Save money Backpacking in New Zealand
Backpack-NZ know how important it is to save money Backpacking.
We have pulled together a guide for you to save money Backpacking leaving you more to spend on the important stuff like booking tours!
There are a number of ways you can save money backpacking so lets take a quick look.
New Zealand welcomes backpackers and travellers alike and this will become apparent as soon as you exit the airport.
Airports are usually on the outskirts of the city and this means an expensive or time consuming transfer.
Some of the popular hostels and tour operators have set up shop in the airport in the hope you will walk out and book there and then.
If you are cleaver you can book a hostel for your first night which includes a free airport transfer.
Staying for more than 1 night?
If you are staying for more than 1 night, negotiate the price.
Hostels are great at giving backpackers a discount when booking multiple nights and usually have better weekly and monthly rates if you plan on hanging about for a while.
Free nights
Some hostels chains will offer you a loyalty programme.
Similar to a coffee shop, the more you stay the more free nights you earn.
Another way to get free accommodation is to work for the hostel in exchange.
Loads of hostels get free work by offering free nights but the chances are you will be cleaning the place.
As you can see Hostel stays are a great way save money backpacking.
With eating and sleeping your 2 main expenses, if you reduce the cost for either of these you will save money backpacking.
If you are staying in a hostel, they will have a kitchen.
Go to the supermarket or even better local market and get the ingredients you need to cook at the hostel.
A hostel kitchen can be busy or a bit of a mess at times but it is also a great place to meet new people.
If you cook too much offer it to a fellow backpacker and you instantly make a new friend.
Often you will find that people will invite you to join them when they have cooked and have something let so you will save on cooking that day to.
When you are staying in a hostel for a few nights or longer term it is common for people to chip in and cook together another great way to save some cash!
Local eats
If you can, eat where the locals eat!
You can eat freshly cooked food made with traditional recipes and meet a local or two at the same time.
What more could you want?
Food courts
In a city you will find food courts or separated local areas such as china town or little Italy. These places are great budget food options.
Instead of eating McDonalds every day head to a food court and eat authentic, great tasting dishes on the cheap.
Free food
Some hostels will offer a free breakfast or other food as a part of the price like a pizza night or movie night with popcorn.
Well worth keeping an eye out for!
Inclusive tour packages are the best way to save money backpacking.
If you have more than one place you want to visit, a number of activities to do and need to travel and stay along the way you need an inclusive tour.
Backpack-Nz off you the best tours at a great price.
The more you want to do the better we can make the price for you.
Our inclusive packages can include any of the following:
- Multi-activity combos
- Combos with transport
- A Combo with accommodation
- Combo with transport and accommodation
- Personalised itineraries combining any of the above
We can even sell you a camper van if you really want to buy one!
Get in touch and give us 24 hours for the best deals
Did you know you can barter and negotiate for most things you need to buy?
Ok so a supermarket or high end store is unlikely to discount you just because you asked but loads of other places do!
A great way to save money backpacking is to visit local markets.
As a rule to thumb, if you have to ask the price the chances are it is negotiable.
Also, if you want to buy more than one item ask for a discount.
You don’t get if you don’t ask so if the price seems high offer less and work your way to an agreeable amount.
It will take a while to master this art so give it a go, have some fun and enjoy you holiday.
Don’t pay more than your maximum price just walk away.
You will be surprised at how quickly a price drops when you are leaving as the seller doesn’t want to lose out on a sale.
Just remember
The seller won’t sell you an item if they didn’t make some money from the sale.
If you are travelling between countries as a part of a longer trip it makes sense to carry less weight.
We don’t mean that type of weight chubby!
If you arrive at an airport and your baggage is over weight you could have to pay more money to check the bag.
Overweight baggage charges can be really costly when you arent expecting them so get the weight down.
No one cares if you have the same 7 Tshirts in circulation so long as you keep them clean!
The easiest things to get rid of are things like shampoo, shower gel etc. These items are usually cheap to replace and can be quite heavy.
Would you rather carry them and get charged extra for the baggage or ditch them and get more in the next place?
Exactly! pack light and pack right!
Don’t forget your hand luggage allowance. The chances are you have kit stuffed in every spare pocket but you get quite a lot of weight allowance in your hand luggage.
Pack smart and this can be a life saver.
