Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Tips to Reduce Your Holiday Expenses to bali




While we mainly aim this article at visitors to our part of the world in Bali, Indonesia, you can apply a lot of the advice to holidays anywhere in the world.

One of the great attractions of bali is that it is cheap. The Tourism Authority of bali can carry on pushing their vision of bali as a millionaire's playground for as long as they want but still the majority of visitors will be people who have a limited budget
.

Its simple tips to help you make your money go further. We are not talking about the sort of penny-pinching measures that backpackers use to make their tiny budget stretch a year. We are not going to suggest you eat noodles every day. After all, you are on holiday and holidays are meant to be enjoyed. However, most people have worked hard for their two-week holiday in the land of smiles and there is no reason why they should not get the best from their money. Here are a few simple tips to make the money go a bit further.

Accommodation

If you want budget accommodation then usually you can find good deals
just by walking in off the street. Walk around the side streets of any of Kuta's beach resorts and you will find guesthouses. During peak high-season (Xmas & January) it is better to book in advance as there may not be any rooms available. Whatever you do, do not ask a tuk-tuk driver for a recommendation. They will just take you somewhere that pays them commission.

If you want mid to high range accommodation then you should book in advance. If you walk in off the street, you will pay more for your room. It may seem strange but it is cheaper to book in advance through a travel agent or internet-booking site. The internet booking sites have the best rates. An excellent tool for finding the best rates is Get Bali villas. This Bali based website does a price comparison across 30 internet-booking sites and finds the cheapest available offline rates.


Money Exchange


Do not change money in your home country before coming to Bali. You will get a much better rate of exchange in Bali. Bring an ATM card or travelers cheques. In fact, it is nice to have two sources of money in case of problems so why not bring both.

Do not exchange your money at hotels. They give bad rates. Exchange booths at airports also give poor rates. The best way to get money when you first arrive is to use an ATM at the airport

Tours

The tour prices in Kuta are generally very competitive. These organised tours are a convenient and reasonably priced way to see Kuta's tourist attractions. There are many tour shops and lots of tours so the competition keeps the prices down. Just go to any tour shop and you are likely to find some good deals.

The only problem with booking tours is you do not know the quality of the tour service. The price may be competitive but if the experience is poor then you will still be disappointed. Most of the tour organisers provide a good service but there are also a few stinkers.

Tipping

Tipping was never really a part of Bali culture. It is a custom that we visiting westerners have introduced and which Bali customers have now taken up. Most western visitors over-tip.

The normal tip in Bali at restaurants or bars is USD 1. That may seem like a derisory sum to leave by western standards but in Bali they do not expect any more. You are not being tightfisted by leaving so little. In fact, some claim that westerners who come here and tip big are actually causing problems for everybody else. They are creating an expectancy of big tips from westerners that never used to exist.


1 comment:

  1. Well I am little late as I recently came back from my Bali holidays but I used to go there often for fun so I"ll use this suggestion next time. :-)
    luxury villa bali

    ReplyDelete

 
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