Travel budget glossary

Shoulder season

The 4–8 weeks immediately before and after a destination's peak tourism season. Weather is usually close to peak; prices and crowds are materially lower. Our default for cost comparisons.

ExampleBooking Lisbon in late April instead of early July typically saves 15–25% on accommodation while keeping warm weather, longer daylight and full restaurant hours.

See alsoThe shoulder rule · Peak season · Low season · Guide: shoulder season explained

Peak season

The busiest, most expensive window for a destination. Driven by weather, school holidays, festivals or all three. Accommodation typically 25%+ above shoulder rates.

ExampleTokyo's cherry-blossom window (late March–early April) and the Christmas/New Year fortnight in European capitals are the textbook peak windows: weather and demand both at maximum.

See alsoShoulder season · Low season · Buffer

Low season

The cheapest window of the year for a destination. Often coincides with off-weather or rainy months. Daily costs ~15% below shoulder.

ExampleBali in February (wet season) or Iceland in November lands daily costs ~15% below shoulder, with the trade-off of weather risk and shorter daylight.

See alsoShoulder season · Peak season

Dynamic currency conversion (DCC)

When a foreign merchant or ATM offers to bill you in your home currency. Always decline — the exchange rate is typically 3–7% worse than your card's network rate.

ExampleAn ATM in Paris offers to charge a $200 withdrawal in USD at '€189' instead of letting your card convert. Choose euros — your Visa or Mastercard network rate is typically 3–7% better.

See alsoCard FX rate · ATM network fee · Guide: understanding travel currencies

Per diem

A daily allowance budgeted for travel expenses, expressed as a single $/day number. The unit we use across the entire TravelBudget index.

ExampleA mid-range Hanoi day in shoulder season is ~$95/day per person; the same tier in Zurich is ~$420/day. Per-diem lets you compare those on one axis instead of juggling 30 line items.

See alsoDaily total · TravelBudget Index (TBI)

TravelBudget Index (TBI)

A 0–100 score per city, derived from mid-range shoulder-season daily cost vs the global cheapest and priciest cities we track. 0 is the cheapest, 100 the priciest.

ExampleKathmandu sits near TBI 0 (cheapest tier); Zurich sits near TBI 100. A city at TBI 40 costs roughly 40% of the way from the cheapest to the priciest city in our index.

See alsoAffordability tier · Per diem

Affordability tier

A 5-band label (Very cheap / Cheap / Moderate / Pricey / Very pricey) derived from a city's TBI score. Gives a consistent vocabulary across listings and comparisons.

Example'Very cheap' covers cities under ~$130/day mid-range (Hanoi, Kathmandu); 'Very pricey' covers cities above ~$500/day (Zurich, Reykjavik in peak).

See alsoTravelBudget Index (TBI) · Per diem

Mid-range (style)

A traveller style: 3-star or boutique hotel, mix of casual restaurants and one nicer meal per day, public transit plus occasional taxi, paid attractions. Our default tier.

ExampleA mid-range day in Porto: ~€90 boutique hotel, two casual meals and one nicer dinner, a metro pass, a paid museum or river cruise. Roughly $180/day all-in.

See alsoBudget (style) · Luxury (style) · Daily total

Budget (style)

Hostel dorm or guesthouse, local food and self-catering, public transit only, free or low-cost activities. Roughly 1× the city baseline cost.

ExampleA budget day in Chiang Mai: $12 guesthouse bed, $8 in street food, $1 in songthaew rides, a free temple or two. ~$30–40/day all-in.

See alsoMid-range (style) · Hostel dorm

Luxury (style)

4- or 5-star hotel, fine-dining meals, private transfers when needed, curated activities. Roughly 6× the city baseline cost.

ExampleA luxury day in Tokyo: $550 five-star room, a kaiseki dinner and one Michelin lunch, private transfers, a curated tea ceremony. ~$1,100/day all-in.

See alsoMid-range (style) · Ryokan

Daily total

Sum of five categories per person per day: accommodation, food, local transport, activities, miscellaneous. Flights, visas and insurance are excluded.

ExampleIf a city's daily total is $220/day mid-range and you stay 10 days, plan for $2,200 on the ground plus the trip-level fixed costs (flights, visa, insurance) on top.

See alsoFixed costs · Buffer · Per diem

Fixed costs

One-off costs added at the trip level rather than per day: flights, long-haul ground transport, visas, vaccinations, insurance, gear.

ExampleA two-week Tokyo trip from London might carry $900 in flights, $30 in JR Pass shipping and $90 in travel insurance — about $1,020 fixed, on top of the daily total × 14.

See alsoDaily total · Buffer

Long-stay rent equivalent

An estimate of what 30 nights of accommodation cost if booked monthly rather than nightly. We use ~60% of the nightly mid-range accommodation rate × 30.

ExampleIf mid-range nightly accommodation in Lisbon is $130, the long-stay rent equivalent is roughly $130 × 30 × 0.6 ≈ $2,340/month — close to what one-bed monthly rentals on Airbnb actually post.

See alsoCost of living (for travellers) · Guide: daily budget by region

Cost of living (for travellers)

Long-stay rent + 30 × (food + local transport + misc) at the mid-range baseline. Excludes tourist activities. Used for digital-nomad and long-stay comparisons.

ExampleCost of living strips tourist activities and uses long-stay rent, so Chiang Mai lands near $1,200/month while its tourist day rate implies $1,500/month. The gap is the 'hotel + activities' premium.

See alsoLong-stay rent equivalent · Daily total

Schengen 90/180

EU border rule allowing non-EU travellers up to 90 days inside the Schengen Area within any rolling 180-day window. Material constraint for long-stay European trips.

ExampleArriving in Lisbon on March 1 and leaving Berlin on May 29 uses exactly 90 of your 180 days. A run to Tirana or Istanbul resets the clock for non-Schengen weeks.

See alsoFixed costs

Hostel dorm

A shared room with 4–12 beds in a hostel. Typically 30–50% cheaper than a private room and the cheapest accommodation option in most cities.

ExampleA 6-bed dorm in Krakow runs $15–20/night; the private room next door is $55. The dorm cuts the largest line of a budget day by ~70%.

See alsoBudget (style) · Couchsurfing

Ryokan

A traditional Japanese inn, usually with tatami rooms, futon bedding and multi-course dinner. Mid-tier ryokans run $200–400/night; premium ones can exceed $600.

ExampleA mid-tier ryokan in Hakone bundles room, kaiseki dinner and onsen for ~$320/night for two. Treated as accommodation in our model, it slots into the luxury tier.

See alsoLuxury (style)

Couchsurfing

Free hosted accommodation arranged through community platforms. Eliminates the largest line item in a daily budget but adds time and social cost.

ExampleFive Couchsurfing nights in Tbilisi save ~$200 in accommodation but add ~6 hours of social/logistics overhead — worth it when you optimise for connection, not just dollars.

See alsoHostel dorm · Budget (style)

Third-class rail

The lowest paid tier on most national rail networks. Often 50–70% cheaper than first class with the same arrival time. Standard for budget travel in Europe and Asia.

ExampleA Bangkok–Chiang Mai third-class sleeper runs ~$25 vs ~$60 for second-class A/C. Same train, same arrival; the gap is bedding and aircon.

See alsoBudget (style)

ATM network fee

A flat fee a foreign ATM operator charges on top of your bank's withdrawal fee. Withdraw larger amounts, less often, from bank-owned ATMs to minimise it.

ExampleA Bangkok ATM tacks 220 THB (~$6) on top of your bank's withdrawal fee. Pulling 20,000 THB once costs the same fee as pulling 5,000 THB four times.

See alsoDynamic currency conversion (DCC) · Card FX rate

Card FX rate

The exchange rate your credit or debit card uses for foreign transactions. Typically close to the mid-market rate; always better than airport currency exchange.

ExampleVisa and Mastercard typically settle within 0.5% of the mid-market rate. Airport currency exchanges routinely sit 5–10% off — a $400 cash swap can cost $30 in spread.

See alsoDynamic currency conversion (DCC) · ATM network fee

Tourist tax

A per-night fee charged on accommodation in many European cities, typically €1–7/night/person. Almost always paid at check-in, not pre-booked.

ExampleRome charges €4–10/night/person depending on hotel class. A 6-night stay for two at a mid-range hotel quietly adds ~€72 to checkout.

See alsoFixed costs

City pass

A bundle of museum, attraction and transit access for a fixed price. Worth it when planning 4+ attractions in 3 days; otherwise individual tickets beat the pass.

ExampleA Berlin WelcomeCard (3 days, ABC zones) covers transit + ~200 discounts for ~€56. Worth it if you ride transit daily and hit 3+ paid attractions; otherwise individual tickets win.

See alsoMid-range (style)

Buffer

An explicit overage added to the trip-level budget to cover unknowns. We recommend 15% on top of the daily total × trip length.

ExampleA 12-day Vietnam trip with a $90/day mid-range plan costs $1,080 nominally. Add a 15% buffer ($162) and your real planning number is $1,242 — closer to what travellers actually spend.

See alsoDaily total · Fixed costs

The shoulder rule

If your dates are flexible by two weeks, shifting into shoulder season usually saves more than any in-trip optimisation. The cheapest fix is almost always the calendar.

ExampleShifting a Paris trip from July 10 to May 20 typically saves more (~$60/day) than any in-trip optimisation you could make — neighborhood swaps, cheaper restaurants, transit cards combined.

See alsoShoulder season · Guide: saving money while traveling

Per-memory cost

Trip cost divided by the number of distinct, lasting experiences. Slower trips usually beat faster ones on this metric even when their daily cost is higher.

ExampleThree days in one city often produces more lasting memories than six cities in a week, even when daily cost is identical. Per-memory cost rewards slowness over coverage.

See alsoGuide: what drives travel costs

Need numbers instead of definitions? See all destinations, run the comparison tool, or read our methodology.