Let’s face it, everyone loves a freebie! Check out these 11 top tips for getting something for nothing and freeload your way around the world!

It seems that everyone’s after a bargain at the moment. Most of us don’t have wads of spare cash to splash out on expensive vacations.

So once you’ve managed to get away, why not score some extras as you go along??

C.P. Storm

Getting stuff for free is a lot easier than you might think. It’s also kinda fun!

Check out these 11 handy tips and watch your shame fly out the window!

1. Ask

Seems obvious doesn’t it? But you’d be surprised what you can get when you swallow your pride and just ask!

More often than not, people will be more obliging than you might think.

2. Smile

A smile can go a long way. A toothy grin and the recognition that you’re being a bit cheeky can make the world of difference.

3. Strike a Multi-deal

Whether you’re staying in a hotel for a good few nights or buying up the souvenir shop, recognize the value of your custom and propose a good-will freebie.

4. Make Friends

People do business with people they like. The same principle applies to getting stuff for free.

Have a laugh and a joke with the staff on reception and you might just find an exotic fruit basket in your room!

5. Complain

Just had the worst meal of your life? Don’t sit and fume about it. Make a polite complaint and the chances are they’ll be champagne and tiramisu coming your way.

6. Don’t Push it

No one likes being pressurized, so be cool and know when to back off. A laid-back strategy is guaranteed to get you further in the long-term.

7. Dangle a Carrot

Provide an incentive. You’ll find people much more accommodating after you’ve mentioned that big corporate booking or wedding reception that you’re planning.

8. Name Drop

Use your contacts. Remember that friend who works at Conde Nast or Lonely Planet? Well now’s the time to slip their name into the conversation!

9. Flirt

A shameless tactic but a fun one. Whether you’re trying to bag a flight upgrade or a free cocktail, 9 times out of 10 you’ll do better addressing a member of the opposite sex.

10. Try Stuff

Ah the beauty of the trial. After-shave, cosmetics or Italian ice-cream – whatever you’ve got your eye on, explain you’d like to try before you bye and lo behold that cute mini something is all yours…. absolutely free!

11. Exploit your Skills

Got a special skill or talent? Exploit it! Offer some free music/dance/comedy/magic in exchange for what you want. Genius!

Got more freebie tactics or funny stories?? Post up your comments below, we want to hear from you!

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Have you ever walked away from a vendor with that sinking feeling you were ripped off? Have you bought something overseas and arrived home only to have a friend tell you that they got the same thing—but for half the price? Here are five sure-fire haggling tips (and a video tutorial) that will help you get that great souvenir, at a great price:

5) Confuse the vendor. (Is this guy really a monk, or is it a clever disguise for haggling?)

Typically, vendors will ask you where you come from. Why? They are trying to size you up to charge you accordingly. Vendors have different prices in mind for Europeans and Americans and they even adjust the prices according to where in Europe you come from. If they can’t size you up so well, they’re thrown off their game.

This might sound devious, but you can do it nicely, playfully:
“Where are you from?” they ask.
“Where do you think I’m from?” you respond.

They rattle off a list of places, maybe even try out some foreign languages on you, and you smile beatifically, giving an occasional nonchalant shrug (or better yet, if you speak multiple languages respond in a little, just a little, of each). Play coy. Which leads me to the next point…

4) Keep calm. And keep quiet. (That Buddha’s got a thing or two to teach you about bargaining).

Keeping calm is obvious. But keeping quiet? Sounds like a counter-intuitive Zen koan, right? How can you haggle if you’re not… well, talking? But think about it– the more you speak, the more they can place your accent and background. So make your responses short, but pleasant. Remember that it’s a business transaction and that it’s not necessary to get personally acquainted with the salesperson.

However, there are some places where a lengthy, leisurely conversation (or a passionate debate) is part of the transaction, which leads me to…

3) Be aware of the local customs. (This woman isn’t pointing her feet at you, so make sure you don’t point those filthy appendages of yours at her).

Huh? What do dirty feet have to do with haggling? The point is that you’ve got to be aware of the local customs and manners. In some countries, the advice you have read thus far will work like gold and you’ll get in, get out, and get a great price on that one-of-a-kind souvenir. But in other cultures, the advice I have given is totally wrong and will get you nowhere. Be fluid and adapt yourself. How? First, watch the locals and then imitate them. Even if you don’t understand a lick of the language, you’ll get a sense of the rhythm of the transaction by watching a few.

But no matter where you go:

2) Be prepared to walk. (Yes, those handmade, Moroccan shoes were made for walking. Get ready to use them).

No, I don’t mean from site to site! I mean that you have to be prepared to walk away from that perfect souvenir if the price isn’t right. Non-attachment is one of the keys to haggling, no matter where you are in the world. The less interest you show in an item, the harder the vendor will try to convince you that it, and the price, is great.

In fact, some of the best deals I’ve gotten have been struck when I have literally walked away. The moment my feet have started moving, the price started moving too—down, that is.

1) Keep a target price, and item, in mind and stick to it. Adamantly. (Don’t walk away with bananas when you really wanted to buy avocados).

Stay focused on what you want and what you pay for it. It’s common sense, but you’d be suprised at how is it is to get carried away in the haggling itself and end up walking away with that mosque-shaped alarm clock (that rings five times a day to remind you to pray!) you never knew you wanted.

Did we miss one? Got a haggling tip that always works for you? Tell us about it!

Tripbase received an email from a friend recently: “I’m sorry to say I got laid off this week,” he wrote. Our friend explained that the company he worked for needed to trim 300,000 US dollars from its budget, and his position was one of many that were eliminated. “HR and I signed some paperwork,” he said, “and that was that.”

“I’m not overly upset,” he continued, saying that his wife and he have been wanting to leave Alaska, where they’ve been living for two years, for quite a while. “That’s suddenly a lot simpler,” he said. “It will take about two weeks to wrap up loose ends around here, and then we’re going to visit friends and family for awhile. We want to see loved ones and decide where to live.”

Our friend’s family lives in Puerto Rico, his wife’s family lives in Florida. While taking some time to rethink his career path, our friend and his wife will visit with both.

Sure, they won’t be paying for hotels, but it got all of us at Tripbase thinking about travel destinations with low overhead costs… places we could take a time out from the recession and size up our lives from afar.

I thought immediately of another friend of mine, a writer. He spends the school year teaching, but every summer, he sublets his places and heads to India to spend the summer vacation writing. Yes, the plane ticket is pricey, but the overhead is so low in India, he swears he saves money this way (and gains material, as well).

Sitting out the recession, or at least part of it, in India doesn’t seem like an awful idea to me. Why? Let’s do some quick math here. Bear with me…

Rent varies wildly throughout the United States, but just for the sake of argument, let’s assume an average of 1000 US dollars a month of rent, including electricity, water, cable, and internet. Of course there are other living expenses, too, such as gas and food, so let’s knock that average up just a bit to 1400 US dollars. Six months would cost you somewhere in the ballpark of 8400 dollars.

Now let’s compare that to the cost of spending six months in India.

Let’s assume that you’re paying ten dollars a day for your room (and this is estimating high– we’ve paid half of that in hostels in India). That’s roughly 300 dollars a month in overhead costs. What about food? Let’s budget something outrageous for India… let’s say 200 dollars a month. For 500 dollars a month, or 3000 dollars for half a year, you’re living in India! Even figuring in a plane ticket, you’re coming out ahead of what you’d be paying in the States or Europe.

OK, we know this idea isn’t for everyone. We know that some people have mortgages and families and can’t just pick up and run to India. But if you do have the flexibility and you want to take a breath before plunging back into the less-than-stellar job market, why not spend 6 months on the subcontinent, rather than 6 months sitting at home while the economy is stagnant?

Some other interesting travel destinations where we could stretch the dollar or Euro came to mind… one of us lived in Alexandria, Egypt for part of a summer and paid about ten dollars a week for a small room in a shared apartment. What about retreating to Egypt? Morocco? Thailand? Laos? Vietnam? Central America? Certain areas in South America are quite affordable, too…