Planning a vacation in 2019? Here are 10 money tips to keep in mind

Forex cards are a must | Forex card or a prepaid travel card can be your best friend on a trip abroad. They are helpful in making purchases while you’re travelling. But before you take that flight it makes sense if you plan ahead and study currency rates. Talk to different banks and brokers to get a fair idea about who is quoting you the best currency exchange rate and buy one only if it suits your budget. (Image: Pixabay)

Book early bird tickets | Flight tickets should always be booked after proper research on multiple flight booking and travel websites. Many such websites offer early bird tickets where you can book in advance and avoid paying more for your trip. The only catch is – you need to book months in advance if you want to get the best of the deals. Booking through flight aggregation websites helps you to eliminate the middleman in the process. Our suggestion? Check out Google Flights. (Image: Reuters)

Travel insurance | Travel Insurance is essential. We can’t predict eventualities so it is only wise to purchase a travel insurance before boarding the flight to your travel destination. A basic travel insurance, depending on what you want, covers medical expenses, trip cancellation, lost luggage, flight accident and other mishaps that might occur during your vacation. Such policies are offered by financial services companies and banks as well. Ask your bank or your travel planner for suggestions. (Image: Moneycontrol)

Shopping Research | No trip is complete if one doesn’t go shopping. Forming an itinerary is a must before planning a vacation and an important component of your days on a holiday is shopping. You’d always want a buck more to spend while travelling abroad. So, research well about quality yet affordable shopping centres in wherever you are planning to visit. A simple search online can save you time, money and energy. (Image: Reuters)

Hotel? Think hotel search engines | Airbnb, Trivago, Expedia among many others are hotel search engine portals that save you the trouble of comparing hotel room booking prices and getting the best deal. Moreover, you may even choose not to finally book from such websites. You can only look at this sites as aggregation portals to get an idea about more options. The one important advantage from these sites is that the packages that some of these sites offer take care of everything but make sure that you read the fine print. (Image: Reuters)

International calling cards | All of us can agree that we can’t live without internet access in this day and age, right? If you want to avoid paying huge ISD calling bills on your phone then get a international calling card. The best deal would be to first talk to your telephone service provider, and checking out their international roaming schemes. You can then, research on international calling cards available and compare both the deals. (Image: Mroach/Flickr)

Tourist cards or passes | Some countries like the UK or Dubai offer a tourist card or a common pass that can be used to travel on local buses, metro/underground and taxis. Sometimes these cards also allow you access to or pay for places of public interest at subsidized rates. Based on your destination, you must acquire a tourist pass either from a travel agency shop or in other cases at the airport. These tourist cards come with many discounts and enable your trip to stay budget friendly. (Image: Reuters)

What about the transfers? | One of the major expenditures in on a vacation is of connecting transfers. While planning your trip it makes sense to find easy transport sources in the destination. Most countries have cab and public transport aggregators that offer you the best price deals. These apps will help you avoid irritating agents who force you to take a cab from them and you end up spending more than you intend to. Do some research if apps like Uber, Lyft or Grab offer their services in your destination country. (Image: Reuters)

Beware of Scams | Ever heard of The Falling Lady scam? An elderly woman falls down in a public place and creates a commotion. Chivalrous gentlemen or plain concerned travellers go ahead to help the woman only to find their pockets ‘picked’ later. Before you realise you can also be a part of such scam. So be aware and read and research about your travel destination. In order to avoid, unnecessary expenses, it is important to study the crime rate, places of crime and common crimes in your destination. (Image: AntoineMeu/Flickr)

I’m out of money! | Some unforeseen circumstances may force you to spend more than you set out for. In a foreign country, it is only good to have some extra cash. But what if you run out of that extra cash as well? Hence, it makes sense to pay your bank a visit to understand and deal with such eventualities before going out on a vacation. (Image: Reuters)