I was invited to appear on WHYY’s You Oughta Know television program to speak on “How to Travel for Less” (scheduled to air tonight).  I currently teach a  “How to Travel for Less” class at Main Line School Night twice a year (Spring & Fall semesters) to help people learn more to achieve their travel goals. There’s too much “travel for less” information to share in one television segment (I’d need my own show) so in the meantime, a few highlights.  There are so many stories to tell including why I signed up for AARP in my 30’s, Solo Travel Planning Tips and how I met Oprah.  For all of those tidbits, including many travel tips, sign up to follow my blog posts, Twitter or Instagram.

My Back Story

I created PhilaTravelGirl – Flying by the Seat of My Points after two pivotal points dream award trips – solo travel to Easter Island and solo safari in Africa (Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa). When I was planning those trips, there was scant information online about solo travel to these destinations.    I wanted to provide travelers information from my nearly 20 years of solo travel, which began in a spectacular way in Paris.  Plus I was tired of the detailed itineraries I was creating and emailing to strangers I’d meet on the road who wanted to know about London, Paris and Sydney – it was easier to create the recommendations in a post for more people to read.  And, more importantly, my friends and family were tired of my repeated stories and plethora of photos….even my little niece at the time was like “where did you go now Aunt Sue? Where is your husband or boyfriend?”.  She didn’t understand that I was dating the world with my passport.

Now, I’m filled with travel information, where to find secret happy hours and how to travel for less.  I say this as a warning because once I start talking travel, I can’t stop….  That said, a few highlights from my “How to Travel for Less” class.

3 First Steps to Travel

1. Set a Destination Goal (be specific)

• “I/we want to visit London in 2019, flying business class and staying in a boutique hotel”
• “We want a Family reunion at Disney World in 2020” (use a travel agent for group discounts)
• “I want to go on my first solo vacation with a women’s yoga group”
• “I/we want to sail on the 80’s music cruise”
• “I want to celebrate my 40th birthday with the guys on a golf & whisky trip to Scotland“
• “Girls trip to a wellness spa to celebrate x”

You get the idea – find a reason, theme and date so you have something to look forward to.

2. Plan a Budget and Savings Plan –

• DO NOT GO INTO DEBT for travel.  Bummer, I know but your memories are supposed to be forever fabulous not forever at a 19%+ interest rate.
• Create a separate online savings account for “Travel” and save regularly in addition to your Rainy Day Fund and Emergency Savings.

If travel is important, you need to make it a priority – one less latte, less frequent manicures, cut back on unnecessary spending, etc.

3. Travel Research –

• Research is key but can be overwhelming and paralyzing as you are afraid to pick the wrong hotel, restaurant, tour group and destination.
  • We spend too many hours online researching, crowdsourcing and seeking answers to craft “the perfect vacation” that it begins to blur and with so much choice, it’s easy to feel defeated.
  • Give yourself a break and find what speaks to you – if it’s the first hotel then book that, no need to spend hours looking at a hundred other options.
• You can search for local and niche bloggers to learn more (google “x” blogger).  Many bloggers will easily answer questions you have via Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, email, etc.

There is no right way to travel but there are many ways to spend more money than necessary.

Balanced Travel Budget

When you start asking “what’s really important to me, to us, on this trip?” you’ll find ways to save money so you can then splurge on a few luxuries.  A balanced approach if you will. Did you book a budget hotel or a hostel so you can eat in a Michelin starred restaurant?  Did you fly coach to stay at the five star luxury hotel?  Book a balcony cruise stateroom but forgo the specialty dining options and fees? Each decision you make helps craft the perfect vacation for you. A few travel luxuries to add on when planning and saving –

• Book Flytographer for a professional photo shoot in the travel destination – my mom loved it! It was a memory worth the extra cost.
• Consider hiring a Private Guide or small group tour for personalized itineraries and special access. Once in a lifetime memories often involve a little extra budgeting. For larger families and groups, a private tour or private guide might actually be better deal.

3 Steps for Travel Organization

1. Set up a separate email address for travel deals and discounts.
2. Use AwardWallet to consolidate all of your loyalty programs in one place. I get notifications when I’ve earned a free cookie at Panera that alone is worth the download!  Seriously, it’s nice to have everything in one place that is updated regularly.
3. TripIt is a free app to consolidate all of your travel plans into one itinerary. I pay for the premium Pro version.

Airfare Tips

I like to start with Google Flights (you may prefer a different mega search option like Skyscanner, Hipmunk or Kayak) to see all of the airline options, alternative airports and prices. Google flights will tell you lowest prices for dates. You can then go to the applicable site to book or call a travel agent.  You can save a bundle leaving early in the morning although 6 a.m. flights are tough even when you are saving $200! Flying on a Tuesday or Wednesday is often lower priced and has many award tickets available.

For more complicated flights (open jaw flights into one city and out of another), I will use a travel agent for the added peace of mind if something goes wrong.  Travel agents often charge $35-50+ per airline ticket and can often find lower prices for complicated itineraries as they can add a stopover, connection or partner airline.

Hotels Savings Tips

Sign up for the hotel loyalty program (i.e. Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, Accor, Kimpton, IHG, etc.) which often provide direct booking discounts of about 5% and may offer additional perks of value to you (i.e. -upgrades or free wifi access).

Hotel Tonight (book up to 30 days in advance depending on city) offers a nice mix of curated hotels. The prices are non-refundable and are usually for one room for two people in one bed. [Ask me for a discount code]

• My best deal to date – NYC 4* boutique hotel with continental breakfast close to Times Square and Rockefeller Center for $100 on a Sunday night (Expedia and hotel direct rate $200+)

AirBnb Savings Tips

Airbnb – I have a love/hate relationship based on a few stays.  They offer a wonderful opportunity for folks to travel for less (shared rooms for example) but really require research especially to know if legal in the city you are visiting. First time user discount codes (if interested ask me for my discount code or ask a friend).

• Research, Research and Research some more.
• Look for Superhost designation and/or Airbnb Plus collection if you want a level of comfort
• Don’t arrive at night – arrive early to inspect the property – if any issues, contact Airbnb immediately. Avoid my Airbnb Travel Nightmare.

 

Tour Attractions Savings Tips

• Google “free walking tour in x” and you’ll find many great options (do remember to tip as this is the income source for the guide).
• In London, Walks.com is a fantastic group offering a myriad of daily tours (for small cash fee) – you just show up and join the group which can range from 5 people to 35 people in my experience. I’ve taken many of these walks over the years and highly recommend them.
• Viator – a marketplace of tours sold by small businesses and large vendors (first time discounts for email sign-up)
• Airbnb Experiences (tours and experiences offered by locals) – my recent tour was the Brooklyn Bridge Walking Tour and I’m still trying to learn to make a fascinator (hat) in London (always sold out).
• Context Travel (local Philly company) offers small groups led by historians and experts. My tour in Paris at the Musee D’Orsay with an art historian was quite unique.

Dining Savings Tips

• OpenTable loyalty program rewards you when you dine out at participating restaurants. Earn points to redeem for gift cards to apply to your next meal when traveling (domestic US)
• Avoid pricey room service by ordering local with Caviar, UberEats and other delivery services (each offer discount codes).  Check with the hotel first about food deliveries.
• Airline dining programs can offer savings at participating restaurants when you pay with a registered credit card.  You’ll earn airline miles for the dining as well as your credit card points – a classic and easy double dip.

Car Rental Savings

• Do you need a car rental at the airport? If staying in the city, avoid parking at the hotel (often $40+ per night) and rent the car in the city location to avoid additional airport fees and taxes.
• Look at your credit card to see what car rental insurance coverage is provided. If it covers your rental in the destination you may decide to decline insurance offered by the car rental company.
• It’s very important to check and understand the details of what you home car insurance covers, what your credit card travel/auto insurance covers and what the car rental company is offering.

Travel Package Savings

• Costco offers members travel deals.  Great for double occupancy, families and popular destinations (Las Vegas, Orlando, London, select cruises) not so good for solo travelers or those wanting to stay at specific hotels not offered. Like anything else, you do need to compare rates. Costco often offers after trip rebates, especially on cruises.
• Contact a Travel Agent as they have access to so many deals and packages that you might not find online as their suppliers offer “travel agent only rates”

Cruise Savings Tips

• So much to share about cruises. First Time Cruise Tips, Cruise Budget and Cruises with Solo Cabins.
• Prices vary wildly so contact a cruise travel agent/specialist to learn more. Not all “free offers” are worth it.
• Guaranteed Rooms and Sail Away cabin rates are often the cheapest because you have no control over where the cabin will be (usually forward or aft on any deck).  If you must be mid-ship, that will cost more money.
• Research starting point – Cruise Critic has reviews of everything cruise. The members are passionate about cruising and sharing information. Once booked, register for the cruise roll call to chat with other travelers on your ship. Join welcome parties (often a free drink is included and you meet the ship staff), cabin crawls, private shore excursions (less than cruise tours) and other get together options.
• Repositioning Cruises – a lot of sea days but great deals to be had. It’s cheaper to be on vacation than to be home!

Using Points for Airline Awards

Figuring out how to use those airline and credit card points can be mind numbing as the rules are constantly changing and the best deals might be on partner airlines or involve a few transfers between programs.  For the average traveler, it’s really a bit too much which is what the airlines and credit card vendors are banking on – so unless you have time to deep dive into the points community to learn the ins/outs best to use a travel agent expert. There are a few that specialize in finding award tickets and each have different service and pricing.

Book My Award is a service that can take all of your airline points to find the best redemption and flights for you.  They are experts to get you to that dream trip to Australia, find business and first class seats and make life much sweeter when you redeem points. Their service fees are reasonable in my opinion and I’ve recommended them to a few folks that were thrilled to finally use those points to amazing business and first class international trips.

A Few Travel Apps I Use

There are too many travel apps out there to name them all. While I’ve mentioned many above, here are a few more that I use when traveling.  If you have a favorite travel app to share, please comment below.

• CityMapper – better than google maps for me as it has real time bus, train, etc. information
• XE Currency – how much is that in local currency and home currency?
• YourRights (EU travel) – travel in the EU is governed by actual travelers rights! What compensation or other are you entitled to if your flight is late, canceled or delayed?
  • My canceled flight netted me 600 Euros!  Know your rights in the EU when traveling.
• Google Translate
• TripAdvisor – chock full of information but take with grain of salt as anyone can leave a review whether they stayed at the hotel, ate at the restaurant or joined the tour or not

• Booking.com – offers refundable rates and reviews are only by those who have stayed at the property
• PackPoint – packing tips and lists
• MobilePassport – US Immigration – complete the forms on your app for quicker processing
• Guides by Lonely Planet
• OperaFreeVPN – virtual private network – keep your internet surfing and data private
• Netflix, Xfinity, other streaming video – entertainment to go
• SitOrSquat – where to find bathrooms
• DayPass – day pass access to hotel pools, beach clubs, cabanas
• TravelZoo – travel discounts
• Groupon – general discounts including travel

Final Thoughts – How to Travel for Less

So that’s the quick overview of my How to Travel for Less class.  Hopefully you found something of value to help you go plan, book and experience a dream destination.  Anyone can afford to travel – the key is to research, ask the experts and be open to new ideas to help you discover different ways to experience the world. If you have a question or comment, please share below.

To work with me for business travel consulting, content creation and photo licensing, visit  Arden Road Travel.