Traveling Abroad Can Be Less Expensive Than In The U.S.

In my experience I have found that traveling abroad can be less expensive, and significantly so, for most Americans than traveling in the U.S.

Göreme, Turkey where our daily budget was around $100/day for 2 people.

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And, I feel that I get more value for my money spending my vacation time wandering ancient streets eating authentic Italian gelato or laying on a pristine, white sand beach in Thailand.

I am aware that I am making a broad general statement here, however I do have evidence to back it up!

Travel in the United States is great, but it isn’t cheap! It especially isn’t cheap for the majority of Americans and definitely not for many people from other parts of the world.

After spending 6 months traveling to 18 countries in Europe and Asia on a budget of about $155/day with my husband, our eyes were opened to the stark contrast in the cost of traveling the states vs. traveling abroad.

We have traveled to many U.S. states and we were born here, so we have lots of experience traveling the states. Without a doubt, we have spent just as much or more on our U.S. travel than our international travel.

If you want to travel more or are planning a trip and are trying to decide where to go and how to spend your money, let me make a case for an international experience.

I’m going to share my observations about the ways traveling abroad can be less expensive than in America and my top tips for traveling abroad on a budget!

I also want to be clear that I believe you can travel just about anywhere on any budget, but it is much harder to do in some places than others!

When my husband and I left for our 6 month trip to 18 countries, we knew that airfare would be one of the single largest individual costs of our trip. So, after a little bit of research, we found a way to get affordable flights all over the world: travel credit cards.

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The first note here that I need to make is that almost no flight is truly free, you do have to pay the taxes and fees. But, what if I told you I just bought a $6 flight from North Carolina, USA to Athens, Greece this week. Or that I’ve spent only $11 for me and Colton to fly from NC to Turkey?

Would you believe those numbers?

I never in a million years thought I could fly abroad for less than a few hundred dollars, and that’s if I somehow found an amazing deal!

It wasn’t until I came across travel credit cards and the world of points and miles that I understood how these serial travelers I was seeing everywhere were affording their flights.

The trick was, they were barely paying for them.

So, after tons of research, applying for credit cards, hitting bonuses, and of course getting everything in order to leave home for 6 months to travel, I bought our one way flights out of the country for $11.

How did we do it?

The world of points and miles, of course!

Let me tell you how we did it and give you the information you need to start earning free flights with your credit card!

Let me preface this with one statement: the world of points and miles is BIG and there is a lot that you honestly don’t need to know to just get started.

So, I’m going to give you the most necessary information to get you started and cut out all the fluff. Let’s go!

I promise you this is not a scam, because maybe that’s the first place your mind is headed when I say “free” flights.

In fact, paying with points and miles to purchase flights at insanely low prices is entirely legal, I promise!

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What Are Points and Miles

Table of Contents

Points and miles are the reward currency of airlines and hotels: aka loyalty points.

I’m not talking about the points you earn by flying with an airline repeatedly, that you only rack up over several years.

I’m talking about points and miles you earn just from having the credit card you already use!

Each bank or airline that offers credit cards with points and miles use them as an alternative currency for purchasing flights.

Many of the banks that offer travel credit cards have both airline and non-airline branded credit cards: a.k.a the airline the bank has partnered with offers airline miles as the sign up bonus, not credit card points. Those miles can only be used with that airline.

If you apply for a bank branded card with no airline association, you’ll earn points with that bank that can then be transferred to their airline or hotel partners.

How To Get Points And Miles With Travel Credit Cards?

The fastest way, and most likely reason why you’re wanting a travel credit card, is to earn points with a sign up bonus.

Most banks offer a sign up bonus of varying amounts after a certain amount of qualifying purchases on the card in the first few months.

It might sound something like this: “earn 60k bonus points when you spend $3,000 dollars on purchases in the first 4 months.” Yadah yadah.

But, you will also earn points while using your card on your everyday purchases! Some cards offer bonus categories, like 3x on grocery purchases, or 2x at restaurants, etc. So, when you spend money on your card, you’ll earn points in return that can be redeemed for various things, like flights or hotel stays.

Generally, if you’re wanting to redeem miles for flights or hotels, you’re going to need a good chunk of miles to do so.

You can purchase some domestic flights with as little as 8,500k points one way, but if you’re flying international, it will likely cost you 15k one way, at the very least.

Of course, the cost of award flights in points can greatly vary and is not always directly tied to the cash ticket price.

Other ways to earn points with travel credit cards include anniversary bonuses, giveaways, and transfer bonuses. These come and go and aren’t something I would rely on.

For the purposes of this post, which is all about a beginner’s guide to free flights with points and miles, sign up bonuses are your very best friend.

How Much Are Points and Miles Worth?

Not all points are created equal.

Some points are more valuable than others simply because you can transfer and redeem them in more ways.

Points and miles also get their value depending on the deal you get when redeeming them.

Let me give you an example scenario to explain…

For example, let’s say you have 75k Capital One miles and you want to fly from Atlanta, Georgia to Athens, Greece for an amazing holiday eating delicious Mediterranean food and swimming in crystal clear waters for 8 days.

These are the flights you’re looking at. They’ll take you to Greece during the best time to visit, late summer when it isn’t too crowded and not too hot.

You have a few options for how you can book these flights with points

Option 1: Redeem Points with a Travel Portal

Option 1 is to redeem your points through Capital One Travel and their online portal. When you do this, you’re going to get a fixed redemption rate of 1¢ per mile.

So your 75k miles would be worth $750 for travel. You could use those 75k miles to buy a flight worth up to $750 through the Capital One Travel portal. That’s over half of what this ticket is worth. So you would still have to pay about $390+ on top of your 75k miles for this ticket.

We can definitely do better than that!

Option 2: Transfer to a Partner

Option 2 would be to transfer your Capital One miles to one of their airline transfer partners, then book the flight on their website using your points.

If you did this, those 75k miles could become 75k FlyingBlue points (Air France & KLM’s loyalty program and one of Capital One’s transfer partners).

The same exact flight booked on Air France with cash would cost you $1,142.

But, you can transfer your points from Capital One and over to FlyingBlue, so now you have up to 75k FlyingBlue miles! Let’s use them!

If you use FlyingBlue to book the exact same flight, you would only need 30,000 miles and $208 in taxes & fees. Way better than using all 75k and only covering half of the cost!

And, instead of paying $1,142 out of pocket for a round trip ticket to Europe, you’re only paying $208 plus 30,000 points.

*you want to transfer only the amount of points you need. In this scenario, thats only 30k of the 75k.

In this scenario, you would be redeeming your Capital One points, through FlyingBlue, for 3.1cents per mile. Now that’s more like it!

This is why points can be so valuable and why transfer partners can be the best way to go when redeeming points.

I know that was a lot, so let me summarize if for you:

Out of pocket price for ticket Atlanta to Athens: $1142 on Air France/KLM
Price of same ticket booked through Capital One Travel: 75k miles + $392
Price of same ticket booked through FlyingBlue after transferring Capital One miles: 30,000 miles + $208 in taxes and fees.

You would come out of this deal with around 45k Capital One miles left in the bank. That’s enough to buy you another roundtrip flight to Europe.

Now THAT’S how we use points and miles to our advantage 🙂

RESOURCE: Free List of Transfer Partners & Airline Alliances + How to Use Them

*be sure to only transfer the points you need and no more so you can keep the extra points with your bank and transfer them elsewhere in the future*

How Do You Redeem Points And Miles For Flights?

The way that we typically redeem our points and miles is by using them to purchase flights. We do this by transferring our credit card points to transfer partners.

The scenario above is a great example of how we would use our points and miles to get amazing deals on flights.

Here is that chart again that I made to show you where you can transfer points based on what program you’ve accumulated points with.

The process of transferring points can be a bit complicated, but I’m going to help you out here.

Here is the basic rundown of how to redeem your points for flights:

Accumulate points on your credit card
Research credit card airlines transfer partners
Search Google Flights or Skyscanner to find flight routes
Search for award flights on airline transfer partners
Find desired flights and see how many points/money required to book them
Create a frequent flier account with airline if you don’t already have one
Transfer points on your bank’s website to transfer partner of choice
Book those flights!!

To use the example from above, I would find the flights I want and make sure I have enough points to pay for them. Then, I would log into Capital One and go to the Capital One Travel portal to transfer my points to FlyingBlue. Once my points were transferred, I would buy my flights!

The real trick is finding award flight availability and the deals that are out there waiting to be had! It takes a little bit of time and practice but you’ll get the gist!

What Travel Credit Cards Are Best?

For me to answer this question, you’ll need to ask yourself a question first: what are your goals?

Are you looking to cover some international long haul flights? Maybe you’re an avid domestic traveler and would like to cover a few legs of travel for your upcoming trips. Would you like to stay in nice hotels for just the cost of fees?

It’s good to look at the options and decide what you think will work best for your goals!

If you want to cover some flights, I would find a card that has great travel benefits and flexible rewards. If you’re more interested in hotel stays, get a hotel branded card!

You can find my favorite travel credit cards and all the information about them on my
Travel Credit Cards Recommendations page.

Want my help choosing a travel credit card?
Fill out my Free Credit Card Consultation Form & I’ll email you personalized recommendations!

“Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.”

Český Krumlov, one of our favorite cities in Czechia. Our daily budget here was about $125/day for 2 people.

Comparison Example of International and Domestic Travel Costs

Let’s do a little comparison here so I can show you exactly what I mean when I say that traveling abroad can be less expensive.

This statement is also about value. What are you getting for your money? Because yes, you can find a $70/night hotel in America, but is it the same standard as in, say, Greece for example?

Let’s pretend we are planning two trips for the same dates, one to San Diego, California and another to Athens, Greece.

Both are near beautiful oceans and beaches, and both are popular tourist destinations.

We will be looking at dates in the summer, when it is the high tourist season for both of these destinations. I’ve chosen a 10 day trip in May.

And, let’s set a daily budget of $200/day for 2 people, making this a $2,000 trip (minus airfare). All prices have been converted to USD.

Of course, this is just one example designed to make you think about how international destinations may be more affordable for travel. There are hundreds of ways you could create a comparison like this. I also believe you can travel almost anywhere on a budget, but it is harder to do in some places than others.

San Diego, Photo by MontyLov on Unsplash

Hotels

First, let’s look into some hotels. For the sake of ease, we will say that we will be staying in the same hotel for all 10 nights of our trip.

Athens: $92/night – I found this boutique hotel for $92 per night. A good breakfast is included. You can walk from this hotel to the Acropolis in 30 minutes.

San Diego: $105/night – for the same dates and same price, the only options are 2 star hotel chains like the Days Inn I found for $105/night, no breakfast included. This hotel is a 1 hour and 10 minute walk to the San Diego Zoo.

Activities

Now for activities, we’ll see the biggest attraction in each city!

Athens: $14 – for an adult ticket to Acropolis and Parthenon w/ audio guide.

San Diego: $71 – for an adult ticket to visit the San Diego Zoo.

Hmm…

Transportation

To get around town in both of these locations, let’s look at the public transportation options.

In Athens, you can use the underground metro, buses, and suburban railway by purchasing a $1.29 ticket that is good for 90 minutes. The public transportation has an extensive reach in Athens, and will also take you to the main international airport.

To get from the hotel we chose in Athens to the beginning of the ancient Roman sites on the way to the Acropolis in 10 minutes on the Metro. Another 15 minute walk will have you atop the Acropolis.

San Diego has mostly buses available for the public transportation option. From the hotel we chose to the San Diego Zoo will take you 37 minutes by bus and cost $6.

Now, let’s say we wanted to rent a car in both of these cities to drive to the beach, and get around outside of town a little.

The following numbers are the cheapest rental car listings I could find for the dates we chose.

Athens cost: $162.14 for 10 days. This comes out to about $8 per day, per person.

San Diego cost: $293.25 for 10 days. This comes out to about $14 per day, per person.

Athens, Greece, Photo by Spencer Davis on Unsplash

Food

How much are we going to spend on eating while we’re on this 10 day trip? Let’s assume that we will be eating out for each meal since we are staying in a hotel with no kitchen.

This number can be a bit difficult to nail down, but I am going to create an average estimate based on the information I have found on other blogs.

Our Athens hotel includes free breakfast in our room rate, so we will calculate our daily food cost based on lunch and dinner there, but all three meals in San Diego.

The numbers I’ve found are for a frugal food budget, not eating at the top restaurants every night, but rather very middle of the road establishments.

Average cost per day for food in Athens: $25/day for one person

Average cost per day for food in San Diego: $40/day for one person

Totals

Now let’s look at the totals for the numbers above for the cost of accommodations, transportation, activities, and food in both Athens and San Diego.

Total daily cost to travel in Athens: $94.30 per person

Total daily cost to travel in San Diego: $183.50 per person.

10 day trip for 2 ppl to Athens cost: $1,886

10 day trip for 2 ppl to San Diego cost: $3,670

Is It Really Cheaper To Travel Abroad Than In America?

Both of the hypothetical trips we planned above were planned on a budget, I was finding the least expensive options of each category, while maintaining comfort and safety.

Our target budget was $200 per day for two people, which we were able to stay within in Athens. In San Diego, we ended up spending almost $200 for just one person, per day.

In the end, the trip to San Diego ended up costing just about 2x more than the trip to Athens, Greece.

The most notable difference was in the price of activities, food, and the value of accommodation.

In Athens, you would not have to limit yourself too much to save money. You would have to be very frugal in San Diego, and you still would not be able to stay within budget.

So, as far as value, I think it’s clear that your money would go MUCH further in Athens than in San Diego.

Of course, airfare to even get to both of these places will need to be factored in, but I simply wanted to show you how once you arrive, the prices will be much different.

This will definitely depend on where you are coming from, so these prices can vary heavily.

The reason that we love to travel internationally is because we are able to get almost free flights when we fly using credit card points.

So, if we aren’t going to be paying for the plane tickets, Athens would be the obvious choice!

I wrote a whole blog post to teach you how we use credit card points to pay for our flights!

So, yes. Traveling abroad can be less expensive than domestic travel in America.

Florence, Italy. We found that Italy is much more affordable than one would think!

Why It’s Less Expensive To Travel Other Countries

There are a few reasons why traveling in other countries is less expensive than in the U.S.

Most of them have to do with the fact that the USD can go much further elsewhere and that the tourism sectors are set up quite differently.

1. Lower Cost in General

The United States is one of the most expensive countries to live and travel in. This has to do with the currency of the American Dollar as well as the economy.

We certainly don’t need to dive in too deep to the specifics, but the American Dollar is a strong currency. That means that Americans can leverage the dollar’s strength in conversion rates.

For example, a meal in Thailand that costs 100 Baht would cost about $2.90 USD. However, a $100 meal in the U.S. would cost 3,445 Baht! These currencies are not worth the same amount, so 100 Baht ≠ $100 USD.

The U.S. also has a relatively high cost of living, ranking consistently in the top 20 of most expensive countries to live in.

So, when Americans visit other countries abroad, they’ll notice their money will go a lot further.

For example, it is hard to find a decent 3 star or higher hotel in the U.S. for under $100 per night. But, in most countries in Europe, it is very easy to find lots of nice hotel options for under $100 per night. And in Asia or South America, you can find 4 and 5 star hotels for less than $100 per night!

So, if you are an American looking for an affordable travel destination, Asia and South America are often referenced as being the most budget friendly destinations! Europe can also be generally more affordable than the U.S.

In lots of places in Asia or South America, you can find accommodation for as little as $5-10 per night. And luxury hotels are much more affordable as well.

2. More Hotel Options & Hostels

Of course we have tourism in the United States, but it isn’t quite as extensive of a network as in other places.

The reason for this? Not many people from other countries can afford to travel to the U.S. on vacation for the same reason as I talked about above.

This also decreases the amount of competition in the tourism space, especially with hotels.

Because of this prices tend to be higher than if there was more competition in the hotel industry. In much of Europe for example, there are many individually or locally owned hotels and B&B’s that compete with the larger hotel chains.

Not to mention that hostels are much more widely available to travelers in other parts of the world than in the U.S. And staying at a hostel is one of the easiest ways to cut down your travel budget!

We always use Booking.com to book all of our hotels around the world!

Koh Tao, Thailand where our daily budget was well under $100 per day for the two of us!

3. Flights (typically) cost less in other countries

In the United States, there are certainly budget airlines and hostels, but they may not be as common or as well-established as they are in other parts of the world.

This can make it more difficult for American travelers to find affordable options.

Let’s do an experiment. I went to Google Flights, put London as my origin airport, and clicked on the Explore feature. This map will show you the least expensive flights out of London for any given time. I chose a 4 day round trip itinerary.

This is what the map looks like:

Next, I did the same thing with Washington D.C., the nation’s capital, as our city of origin. Look at the differences in prices for the exact same dates!

While this may not always be true, it is very true that air travel in other parts of the world can be much more affordable than in the U.S.

You may be thinking, “well yeah, Nikki, but it’s about the cost of getting there that makes international travel unaffordable.”

Well, I’m going to let you in on a little secret… Colton and I rarely pay full price for our plane tickets, even when we fly halfway around the world.

We do this by using credit card points to pay for our flights. All we have to pay is the taxes and fees!

I’ve written an entire post about how we use credit card points to travel on a budget that you should read if you’re interested in drastically reducing the cost of your flights on your next trip!

Even if you don’t use points, I can often find flights to Europe from the east coast that cost WAY less than trying to fly to the west coast, or even Denver!

I use Google Flights to find all of my flights on a budget!

6 Tips For Traveling Abroad on a Budget

So, now you’re convinced that traveling abroad does NOT have to be more expensive than traveling in the U.S.

So how do we really do it? What are the practical, actionable steps for planning a trip on a budget?

1. Stay in Hostels or Small Locally Owned Hotels

You will most likely find better hotel prices if you stay in a hotel owned by a local.

Staying with any of the large hotel chains that have properties all over the world is going to cost you. The only way I recommend staying with big name hotels like Hyatt or Marriott is if you are using points from a rewards program (like credit card points) to cover some of the cost.

You are almost always going to find better rates elsewhere.

And, you don’t have to sacrifice quality just because you are staying somewhere local. In fact, you may end up with an even more enjoyable experience. Often, you can get amazing recommendations for restaurants and activities from your local hotel concierge. Not to mention the boutique hotel experience and customer service.

2. Walk as Much as Possible & Use Public Transportation

One of the easiest and best ways make traveling abroad less expensive is by walking as much as possible!

Walking in a place you’ve never been to before is a great way to get to know the town or city you’re staying in. It is also the most cost effective way of getting around.

As an alternative to renting a car, you can walk, rent a scooter, or use public transportation.

In America, public transportation gets a bad reputation.

That’s mostly because we have a car dependent society and do not prioritize the upkeep or expansion of public transportation. The less we use it, the worse it gets.

In many other places around the world, public transportation is the primary mode of transportation for most citizens. It’s also fantastic for tourists! And in many of my experiences, public transportation options are clean and easy to use. So don’t be afraid of it!

3. Book Ahead (most of the time)

In most cases, booking your hotels or tours ahead of time will save you money. However, there are exceptions to this rule!

I especially recommend you book ahead of time if you are traveling to a destination during their high season. You are less likely to have many options if you wait until the last minute and prices may go up.

It’s more likely that there will be no availability for activities and tours that you try to book last minute. For example, we didn’t go to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris because we did not book ahead of time!

There are some instances where this rule doesn’t apply.

For example, when we were in Thailand, we walked up to a tour company and told them we wanted to go on a private longtail boat tour the next day. They got us set up, and we found out later that it would have been more expensive to book online ahead of time.

For very popular tourist attractions however, I always recommend booking tickets ahead of time.

This rule doesn’t necessarily apply to everything, all the time. But, if you want to be safe, I would book ahead when possible!

4. Create a Daily Budget

One of the ways traveling abroad can be less expensive that has really saved us hundreds of dollars is having a really good budget.

Actually, just having a budget at all is a good place to start!

Many people go on vacation with no idea what they should be spending, so it is very easy for them to overspend.

Take the amount of money you have for the entirety of your trip, divide it by the number of days, and you have your daily budget. Then, actually track it while you’re on your trip!

Seeing this daily budget number and having it in your mind will help you determine which purchases are in budget and which are not. This way, you won’t unintentionally overspend, but rather you have a reference point for all of your spending.

5. Travel Slow

The faster you travel around, the higher your transportation costs will be, and consequently your daily costs.

If you can travel slowly, staying in one place for longer than just a few days, you’re likely to spend less money.

This is easier to do if you have a lot of time for travel, like if you’re on a long-term trip. But it can also apply to a week-long vacation as well!

6. Use a Cash Back or Rewards Credit Card

One of the biggest ways traveling abroad can be less expensive is by avoiding high flight prices.

There are many travel credit cards that offer rewards for purchases. Some of the most popular travel rewards credit cards offer a point sign up bonus for a certain amount of spending on the card. Those points can be redeemed for flights, hotels, and even rental cars.

In fact, travel credit cards are the way we have been able to save thousands of dollars on flights all over the world. We purchased flights to Turkey for the beginning of our 6 month trip for only $5.60 per person!

Read this post I wrote if you want to know more about using credit card points to get almost free flights all over the world.

If you’re interested in what cards we use to pay for our flights, check out this list of my favorite travel credit cards.

There are also lots of credit cards that offer cash back for your purchases, meaning your bank will give you a certain percentage back on your purchases. This is a great way to save money while you travel!

What if with every purchase you made, you got a 5% discount. That is essentially what a cash back card does, when you think about it.

There are lots of cash back cards with $0 annual fees and no international transaction fees, making it a no brainer for when you travel!

You will also earn cashback on all your purchases back home, as well. Which means more money in your pocket to go towards your travels.

how to travel internationally for less than in the U.S.

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Traveling Abroad Can Be Less Expensive Than In The U.S.

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