I Spent Less Than $3k on My Europe Trip, and Saved Over $2,600

I had started planning to take a monthlong trip to Europe this year, which involved getting my bosses on board by negotiating some serious time off. Once I booked all of my flights and hotel/Airbnb stays, I hopped on a plane on May 20th and didn’t come back until June 18th. I didn’t tally up how much I had actually spent until now because I was a little nervous at the number I’d see. I wasn’t expecting to save on my Europe trip as I avoided hostels and tried high-end eateries (including a Michelin star restaurant, a big first for me). To my pleasant surprise, I ended up spending way less than I thought.

The total amount I spent prancing around 7 European countries was $2,782.20. That’s less than $400 per country.

Yeah, yeah. I did the usual good practices of “book hotels/flights early to save money! Don’t go for the most expensive option all the time! See what other tourists say about what to do and what to skip!” All of those tips helped me on my travels, too. But instead of being another echo of these tips, I wanted to share the lesser-known travel hacks that helped save me at least $2,621 on my Europe trip, conservatively speaking. Without using these six tips my fancy Europe trip would have cost double what I actually paid.

So here’s my way of sharing the wealth by giving you six pointers for saving as much as I did. Some of them may be more applicable than others, but they should overall end up saving you a bundle:

1. Maximize credit card points!!!

By far, this saved me the most money. Last year, I got a Chase Sapphire Preferred card. If you get one today and meet the spending requirements, they’ll give you 60,000 Chase points. That translates to roughly $600, and can be worth even more if you find deals via the Chase portal. (That annual fee is included in my above trip cost!) The card comes with a $95 annual fee, making it more of a $505 benefit. If you use the Chase portal to book your trips those points are worth 1.25x more, making it an over $600 benefit.

By using this bonus, along with the points I accrued from spending, I ended up being able to book several flights and hotel stays. Most of them are in this screenshot:

In total,  I “spent” the equivalent of $1,451.37 using these points. What would have been a trip in the $4k-6k range was now suddenly in the $2,000 range. That’s a lot of money to save on my Europe trip!

2. Eat with Too Good To Go.

GOD TIER RECOMMENDATION. I used Too Good To Go in several cities and countries while abroad. It’s an app you can download that sells you unsold restaurant food for a fraction of the price; it’s a win-win-win app for being eco-friendly, giving you a great in on the local food scene, and ensuring you’ll eat well while spending very little. Here’s just a couple samples of the food I got via the app, which included a shitload of sandwiches/pastries, seafood, and foie gras in Paris:

If you have dietary restrictions, the app can still accommodate your needs as long as you note your preferences on your profile (vegetarian, vegan, etc). I used Too Good To Go sparingly as I also frequented discount grocery stores (Lidl and Netto were always nearby). According to my account history, I saved 10 meals from going to waste while I was in Europe. Assuming I’d have otherwise paid $25 per meal, I saved at least $250 from this app alone. The true number is higher than that as I usually got so much food that I spread it out over the course of multiple meals; the real amount I saved was $300-400 by my estimate.

3. Walk everywhere possible. Take taxis as little as possible

I chose where to stay based on its proximity to where I most wanted to visit. My budget hotel in Paris was a five minute walk from the Louvre (and $500 for a six-night stay). My stays in Amsterdam, Luxembourg, Denmark, and Sweden were similarly centrally located; I managed to get inexpensive stays thanks to booking early and booking a couple with the Chase portal. As a result, I either didn’t pay anything to get around or spent very little using public transit, which is EXCELLENT in Europe. For a few months before my trip, I’d get out and walk 3-5 miles on the nearby trails to prep myself. And it worked great, especially since I got to experience much more of the places I visited than I otherwise would have.

There were some places where I couldn’t avoid paying more for a taxi or pricey airport-to-city buses (looking at you, Iceland). There were maybe 4 or 5 of those days I wasn’t centrally located. I spent 28 days on my trip (May 20-June 18) so subtracting 5 is 23. If I was very frugal and only spent $15 for taxis/Ubers each day, I’d have spent roughly $350. That’s another few Benjamins I now further saved.

4. Travel with ONLY carryon luggage, nothing checked

I was especially giddy about this one. Thanks to an awesome backpack and a sturdy tote, I had plenty of room for a week’s worth of clothes, toiletries, an extra pair of shoes, and with dedicated space for gifts to bring back with me. I used the roll-up method for clothes along with packing cubes; a friend recommended them and they made packing/unpacking so much smoother, while also giving me even more space in my carryon. In Paris I bought some laundry powder, which easily fit into my tote. Since it’s not a liquid it goes through airport security just fine, and every city has laundromats.

The convenience alone is worth ditching the checked luggage option. I saved loads of time and stress by bypassing the check-luggage lines at my departure airport… and bypassing the luggage claim after reaching my destination. You really do not need to check any luggage, even if it’s for a two week trip or longer. I promise! Not even if you’re buying gifts for others; I brought back gifts like wine and gift baskets for 5 of my friends just fine in those two bags, along with stuff for myself like a new outfit or two.

This requires you being okay with carting around two heavy pieces of luggage, so it’s important to make sure you can actually carry that much. Remember when I said I’d go out and walk a few miles most days? I did so with a weighted backpack to make my schlepping a breeze.

It made my wandering around with my two bags very much doable.

To estimate how much I saved, I used the Chase portal again for an example:

I did fly on a variety of airlines and others have a better price difference. Let’s say I got to save an average of $30 on each Europe trip flight by not checking in any luggage on my flights. Since I took nine flights total, that’s at least $270 I definitively got to save.

5. Prioritize what you want to see, even if that’s avoiding the “classic” thing

You can go to Paris and not buy a ticket to the Eiffel Tower. I wasn’t in Paris to see that, but I did go and get a selfie with it for the full price of free.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CeoXEddqr4x

There were a lot of other Parisian attractions I didn’t go to because I simply wasn’t interested this time around. The only reason I added Paris was because I wanted to visit the Louvre over the course of several days. And I did! It was glorious! And made all the sweeter because I was doing only what I most wanted to do. No need to fight the crowds of other tourists to visit Notre Dame or the top luxe stores on Champs-Elysees. That way, you not only avoid the stress but also avoid spending money on what doesn’t really matter to you.

There’s really no easy way to quantify this, so let’s just estimate I saved at least $100 by bypassing tours, cruises, overpriced souvenirs, and other tourist traps. There’s likely more I was able to save on my Europe trip with this tip, which is good to keep in mind.

6. Give yourself a relaxed schedule; don’t overload your day

I get it. You’re in a city you’ve never been to before with a million things on your list of things to see, eat, do, and otherwise experience. That’s a lot to cram in to the scant few days you have in this trip! It requires you to be on a tight schedule to jump from museum to cruise to lunch reservation to the next and next and next.

And good God, does that sound exhausting. Trying to do this is how you end up needing a vacation from your vacation. Worse yet, you’re definitely going to fall behind whatever schedule you’ve made. I say this for certain because you’re in a city where you’re unfamiliar with the road layout and the local customs. I don’t care how good your sense of direction is. You cannot stick to a tight vacation schedule. And that’s totally fine! Tight schedules suck! Your enthusiasm is stellar, but it’s only going to leave you stressed out as you attempt in vain to get back on track. It’s also going to cost you by getting back on track, as that results in the most expensive taxi rides and lost fees from missed reservations.

I’m not immune to this either; there are at least 4 castles and one city I didn’t visit because I tried to do too much on certain days of my trip. I also wasted $40 getting down a mountain in Norway so I could make it in time to the fjord cruise I’d already paid for. But for most of my travels I stuck to a very relaxed schedule, which had to have saved me at least another $150 in taxi/transit connections and lost service payments.

I Could Have Saved More!

What would have saved me money: I did make a few blunders and would have been able to save more on my big Europe trip without them.

1. Prepare ahead for paying by cash or card.

Either check ahead that the restaurant you’re going to accepts credit cards or have some of the local currency cash on hand. I went to a great pancake place in Amsterdam that only accepts cash, which I didn’t know until I was done eating. Queue me jogging to the nearest ATM and eating the ATM fee. Whoops.

2. Lock down your ride to the airport.

I paid $105 for a taxi to get me to the airport after a bus I planned to take never showed; turns out I didn’t look closely enough at the fine print and it was a bus I needed to book ahead of time. Bigger whoops.

3. Check that your hotels will have no hidden fees.

Stayed one night at a hotel in Amsterdam (Moxy Amsterdam Houthavens) because I could book it using Chase points. They charged me an extra $60 because I booked via the Chase portal. I just ate the cost for convenience’s sake, and also because I didn’t feel like arguing with them about it. Now I’ll know to check for this on my future travels.

So for my first big solo trip abroad, I think I maximized my fun while optimizing my spend. This makes it the perfect example of this site’s philosophy in getting the extra out of life. There is absolutely no need to deprive yourself while on the path to wealth; there are plenty of ways to enjoy the life you want while still building an excellent future.

To recap, here are my numbers justifying that $2,616 number on what I was able to save on my Europe trip. Let me know in the comments if you think I should revisit any estimations:

Tip	Saved
Maximize credit card points	$1,451
Eat with Too Good To Go	$300
Walk everywhere possible	$350
Carryon luggage only, no checked	$270
Prioritize what you want, not classics	$100
Make a relaxed schedule	$150
Total Saved:	$2,621