While you may factor flights, accommodation, souvenirs, and activities into your travel budget, there are a wide array of unexpected travel costs which may catch you off guard. If you’re curious, simply continue reading to discover 5 unexpected travel costs which are important to factor into your travel budget!
- Healthcare costs
If you want to avoid having to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars for emergency healthcare, whilst you’re traveling overseas, it’s highly advisable to take out travel insurance before you depart for your next overseas adventure. As the majority of countries around the world, don’t offer free healthcare services for foreign national.If you misplace your medication whilst traveling, you’ll also need to pay to visit a local pharmacy, in order to replace your medication. In some cases, you may even have to pay to visit a GP, in order to get a prescription for your medicine.
- Flight cancellations
Although it hardly seems fair, in most cases airlines are not legally obligated to refund the cost of your plane ticket, if your flight is cancelled. Even if an airline chooses to reimburse you for a cancelled flight, you may end up paying a small fortune in order to purchase alternative tickets, in order to get to your final destination. In some cases, you may even be forced to purchase multiple flights, with layovers in different cities in order to reach your chosen destination. Which can be an expensive exercise.
- Costs of unexpected emergencies back home
When you travel overseas, life goes on for your friends and family members back home. So it’s plausible that a family member may be rushed to hospital or that a sick loved one may pass away, while you’re halfway across the world. Prepaid funerals can help reduce costs and stress while you’re traveling. In some cases, you may choose to book a last minute flight back home in order to visit a friend who was involved in a serious car crash or the funeral of an elderly family member. If a family member has unexpectedly passed away you may even be expected to help cover the costs of a funeral. Burial services are also very expensive, it’s a good idea to look into Cremation services to reduce the costs of a loved one passing away.
- Rental car costs
While you may factor the cost of a rental car into your budget, you might forget to factor in having to pay for gas and paying for parking. As some hotels and resorts fail to provide their customers with free underground parking, which may mean that you have to park your rental car at an expensive privately owned car park. It is also a great idea, when possible, to search online or find recommendations for companies to rent from as this can help you save money when you rent out a car.
- Departure taxes
Some countries charge international a departure tax, which is usually collected at the airport. However, some countries such as Australia and New Zealand factor their departure tax into travelers’ ticket prices. Example of countries who charge departure tax at the airport include China, Germany and Fiji. The latter of which charges $125 US dollars departure tax. Which is a hefty unexpected fee, for travelers to factor into their travel budget.
So if you plan to get your passport stamped in a new country, in the near future it’s well worth factoring in the five unexpected costs listed above, into your travel budget!
