October 21, 2025 • 28 mins
You scrimp, save, and finally book your dream trip… only to spend it fighting for a pool lounger, paying peak rates for accom, and cropping 100 tourists out of your sunset pics. Well, on our recent trip to the NT, we realised we’ve been doing travel wrong. And because we don’t gatekeep at SOTM, this ep is all about our new fave travel hack. One that's completely changed how we think about timing, value, and what makes a holiday actually feel rich. In this Deep Dive, we unpack why we’ve all been trained to think this season is “the best,” the psychology that makes us pay more without realising, and the surprising perks of travelling when everyone else isn’t. This one is full of practical tips for planning smarter holidays, scoring better deals, and making your money further.
In this ep:
✈️ Our bucket list trip without the bucket list prices
✈️ The travel trap that’s been quietly draining your bank account
✈️ How to score luxe-for-less stays without feeling like you’re budgeting
✈️ Go-to tips for planning getaways that feel rich... not expensive
Today's episode was sponsored Tourism NT...
See the full blog of our dreamy NT travel diaries right here.
Ready to plan your own trip? Find the amazing deals and experiences of the NT's Best Kept Season here
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Acknowledgement of Country By Nartarsha Bamblett aka Queen Acknowledgements.
The advice shared on She's On The Money is general in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances. She's On The Money exists purely for educational purposes and should not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision. If you do choose to buy a financial product, read the PDS, TMD and obtain appropriate financial advice tailored towards your needs. Victoria Devine and She's On The Money are authorised representatives of Money Sherpa PTY LTD ABN - 321649 27708, AFSL - 451289.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
My name is Tatasha Bamblet. I'm a proud First Nations
woman and I'm here to acknowledge country Ta glennyan Ganya, Niana,
Kaka yah y and beIN ah Waka Nian our gay In, Nimbini,
yakarum jar Dominyamiga Umaga, Ihowaka Nile, waman damind Imlan bomber
bang gadabomba in and now in Waka ghana on yak
rum jar Watnadaa. Hello, beautiful friends, we gather on the
(00:24):
lands of the Aboriginal people. We thank acknowledge and respect
the Abiginal people's land that we're gathering on today. Take
pleasure in all the land and respect all that you see.
She's on the Money podcast acknowledges culture, country, community and connections,
bringing you the tools, knowledge and resources for you to thrive.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
And a big thank you, of course to the wonderful
team at Tourism n T for sponsoring today's episode.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
She's on the Money.
Speaker 4 (00:51):
She's on the Money, Hello, and welcome to She's on
(01:14):
the Money, the podcast that's here to help you live
your best life for less. Have you ever saved so
hard to book that dream holiday only to realize everyone
else had exactly the same idea flights then cost a bomb.
Everybody has booked out the hotels. You have to fight
for a sun lounger. Why are people putting toaels out
at six am and playing DIBs? So absolutely unacceptable and serenity. Well,
(01:39):
you'd be more relaxed if you went to work during
the end of financial year. But when we went on
our recent trip, mister Esgricci to the Northern Territory, we
accidentally found our new favorite travel money saving hack.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
And I promise it's not me eating cereal.
Speaker 4 (01:55):
In my hotel room like I have told you before,
but it will make your next trip cheaper, calmer, and
a whole lot better. For those of you who may
not have met me, I am Victoria Devine and with
me is my favorite travel buddy, Miss Jessicci.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
That's so lovely. Thank you, Thanks for having you on
a Wednesday.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
We've also done a lot of travel together.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
We've done a lot of We've checked off a herber
countries almost every state. So weget to Tasmania, but I'll
take you to Tazzi see the family. I'll just be like, hey, Nan,
you got spare room she's got like four sparerooms. We
go see our Queen vella. But we have We've done
a lot of travel together, and we just got back
from the Northern Territory, which was.
Speaker 4 (02:33):
Literally magic, Like there is something up there that the
secondary land in Alice Springs or we Land, and in
Alice Springs.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
I don't know what it is. It's the it's the land,
it's the connection. I don't know. I just felt magic.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
That's what I've been telling everybody.
Speaker 4 (02:48):
I'm not a super spiritual person, says the woman who
wants to hire an etsy witch, but there is.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
There's just this feeling, and I really think it's because
the land has been cared for with such dedicate for generations.
There's ah. I felt so at peace, which also probably
has something to do with the fact there's not a
lot of phone reception in some areas.
Speaker 4 (03:07):
There with like full days where I'm like, I've been
on SOS all day and I have never felt better.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
I loved it.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
It was brilliant.
Speaker 4 (03:14):
As we said, obviously, there's something very special about the
Northern Territory. And we have literally traveled the world together.
We've done Europe, We've done America, like we are probably
going to do a lot more. But for me, I
think it was like the landscape, the natural beauty and sorry,
so much of the stuff we did, Yes we had
to drive to them, but it was free.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Yes, there's a lot of great activities and it's right
in our own backyard. Like it's so much more affordable,
I think, to fly and we have such a diverse
landscape exactly as you're saying here at home. And I'll
be honest, like I had not done enough travel in
Australia and we have so much on offer, I think,
And yeah, the Northern territory especially, you've got the desert,
You've got all of this beautiful like a high king
(03:57):
and the sunshine, which I'll be honest, being from Melbourne,
I really need.
Speaker 4 (04:00):
We did or we needed that desperately and it was
so funny. So Jess, myself and Brook from our team
all went on this little like I would say, girls
trip together and the whole time we were there, like
we kept finding out the price of things or like
going to an attraction and there were no people and
just would.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
Be like, yep, that's off peak benefits.
Speaker 4 (04:18):
Slightly recent time you were like off peak benefits and
I was like, Jess Carr, you sound like a broken
record and it's just me in the room, but it
was it was true because there were so many money wins,
and it kind of made me realize that we're all
programmed to think that off peak travel means you're going
to have a worse experience literally, like you're going to like,
you know, go and maybe the weather's not as good,
(04:39):
or you're going to go and it's not.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
Going to be like as pristine or something.
Speaker 4 (04:43):
And when we're planning, I think we default to peak
season without really thinking about it.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Yep.
Speaker 4 (04:48):
And I was trying to decipher what peak and off
peak meant, like who decided, oh, like September holidays are
the best holidays you know to travel to x yo
z and.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
Get into it. We all know.
Speaker 4 (05:01):
I've got a background in psychology, so I fall back
on it every single time, and just there is actually
a lot of psychology behind it. So first things first
is social proof, Like we as humans love social proof.
We just assume if everyone's going at that time, it
must be the best time, and popularity feels like quality
and that's not necessarily the case. But then also I
(05:21):
find it quite funny because if you dig a little deeper,
often it's just because school holidays are on and people
are like, well, what do we do with our kids
during September? Or we all go on holidays and then
all of that's on peak season. But that doesn't mean
it's the best weather or the best experience faumo or
I'm MOVIINGDM.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
To this sun.
Speaker 4 (05:38):
We always want to travel when other people are traveling,
and like, I feel like social media really perpetuates that.
And it's basically so that we don't feel like we're
missing out on shared experience, and then it kind of
plays into habit and then cognitive ease.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
I love a little bit of cognitive ease.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Tell me more about that.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
We stick to what we know.
Speaker 4 (05:55):
We grew up holidaying during holiday periods, so we keep
doing that. It feels easy and familiar and kind of
you look forward to it and go, oh, well, in September,
that's when we go on holidays, and there's no additional
mental load of you know, working out, Oh Jess, could
you get annual leave during that time? Or we've never
taken time off during you know, November or whatever. Even
(06:16):
if it's not like the smartest or the cheapest time.
We just fall into a default of well, that's the
time that we do that, and then market conditioning, travel
ads and tourism boards literally position peakers the time to go,
so then we associate it with well, it must be
the best weather, it must be the best experiences, we
must go.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
But what we forget is crowdstone equal quality. They usually
just mean higher.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
Prices, longer lines, more weight time like one out of
ten experience. And one of my biggest realizations from this
trip was actually seeing how different travel feels when you're
not surrounded by hundreds of people looking at a gorgeous landmark. Jess,
I want to ask you, though, because you kept being
like off big travel when what were your favorite things
(07:01):
about being in the Northern Territory during the quieter months.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
It just allows you to take it in in a
way that you can't when you're surrounded by others. I think,
especially in the Northern Territory, particularly.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
The Simpson's Gap, there was nobody else.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
But us, not a soul, and I think it is
so lovely to sit in that moment and enjoy it.
It's really hard. I know that I'm a bit of
an introvert and so crowd's not my favorite thing at
the best stop me either.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
So like, just take that with a grain of salt.
Speaker 4 (07:28):
Maybe you're like, what do you mean, V I love
waiting forty five minutes for one water slide.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Yeah, I mean that's you. That's so fair. But I
just really loved being able to absorb it at my
own pace, in my own time. You know, there are
some huge bucket list items for people, I think in
the Northern Territory specifically. You know, we went to Uluru,
we went to Cadajutor, you know, to get a beautiful photo.
And I feel like I need to say at the
top of this, I know that traveling is not just
about getting a great photo, Are you sure?
Speaker 4 (07:54):
I know.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
I love to capture the moment because I don't have
the best memory, and so taking a great photo for
me sometimes.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
Is about capturing their feeling exactly right, and so.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
Being able to take your time in a spot and
not feel like you've got a one tape wonder it.
Get out of the way so the next person, next person,
next person, to be able to really absorb and enjoy
and move at a slower pace, which I think when
you're traveling sometimes we can get really go, go go,
And some of that is I think, like really pushed
by the fact that we're moving with these crowds or
(08:24):
moving through to try and be as quick as possible
so we're not putting somebody else.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
Out, yeah, or getting in the way of their photo
or what.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Exactly, being able to just experience those things in our
own time. You know. We went and we just sat
on a chair and we sat there for like fifteen minutes.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
Yeah, we literally did nothing. It was so good, and
we're all just staring out.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Like whoa, They're just sitting in silence and absorbing the
history and the feeling and the energy. And I know
that it sounds very woo woo, but I just can't
put a price on that type of experience, And it's
crazy that it's actually more affordable than doing it with
the masses.
Speaker 4 (08:58):
Yeah. Absolutely, and you know, I feel like it gives
you a little bit more time. I feel like I'm
just reflecting on Northern Territory, but off peak travel in general,
but the Northern Territory for me, just having chats with
the locals because we were like, you know, the only
people out there at that time, so they.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
Were like, oh, what are you up to? Why are
you here?
Speaker 4 (09:18):
Like we had just got to connect with people in
a different way. And I mean, we did the King's
Canyon hike, which are you loft the stairs the best?
Speaker 3 (09:25):
Didn't you just going out the stairs?
Speaker 4 (09:29):
We almost died, but that's okay. We're still here to
tell the tale. But that hike was glorious. We got
up at like before sunrise so that we could see
the sunrise over Kings Canyon, which cannot recommend more. But
we didn't see one single person on the way up,
and I think we passed like one small group on
the way back down. And it was so funny because
(09:50):
our team knew them, like we're coming back.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
Down and they were like, oh, hey, oh you're going
to be here. I didn't know you were here. That's crazy.
So it definitely is a small world.
Speaker 4 (09:59):
But then also it was quite i don't know, very
cool to not feel like you're hiking up a whole
heap of steps and holding a heap of people back
because we were just do you and I might have
wanted to take it a little bit slower at your
own pace.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
Not gonna lie.
Speaker 4 (10:12):
I feel like I wasn't enjoying that part of the
hike until we got to the top, and then I
was like, oh, well that was worth it. But like
if I'd turned back, I would have been like, what
was that?
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Yeah, yeah, and just being present, like really absorbing at all.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
Yeah, one hundred percent.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
And I feel like a lot of people would go, oh,
but the weather's not as good go it is the
Northern Territory. It was dry as it usually is, and
to be honest, the temperatures were a lot less dramatic.
Like you have had the privilege of going to the
Northern Territory twice this year, just went on a very
nice trip to Ularu, but you didn't really get out
of Ularo. So this time we did Alice Springs and
(10:47):
drove all the way down to Ularu, which was a
lot of hours in the car.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
So when you say, oh you get to go slower, no, no, no.
Speaker 4 (10:53):
Sorry, it's one hundred and thirty kilometer an hour on
the roads out there. So I was like, please go
faster because this is taking forever. But then you just
get good weather, good people. Lots of people want to
go to the Northern Territory. In June, I was talking
to a few people at the park and they were saying, oh,
like our busiest time is literally like July. Yeah, and
(11:13):
I was like, it would be freezing, and they're like,
it absolutely isn't It was. It's like absolutely freezing, But we.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Didn't really have that No, didn't need any layers really,
And I think the thing is off peak travel broadly.
It is like often I think people think about the weather.
Right if you're traveling not in the midst of summer
or you know, the midst of the Northern territory, you
want to be there when it's cooler. You know, people go, oh,
the weather's gonna be awful, and it's gonna be I'm
gonna have a terrible time. But you can split your
activities up too, like we did quite a bit of
(11:40):
we'd go out and do something in the morning. Well
it was still a little.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
Bit cooler, especially the hikes and stuff like.
Speaker 4 (11:45):
You do have to be quite thoughtful, I think, to
not put your body through too much stress if not necessary.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Yeah, come back to the hotel, relax. You know, if
you're staying somewhere beautiful, they might be a pool something
like that, and then you can go back a little
bit later in the day. Conversely, if you're somewhere where
it's really cold, you can do the same thing. Be
out during the warm up hours, be out during the
daylight hours, and be cozy when you're not. I just
think it's a real myth that the marketing agencies have
come up with to make us think that you can
only travel at the most expensive time of the year,
(12:13):
when really the magic is in enjoying it when not
everybody else is.
Speaker 4 (12:17):
Yeah, absolutely, all right, let's take a really quick break
and when we get back, we're going to dive into
all of the money wins when it comes to traveling
off peak, and our tips to I would say, do
it like a pro, guys, don't go anywhere. My friends,
we are back and we are chatting about our fave
new money saving travel hack, and it's just traveling when
(12:38):
it's quieter, traveling off peak. And just when we realized
that this was like the genius move that we've all
been sleeping on, I think we realized all the money
wins that were involved. So it's not just like, oh,
you get the place to yourself and you know it's
quiet up money. We loved all of those things obviously,
but like, sorry, everything was cheaper, like flights are cheaper
(12:59):
and then more more available, like even last minute, they're
more available to just jump on a plane and go.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
And then airlines are.
Speaker 4 (13:06):
More likely to be like, oh it's on sale or
it's discounted because they just know that it's the shoulder
season and they're like, oh, we'll probably just getting people
who need to come and go rather than like peak
and people going on holidays, so we can charge a
bit more. They're not really running the promotions that they
are like, oh, this is the best time to go.
They're actually like trying to get you on those flights
at cheaper rates, which low key smart we.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
Should have said, guys, if you want to see what
we got up to too, we've posted a real on Instagram,
so go check that out.
Speaker 4 (13:33):
Yeah, we did a whole video, and like we really
tried to balance this trip out with like, okay, let's
actually zoom out a little bit and look at where
we might be spending a little bit more time. So
when we were at King's Canyon when you would have
like earlier nights because we hadn't booked anything.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
Late, we were chatting to the people at the King's
Canyon Accommodation and they were telling us that when we
were traveling in the off peak season, it's up to
thirty percent cheaper than it is the rest of the
arch too, which I thought was crazy.
Speaker 4 (13:58):
The rooms that we were in with thirty percent less
just because it was off pick the same experience and
then car higher and like, you know, some people want
to get camper vans, especially up there, they were a
lot cheaper. I won't say that fuel was incredible, no,
because you know, it's obviously remote. I'm not going to
beat around the bush lol. But I'm not going to
beat around the bush and be like, oh, that was
(14:19):
so cheap. It wasn't It was more expensive. I think
full transparency fuel in the Northern Territory, I think it
was about two dollars forty a liter, which was crazy.
But your fuel efficiency is going to be better if
you're not fighting traffic, so less people on the road,
less traffic means better fuel economy, and that's going to
go further. So like, yes, you're still going to have
(14:42):
to pay the insane fuel prices, but like we're just
being transparent about what that's going to cost.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
And that's not an off peak or and on pick thing,
you know, I love a loyalty program. You don't like points,
do you?
Speaker 2 (14:52):
I love a point So this is one that I
thought was really clever. Your points stretch further for redemptions
and things.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
Yeah, because you're getting the discount.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
Exactly and you'll really struggle, I think also to snag
you know, a points flight or something like that during
the peak season when everyone's trying to secure it. But
during off peak there's more available, they're cheaper, so those
points really stretch so much further, which I think is
a great way to help keep again the costs of
your trip down even further. Also, last minute flexibility and availability.
Speaker 4 (15:22):
Oh yeah, because we booked pretty last minute. Not gonna
lie like this was a trip that we didn't plan
from the start of the year. No, And it means that,
you know, I think you're really punished for it. Our
ADHD is out there.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
You know, if you're somebody who forgets and does things
last minute, you'd be all too familiar with the tax
that you can pay when you are doing something last minute.
If you wanted to be a little spontaneous, do it
in the off season, because it is that, like you're avoiding.
I guess that tax that you pay for premium travel
time during the year, and.
Speaker 4 (15:52):
You can also just make use of like your annual leave. Well, Like,
don't get me wrong, like a lot of us are
are taking it off. Yeah, but I'm fine that a
lot of my friends at the moment, I'm having these
conversations side note, complete side note about them working overtime
and like I'm that crazy, Like I feel like I'm
your money mum.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
Hey, if you're working lots.
Speaker 4 (16:10):
Of overtime and you don't get paid for overtime, can
you just go to your boss and be like, hey,
could I get some time in lou for all the
overtime I'm doing and I'm not going to get paid
for it. That's fine, but like it's all really adding up,
and like I'm getting a little bit burnt out. Use
your time in lou and maybe you go like we did,
for three or four days instead of having to plan
a whole two week holiday. I think in my head
growing up, holidays were two weeks. They can be three
(16:34):
or four days and you still just get so much
out of them. I'd also say that we saw a
lot of like tours and activities, especially while we were
up there, like just being advertised at our hotels or
on the boards out the front of hotels or like
activity centers and stuff for big discounts, like you know,
on average, I think you'd get at least ten to
(16:55):
thirty percent off, if not more, or like free add ons,
because like they'll be like, oh my gosh, there's a
tour leaving tonight and there's some free spots. You'll get
free drinks, free transfer from your hotel for this sunset tour.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
Yeah, fantastic money win.
Speaker 4 (17:09):
But even if you're booking in advance, they're usually discounted anyway.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
Yeah, I think especially in those quiet times, they just
want to fill them up as much as possible. Like normally,
if you're traveling during peak, sometimes having the opposite problem
where you're battling to get a spot for something, you're
trying to book it out weeks in advance, whereas when
you're there when it's not so busy, they're excited that
you're there as well. I think having less people on
the tour again means that you can really connect with
whoever's leading it. You can absorb the information, ask questions,
(17:36):
and have opportunities to I guess dive a little bit
deeper than you would if you were on a tour
that's got you know, fifty people on it because it's
booked out because it's prime season.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (17:46):
Well, we were off peak and obviously in a relatively
remote location, probably the most remote you could get in Australia,
and we booked like small group tours that ended up
being private tours because.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
Nobody else came on out to you and we were like,
so is that it and.
Speaker 4 (18:02):
They would be like, yep, we've just got booked for
three and we were like, okay, let's go on our
little private tour.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
Then literally so much cheaper than pay for an actual problem.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
O my god. Yeah, like money win.
Speaker 4 (18:11):
But then even if there were some other people and
on occasion they were you're making friends, but not in
this like there's forty people on this tour kind of situation.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
We also found that we didn't have to pre book restaurants,
which I loved, Yeah.
Speaker 4 (18:25):
Because we didn't have to go, oh my goodness, like
we've got that booking at seven, Like we could just
roll into the restaurant that we'd pre picked out, which
means obviously easier reservations if you are planning on booking
because there's more capacity, but like there was less need
to book, which put less pressure on us and we
could make more last minute decisions. Yeah, whereas the amount
of times and this is so entitled, but if you've
(18:46):
ever been to Port Douglas, my husband and I adore
it there. But when I'm booking Port Douglas, I will
book months in advance, really, and yes, like for the
hotel and accommodation, fine, you're still like slim pickings usually,
but by the time you get there and you.
Speaker 3 (19:02):
Go, oh, what do we do for dinner?
Speaker 4 (19:03):
Too late, babe, Like I'm booking our dinner reservations at
exactly the same time as my flight's and accommodation. Sit
down with my husband, I'm like, we'll go to that
nice Mexican place on the Wednesday or the Thursday.
Speaker 3 (19:13):
What do you reckon?
Speaker 4 (19:13):
And he always goes, why are you booking it now
because it'll be booked out. Yeah, And then I fly
into this very structured holiday and there's no whimsy.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
I loved that we could just go where the day
took us, see how we were feeling, see what days
we were energized. If we went somewhere and we wanted
to spend more time. We could because we didn't have
that much structure that we had to adheres you with
all of those bookings, because we could just wander into
a restaurant and grab a table immediately and not have
to wait.
Speaker 4 (19:39):
Yeah. The other thing I want to add here, less whimsy,
more stereotypical victoria divine.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
Travel insurance. Oh yes, I have said it before.
Speaker 4 (19:49):
If you cannot afford travel insurance, you cannot afford the holiday.
I am so sorry. If you're not buying travel insurance,
you're not going. That's the rule. I made the rules.
You've got to follow the rules. But travel insurance usually
costs a whole lot less when the total trip value
is lower, so you're probably saving money there as well.
(20:10):
But it's just like a gentle reminder. Yes, even though
you are traveling in Australia, I would be looking at,
you know, covering your flights and accommodation if something happened,
it's going to be a lot cheaper than international travel insurance. Yeah.
But also if you're planning on going international off peak,
you still need travel insurance absolutely.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
And I think just overall, anecdotally, we saw like a
lot of what I'm going to call soft perks, maybe
late checkouts, welcome drinks, breakfast inclusion was very cute. Yeah,
it was lovely and things like that that again you
normally would have to pay a little bit of a
premium for, just because operators want to keep the guests happy,
they want you to have a good experience, they want
more people to be there when it's quiet, and so
(20:50):
often we were seeing just sweet little above and beyond
moments and that's.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
What you want on a holiday.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
Yeah, we really got to enjoy them.
Speaker 4 (20:57):
It's what we talk about for years to come. And
like in the WHI at a months, your money is
going to stretch a little bit further without you even trying, really,
and it's not about quote budget travel. It's just about
smart travel, all right. So I hope we've done a
good job at like now convincing you all that traveling
off peak is definitely the way to go. So we've
put together some travel tips for off peak travel like
(21:18):
a pro, And the first one I've written down here
is get to know shadow season. The two weeks before
and after your official peak dates are called the shadow season,
and in the shadow season you can still get the
same weather and the same experiences, but at shoulder season
prices and Jess you were talking before, and I'm going
to get you to read this next one out basically
(21:39):
all yours but AI.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
How Yeah, you can check event calendars with the help
of AI. You can drop your destination into whatever AI
platform you lack and say, list every major event, conference,
and school holiday period happening in you know your destination
between the dates of the months of the off peak,
so for NT for example, I think it's September to
feb and then they can suggest for you the quietest
(22:04):
weeks with the lowest average accommodation rates and you'll instantly
be able to see where the price is spike versus
where they drop off, which I think is so handy
when you're looking to plan and you are trying to
make sure that you're being conscious of prices.
Speaker 3 (22:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (22:16):
Absolutely, And once you've worked out like travel date periods,
you can plug them into Google's flights price graph or
there's a website called Hopper, so Hopper's AI prediction tool,
but both use AI to forecast when fares will rise
or drop and show you the cheapest days to book
in real time so that you can lock in the
sweet spot before the price is climb, and the website
(22:37):
Hopper even lets you quote watch different routes so you
can get notifications when they think the price is going
to drop or when it's going to get more expensive,
which I genuinely think is the money win so handy.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
I'd also say follow the trois and bodies on Instagram
or sign up for their newsletters. Most of them have
really fantastic websites as well. They're often the first ones
to share new travel campaigns and partner promos, off peak packages,
things like that. They also a great for in spoke.
They'll normally have beautiful photos of great you know, location
things to do, and.
Speaker 4 (23:05):
I think a lot of people assume that, like when
you're going to follow some people online for travel, you
probably should follow the hotels. And I would say, girl,
zoom out a bit further, like follow the Northern Territory
Instagram because they're going to talk about the package deals
or like you know, the National Park events and things
that you're actually or I would say actually going for
because like for me, you're not just going to the Northern.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
Territory because you're like, oh, it's a beautiful hotel.
Speaker 4 (23:29):
I'd like to experience, Like it's the broader experience and
like getting to see what they're doing I think is
even better inspiration.
Speaker 3 (23:36):
And then this is me just being me and maybe
being a little bit cheeky. But we're going to pick
up the phone.
Speaker 4 (23:41):
I know not many of you like that, but we're
going to pick up the phone and call hotels and
tour companies before we book online because the online rates
are never final, right. Smaller hotels and like local tour
operators often have like quiet week discounts that they're like, oh,
I don't want to like advertise that or like put
it online, but like they might be really quiet and
they'll go, oh, yeah, actually I could give you a
(24:02):
discount if you locked it in today.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
So call them and ask them, little script friend, they do.
Speaker 4 (24:08):
You have any off peak rates or like midweek specials
or ways to like, you know, book directly for a
discount because sometimes if actually every single time you book
through booking dot com, they're clipping the ticket, so like
that is not the cheapest way to book, but they'll
make it look that way and make it look like
the best deal. But essentially they're a third party and
they're getting some of the money along the way, so
it may as well go back into the small business
(24:30):
owners back pocket, and you'd be shocked at how often
they go, oh, yeah, actually, let me see what I
can do, because I promise you they would rather fill
a room or a tour at a lower rate than
have those seats empty. Absolutely, they would exactly, And when
you call, we're being very kind. But you can also
negotiate extras, not just prices. If they're like, oh my gosh,
like you know, we don't have off peak rates, we
(24:52):
can be like, oh, could we like do later check out,
like you know, is breakfast included? And they go no,
And I'll be like, oh, could you throw it in?
Like what's going on there? Like if they can't drop
the rate, they might try and negotiate with you on
other things that they can put in. And it might
be like a room upgrade, or like free parking, or
even like a tour operator might be like, oh, I'll
(25:13):
pick you up from your hotel for free, like you
don't have to overhear or you don't have to like
work out how to get public transport here, will pick
you up because I promise you they want the business
so that they can keep their customers happy.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
Yeah, there's so many little great perks on offer. And lastly,
don't forget about the off peak loyalty stacking.
Speaker 3 (25:28):
Oh you're back on the points trainer, get you know.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
Offee windows mean better rewards, so don't forget to use
cash back sites. If you're a credit card user, there
might be travel portals or things that you can use
to double dip. You'll score cash back, more bonus points
and the cheaper off pick rate all in one.
Speaker 3 (25:44):
Go absolutely all right.
Speaker 4 (25:46):
If there's one thing you took away from our trip
that isn't the Northern Territories the most magical place in
the entire world, it's that off peak isn't low season,
its value season, and that's very shees on the money
of you to consider.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
It's very brand and if you are looking for a
bucket least worthy holiday that genuinely I think will change
your life.
Speaker 3 (26:05):
I have not stopped yapping about it, n have I I.
Speaker 2 (26:08):
Can't recommend the MT enough, especially with all of the
deals that they're running right now during the off peak season.
I think there's truly never been a better time to
go and to connect with our country and just really
experience something that I'm struggling to put into words.
Speaker 4 (26:22):
When we were there, we posted a lot on social media,
and I saw two very common themes coming out of that.
So first was people saying, oh my goodness, I have
always wanted to go. This looks incredible, like you're really
selling me on it. And I was like, I wasn't
even trying. I'm just like taking photos of kangaroos.
Speaker 3 (26:39):
I promise you. I'm just a girl with a camera.
Speaker 4 (26:41):
And then on the flip side, it was people that
had been and they're like, oh my goodness, I'm so
glad you're experiencing this magic, like isn't it the.
Speaker 3 (26:49):
Best place ever? Or people who were local, so lots
of girls.
Speaker 4 (26:52):
And I didn't realize we had such a big community
in Alice Springs, Like if I had known, I would
have come early and we could have done like, I
don't know, you meet up at a bookshop something. But
so many of you were like, oh my goodness, I
hope you have the best time here. It's literally magic,
like you're going to have the best time. I'm so
glad that you're sharing like photos on socials because we
want more people to come and visit. And I think
(27:12):
that that was just so nice because there's this bucket
of people being like, please come visit us, and people
being like, oh my god, I've wanted to visit, So
now is the time, my friends, And if you loved
this episode, please share it with your favorite travel buddy
and don't forget to subscribe so that you never ever ever.
Speaker 3 (27:28):
Missed an episode of us having a yap about the
beautiful holidays that we went on. No jokes on you.
Speaker 4 (27:33):
It's always money saving tips and tricks, but we will
see you guys on Friday.
Speaker 3 (27:37):
Have the best week.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
Bi guys.
Speaker 4 (27:45):
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on the Money exists purely for educational purposes and should
not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision.
If you do used to buy a financial product, read
the PDS TMD and obtain appropriate financial.
Speaker 3 (28:04):
Advice tailored towards your needs.
Speaker 4 (28:06):
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Kaka yah y and beIN ah Waka Nian our gay In, Nimbini,
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(00:24):
lands of the Aboriginal people. We thank acknowledge and respect
the Abiginal people's land that we're gathering on today. Take
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She's on the Money podcast acknowledges culture, country, community and connections,
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Speaker 2 (00:44):
And a big thank you, of course to the wonderful
team at Tourism n T for sponsoring today's episode.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
She's on the Money.
Speaker 4 (00:51):
She's on the Money, Hello, and welcome to She's on
(01:14):
the Money, the podcast that's here to help you live
your best life for less. Have you ever saved so
hard to book that dream holiday only to realize everyone
else had exactly the same idea flights then cost a bomb.
Everybody has booked out the hotels. You have to fight
for a sun lounger. Why are people putting toaels out
at six am and playing DIBs? So absolutely unacceptable and serenity. Well,
(01:39):
you'd be more relaxed if you went to work during
the end of financial year. But when we went on
our recent trip, mister Esgricci to the Northern Territory, we
accidentally found our new favorite travel money saving hack.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
And I promise it's not me eating cereal.
Speaker 4 (01:55):
In my hotel room like I have told you before,
but it will make your next trip cheaper, calmer, and
a whole lot better. For those of you who may
not have met me, I am Victoria Devine and with
me is my favorite travel buddy, Miss Jessicci.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
That's so lovely. Thank you, Thanks for having you on
a Wednesday.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
We've also done a lot of travel together.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
We've done a lot of We've checked off a herber
countries almost every state. So weget to Tasmania, but I'll
take you to Tazzi see the family. I'll just be like, hey, Nan,
you got spare room she's got like four sparerooms. We
go see our Queen vella. But we have We've done
a lot of travel together, and we just got back
from the Northern Territory, which was.
Speaker 4 (02:33):
Literally magic, Like there is something up there that the
secondary land in Alice Springs or we Land, and in
Alice Springs.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
I don't know what it is. It's the it's the land,
it's the connection. I don't know. I just felt magic.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
That's what I've been telling everybody.
Speaker 4 (02:48):
I'm not a super spiritual person, says the woman who
wants to hire an etsy witch, but there is.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
There's just this feeling, and I really think it's because
the land has been cared for with such dedicate for generations.
There's ah. I felt so at peace, which also probably
has something to do with the fact there's not a
lot of phone reception in some areas.
Speaker 4 (03:07):
There with like full days where I'm like, I've been
on SOS all day and I have never felt better.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
I loved it.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
It was brilliant.
Speaker 4 (03:14):
As we said, obviously, there's something very special about the
Northern Territory. And we have literally traveled the world together.
We've done Europe, We've done America, like we are probably
going to do a lot more. But for me, I
think it was like the landscape, the natural beauty and sorry,
so much of the stuff we did, Yes we had
to drive to them, but it was free.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Yes, there's a lot of great activities and it's right
in our own backyard. Like it's so much more affordable,
I think, to fly and we have such a diverse
landscape exactly as you're saying here at home. And I'll
be honest, like I had not done enough travel in
Australia and we have so much on offer, I think,
And yeah, the Northern territory especially, you've got the desert,
You've got all of this beautiful like a high king
(03:57):
and the sunshine, which I'll be honest, being from Melbourne,
I really need.
Speaker 4 (04:00):
We did or we needed that desperately and it was
so funny. So Jess, myself and Brook from our team
all went on this little like I would say, girls
trip together and the whole time we were there, like
we kept finding out the price of things or like
going to an attraction and there were no people and
just would.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
Be like, yep, that's off peak benefits.
Speaker 4 (04:18):
Slightly recent time you were like off peak benefits and
I was like, Jess Carr, you sound like a broken
record and it's just me in the room, but it
was it was true because there were so many money wins,
and it kind of made me realize that we're all
programmed to think that off peak travel means you're going
to have a worse experience literally, like you're going to like,
you know, go and maybe the weather's not as good,
(04:39):
or you're going to go and it's not.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
Going to be like as pristine or something.
Speaker 4 (04:43):
And when we're planning, I think we default to peak
season without really thinking about it.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Yep.
Speaker 4 (04:48):
And I was trying to decipher what peak and off
peak meant, like who decided, oh, like September holidays are
the best holidays you know to travel to x yo
z and.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
Get into it. We all know.
Speaker 4 (05:01):
I've got a background in psychology, so I fall back
on it every single time, and just there is actually
a lot of psychology behind it. So first things first
is social proof, Like we as humans love social proof.
We just assume if everyone's going at that time, it
must be the best time, and popularity feels like quality
and that's not necessarily the case. But then also I
(05:21):
find it quite funny because if you dig a little deeper,
often it's just because school holidays are on and people
are like, well, what do we do with our kids
during September? Or we all go on holidays and then
all of that's on peak season. But that doesn't mean
it's the best weather or the best experience faumo or
I'm MOVIINGDM.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
To this sun.
Speaker 4 (05:38):
We always want to travel when other people are traveling,
and like, I feel like social media really perpetuates that.
And it's basically so that we don't feel like we're
missing out on shared experience, and then it kind of
plays into habit and then cognitive ease.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
I love a little bit of cognitive ease.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Tell me more about that.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
We stick to what we know.
Speaker 4 (05:55):
We grew up holidaying during holiday periods, so we keep
doing that. It feels easy and familiar and kind of
you look forward to it and go, oh, well, in September,
that's when we go on holidays, and there's no additional
mental load of you know, working out, Oh Jess, could
you get annual leave during that time? Or we've never
taken time off during you know, November or whatever. Even
(06:16):
if it's not like the smartest or the cheapest time.
We just fall into a default of well, that's the
time that we do that, and then market conditioning, travel
ads and tourism boards literally position peakers the time to go,
so then we associate it with well, it must be
the best weather, it must be the best experiences, we
must go.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
But what we forget is crowdstone equal quality. They usually
just mean higher.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
Prices, longer lines, more weight time like one out of
ten experience. And one of my biggest realizations from this
trip was actually seeing how different travel feels when you're
not surrounded by hundreds of people looking at a gorgeous landmark. Jess,
I want to ask you, though, because you kept being
like off big travel when what were your favorite things
(07:01):
about being in the Northern Territory during the quieter months.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
It just allows you to take it in in a
way that you can't when you're surrounded by others. I think,
especially in the Northern Territory, particularly.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
The Simpson's Gap, there was nobody else.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
But us, not a soul, and I think it is
so lovely to sit in that moment and enjoy it.
It's really hard. I know that I'm a bit of
an introvert and so crowd's not my favorite thing at
the best stop me either.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
So like, just take that with a grain of salt.
Speaker 4 (07:28):
Maybe you're like, what do you mean, V I love
waiting forty five minutes for one water slide.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Yeah, I mean that's you. That's so fair. But I
just really loved being able to absorb it at my
own pace, in my own time. You know, there are
some huge bucket list items for people, I think in
the Northern Territory specifically. You know, we went to Uluru,
we went to Cadajutor, you know, to get a beautiful photo.
And I feel like I need to say at the
top of this, I know that traveling is not just
about getting a great photo, Are you sure?
Speaker 4 (07:54):
I know.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
I love to capture the moment because I don't have
the best memory, and so taking a great photo for
me sometimes.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
Is about capturing their feeling exactly right, and so.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
Being able to take your time in a spot and
not feel like you've got a one tape wonder it.
Get out of the way so the next person, next person,
next person, to be able to really absorb and enjoy
and move at a slower pace, which I think when
you're traveling sometimes we can get really go, go go,
And some of that is I think, like really pushed
by the fact that we're moving with these crowds or
(08:24):
moving through to try and be as quick as possible
so we're not putting somebody else.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
Out, yeah, or getting in the way of their photo
or what.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Exactly, being able to just experience those things in our
own time. You know. We went and we just sat
on a chair and we sat there for like fifteen minutes.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
Yeah, we literally did nothing. It was so good, and
we're all just staring out.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Like whoa, They're just sitting in silence and absorbing the
history and the feeling and the energy. And I know
that it sounds very woo woo, but I just can't
put a price on that type of experience, And it's
crazy that it's actually more affordable than doing it with
the masses.
Speaker 4 (08:58):
Yeah. Absolutely, and you know, I feel like it gives
you a little bit more time. I feel like I'm
just reflecting on Northern Territory, but off peak travel in general,
but the Northern Territory for me, just having chats with
the locals because we were like, you know, the only
people out there at that time, so they.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
Were like, oh, what are you up to? Why are
you here?
Speaker 4 (09:18):
Like we had just got to connect with people in
a different way. And I mean, we did the King's
Canyon hike, which are you loft the stairs the best?
Speaker 3 (09:25):
Didn't you just going out the stairs?
Speaker 4 (09:29):
We almost died, but that's okay. We're still here to
tell the tale. But that hike was glorious. We got
up at like before sunrise so that we could see
the sunrise over Kings Canyon, which cannot recommend more. But
we didn't see one single person on the way up,
and I think we passed like one small group on
the way back down. And it was so funny because
(09:50):
our team knew them, like we're coming back.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
Down and they were like, oh, hey, oh you're going
to be here. I didn't know you were here. That's crazy.
So it definitely is a small world.
Speaker 4 (09:59):
But then also it was quite i don't know, very
cool to not feel like you're hiking up a whole
heap of steps and holding a heap of people back
because we were just do you and I might have
wanted to take it a little bit slower at your
own pace.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
Not gonna lie.
Speaker 4 (10:12):
I feel like I wasn't enjoying that part of the
hike until we got to the top, and then I
was like, oh, well that was worth it. But like
if I'd turned back, I would have been like, what
was that?
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Yeah, yeah, and just being present, like really absorbing at all.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
Yeah, one hundred percent.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
And I feel like a lot of people would go, oh,
but the weather's not as good go it is the
Northern Territory. It was dry as it usually is, and
to be honest, the temperatures were a lot less dramatic.
Like you have had the privilege of going to the
Northern Territory twice this year, just went on a very
nice trip to Ularu, but you didn't really get out
of Ularo. So this time we did Alice Springs and
(10:47):
drove all the way down to Ularu, which was a
lot of hours in the car.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
So when you say, oh you get to go slower, no, no, no.
Speaker 4 (10:53):
Sorry, it's one hundred and thirty kilometer an hour on
the roads out there. So I was like, please go
faster because this is taking forever. But then you just
get good weather, good people. Lots of people want to
go to the Northern Territory. In June, I was talking
to a few people at the park and they were saying, oh,
like our busiest time is literally like July. Yeah, and
(11:13):
I was like, it would be freezing, and they're like,
it absolutely isn't It was. It's like absolutely freezing, But we.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Didn't really have that No, didn't need any layers really,
And I think the thing is off peak travel broadly.
It is like often I think people think about the weather.
Right if you're traveling not in the midst of summer
or you know, the midst of the Northern territory, you
want to be there when it's cooler. You know, people go, oh,
the weather's gonna be awful, and it's gonna be I'm
gonna have a terrible time. But you can split your
activities up too, like we did quite a bit of
(11:40):
we'd go out and do something in the morning. Well
it was still a little.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
Bit cooler, especially the hikes and stuff like.
Speaker 4 (11:45):
You do have to be quite thoughtful, I think, to
not put your body through too much stress if not necessary.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Yeah, come back to the hotel, relax. You know, if
you're staying somewhere beautiful, they might be a pool something
like that, and then you can go back a little
bit later in the day. Conversely, if you're somewhere where
it's really cold, you can do the same thing. Be
out during the warm up hours, be out during the
daylight hours, and be cozy when you're not. I just
think it's a real myth that the marketing agencies have
come up with to make us think that you can
only travel at the most expensive time of the year,
(12:13):
when really the magic is in enjoying it when not
everybody else is.
Speaker 4 (12:17):
Yeah, absolutely, all right, let's take a really quick break
and when we get back, we're going to dive into
all of the money wins when it comes to traveling
off peak, and our tips to I would say, do
it like a pro, guys, don't go anywhere. My friends,
we are back and we are chatting about our fave
new money saving travel hack, and it's just traveling when
(12:38):
it's quieter, traveling off peak. And just when we realized
that this was like the genius move that we've all
been sleeping on, I think we realized all the money
wins that were involved. So it's not just like, oh,
you get the place to yourself and you know it's
quiet up money. We loved all of those things obviously,
but like, sorry, everything was cheaper, like flights are cheaper
(12:59):
and then more more available, like even last minute, they're
more available to just jump on a plane and go.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
And then airlines are.
Speaker 4 (13:06):
More likely to be like, oh it's on sale or
it's discounted because they just know that it's the shoulder
season and they're like, oh, we'll probably just getting people
who need to come and go rather than like peak
and people going on holidays, so we can charge a
bit more. They're not really running the promotions that they
are like, oh, this is the best time to go.
They're actually like trying to get you on those flights
at cheaper rates, which low key smart we.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
Should have said, guys, if you want to see what
we got up to too, we've posted a real on Instagram,
so go check that out.
Speaker 4 (13:33):
Yeah, we did a whole video, and like we really
tried to balance this trip out with like, okay, let's
actually zoom out a little bit and look at where
we might be spending a little bit more time. So
when we were at King's Canyon when you would have
like earlier nights because we hadn't booked anything.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
Late, we were chatting to the people at the King's
Canyon Accommodation and they were telling us that when we
were traveling in the off peak season, it's up to
thirty percent cheaper than it is the rest of the
arch too, which I thought was crazy.
Speaker 4 (13:58):
The rooms that we were in with thirty percent less
just because it was off pick the same experience and
then car higher and like, you know, some people want
to get camper vans, especially up there, they were a
lot cheaper. I won't say that fuel was incredible, no,
because you know, it's obviously remote. I'm not going to
beat around the bush lol. But I'm not going to
beat around the bush and be like, oh, that was
(14:19):
so cheap. It wasn't It was more expensive. I think
full transparency fuel in the Northern Territory, I think it
was about two dollars forty a liter, which was crazy.
But your fuel efficiency is going to be better if
you're not fighting traffic, so less people on the road,
less traffic means better fuel economy, and that's going to
go further. So like, yes, you're still going to have
(14:42):
to pay the insane fuel prices, but like we're just
being transparent about what that's going to cost.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
And that's not an off peak or and on pick thing,
you know, I love a loyalty program. You don't like points,
do you?
Speaker 2 (14:52):
I love a point So this is one that I
thought was really clever. Your points stretch further for redemptions
and things.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
Yeah, because you're getting the discount.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
Exactly and you'll really struggle, I think also to snag
you know, a points flight or something like that during
the peak season when everyone's trying to secure it. But
during off peak there's more available, they're cheaper, so those
points really stretch so much further, which I think is
a great way to help keep again the costs of
your trip down even further. Also, last minute flexibility and availability.
Speaker 4 (15:22):
Oh yeah, because we booked pretty last minute. Not gonna
lie like this was a trip that we didn't plan
from the start of the year. No, And it means that,
you know, I think you're really punished for it. Our
ADHD is out there.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
You know, if you're somebody who forgets and does things
last minute, you'd be all too familiar with the tax
that you can pay when you are doing something last minute.
If you wanted to be a little spontaneous, do it
in the off season, because it is that, like you're avoiding.
I guess that tax that you pay for premium travel
time during the year, and.
Speaker 4 (15:52):
You can also just make use of like your annual leave. Well, Like,
don't get me wrong, like a lot of us are
are taking it off. Yeah, but I'm fine that a
lot of my friends at the moment, I'm having these
conversations side note, complete side note about them working overtime
and like I'm that crazy, Like I feel like I'm
your money mum.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
Hey, if you're working lots.
Speaker 4 (16:10):
Of overtime and you don't get paid for overtime, can
you just go to your boss and be like, hey,
could I get some time in lou for all the
overtime I'm doing and I'm not going to get paid
for it. That's fine, but like it's all really adding up,
and like I'm getting a little bit burnt out. Use
your time in lou and maybe you go like we did,
for three or four days instead of having to plan
a whole two week holiday. I think in my head
growing up, holidays were two weeks. They can be three
(16:34):
or four days and you still just get so much
out of them. I'd also say that we saw a
lot of like tours and activities, especially while we were
up there, like just being advertised at our hotels or
on the boards out the front of hotels or like
activity centers and stuff for big discounts, like you know,
on average, I think you'd get at least ten to
(16:55):
thirty percent off, if not more, or like free add ons,
because like they'll be like, oh my gosh, there's a
tour leaving tonight and there's some free spots. You'll get
free drinks, free transfer from your hotel for this sunset tour.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
Yeah, fantastic money win.
Speaker 4 (17:09):
But even if you're booking in advance, they're usually discounted anyway.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
Yeah, I think especially in those quiet times, they just
want to fill them up as much as possible. Like normally,
if you're traveling during peak, sometimes having the opposite problem
where you're battling to get a spot for something, you're
trying to book it out weeks in advance, whereas when
you're there when it's not so busy, they're excited that
you're there as well. I think having less people on
the tour again means that you can really connect with
whoever's leading it. You can absorb the information, ask questions,
(17:36):
and have opportunities to I guess dive a little bit
deeper than you would if you were on a tour
that's got you know, fifty people on it because it's
booked out because it's prime season.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (17:46):
Well, we were off peak and obviously in a relatively
remote location, probably the most remote you could get in Australia,
and we booked like small group tours that ended up
being private tours because.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
Nobody else came on out to you and we were like,
so is that it and.
Speaker 4 (18:02):
They would be like, yep, we've just got booked for
three and we were like, okay, let's go on our
little private tour.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
Then literally so much cheaper than pay for an actual problem.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
O my god. Yeah, like money win.
Speaker 4 (18:11):
But then even if there were some other people and
on occasion they were you're making friends, but not in
this like there's forty people on this tour kind of situation.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
We also found that we didn't have to pre book restaurants,
which I loved, Yeah.
Speaker 4 (18:25):
Because we didn't have to go, oh my goodness, like
we've got that booking at seven, Like we could just
roll into the restaurant that we'd pre picked out, which
means obviously easier reservations if you are planning on booking
because there's more capacity, but like there was less need
to book, which put less pressure on us and we
could make more last minute decisions. Yeah, whereas the amount
of times and this is so entitled, but if you've
(18:46):
ever been to Port Douglas, my husband and I adore
it there. But when I'm booking Port Douglas, I will
book months in advance, really, and yes, like for the
hotel and accommodation, fine, you're still like slim pickings usually,
but by the time you get there and you.
Speaker 3 (19:02):
Go, oh, what do we do for dinner?
Speaker 4 (19:03):
Too late, babe, Like I'm booking our dinner reservations at
exactly the same time as my flight's and accommodation. Sit
down with my husband, I'm like, we'll go to that
nice Mexican place on the Wednesday or the Thursday.
Speaker 3 (19:13):
What do you reckon?
Speaker 4 (19:13):
And he always goes, why are you booking it now
because it'll be booked out. Yeah, And then I fly
into this very structured holiday and there's no whimsy.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
I loved that we could just go where the day
took us, see how we were feeling, see what days
we were energized. If we went somewhere and we wanted
to spend more time. We could because we didn't have
that much structure that we had to adheres you with
all of those bookings, because we could just wander into
a restaurant and grab a table immediately and not have
to wait.
Speaker 4 (19:39):
Yeah. The other thing I want to add here, less whimsy,
more stereotypical victoria divine.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
Travel insurance. Oh yes, I have said it before.
Speaker 4 (19:49):
If you cannot afford travel insurance, you cannot afford the holiday.
I am so sorry. If you're not buying travel insurance,
you're not going. That's the rule. I made the rules.
You've got to follow the rules. But travel insurance usually
costs a whole lot less when the total trip value
is lower, so you're probably saving money there as well.
(20:10):
But it's just like a gentle reminder. Yes, even though
you are traveling in Australia, I would be looking at,
you know, covering your flights and accommodation if something happened,
it's going to be a lot cheaper than international travel insurance. Yeah.
But also if you're planning on going international off peak,
you still need travel insurance absolutely.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
And I think just overall, anecdotally, we saw like a
lot of what I'm going to call soft perks, maybe
late checkouts, welcome drinks, breakfast inclusion was very cute. Yeah,
it was lovely and things like that that again you
normally would have to pay a little bit of a
premium for, just because operators want to keep the guests happy,
they want you to have a good experience, they want
more people to be there when it's quiet, and so
(20:50):
often we were seeing just sweet little above and beyond
moments and that's.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
What you want on a holiday.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
Yeah, we really got to enjoy them.
Speaker 4 (20:57):
It's what we talk about for years to come. And
like in the WHI at a months, your money is
going to stretch a little bit further without you even trying, really,
and it's not about quote budget travel. It's just about
smart travel, all right. So I hope we've done a
good job at like now convincing you all that traveling
off peak is definitely the way to go. So we've
put together some travel tips for off peak travel like
(21:18):
a pro, And the first one I've written down here
is get to know shadow season. The two weeks before
and after your official peak dates are called the shadow season,
and in the shadow season you can still get the
same weather and the same experiences, but at shoulder season
prices and Jess you were talking before, and I'm going
to get you to read this next one out basically
(21:39):
all yours but AI.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
How Yeah, you can check event calendars with the help
of AI. You can drop your destination into whatever AI
platform you lack and say, list every major event, conference,
and school holiday period happening in you know your destination
between the dates of the months of the off peak,
so for NT for example, I think it's September to
feb and then they can suggest for you the quietest
(22:04):
weeks with the lowest average accommodation rates and you'll instantly
be able to see where the price is spike versus
where they drop off, which I think is so handy
when you're looking to plan and you are trying to
make sure that you're being conscious of prices.
Speaker 3 (22:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (22:16):
Absolutely, And once you've worked out like travel date periods,
you can plug them into Google's flights price graph or
there's a website called Hopper, so Hopper's AI prediction tool,
but both use AI to forecast when fares will rise
or drop and show you the cheapest days to book
in real time so that you can lock in the
sweet spot before the price is climb, and the website
(22:37):
Hopper even lets you quote watch different routes so you
can get notifications when they think the price is going
to drop or when it's going to get more expensive,
which I genuinely think is the money win so handy.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
I'd also say follow the trois and bodies on Instagram
or sign up for their newsletters. Most of them have
really fantastic websites as well. They're often the first ones
to share new travel campaigns and partner promos, off peak packages,
things like that. They also a great for in spoke.
They'll normally have beautiful photos of great you know, location
things to do, and.
Speaker 4 (23:05):
I think a lot of people assume that, like when
you're going to follow some people online for travel, you
probably should follow the hotels. And I would say, girl,
zoom out a bit further, like follow the Northern Territory
Instagram because they're going to talk about the package deals
or like you know, the National Park events and things
that you're actually or I would say actually going for
because like for me, you're not just going to the Northern.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
Territory because you're like, oh, it's a beautiful hotel.
Speaker 4 (23:29):
I'd like to experience, Like it's the broader experience and
like getting to see what they're doing I think is
even better inspiration.
Speaker 3 (23:36):
And then this is me just being me and maybe
being a little bit cheeky. But we're going to pick
up the phone.
Speaker 4 (23:41):
I know not many of you like that, but we're
going to pick up the phone and call hotels and
tour companies before we book online because the online rates
are never final, right. Smaller hotels and like local tour
operators often have like quiet week discounts that they're like, oh,
I don't want to like advertise that or like put
it online, but like they might be really quiet and
they'll go, oh, yeah, actually I could give you a
(24:02):
discount if you locked it in today.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
So call them and ask them, little script friend, they do.
Speaker 4 (24:08):
You have any off peak rates or like midweek specials
or ways to like, you know, book directly for a
discount because sometimes if actually every single time you book
through booking dot com, they're clipping the ticket, so like
that is not the cheapest way to book, but they'll
make it look that way and make it look like
the best deal. But essentially they're a third party and
they're getting some of the money along the way, so
it may as well go back into the small business
(24:30):
owners back pocket, and you'd be shocked at how often
they go, oh, yeah, actually, let me see what I
can do, because I promise you they would rather fill
a room or a tour at a lower rate than
have those seats empty. Absolutely, they would exactly, And when
you call, we're being very kind. But you can also
negotiate extras, not just prices. If they're like, oh my gosh,
like you know, we don't have off peak rates, we
(24:52):
can be like, oh, could we like do later check out,
like you know, is breakfast included? And they go no,
And I'll be like, oh, could you throw it in?
Like what's going on there? Like if they can't drop
the rate, they might try and negotiate with you on
other things that they can put in. And it might
be like a room upgrade, or like free parking, or
even like a tour operator might be like, oh, I'll
(25:13):
pick you up from your hotel for free, like you
don't have to overhear or you don't have to like
work out how to get public transport here, will pick
you up because I promise you they want the business
so that they can keep their customers happy.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
Yeah, there's so many little great perks on offer. And lastly,
don't forget about the off peak loyalty stacking.
Speaker 3 (25:28):
Oh you're back on the points trainer, get you know.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
Offee windows mean better rewards, so don't forget to use
cash back sites. If you're a credit card user, there
might be travel portals or things that you can use
to double dip. You'll score cash back, more bonus points
and the cheaper off pick rate all in one.
Speaker 3 (25:44):
Go absolutely all right.
Speaker 4 (25:46):
If there's one thing you took away from our trip
that isn't the Northern Territories the most magical place in
the entire world, it's that off peak isn't low season,
its value season, and that's very shees on the money
of you to consider.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
It's very brand and if you are looking for a
bucket least worthy holiday that genuinely I think will change
your life.
Speaker 3 (26:05):
I have not stopped yapping about it, n have I I.
Speaker 2 (26:08):
Can't recommend the MT enough, especially with all of the
deals that they're running right now during the off peak season.
I think there's truly never been a better time to
go and to connect with our country and just really
experience something that I'm struggling to put into words.
Speaker 4 (26:22):
When we were there, we posted a lot on social media,
and I saw two very common themes coming out of that.
So first was people saying, oh my goodness, I have
always wanted to go. This looks incredible, like you're really
selling me on it. And I was like, I wasn't
even trying. I'm just like taking photos of kangaroos.
Speaker 3 (26:39):
I promise you. I'm just a girl with a camera.
Speaker 4 (26:41):
And then on the flip side, it was people that
had been and they're like, oh my goodness, I'm so
glad you're experiencing this magic, like isn't it the.
Speaker 3 (26:49):
Best place ever? Or people who were local, so lots
of girls.
Speaker 4 (26:52):
And I didn't realize we had such a big community
in Alice Springs, Like if I had known, I would
have come early and we could have done like, I
don't know, you meet up at a bookshop something. But
so many of you were like, oh my goodness, I
hope you have the best time here. It's literally magic,
like you're going to have the best time. I'm so
glad that you're sharing like photos on socials because we
want more people to come and visit. And I think
(27:12):
that that was just so nice because there's this bucket
of people being like, please come visit us, and people
being like, oh my god, I've wanted to visit, So
now is the time, my friends, And if you loved
this episode, please share it with your favorite travel buddy
and don't forget to subscribe so that you never ever ever.
Speaker 3 (27:28):
Missed an episode of us having a yap about the
beautiful holidays that we went on. No jokes on you.
Speaker 4 (27:33):
It's always money saving tips and tricks, but we will
see you guys on Friday.
Speaker 3 (27:37):
Have the best week.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
Bi guys.
Speaker 4 (27:45):
Did By shared on She's on the Money is general
in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances. She's
on the Money exists purely for educational purposes and should
not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision.
If you do used to buy a financial product, read
the PDS TMD and obtain appropriate financial.
Speaker 3 (28:04):
Advice tailored towards your needs.
Speaker 4 (28:06):
Victoria Divine and She's on the Money are authorized representatives
of Money sherper P T y lt D A B
N three two one six four nine two seven seven
zero eight AFS L four five one two eight nine
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