How we make it work, Part II: Cheap travel

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A few weeks ago, I wrote about out bucket list and how we make it work, and it turned out to be one of the more popular posts. This topic was focused primarily on how we budget for travel by cutting expenses elsewhere and putting a priority on travel. To follow up, I thought it would be good to follow up with a practical example of the second step of practical cheap travel, which is how to make the budget go farther with lower travel costs. This example comes directly from our recent trip to see Shuttle Atlantis at the NASA visitor's center in Cape Canaveral.

Flights

With a family of 5, the largest cost of travel is usually the flight. Finding a fare that is $100 cheaper adds up to $500 in savings, and this may mean having to jump through some hoops to meet the deal. In this example, we were planning to fly from Austin to Orlando, which is typically a pretty cheap direct flight. However, we were limited to a specific holiday time frame to travel (4th of July week), and the flights shot up to near double the usual $200 price tag. I actually made plans to drive the trip, but then a deal popped up from DFW to Miami for $151 round trip. Both of these terminals are at least 3 hours from our start and destination points, so that would mean about 12 hours of interim driving. But, the flight was significantly cheaper and we weren't particularly strapped for time, so I bought. In the end, we enjoyed our time in Dallas visiting friends and in Miami finding some good Cuban food, so it added to the overall experience.

In summary, sign up for a good flight deal tracker that does NOT actually sell flights - I use Airfarewatchdog.com. Most will send you regular e-mails with found deals, or use the RSS feeds. Sign up for not only your local airport, but also surrounding airports that you may be willing to drive to.

Lodging

Hotels are becoming more expensive as we venture into larger cities. Not only are the rooms more expensive, but they also tend to only have double occupancy rooms. In Florida, we didn't have this problem, although we did have to watch out for the resort areas that can inflate hotel rates. I spend a lot more time searching for hotel rooms than any other part of the trip, and there isn't really a good way to summarize all of the different tactics. However, some guideline that I use (not necessarily the best for everyone) are:


• The 'best deal' is not always the cheapest rate. Hotel loyalty programs are a cornerstone of most of my stays. A hotel that costs me $20 more but gives 1/2 of a free night on future stay is a better deal in my mind since that free stay may be worth at least $100. We stayed at a Fairfield Inn near Miami airport on the first night, which qualifies for the Marriott 'Unexpected Bonus' promotion giving a free night every 2 stays. Our second stay has already been planned, so I can count on a free night to use sometime later this year. A big disclaimer - I rarely book hotels on Expedia, Hotwire, Priceline, etc. - discounted stays through these sites do not earn these perks. Now, there is an entirely different approach that uses ONLY Priceline and Hotwire to book deeply discounted rooms if you know the system.
• I only book refundable rates unless it is down to the wire or a significantly higher cost. I am constantly searching for better rates, and hotel chains are always coming out with different promotions which change where the best deal is. In this example, I rebooked 3 of the 4 nights within the last week because of the Point Breaks promotion from IHG that was announced at the end of the quarter. This promo allowed me to stay for 5,000 points per night (about $40 worth!) at 2 different properties in Florida. By far the best deal of the trip was the Crowne Plaza Melbourne, which was a full service ocean front property and a great starting point for both NASA and some beach fun. 2 nights here cost only 10,000 points (about $80).
• Platinum/Diamond/Awesomeness status isn't that hard to get. I am a Priority Club Platinum member and typically pay for fewer than 4 nights per year. Similarly for Club Carlson Gold status. Both of these come just by having the associated credit cards which give automatic status every year. Now, the status alone isn't worth the annual fees (more on that later), but having high status can be nice when you get free breakfast, occasional suite upgrades, and always at least a bottle of water and some snacks that go toward a cheap meal with the kids. We weren't as lucky on this trip, but did score 2 free drinks at the ocean front bar at the Crowne Plaza - a nice way to relax after the kids go to sleep.
• Most hotel credit cards give free nights every year. The Priority Club Visa gives us a free night to use anywhere in the world. So, for $49, we have stayed at a $300+/night hotel in Paris. Other than this, I don't use the card (but do make at least a transaction every few months to keep active).
• Mind those fees. Parking and resort fees can add up, especially if they are per night. In bigger cities, we don't rent cars specifically to avoid the exorbitant parking fees.


In summary, we spent 15,000 points (about $120 value) and $95, discounted to $45 if you account for the free night, on 4 nights in hotels for this trip.

Transportation

I'll admit, transportation on this trip was quite different from our usual plans. Typically we rely on public transit since car rentals add up (as do all of the parking costs) and we require larger than an economy car due to car seats. This has changed somewhat since we found the BubbleBum that allows for 3 seats across in a typical mid-size car. In addition, car rentals in Miami were dirt cheap if you avoid the big names (Hertz, Avis, etc.). We got a car for 3 days for $70 from Ace. This beat out any kind of bus or rail costs that we were looking at. We also saved in parking costs by not picking up the car until after we checked out of our first hotel, which would have charged $15 for parking. I have used this trick for single day-trip rentals as well - reserve early morning and don't keep the car overnight to avoid the parking fee. If you stay at an airport hotel, they will shuttle you to and from the rental facility, or you can look for a nearby neighborhood rental location that will sometimes be cheaper than at airports due to lower taxes and fees.

This seems like a whole lot to plan a quick trip to see a space shuttle, but it really does help us to travel to more places without requiring a business account. For me, it's kind of like my second job that rewards us with great experiences for us and our kids.

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