Question

Q.4. What do you mean by Budget? Suppose you are going to enjoy your summer holidays in France. Make an expected budget keeping in mind all of your requirements.                                                                  

Answer 1

A budget is an estimation of revenue and expenses over a specified future period of time and is usually compiled and re-evaluated on a periodic basis. Budgets can be made for a person, a group of people, a business, a government, or just about anything else that makes and spends money.

An example of budget is how much a person plans on spending on a summer holiday in France

Depending on the feasibility of these estimates, Budgets are of three types -- balanced budget, surplus budget and deficit budget.

• BALANCED BUDGET. ...
• SURPLUS BUDGET. ...
• DEFICIT BUDGET.

The very first thing while planning a trip is to select the countries you want to visit.

1. After you select the countries you want to visit, you should check the best time to visit those countries as per your convenience. There are several factors you should consider like: Weather, Travel Warnings and Advisories, any vaccination you need to take and most imp. should have passport with enough validity.
2. Now, once you decide the countries and the month of travel you should check for which consulate you should apply for VISA to get it asap. Different consulates take different time period to grant the VISA.
3. Getting Schengen VISA is not that hard if your documents are proper.
   The VISA fee is very reasonable and from my experience I must say this was the smoothest VISA processing I have ever gone through.
4. For smooth VISA Processing you should get Travel Insurance, flight Itinerary if you want to buy tickets only after getting VISA, etc. Travel Itinerary is very important and should not be confused with flight itinerary. It should have detailed day wise plan.
5. Book accommodation ( very imp.). You can book from Booking.com: The largest selection of hotels, homes, and vacation rentals. They offer book now and pay later option. You can choose Hostels and Airbnb as per your budget.
6. VISA Processing takes at max 2–3 weeks hence, you should apply for VISA a little early before your planned travel so that you have time to plan everything properly.
7. Once you get everything sorted with respect to your documents you can book slot for VISA interview . You can get the slots for next day also.
8. Be very confident about how you are going to travel between countries and can support yourself financially or have enough money to support your travel/ proof of financial status.
9. After getting your VISA, the first thing to do is to pay for Hotels/accommodation (if chosen pay later option), get the Confirmed Flight Tickets
10. FOREX: You should have cash and amount in Card to support your travel.
    DO NOT CONVERT THE CURRENCY  AT AIRPORT AND ALWAYS CHECK THE COMMISSION PERCENTAGE WHILE CONVERTING YOUR CURRENCY
    I would recommend getting some Cash and get a travel card loaded with some amount.
11. Now, just relax and pack your bags if everything mentioned above has been taken care of.
12. While planning for all these you should check the various places you should visit in the counties you are travelling to and go through the reviews about places online, Read Reviews, Compare Prices & Book or any other sites. For some historical sites, i would recommend to book guided tour as they are very informative. It can be of 3–4 hours or full day. I have a great experience with the guided tour i booked for my trip and it was very informative.
13. Travelling within the City and between countries: Now, coming to the point where you would like to know how to travel within the city and between one country to another. I must tell you that France has best Public transport and excellent connectivity. You can buy passes hourly basis, One day, 3-day, etc for travelling within the City at a very reasonable price. You can use same pass for Trams, Buses and Metro.
    For travelling between countries you can opt for Inter City Buses or Trains. There are several operators and i have a very good experience with buses and trains . I traveled in a bus and Train between countries and it was an amazing experience.

AVOID THE FOLLOWING TO SAVE MONEY

• OFF SEASON SAVINGS: If at all possible, save big by visiting France during the off-season (late October – March, except holidays) or during the shoulder season (late September-October and late March-early May), when the savings are still significant and the weather usually quite comfortable.

• AVOID SLEEPING NEAR THE BEACH: Traveling during the high season (June-August)? If possible, limit your exposure to the most expensive destinations (all beaches and coasts). Paris is also at its pricey peak from late May through the end of July. Consider smaller cities and villages. During June and July, for example, a week traveling through Provence or the Gard region will still be cheaper than hitting Nice, the Cote d’Azur, or sticking only to Paris. Still want to hit the beach? Sleep inland in a small village or B&B, and take day trips to the beach.

• PARIS CAN BE CHEAPER IN AUGUST: Paris empties out in August when locals go on vacation. This can be an interesting time to visit: Many smaller stores and some restaurants close, but hotel rooms tend to be easier to book and a bit cheaper than during June and July. (Here are some thoughts about visiting Paris in August.)

• AVOID FASHION WEEK IN PARIS. Are your Paris hotel searches turning up absurdly high rates? You might be planning to visit during one of the city’s fashion weeks. Although it sounds glamorous, the sky-high rates and crowds are soooooo last season. Upcoming dates: September 23 – October 1, 2019; February 24 – March 3, 2020.

• PARIS ISN’T THE ONLY AIRPORT: Flying from North America? Paris is not your only airport option (although you can find cheap flights). If much of your trip consists of travel in the south, for example, check prices on flights to Marseilles and Montpelier (which may include a transfer in Paris or a connection in another country). Even if it’s a bit more expensive, you can end up saving time and money on train tickets and rental cars by flying into an airport closer to your destination.

• OPEN JAW TICKETS SAVE TIME AND MONEY: Consider flying into one city and home through another. (For example, into Paris and back home from Marseilles.) These “open jaw” tickets can help you save money and time, as you won’t have to circle all the way back to your point of arrival in order to fly home. Best of all, the flight tickets are often about the same price as simple round-trip tickets.

• TRY A LOW-COST AIRLINE: Consider low-cost airline options from the US to France, including Norwegian Airlines which flies to Paris from several US cities.

• CONSIDER XL AIRWAYS: With all the excitement over the low-cost carriers serving the US-France market, we feel that XL Airways sometimes gets overlooked. The carrier offers some of the cheapest fares to France from the US, and, unlike the low-cost airlines, includes a piece of checked luggage in its fare. (We just found a $353 Newark-Paris round-trip flight in September. Good deal!)

• “HUB IT” FOR SAVINGS: Not finding cheap airfare to France? Try “hubbing it”, by flying first to any cheap European destination (for example, finding a cheap flight to Dublin on Aer Lingus) and then catching a budget flight from there to France (for example, on Ryanair). If your schedule is a bit flexible, you could find some savings.

• AVOID TAXIS INTO PARIS: Flying into Charles De Gaulle? We’d recommend avoiding taxis into the city, unless you’ve got a big family or lots of luggage. Some of us prefer the RER, while others always take the bus into town.