Of course, all AEGEE members know that the best way to find cheap and wonderful accommodation is to stay with their AEGEE friends – free of charge, friendship guaranteed and local life possible. But what to do when you want to visit a city where there are no AEGEE members living?
From my own experience here are some suggestions which I have been using during the last travelling trips myself:
1) Ask your foreign friends if they know anybody in the place X where you want to go, especially if they are from the same country! Post this information as your Facebook status, on Twitter and any other relevant social media!
2) Join CouchSurfing, BeWelcome, HospitalityClub or any other similar website! Hundreds of AEGEE members are already using them, so no big introduction necessary. Imagine that it’s like hosting or surfing at a friend of a friend – you just need to read the profile information, use your own judgment and take some AEGEE leaflets with you! If your host is a young person, there is a chance that (s)he might join AEGEE after meeting you.
3) If you are staying for several days in a row or with couple of friends, rent an apartment and split the costs. Recently Airbnb and other websites where you can both rent and let apartments from other real people are becoming more and more popular. Ask one of your travelling friends (or me) for more information or even a reference link so you can get a discount for your first trip!
4) You have a bit more money and time ahead? Groupon and other collective discounts are offering around 50% discounts for various hotels and accommodation sites in the biggest European countries. Just sign up for the mailing list, check the offers and decide which one to take!
Written by Anita Kalmane, AEGEE-Ogre