30 Second Advice – No 7: Day Tour Tips

Last minute day trips can solve all your problems, especially on days you are flying in the evening.

The key is to have a budget in mind and ASK for discount.

If you are a solo traveler and have a day to spare, find a tour you would like to do, contact the local tour agencies and ask if they have last minute rates.I have done this everywhere and as long as you have a local number for them to call (or Whatsapp etc), and are very polite about it, they do often give you a discount to fill a last minute spot.

Here’s my method:

I usually call and ask the price of the tour. If they say $125 I say “oh my budget doesn’t stretch to that. Do you have last minute prices?” Mostly they don’t, however at that point, I tell them that I have $100 and if they could do it for that, I would be happy to get a call at the last minute to fill a spot that would be otherwise vacant. I leave them my phone number so could they call me the day of the tour and make sure I don’t do anything until I know the tour would have started.

I think I’ve got maybe 60% success rate with this. If its something I really want to do, I will call them the morning of the tour early (if they have a number) and check if they have a last minute space. You have the option then to either accept the full price of the tour if they won’t budge, or simply spend your day doing something else. The trick is to not go in too low. I usually try and offer them 70% of the going rate to give them a little wiggle room too.

It’s the easiest thing to get out of as you have already said you have a budget, so if you say $70 and they say $80 you can very politely tell them that you are sure the tour is worth it but you only have $70 to spend. Thank them and move on.