How to Score HUGE deals on Antarctica Trips (and other places)

Stuffing our hands in our pockets and lacing our boots up tight, Chris and I walked around what is called ‘El Fin del Mundo’ or ‘The End of the World.’ This was in 2014 and wanted to see if we could get good deals on last minute tickets to Antarctica.

Bundled up we walked from agency to agency in the town of Ushuaia. At the very bottom tip of Argentina, Ushuaia, pronounced “Ush-shy-ah,” is the most southern city in the world.

Disappointingly we found the most budget ticket prices starting around the $5000 mark. We learned when booking your boat to Antarctica, especially for ‘budget’ boats, to read the fine print carefully as many of the activities you may want to do are not included. This means your supposed budget ticket can quickly increases in price as you shell out for optional activities.

What we learned after talking to countless operators is finding those amazing deals on last minute tickets is a thing of the past. Town was full of people just like us wandering the streets thinking and hoping they were going to get the deal of the century on a last minute ticket.

What you want to do instead and to maximize you dollar is to look for a company you want to go with, sign up for their newsletter and look in advance for a deal. So although the moment has passed (darn it small village in Malaysia that lost internet for TWO whole days!) Intrepid was having a flash sale for 50% OFF trips to Antarctica. I still wanted to share with you that opportunities like this do exists. For instance if you book early you can save $6000 off 2017/2018 trips or 20% off these selected overland trips. And particularly for specific places that you have to go with a guide (like Antarctica) keeping yourself in the loop can bring you huge savings.

I tend to be skeptical of most travel companies in terms of upholding high values and environmental practices, but after spending two months traveling with Intrepid Travel across Africa, I was so impressed with them.

Which is why I just had to say to anyone out there thinking about Antarctica or other destinations you have always wanted to travel to, but just weren’t sure, sign up for a companies alerts or newsletter. There are so many cool places to go and it’s understandable that they might either be intimidating places to go on your own, or you may not consider yourself ‘adventurous’ enough or you may just want to go like the locals do and get a feeling of what a country is like before you decide if you’d like to travel there yourself. A way we are able to travel as much as we do is because we’re always keeping an eye out for deals.

TIP: Create an email account that you use solely for signing up to newsletters, deals, etc. Don’t clutter your main inbox! This will save you a ton of hassle and help keep you more focused and organized.

For our first trip to Africa we researched and went with Intrepid because going on that trip eliminated a lot of our stress of ‘what if’s’ for the trip. And the result was Africa was one of the best trips of our life! Our group still stays in touch and a lot of members in our group have already returned for various trips in Africa. We also learned that renting a car and traveling on our own through South Africa parks was so much more affordable and easy than we ever thought! We wish we had saved the money for the plane ticket and gone years ago!

Whether it’s to Antarctica, Africa or a new town in your home state, I hope you have a nagging place in your brain that won’t let you rest until you make a plan to go there and try to find a deal to help get you there!  One of my favorite quotes from the movie Babe says:

To get you dreaming:

Always try to book a deal if you can. It will help you travel longer or do some more expensive activities along the way!

Going to Africa was one of the best trips we have done and we were so glad we went with Intrepid. It was the easiest and most hassle free trip ever. You can check out this post talking about how to plan a trip to hike with mountain gorillas or see the beautiful trees of the Serengeti or see one of the wonders of the world Victoria Falls.

There are so many ways to travel and mitigate any stresses that may go along with it.

One of these days, we will be getting on a boat going to Antarctica! Until then…travel onwards 🙂

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What is one place that you really want to go to but are unsure of?

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The gear listed in this post is the same exact gear we use to travel the world or our back yard.
These same booking resources are the same exact ones we use to find deals and acquire points for more travel.
I will never recommend to get a credit card unless you are 100% solid to pay it off in full every month. If you will and are going to be making some big purchases, this Chase card is the same exact card we use and it offers great travel points and perks.
Finally, if you have not used AirBnB before, use this special link to sign up and get $40 off your first booking.