If you are looking to travel and spend less money along the way, a road trip can be a great alternative to flying. Not only can you save some money on a road trip but you also have more flexibility and freedom versus flying somewhere.
In this post, I want to share a number of ways that you can save some money while you hit the road for your next adventure.
How to Save Money on a Road Trip – Planning
1. Set Up a Budget
Setting up a travel budget and sticking with it can save you money on your road trip. If you aren’t sure how to set up a budget, you can read my post “How and Why to Budget for a Trip.”
In the post, I share the steps you need to take to set up a budget and the different categories to include.
2. Track Your Spending
Having a budget is one thing but you need to make sure that you are on track with your budget. There are all kinds of ways to track your spending. You can go old school with paper pencil or use an app like Trabee Pocket.
It doesn’t matter what you use, you just have to use a method that you like and will do to keep your spending in check.
3. Travel with Friends
Traveling with a friend or friends can be a great way to experience some wonderful things with your friend(s). Plus, when it comes to money, traveling with a friend or friends allows you to split the cost that you have on your trip.
Make sure that you talk with your friend(s) on what costs are being split and what other costs are strictly your own responsibility before you hit the road. You just want everyone to be on the same page before the trip.
4. Use a Packing List
A good way to spend more money than what you were planning for on a road trip is by forgetting to pack some things that you really need.
A packing list is going to help you make sure that you don’t forget anything that you are going to use on the trip.
You can create your own packing list or you can purchase one and modify it for your specific needs. I have numerous packing lists on my Etsy shop that you can purchase.
How to Save Money on a Road Trip – Food
5. Pack Snacks and a Cooler
If you have ever stopped to fill up gas and you grabbed some snacks and drinks, you know that it can be quite pricey.
A great way to work around this is by packing snacks and putting your favorite drinks in a cooler. Getting your snacks and drinks at the grocery store versus at a gas station can save you a significant amount of money.
Also, stopping at a fast food restaurant to grab a bite to eat can get expensive especially if you have a family. You can pack some things to make sandwiches like lunch meat, peanut butter and jelly and the like to cut down on restaurant stops. .
One nice thing about this approach is that you can also restock your stash of snacks, drinks, and sandwich supplies while on the road at a local grocery store.
The times that you do eat out you’ll want to use a credit card that rewards you when dining out like the Chase Sapphire Preferred. With the Preferred, you earn 3 points for every dollar spent at restaurants.
6. Take Out Versus Eating In
The cost of going out to eat can really get expensive, if you eat at a sit down restaurant. A way to spend less is ordering your food to go.
We did this a lot on our 16 day family trip that we took out west. You can see the itinerary for the trip by clicking here.
Our one son-in-law was a server for a number of years. So, he told us why we should tip even with take out. We did tip some but not the 20% that we normally do.
7. Stay at Hotels with Free Breakfast
If you are going to be staying at a hotel, a great way to save on food costs is staying at hotels that offer free breakfast. It helps you save by not having to pay for one of the meals of the day.
We stay at hotels most of the time that we are traveling and finding a hotel that offers free breakfast is at the top of my lists of things to do.
8. Eat Out for Breakfast or Lunch
Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. I personally could eat breakfast for every meal of the day. So, when we are somewhere I like to try to hit a good breakfast spot at least once.
One advantage of going to a place for breakfast is that it is usually going to be less expensive than eating dinner at a restaurant.
Lunch is another good alternative when eating out versus dinner. Many restaurants have lunch specials which can help you save money.
9. Fix Your Own Meals
Fixing your own meals even occasionally can save you quite a bit of money. If you are going to be camping, then having the necessary equipment will be essential.
You can also book a hotel room that has a mini kitchen or an Airbnb that has a kitchen to prepare some or all of your meals.
How to Save Money on a Road Trip – Car Prep
10. Have Mechanic Look Over Vehicle
In the excitement of getting on the road, you don’t want to forget about getting your vehicle in to be seen by a mechanic.
A tuned up car and having the proper air in the tires can help you get better gas mileage. Plus, making sure everything is running well and all lines are in good shape can give you peace of mind that you won’t have any major issues on the road.
11. Prepare a Roadside Emergency Kit
Hopefully, when you are on your road trip everything goes smoothly when it comes to your vehicle. But as the old saying goes, it is better to be safe than sorry. So, it is good to have some emergency supplies packed for your road trip.
Things like a spare tire and jack, jumper cables or car battery charger, flashlight with batteries, and first aid kit can come in really handy if something goes wrong.
12. Get Roadside Assistance Service
As you travel on a road trip, there may be a time where you will need roadside assistance of some kind. Our family has AAA and it gives us peace of mind when we are traveling locally or on a major trip.
AAA has a number of different levels that you can sign up for. So, they probably have a plan that would fit your budget.
Another way to get roadside assistance is by getting it through your car insurance. It is usually pretty cheap. You will want to make sure of all that it covers before you go that route.
How to Save Money on a Road Trip – Gas
13. Plan Gas Stops
There are a number of apps that show you gas prices. One of the more popular gas apps is GasBuddy. It shows you prices of gas stations where you are at in real time.
If you have a Costco or Sam’s Club membership, you can use those memberships to your advantage when on the road. Many times the gas prices at those places are cheaper than other gas stations around.
One thing that I try to avoid is filling up in remote locales or very touristy areas. The gas tends to be higher in those kinds of places.
14. Use a Credit Card to Earn Points
On a road trip, you are going to have to fill up your car with gas. I know thank you captain obvious. You might as well earn some credit card points in the process.
There are numerous cards on the market that you can use. I personally like the Chase Freedom Flex. The card has quarterly rotating categories with gas usually being one of the categories in the summer. If gas is one of the categories, you can earn 5 points for each dollar spent on up to $1,500.
The Citi Custom Cash Card allows you to select gas as one of the categories on the card. You earn 5 points for each dollar spent on the first $500.
Another great option is the AmEx Gold Business card. It gives you 4 points for each dollar spent on gas.
How to Save Money on a Road Trip – Driving
15. Drive the Speed Limit
I have to laugh when giving this recommendation since I like to get from point A to point B as fast as possible. In the immortal words of Sammy Hagar, I can’t drive 55. Needless to say, driving the speed limit does save money since you will get better gas mileage. I guess I should take my own advice.
16. Get An E-Z Pass
If you are traveling in the Midwest or along the Atlantic Coast, you may want to consider getting an E-Z Pass. The pass is good in 18 different states east of the Mississippi.
An E-Z Pass is a transponder that allows you to pay for tolls on a toll road or bridge. It can even save you some money since some roads and bridges charge less when using a transponder.
The other nice thing about an E-Z Pass is that it can save you a bunch of time when going through toll areas during busy times of the day.
Our family got one when our one daughter was in college in Rochester, New York. We have kept it and it has come in handy many times when we have traveled.
17. Avoid Toll Roads
If you don’t want to get an E-Z Pass or the E-Z Pass isn’t available where you are traveling, you can set up Google Maps or your GPS to show you routes that don’t have tolls. Sometimes the route may be longer but not always.
18. Renting a Car
Renting a car can be a good choice if you don’t have a reliable vehicle, flying somewhere far away first, or if you don’t want to put a bunch of miles on your own car. The downside with rental cars is that they can be quite pricey.
I have three posts that can help you save on a rental car. The first post is about Costco Rental Cars. Another post is about how to find the best car rental deals and the last is how to use AutoSlash to save on rental cars.
How to Save Money on a Road Trip – Accommodations
19. Use Hotel Points
I mentioned before that I had many fond memories camping in a trailer growing up. That was then and this is now. I don’t camp anymore but I love to stay in a hotel instead. The one major downside in staying in hotels is the cost.
One way to get around the costs of hotels is by using credit card points. All major hotel chains have ways to pay for rooms with points.
You can sign up for a hotel card to earn hotel points or you can get a general travel card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred.
The points that you earn from a general card can be transferred to certain hotel chains. You can use the points once they are transferred to book stays.
I have a post on ways to save on hotels and how to credit card travel hack that you can learn more about.
20. Stay with Friends
A great way to save on accommodation costs is by staying with friends. Not only do you get a free stay but it is a great time to catch up and enjoy one another’s company.
21. Book an Airbnb
Depending on where you are going and how many people are in your party, Airbnbs can be a great alternative to hotels.
The prices of Airbnbs have seemed to have gone up over the last number of years. With that being said, it may take a little digging but you can find some good deals with Airbnbs.
As you probably know, Airbnbs are not the only game in town. I have written a post titled “15 Helpful Sites Like Airbnb to Book Your Next Stay” that will show you other sites that you can use to try to find your accommodations.
22. Camp
Hotels and Airbnbs can be a major part of your budget if you are staying in them all of the time on a road trip. A way to cut down on lodging costs is by camping. This can be with a tent, a trailer, RV or a camper van.
Getting a camping spot can cost between $10-$100. It all depends if you need hookups or not.
You can save money while camping by staying in state and national parks, national forests, and recreation areas to name a few of the possibilities. Most of these areas are free to camp at.
When our family traveled when I was growing up, we had trailers that we stayed in when we took road trips. I have many fond memories of camping while we traveled all over the U.S.
How to Save Money on a Road Trip – Activities
23. Get National Park Pass
Traveling to many different National Parks can get quite expensive since they usually cost $25 to $35 to enter them. A great way to save money when visiting a lot of National Parks is by getting a National Park pass.
A park pass costs $80 and is good for a whole year from the time that you received the pass. If you happen to be 62 or older, you can get an annual pass that is good for a year and costs $20.
A better deal is the lifetime pass for seniors. A lifetime pass costs $80. As the name would suggest, the lifetime pass is good for your lifetime.
24. Do Free Stuff
When trying to cut costs on a road trip nothing can beat free. So, no matter where you travel there is usually some free stuff that you will be able to do along the way and at your destination.
Many state parks are free to get into. Plus, they are great places to take a hike. Parks in a city are free and a great place to have the kids run around to burn off some energy. Some museums are free to get into, also.
Do a little research and see what you can see or do for free on the route that you are going. Plus, do the same for the place or places that you are going to travel to.
25. Get a City Pass or Go City
If you plan on traveling to a city a couple great options are getting a CityPass or getting Go City. A CityPass has certain attractions that are included with the pass. You then can pick a different couple of activities to add to your pass.
It is cheaper to get the pass then by doing each of the different activities individually. I got one when I went to Atlanta. I did 4 of 5 activities on the pass and still saved money versus paying individually for the 4 activities.
Go City has a number of U.S. cities as well as overseas cities to choose from. With Go City, you have two different types of passes to choose from.
The Explorer Pass allows you to select the attractions you want to see and do. You then have 60 days to complete the pass after going to the first attraction.
The All Inclusive Pass lets you do an unlimited amount of activities over a set amount of days. It is up to you on how much you want to squeeze in.
26. Use Viator, TripAdvisor or GetYourGuide
Viator, TripAdvisor and GetYourGuide allows you to see different attractions and activities that you can do where you are traveling.
They may not be on sale on these sites but each one of the sites allows you to see what activities and attractions are available and how much they cost.
This helps you when trying to set up your budget for your trip. It also is a good idea to book things in advance in a heavy tourist area.
How to Save Money on a Road Trip – Miscellaneous
27. Travel During Off Season
Many people have to travel during the height of the tourist season. The costs of many things are going to be at their highest during this time.
If you have some flexibility, you can save money when road tripping during the off season. Not only do prices drop during the off season but the crowds will be much less, also.
28. Use AAA and AARP
I mentioned AAA when it came to roadside assistance. AAA offers so much more. You can rent cars, get discounted tickets to various places, and get discounted hotel rooms with a AAA membership.
AARP also offers discounted prices on various things. Most people think that you have to be old to get AARP. You can get AARP when you are 18 and use many of the benefits that come with a membership.
Final Thoughts
These 28 road trip travel tips can help you save money. Please leave other money saving tips in the comment section that you use while traveling on the road.
Go to my blog at Travelwidstom to see other money saving tips, travel itineraries and destinations, ways to earn and maximize credit card points and more.
So many great tips! I want to go on a road trip now.