{"id":247820,"date":"2010-01-29T17:35:13","date_gmt":"2010-01-29T22:35:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lazymanandmoney.com\/?p=2637"},"modified":"2010-01-29T17:35:13","modified_gmt":"2010-01-29T22:35:13","slug":"how-to-avoid-being-ripped-off-as-a-tourist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/247820","title":{"rendered":"How to Avoid being Ripped Off as a Tourist"},"content":{"rendered":"

[Nick Barber is a site editor for Voucher Codes<\/a>, the UK’s leading money saving website.<\/em>]<\/p>\n

Being a tourist in Europe is one of the toughest challenges anyone committed to the frugal life will endure. Even for locals, it\u2019s dispiritingly easy to fritter away cash in tourist hotspots that seem to go out of their way to empty to your pockets at every opportunity.<\/p>\n

As always, planning is the key, otherwise you risk losing control of your spending. With a little inside knowledge and an internet connection, you could save up to 50% at top restaurants, get cheap theatre tickets, save on takeout pizza and ride the subway for half price.<\/p>\n

Before eating out, take the time to search for restaurant vouchers. Faced with a recession, European restaurants and attractions are resorting in droves to money-off vouchers to attract new customers. Savvy Europeans search online for restaurant vouchers (also known as printable vouchers), these coupons are downloaded from voucher codes websites printed out at home then handed over in the restaurant. Download a coupon for the eatery that most whets your appetite, print it out then hand it over when you get there. These can be found at Restaurant Vouchers<\/a> for the UK. [Editor’s note: Nick also mentions PlanReduc<\/a> for France, and Gutschein Codes<\/a> for Germany, but I couldn’t easily find English versions of the site, making them fairly useless to most readers of this site<\/em>.]<\/p>\n

Typical offers include two main meals for the price of one; half price food bills and kids eat free. The potential savings are huge, particularly for families.<\/p>\n

A family of four dining at Pizza Express, a stylish and family-friendly pizza restaurant chain, could easily spend $125. With a two-for-one printable voucher, this could be slashed by almost $35. An even better deal can be had at La Tasca, a popular Spanish restaurant chain. La Tasca’s 50% off food voucher would save the same family almost $50 on a typical bill of $125 that included drinks.<\/p>\n

Even if you don\u2019t have an internet connection in your hotel, you can always nip into one of Europe\u2019s many internet cafes and print out your coupon. The cost of doing so will only be a fraction of what you save.<\/p>\n

Another great way to avoid being stung at the end of a meal is to log on to the Time Out restaurant guides which are available for most major cities. As online bibles for food-loving Europeans, these sites have all the latest independent reviews and even lists all restaurants where you can dine for under $15 a head.<\/p>\n

Transport can also drain the cash from the holiday fund. A mistake that can often be made by families is to leave the bikes at home. While not right for all holidays many sunny and picturesque destinations can provide the perfect setting for a group bike ride. This can form a fun part of the holiday while avoiding the overpriced trains operating on tourist routes.<\/p>\n

In terms of accommodation it\u2019s always best to book in advance with cheap hotel chains. While in Britain Travelodge, Holiday Inn and several others are leading the way in low cost accommodation. In France similar chains can offer three person rooms for under $30 a night, while still being close to major attractions. <\/p>\n

A tip that cannot be stressed enough is to check with your provider before using your credit card abroad. Most companies will charge a huge commission of around 2.75% every time you use your card \u2013 a sting that can be easily avoided with some forward planning.<\/p>\n

U.S. tourists made 2.96 million visits to the UK last year, according to the International Passenger Survey. While more French and Germans came to Britain in that time, no-one spent more than Americans, who handed over $3.66 billion in total. With London being consistently voted the most expensive European city it is worth being extra savvy when visiting the Big Smoke. <\/p>\n

Taking in a show in London\u2019s West End is likely to be high on your to-do list but it is very expensive. Avoiding paying full price usually means running the gauntlet of ticket touts or wasting an afternoon queuing up for hours for a cut-price ticket. But there is an alternative. Check out lastminute.com for some amazing deals. Originally a highly successful online travel agent, lastminute.com has branched out to offer cheap deals on just about every form of entertainment. It\u2019s a double whammy: save money on tickets and have more time to enjoy yourself.<\/p>\n

One final tip for visitors to London: get an Oyster travel card at the tube station at the airport. Costing less than $5, this pay-as-you-go travel card will save you 50% on all underground and bus travel.<\/p>\n

Given that a single tube ticket for just central London stations costs more than $6, it\u2019s daft not to get an Oyster card. Just top it up with cash or credit card at tube stations or newsagents then swipe it as you pass the tube turnstiles or hop on a bus, happy in the knowledge you\u2019re not being robbed blind like all the other tourists.<\/p>\n

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    [Nick Barber is a site editor for Voucher Codes, the UK’s leading money saving website.] Being a tourist in Europe is one of the toughest challenges anyone committed to the frugal life will endure. Even for locals, it\u2019s dispiritingly easy to fritter away cash in tourist hotspots that seem to go out of their way […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-247820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247820"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247820\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}