It’s happened time and time again. You decide to finally take that amazing South America vacation. After an initial look through the travel search engines, the sticker shock swiftly erases any dreams you have of that Machu Picchu birthday sunrise you were envisioning. Don’t despair! Here are the simple steps you’ll need to know to get the biggest bang for your buck in South America.
- Book Early – We recommend at least a four month advance on any plans to save money on flights and ensure hotel availability. Some destinations, such as the Inca Trail have a limited amount of visitors allowed per day to maintain preservation of the sites. Booking early will not only save you money, but it will guarantee you will get to experience what you came to see for your visit to South America.
- Book Decisively – Know your budget, set up travel alerts and be ready to buy as soon as you see prices within your range. Leaving a good deal on the table could leave you paying twice the price for your indecision. A matter of days sometimes even hours could cost you hundreds to thousands of dollars.
- Know the Best Times to Travel – Do a bit of research on your destination before you book your trip. While places in Brazil are perfect year round, spots in Peru experience torrential downpours through the months of January and February. There’s no reason to ruin a good time or waste your hard earned cash due to lack of planning.
- Travel Around Holidays – New Years and Carnival in Rio may be two of the most amazing times to explore this exciting city, but be ready to pull out the wallet because prices can increase to sometimes 4 or 5 times the cost. A quick check at peak travel dates for your location can be a big pay off in the end.
- Talk to Travel Agents – Using discount booking sites in a do-it-yourself route can be tempting, but the time you take to research prices, hotels, safe neighborhoods, transport options, restaurants, etc. can actually cost you money by taking time away from work and keeping you from earning for the trip. Travel agents also have to ability to obtain wholesale prices, save you from tourist trap scams and suggest alternative, less touristy and more cost effective destinations. Of course, we’re biased, but we know the return on investment our customers receive. When you invest so much in a vacation, you should get as much out of it as possible!
If you’re interested in traveling with CAT, we offer fantastic South America Tours that can be customized to your preferences.
