Yes, we are in crisis; Yes, there are fewer and fewer people who cannot afford the "luxury" of traveling for even a week (because yes, traveling right now as things are, is a luxury) and yes, there is a study carried out by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), which says that the 37,9% of the population that could not afford to travel a few years ago, has increased specifically to 47,6%.
I believe that with these figures, there is little hope that we have for discover new places and live new experiences, not? Well no! Because that's what human ingenuity is for, although sometimes hotels, taxis and other types of services have tried not to be in favor of the people and to look at their own benefit. Human ingenuity is what it has: it is imaginative and it is always in search of new ways so that everything is cheaper and much more profitable.
We are here to talk to you today about all that, about the collaborative consumption platforms that will help you in your travel so that they come out at a better price and if you can afford them. You may already know some of the ones we present to you, but we hope to introduce you to several more. Take aim!
Do you know Wikitravel?
Briefly we will say that it is a specific Wikipedia made with contributions from travelers.
As they themselves indicate in their web page: 'Wikitravel' is a project dedicated to creating a global travel guide, free, complete, updated and reliable that has recently exceeded 10.000 guides and articles in its various versions, written and edited by 'Wikiviajantes' coming from all corners of the globe. In Spanish there are 1972 guides and other articles.
Awesome, right?
If you browse a bit through its main page you will see that it is very well distributed and that there are very interesting sections such as: "The destination of the month", "an extravagant destination", "featured articles" o "Discover".
Do you know SocialCar?
SocialCar is a platform where individuals advertise their cars to rent them for a day or a longer period of time to other individuals and thus be able to get extra money.
Car sales pages have always existed, right? Well, this is basically the same, but without selling the car, if not simply renting it to another user who needs it.
Of course, both the one who rents their vehicle and the "rented one" travel fully insured (the company AXA is the one that insures) with technical assistance 24 hours a day and ensuring that each vehicle advertised there meets the minimum necessary requirements.
If you are interested, here is your websites.
Sure you know BlaBlaCar
BlaBlaCar is a trust-based user community that connects drivers with empty seats with passengers heading to the same location.
Do you want to go to a particular place but can't find a bus or train ticket at the time you need it? Well, perhaps in the community and social network of BlaBlaCar you will find someone who makes the same journey as you, who has a free seat and who, curiously, is also looking for a companion who shares expenses.
It's that simple and that useful.
Have you heard of WeSwap?
According to what they themselves comment in their websites, in WeSwap, the currency you receive comes from other travelers. Instead of changing at the bank or exchange houses, they make it easier for people to change between them even while in different countries. A cheaper, more transparent and beneficial way to obtain foreign currency. They call it social currency.
They say that it is more profitable and cheaper than doing it in a bank and they show it with the following graph:
You will pay 1% for your foreign currency, which is 10 times less than what they would charge you at the bank, or at the airports.
What do you think about the idea? Anything to save, great, huh?
Airbnb, the star platform to stay in private homes
Airbnb is a platform where registered users they offer their houses (full) or rooms for much less price than what you can find in many hotels and / or hostels.
Something very good about this platform is that users who visit these houses and / or rooms usually do later an appraisal (positive or bad) jalong with comments, which gives you great reliability of the veracity of the data, the kindness of the person who rents, etc.
Personally, she is one of the ones I usually look at when planning a specific trip. Especially because having a kitchen (generally) allows you not to have to spend on meals outside the home. Which is already quite a considerable savings.
We hope that these 5 collaborative consumption platforms will help you in a future or near trip and allow you not only to save but also to know other alternatives to travel that you did not know until today.
Bon voyage!