One thing I have found great about living in Australia is that our Aussie dollar travels so much further when exchanging for foreign currency. Because of this, we have more cash to spend on our holidays and mini retirements.
While most Australians head north into South East Asia, my family and I have recently been traveling to New Zealand for our holidays, and we couldn’t speak more highly of the place. Yes, unfortunately our money doesn’t go as far in New Zealand as it does in Bali or Thailand, but it is still good and definitely helps out with the enjoyment of the trip. Seeing as we have been across the ditch a few times, I thought it would be good to share a few ways to save on your next New Zealand holiday.
#1 – Convert money when the Australian dollar is high
As mentioned above, you can maximize the distance your money goes by choosing the right time to convert from AUD to NZD. This is one of the best ways to save on your holiday because you are leveraging the currency to your advantage. Now you do not have to be an astute financial investor to keep an eye on the market, all you have to do is check out a few websites and look at the trend. If it is looking in your favor, then buy buy buy! Even if you plan on heading to New Zealand at a later stage, you can minimize the risk of the currency heading the other way and losing money when converting.
#2 – Book cheap New Zealand accommodation
There are several methods of booking your accommodation in New Zealand. Of course there is the traditional method of going through a travel agent, however if you want to save, you need to find cheap New Zealand accommodation online yourself. One of the best ways to save is by comparing all the accommodation deals on one website, thus saving you both time and money. My family found cheap Auckland accommodation with NZ Hotel Deals. You can compare accommodation New Zealand wide including the major tourist hotspots to the small towns that make up the majority of the country. This helped us save considerably.
#3 – Buy and sell a car rather than rent
If you really want to pinch down on the penny, and don’t want to search for one of the cheap rental cars on Rent Me a Car, then your next best bet is to wing it! Taking your chances and buying a car to travel within NZ is a risky option, and can sometimes cost you more hassle than you anticipated… but it can also be one of the most rewarding experiences and also save you a dollar or two. Cars are much cheaper as a whole in New Zealand compared to Australia. It does mean that you will have to fork out the cash for the car up front, but when you are ready to leave the country you can always sell the car – wither to someone new or to the same person you originally bought it for. You probably won’t make any money on the deal, but depending on how long you are there for, can work out much cheaper than a rental car.
Whatever you decide to do, make sure you take into consideration the above points and you are sure to save some of your hard earned cash when travelling to New Zealand on your next holiday.