tours. Finding and booking a tour yourself is easy. You see complete information on the package: hotel, flight, meals, tourist reviews, and so on. You choose the tour that you like. Do you have any questions? Ask them to a consultant via chat or phone. Secure online payment by bank card. The tour can also be purchased in installments.

Offices and consultants. All three search engines have offices in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and other large cities. There is also a hotline support line. So it's easy to interact with them.

Pros of buying tours online:

  1. Big choice. Compare prices from all tour operators to find the cheapest tour. Compare - save!
  2. Convenient and fast. There is no need to go to travel agency offices, waste time on travel, waiting and communication. You can find and book a tour in 15-30 minutes at home or at work. When buying last-minute tours, speed is especially important: found cheap trip- bought it in a couple of clicks until it disappeared.
  3. Safely. Search engines work only with reliable tour operators. Payment takes place using a secure protocol. There is a 24/7 support service.
  4. Independence. I recommend searching and purchasing tours on your own. It’s more reliable this way - you know better than anyone what exactly you need and at what price. No interference from others - no opportunity to confuse you. In offices, managers are often cunning or simply incompetent.
  5. Documents - immediately. When purchasing a tour online, all reservations and confirmations will be sent by email immediately after payment. In a regular agency, employees like to delay the issuance of documents - they did it, we know.
  6. Reliable. I trust large online search engines, and with a large customer base and a well-known name. Travel agencies with motley names like “Cactus”, “Sea of ​​Dreams” or “Marina Travel” scattered along the streets of Russian cities - no.

Our holiday in Greece on the island of Rhodes in June 2019 on a last-minute tour for 27,000 rubles for two. It was possible to take a tour for 21,000, but we chose a cool and cozy hotel a little more expensive. We really enjoyed:)

2. Be flexible with deadlines and dates.

We often have many restrictions: strictly fixed vacation days, personal matters and obligations. However, try to achieve as much freedom as possible in choosing dates - this will save money.

See different departure days. Your vacation starts on Monday and you found a tour for that day for 50 thousand? Check flights on Tuesday or Wednesday - maybe there will be tours for 30 thousand. I encounter this regularly.

Change the length of rest. Often (not sometimes, but often!) tours for 7 nights cost cheaper than tours for 5 nights, tours for 10 nights are cheaper than tours for 8 and so on. Don't limit yourself - check out all the options! Check the prices in the calendar.


I'm sailing along Indian Ocean. Photos from my trip to the Maldives in spring 2019. On paradise islands We had a super cheap vacation - for the price of a trip to Crimea!

3. Be flexible in your choice of resort

If you are a monogamous person who prefers to go on vacation to the same place every year, then choosing a destination is not a question for you. I recommend everyone else consider different resorts - your chances of buying a cheap tour will increase.

How does direction affect price?

  1. Eat traditionally expensive destinations( , ). There are cheap destinations (,).
  2. Seasonality plays an important role: it is cheaper to fly to some resorts in the summer, to others in the winter, and to others in the spring or autumn.
  3. Random factors also work. For example, a tour operator sold few tours to one of the destinations and decided to reduce prices - last-minute tours appear.

Do you want to buy the cheapest tour? Look at as many destinations as possible. Compare not only countries, but also individual resorts within the same country.


Our holiday in the Maldives, island. The beaches there are luxurious!

4. Buy tours from Moscow

It is for flights from Moscow that you can find the cheapest tours. Competition and a developed air transportation system are driving prices down. Sometimes the difference in price compared to other cities is colossal.

What should a non-capital tourist do?

First, check if you can find a cheap tour from your city. Found it? Great - let's take it! If not, then it is worth expanding the geography of departure cities.

See if there are cheap tours from neighboring cities or from Moscow. You can get to the departure point yourself: by bus, train or plane. Pobeda flies to Moscow from many Russian cities - tickets cost from 1000 rubles. I myself live in the provinces, and fly from Moscow on vacation.

Every situation is different - there is no one solution. Compare prices and decide what is better for you: pay more and fly from your city or save money but spend time traveling to another city.

Look at the examples below. I compared the cost of trips to Cyprus from Moscow and Yekaterinburg. A tour from the capital can be bought much cheaper. If you fly to Moscow on your own, you can save a lot of money.


We are flying on a charter trip to Turkey. We ourselves live in Perm, but in 90% of cases we buy tours and tickets from Moscow - it’s much cheaper, even taking into account the cost of traveling to the capital.

5. Use Smart Search


Our trip to the Dominican Republic last December.

7. Book in advance

Buy a tour in advance or catch last minute? This question is asked by many tourists. AND early booking, and buying a tour at the last minute provides an opportunity to save money. Each option has its pros and cons.

Early booking. Minus: discounts are usually not as big as when buying last-minute tours. Plus: you can choose any hotel to your taste, relax beautifully and pleasantly. This is a winning option in terms of price and quality.

Last minute tours. Buying a tour at the last minute is often very profitable. Pros: big discounts, sometimes trips are even sold for pennies. There are two minuses. Firstly, there is no guarantee that a cheap last minute tour will appear for your destination on the dates you need. At the last moment, prices can either decrease or jump significantly. This game is quite gambling. The second drawback is that at the height of the season everything best hotels will already be booked, you will have to choose from second-rate options.

Conclusion. If you need a tour anywhere and as cheaply as possible, grab last-minute tours just before departure. If the quality of your vacation is a priority, then buy a tour in advance (optimally - 2-3 months in advance). You will receive both an early booking discount and wide choose hotels.


Everyone can travel a lot and cheaply! Subscribe to my VKontakte group - get inspired and learn a lot of new things. Good luck!

First photo: Fezbot2000 | unsplash.com.

Tour operators with whom it works (in terms of reliability): Coral Travel, TUI, Tez Tour, Sunmar, AnexTour, Pegas Touristik, NTK-Intourist, Biblio Globus, Mouzenidis Travel, PAC group and others.

Cities, with departure from which you can choose a tour: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Ekaterinburg, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Ufa, Krasnoyarsk, Novosibirsk, Rostov-on-Don, Perm, Tyumen and many others.

Holiday destinations: Russia (Sochi, Adler, Crimea, Anapa, etc.), Abkhazia, Cyprus, Greece, Thailand, India, Bulgaria, Spain, Italy, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Tunisia, Vietnam, Israel and many others.

IN Soviet time good workers received vouchers to sanatoriums from trade unions. And when a hard worker for some reason refused a ticket, and even at the last moment, they said that it was “on fire.” The expression “last minute trip” has taken hold and migrated to the modern tourism industry.

Nowadays last-minute tickets are those that are sold a few days before departure and at very low prices. There are especially many such offers during low season. For beach tours- it's early spring and late fall, and for skiers - summer.

Due to the reduction in charter traffic, there are not many last-minute tours now. Tour operators try to make commitments in accordance with forecast demand. The hottest offers occur at the beginning of the season, when demand is lower and charter flights have already begun.

Veniamin Bondarev

Where do last minute deals come from?

Tour operators before the start tourist season buy or book air tickets and hotel rooms in advance. The formed tours are sold by travel agencies. But it is impossible to predict exactly how many tickets will be sold.

When they talk about a last-minute ticket, they usually mean a trip that has a very close departure date. In this regard, it needs to be sold urgently. The price goes down because you need to fill the remaining space on the plane and hotel and earn at least something.

In order not to lose the money spent on bookings, tour operators and travel agencies have to sell tours almost at cost. Yes, they will not receive the planned dividends, but they will not remain in the red.

For a tourist, this option is beneficial if he is willing to take risks and wait until the last minute for the sake of a low price or, for example, if free time for the trip appeared suddenly.

Ilya Otkalo

According to Ilya Otkalo, the law does not have the concept of a “last minute tour,” so by and large, a “last minute tour” is just a marketing ploy so that a tourist can highlight offers whose price is lower than the market price. At the same time, by selling cheap tours, travel agencies receive grateful, loyal customers.

Another reason why a trip becomes last minute is the cancellation of already purchased tours. For example, a person was planning a vacation, booked a trip in advance, but literally a week before departure he got sick and canceled the trip. To prevent seats on the plane and hotel rooms from becoming empty, travel agencies reduce the cost of travel packages and try to resell them quickly.

Finally, sometimes last-minute tours appear on the market due to force majeure events in the host country. If there is aggravation in the state political situation or a natural disaster occurs, the demand for tours to this country drops sharply. Tourists can only be lured by a significant reduction in prices so that the desire to save money prevails over safety considerations.

Features of last minute travel packages

  • Trip to visa-free countries It usually becomes hot 2–5 days before departure, and for countries where a visa is required to travel - 7–10 days. This means that time is running out for everything. In just a couple of days you need to pay for the tour and arrange everything Required documents and pack your things.
  • You need to be prepared for “low-season” service. On the one hand, there will be few tourists around, which is a plus for many. But on the other hand, there is also less entertainment and attention from the staff. Don't be surprised if many shops and restaurants are closed and hotel guide will offer only a couple of excursions.
  • Travel agencies do not book last-minute travel packages without full payment from the client. If, when purchasing a regular tour, you first pay part of the amount, and give the remaining money later, receiving tickets and a voucher, then in the case of a last-minute tour, you will have to pay it immediately and in full. This money is not refundable.

Thus, a last-minute ticket is an excellent solution for a person who is easy-going but has limited funds. This kind of tour is suitable for you if you don’t care (as long as there is sea, mountains...), and you can adjust your vacation to the trip (and not vice versa).

But you shouldn’t agree to the first “hot” offer you come across. Not every trip that is called last minute is such.

How to find out a real last minute ticket

When the soul and heart require rest, it is difficult to remain calm when faced with sentences that begin with the words “Super promotion!” or “The most low prices season."

But a tempting price tag does not guarantee that this is a really last-minute ticket. Perhaps the price did not fall, but simply became normal. Travel agencies sometimes deliberately inflate the cost of tours in order to later attract customers with discounts. In order not to become a victim of the “attraction of unprecedented generosity,” study the prices on the market and find out how much the package of services offered to you costs in other companies without any discounts.

Many travel agencies, in order to stimulate sales, can pass off regular tours as last-minute tours. They simply take tours with the lowest price and present them as last minute.

Ilya Otkalo

Also, the most ordinary tours with very, very cheap hotels. For example, it could be a hotel that has just opened and has not yet earned a reputation, or a hotel located far from the sea.

Be sure to look at TopHotels.ru or TripAdvisor.ru and find out what kind of hotel they offer you.

You may not be satisfied with the level of comfort, even if the tour is completely free.

You can recognize pseudo-hot tours by other indirect signs.

  • Accommodation prices in expensive hotels, belonging to some large network, are usually stable and do not decrease depending on the tourist season. If you are offered inexpensive trip When you check into such a hotel, there is a high probability that the travel agency has cut the package of services somewhere and is disguising the tour as a last minute one.
  • During national holidays, vacations and vacations, there are very few last-minute offers. If you manage to snag a ticket that was turned down, you're in luck. If a travel agency offers a large assortment of last-minute tours during peak season, be careful.
  • It is almost impossible to visit any large-scale foreign event, such as a cool music festival or sports tournament, on a last-minute ticket. Flights and hotels for these dates are booked many months in advance. And you should be very careful if a travel agency suddenly makes a “tasty” offer.

You are really offered a last minute tour if:
- less than two weeks left before departure (the closer the departure, the lower the price);
- This is a charter flight;
- accommodation is offered not in a city hotel, but in a popular beach hotel, where tour operators book blocks of places.

Veniamin Bondarev

What you need to pay attention to when buying a last minute ticket

Package of services

In this regard, a last-minute ticket should be no different from one booked in advance. Flight, transfer, meals, accommodation, insurance, excursions - everything is the same as on a regular tour in this country V given time. If you are offered a reduced package of services, then most likely they are trying to disguise the trip as a last minute one.

You need to understand that a last-minute offer may be last-minute because no one simply bought it in advance. The hotel may be lousy, the flight may be inconvenient, the food may be unsatisfactory. Therefore, carefully study the contract and the composition of the offer and, of course, look at the reviews about the proposed hotel.

Ilya Otkalo

Be sure to ask about the reason for reducing the cost of the tour. And in general, do not hesitate to ask the travel agent questions - time is short, and it is better to immediately clarify all unclear points.

Advice: read the contract carefully. Pay attention to the legal details of the tour operator and travel agency, information about the license to carry out tourism activities, dates of flights, check-in and check-out. Study the conditions for changing and terminating the agreement, as well as the procedure for filing claims.

Travel agency reputation

Almost all travel companies offer last minute deals. After all, they all enter into contracts with major tour operators and use their databases. But not all travel agencies fulfill their duties conscientiously, and some sometimes openly cheat.

In order to find out whether the price is really reduced, you can compare tours for upcoming dates using online tour search engines.

Veniamin Bondarev

To buy a cheap last minute tour, and not just cheap tour with disgusting conditions, contact trusted companies that have been working on the market for a long time. It is best to choose an agency whose services you or your friends have already used. It is also worth looking for reviews on travel forums.

Advice: if you have any doubts, check the tour operator according to the Unified Federal Register of Tour Operators, and the travel agency according to the register of travel agencies.

Visa

Last minute tours are usually tours in popular tourist destinations. This is because a ticket receives last minute status 7–10 days before departure. It is difficult to obtain a visa during this time.

Yes, travel agencies usually have already established work with consulates. But difficulties with documents can always arise: the wrong certificate, the application form filled out incorrectly, and so on. And then the client will be denied a visa, he will not fly anywhere and his money will simply be burned.

Advice: To fly to Europe on a last-minute trip, apply for a Schengen visa in advance yourself.

How to travel for free: for this you will need a pillow - in a dream you can travel around the world for free and even fly to the moon.
For other cases - when traveling you will need money.

I continue the series of articles addressed to the progressive class independent travelers started in this:

First, a couple of charts that you can create yourself by going to one of the “currency converter” sites
By playing with the ratios of different national currencies to the ruble, you can notice the peg of a certain region or country to the dollar or euro.


As you can see, the dollar has more influence in the world. Approximation national currency to the euro is noticeable only in Europe. Yes, there are still national currencies in Europe: the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Albania….


What money to take with you on a trip

If you are going abroad, forget about rubles. Well, will it be useful to you on a trip around the Republic of Belarus?
If you are going to spend Christmas or New Year in the Czech Republic or Hungary - take euros with you
And if your path lies in countries other than Europe, there is only a dollar
I don’t argue that the ruble is accepted in exchange offices in Thailand, but if you didn’t skip math at school and know how to solve fractions, you will see the advantages of preparing a dollar at home and then exchanging it for baht compared to direct exchange of rubles in the land of smiles - there will be no time for smiles

Card payments and ATMs

Only cash + cards linked to foreign currency accounts (in euros or dollars)!
No ruble cards
Firstly, you cannot guess whether your bank will be able to celebrate its next birthday; simply put, no one will tell you anything about its health
Secondly, having rubles on your card, you lose their dollar equivalent every day the national currency falls. In addition, you will lose abroad on conversion at the bank rate - nowadays banks factor into their exchange rate differences between Sale/Buy dollar (euro) / ruble more points with a margin - all this if you have a ruble card account
Thirdly, you will lose by withdrawing money from an ATM. In the case of Thailand, both the Thais - the owners of the ATM, and the Russian bank - where your money is, will take a bite

Important addition and correction to this paragraph:

Cards linked to an account in dollars or euros allow you to save on the dollar (euro) / national currency exchange rate

A fresh example from today's Alfa Bank statement, account in Euro:
Payment of expenses at the MADINAT JUMEIRAH DUBAI hotel: 1040 Dirham => 226.81 € debited from the account => Rate 4.5853
We look at the currency converter: http://www.oanda.com/lang/ru/currency/converter/

The cash exchange rate in Dubai is 4.46264 (in the parameters I set the interbank rate to 5%)
By setting a typical interbank +3% on the converter I get a rate of 4.55659 and for an ATM (+2%) 4.60356

Currency exchange - just not at the airport or hotel

The worst exchange rate for your dollars or euros will be at the airport or hotel.
Wow, the best exchange rate in Sri Lanka will be in jewelry stores, and in the capital of Burundi, Bujumbura, in the construction market.
Based on this, before your intended trip, find out the best places to exchange your money
Also check in exchange offices— is there a commission for the exchange operation?

Overhead, minimization

It's time to count the money. If earlier it was possible to make mistakes, now these mistakes are expensive.
When preparing for your trip, carefully study the booking conditions. Refuse additional fees - all kinds of insurance, fees for paying for air tickets credit card, additional expenses for breakfast in hotels (there are also free breakfasts, as well as free transfer from the airport), additional belongings in the form of an additional driver or GPS when

Bargain anytime, anywhere

Bargain from the moment you step off the plane. Trade even if there is a price tag attached to the item being traded. Use the acting skills that any enlightened person has: gesticulate, walk away and return, appeal to the audience... but don’t overact, otherwise you might get into trouble. That is, feel the enemy, and the seller - he is your opponent, the enemy, with whom you need to play a draw - neither you nor me. Otherwise, you can get screwed again. If the enemy defeats you, then you are a loser in his eyes and will remain one forever

Are there cheap countries in the world?

Of course there is. When going to Thailand, look away. When going to Brazil, know that

31.08.2015 11:18:08

With the catastrophic devaluation of the national currency, holidays abroad have become a pipe dream for many. If previously third-rate Turkish or Egyptian hotel could afford almost everything, today we would have to collect money for a week of rest for a whole year. However, there are always interesting opportunities for those who search. In this article we will look at the most common methods of how to holiday abroad for free.

At the same time, let’s immediately make a reservation: by “free” we mean reducing costs to the minimum achievable level. In some ways, you still have to have some money.

Hospitable hosts and couchsurfing

The most common way to live abroad for free is (you will laugh) to find people who will accommodate you for free in their home. It sounds funny, but in practice it is quite possible. Couch-finding sites allow you to find hospitable hosts all over the world. You simply select suitable housing on the website and call the author of the ad. Of course, there are a number of subjective factors: one young girl will be taken in to live much more willingly than a group of five people or a family with children. However, you can find literally fabulous options: you will live for free in conditions that would cost hundreds of dollars per night. You can also sometimes ask for free food.

Housing exchange: you come to me, I come to you

Another interesting way is a home exchange vacation. You go to the apartment of a foreign friend, while he comes to you. It is clear that for this method you need to live in places that are at least somewhat attractive to tourists. However, there is a demand for the most unusual places, so you should never give up on an idea without trying it. Perhaps somewhere in Italy or Spain there is a traveler who would not mind exchanging apartments with you...

Sponsor for the trip

For girls, traveling abroad with a sponsor is very interesting. An obvious advantage is that all the methods listed in this article require you to get abroad at your own expense. But the ticket price is almost half the cost of the entire vacation. In the case of a sponsor, you go on vacation as if your boyfriend was taking you on vacation. And you don’t pay for travel, accommodation, or food. In addition, sponsors often do not skimp on travel and offer to go to good places, trips to which are quite inexpensive. Therefore, for students, as well as girls with modest earnings, this is an excellent chance to see the world and experience the luxury that she could never afford.

At the same time, a trip with a sponsor is always an opportunity to get to know interesting person and get to know him better. Of course, there is no guarantee that travel will lead to the development of any relationship. However, the atmosphere of an overseas resort and the accompanying environment do their job. Because many are beautiful love stories began with such trips abroad.

Regarding safety, an important advantage is the opportunity to meet the sponsor of the trip before the start. After talking and getting to know the person, you can determine whether you are ready to trust him and go on vacation with him.

There is another option - a trip to visit the sponsor. If the sponsor is not a compatriot, but a foreigner, you can meet him on the Internet and arrange a visit. He can buy a plane ticket, meet you at the airport and provide all the necessary conditions. This option is more risky, but many brave tourists travel this way.

Labor leave

Finally, there is the option of a “combined holiday”. You can go abroad by agreeing to work in exchange for housing. You can find many options for such trips on the Internet: people who need help with housework or some seasonal work invite tourists. You don't do too much work, and you have plenty of time to explore the area. Not only do you not spend money on housing, but you can also earn something if the volume of work turns out to be greater. Many hosts also take care of their guests and provide not only accommodation, but also food.

 

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