How to Get Free or Discount Food While Traveling

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Eating is a major part of traveling. You travel to experience different cultures which include the people, landmarks and even food. Buying food while traveling can be difficult especially when you are on a budget.

Fortunately, there are plenty of ways with which you can save money on food as you travel. And if you play your cards right, you can also get to the point where you don’t have to pay for food at all.

Here are some of the ways you can get discounted or even free food while traveling.

#1 Take Online Surveys and Earn Cash!

All you need to do is contribute a few minutes of your time to answer survey questions. The tradeoff is that you may be able to walk away with gift cards, coupons or even cash. Yes, it is that easy.

Here are some of the best online survey sites that reward you with free food or points that can be exchanged for cash or food:

#2 Look for Coupons and Deals

Coupons are a great way to pay less for food and other grocery items. And if you are able to stack your coupons, you can even eat for free. Coupons can be found from a number of different sources including local newspapers and magazines, or better yet, online and via apps. You will find plenty of apps and online deals that offer discounts for meals or buy-one-get-one-free deals.

Daily deals and coupons for grocery stores, restaurants and bars can be found online and in various countries.

Here are a few of our favorite resources for finding food deals online:

#3 Attend Free Events

There are a variety of events that offer free food for those who attend. Art gallery openings, for example, offer hors d’oeuvres and open houses serve appetizers. Some events even offer free drinks like wine and sodas.

To search for events, Google “events in [city] today/this week” to see what comes up. You can also check out websites like Time Out or local news publications to find free events in the cities you’re visiting.

You can also get invited to free events! Review businesses on Yelp and try to get Yelp Elite status. Yelp Elites are invited to private parties that are often filled with free food and drinks. It’s a great way to meet other people who are also foodies. You might even get some Yelp Elite swag!

#4 Pick Your Destinations Carefully

When traveling, it’s best to keep away from hotel room services, which can seriously add up and make you go over budget.

What you want to do instead, is to visit bars, restaurants, as well as stores around colleges, which are loaded with deals as students are generally broke.

You also get amazing deals on food if you’re near a casino. And if you ever decide to do your own shopping for food preparation, we suggest going to local and ethnic grocery stores as they are cheaper than chain grocery stores.

As a general rule, the further you are from a city center, the cheaper things will be. City living is typically more expensive but not entirely impossible to find cheap and good eats.

When researching your next travel destination, you can use Google to research restaurants and even sort them by cost. Don’t forget to read the reviews! Sometimes restaurants are cheap because they’re not good.

#5 Share Your Meals With Friends

Sharing meals is a good idea, especially if you want to save money and have a list of things you want to eat but don’t have enough time (or appetite) to eat it all yourself. It’s a great way to try everything on your list when you share with friends and family. Sharing meals also reduces food waste.

Research restaurants beforehand and find places that are affordable and well-rated. We use Google, Facebook business pages or Yelp to research potential restaurants.

#6 Join a Restaurant Rewards Program

Aside from looking for restaurant discounts and coupons online, you can also join a rewards program for discounts and free food. Each time you dine, you’ll receive points that can be redeemed for discounted or free food and beverages.

T.G.I. Friday’s is one such restaurant that offers a free rewards program that allows its customers to earn 1 point for every dollar spent so it can be exchanged for free food later.

Some restaurants will partner with rewards programs like Five Stars and Perka to manage their customer loyalty programs and offer awesome discounts when you dine there often.

You can also sign up for a Upromise account to take advantage of its rewards program. If you are saving up for college for yourself or your children, or have student loans, you can register your credit, debit, and dining cards for free.

When you make purchases at a grocery store or a restaurant, a percentage will be applied to your savings or loans account. It’s very similar to cashback or rebate programs.

Popular Cashback Programs

Groupon – Link your credit card to your Groupon account and when you make a purchase at a participating retailer, you’ll get cashback. Sometimes they have limits on the amount of cashback a member can receive.
Yelp – They do something similar to Groupon’s cashback program. Link your credit card and check into restaurants to earn cashback.
Credit Cards – Depending on your credit card benefits, you can earn cashback when you shop or dine out at participating restaurants.

#7 Get a Credit Card That Earns Points or Miles

I never travel without a credit card that helps to earn points and miles. I carefully choose credit cards based on their annual costs and benefits. I also point hack and rack up bonus points which equate to cash just for meeting a minimum spend.

I use points and miles to buy gift cards to different restaurants, hotels and more. You can also get a statement credit for certain credit cards.

Having credit cards also helps to improve your credit score! Make sure you pay off your balance before you incur any interest.

Cards that we recommend include the following:

Chase Sapphire Reserve (50K signup bonus, $450 annual fee with $300 in travel credit, Priority Pass and more)
American Express Gold (50k signup bonus, $250 fee with $120 dining and $100 travel credit)

#8 Become a Mystery Shopper

I’ve saved thousands of dollars mystery shopping while traveling! I get to check out new establishments in the area that might not have come up during my research.

In expensive cities like Paris, I’ve been able to mystery shop restaurants with a budget of 400 Euros. It’s also a great way to meet my minimum spend on credit cards offering bonus points.

Simply sign up with a mystery shopping company and apply for assignments. A scheduler will assign you an assignment or you will automatically get assigned shops depending on your shopper status.

The next step is to conduct the shop on or by the assigned date and complete a survey to indicate how the workers performed and what you thought of food and service. Most mystery shopping companies will want an objective recount of your experience and you typically get paid 30 days after you complete the shop.

The more shops you complete, the more qualified you will become to do more difficult hotel and fine dining shops. These surveys are a little more complicated but totally worth your time if you’re on a budget.

Mystery Shopping Companies You Can Start With

Final Thoughts

There are many ways to get food for free or at least at a discount. Food costs can add up while you’re traveling. Knowing how to save money on food will help you stay on track with your travel budget and allow you to enjoy different cuisines from around the world…and travel even more!

Got questions? Send us a message. We’d love to connect with you!

Alex

Join Alex and Larry on our journey, as we find love, eat great food, and travel to beautiful destinations. #weloveeattravel

Post Views: 4,417