As much as you may try to plan for everything (or at least have some money set aside for activities), unexpected travel costs always come up! A travel budget should consider costs for accommodations (hotels/hostels), transportation (buses, trains, car rentals), fun activities (admission prices, etc). I recommend your budget also account for costs you can’t plan for. I did a complete travel budget post I recommend always including a 10% contingency. That means:
1. Calculate your expected budget with known costs like flights and hotels
2. Plan for the unexpected by adding 10% to your total budget
3. Save for the new budget+contingency amount for your vacation.
The unexpected doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg. If you are on a strict budget with no wiggle room, the small expenses can seem devastating! Read on for some of the costs I didn’t plan for in my budget for trips abroad. Hopefully you can learn from my mistakes.
Northern Ireland Unexpected Travel Costs
£20 GBP ($34 CAD) I travelled to Northern Ireland in March 2017. I had the exact amount of cash to pay for the Paddy Campbell’s Black Taxi Tour + tip in Belfast. At the end of the (amazing) tour, I handed the cab driver all my cash. I then went to pay for parking for my rental car with my credit card. Unexpectedly, my credit card wasn’t working and the machine would only accept cash! After spending about an hour running around the city to banks and finally Marks & Spencer, I was able to take out cash at a hefty fee to pay for parking.
€55 EUR ($89 CAD) Another unexpected fee was renting a car in Ireland (at the Dublin airport) to drive to Belfast in Northern Ireland. There was a €55 fee to cross the border with the rental car!
Iceland Unexpected Travel Costs
350,000 ISK ($3,500 CAD) My trip to Iceland involved getting hit by a car door that was blown in the wind. Wind insurance is not included in rental car insurance in Iceland, and we opted for the minimum coverage which meant our deductible would have been $3,500!!! Luckily, we were in the car when we were hit and were able to get the other person’s information and the insurance company’s sorted it out but we were originally on the hook for the whole amount.
Cuba Unexpected Travel Costs
Tipping. My first all-inclusive resort trip was to Cuba and I mistakenly thought everything would be covered. I didn’t factor in tipping (don’t judge, I had never travelled internationally before and never had to worry about it). You should tip your cleaning staff, bartenders, waiters/waitresses, beach staff etc. Another thing I hadn’t thought of before arriving!
Unexpected Luxury Hotel Costs
Hotel Stay. I booked a flight with a budget airline in Canada. I’d heard so many mixed reviews and people having issues getting a refund for things like a hotel, due to a last minute flight cancellation, I decided to hold off on booking a hotel. Most people who do this book a hotel when they board the plane. However, when I boarded my Canadian flight, I couldn’t find any room besides a luxury hotel. I thought “I’ll just check when I land”. Sure enough, when I landed the luxury hotel room was the only one available and it cost $100 more per night. Turns out, it was a marathon weekend so hotels had been booked up for a month! Luckily I was able to stay at a hostel the next night but it was a huge expense I was not expecting!
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