Tips for cheap travel abroad

[chipbennett]

Basic economy sucks, and sucks more on budget airlines. British Airways is worse than Royal Jordanian. Premium economy is more than the old economy, in that the seats are closer to 1st class seats in terms of space and adjustability, you often get a different meal, etc. I'm playing roulette this time and hoping to upgrade last minute, at least on the flight back. I hate flying cattle car, but will tolerate it for shorter flights. Once you're hitting 10 hours+ I'll spring for the upgrade. Sometimes I get complimentary exit row seats then I'll just stay in coach.

Traveling without bags is best if you can. It really speeds things up when you don't have to wait for the luggage to come out at baggage claim. Plus you can still sight see until your hotel is ready if you get there early and just have a backpack vs a suitcase.

Correct. Delta refers to these as "Basic Economy", "Economy"/"Main Cabin", and "Comfort+". These are all in the main cabin, with a separate cabin for First Class. On planes with a Business Class cabin, Business Class replaces First Class, and a third cabin, "Premium Select", is added between Business Class and the Main Cabin.

(Note: Delta Premium Select is not much of an upgrade from Comfort+, even on long-haul international flights. A tiny bit more pitch (leg room), the seat reclines a tad bit more, and you get a leg/foot rest, that doesn't really do anything if you're my height (6'2). The food service is exactly the same as Main Cabin.)

 

[JettaKnight]

Google flights as mentioned above, which lets you just pick a home city and then you see all the destinations. Expedia and use "flexible dates". Search individual airlines and flexible dates. Many will show you a grid of prices for at least a week. I use Excel and keep track of who's offering what until I pull the trigger. It's work, but like reloading I find it relatively enjoyable and something I can do instead of wasting time with TV or video games or whatever (I do waste some time there, as well, mind you, just not much)

How dare you call video gaming "wasting time"!

Branded credit cards are worth it, even if you drop them later. I picked up the Citi AAdvantage card again, got another $200 off, free checked bags, etc. I hit "Gold" FF status this year without taking a single AA flight prior to hitting it. I get miles from my CC, miles for taking surveys, miles for keeping money in Bask Bank (1.2 miles per $1 annually, but those are considered bonus miles and do not count toward FF status like the others). My wife is going to apply for one as well and she'll get the bonus miles and discount, too. I'll drop mine next time the annual fee is do if they don't credit it for me and then get it again in the future once I'm eligible for bonuses again. I'm currently looking for a good hotel or general rewards card that pays for global entry, since it's time to pay for 3 accounts of that and I only have one card that pays it back at the moment.

If I traveled more than twice a year, I'd go for it, or the higher level Sapphire that does Global Entry, but right now we travel to Europe about every 18 months, and maybe a couple domestic flights in that time span; I hate flying.

Anything that gives you status with a hotel or rental car company can often be tied back to your FF account as well. I get bonus miles for renting from Hertz, and 10% of my rental back as an Amazon gift card. We rented a Wrangler for an upcoming trip to California where I intend to do some softroading tourism and I'll get both. Be brand loyal when there's no downside, but be prepared to jump ship if someone has a better deal. We rented from a European brand in Spain last time, Hertz was way more expensive even with the bonuses.

I've had good luck with Sixt in Europe. Bottom tier companies aren't worth the risk. My time, my happiness > money.

 

[JettaKnight]

Basic economy sucks, and sucks more on budget airlines. British Airways is worse than Royal Jordanian. Premium economy is more than the old economy, in that the seats are closer to 1st class seats in terms of space and adjustability, you often get a different meal, etc. I'm playing roulette this time and hoping to upgrade last minute, at least on the flight back. I hate flying cattle car, but will tolerate it for shorter flights. Once you're hitting 10 hours+ I'll spring for the upgrade. Sometimes I get complimentary exit row seats then I'll just stay in coach.

Traveling without bags is best if you can. It really speeds things up when you don't have to wait for the luggage to come out at baggage claim. Plus you can still sight see until your hotel is ready if you get there early and just have a backpack vs a suitcase.

So the old economy class still exist, and they added a sort of half steps up and down, right?

Traveling without bags is best if you can. It really speeds things up when you don't have to wait for the luggage to come out at baggage claim. Plus you can still sight see until your hotel is ready if you get there early and just have a backpack vs a suitcase.

I see you've never met my wife.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

How dare you call video gaming "wasting time"!


If I traveled more than twice a year, I'd go for it, or the higher level Sapphire that does Global Entry, but right now we travel to Europe about every 18 months, and maybe a couple domestic flights in that time span; I hate flying.


I've had good luck with Sixt in Europe. Bottom tier companies aren't worth the risk. My time, my happiness > money.

Centauro is who we used in Spain. The only issue we had was the 'pre-identify yourself' option was busted on their website and app. If it was working, you could upload your ID, then go to a vending machine to get a facial recognition thing done. The machine then spits out your key and you don't have to interact with a person at all. The machine was there, but the software was down on their app so we had to briefly wait in line to get our car.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

So the old economy class still exist, and they added a sort of half steps up and down, right?

I see you've never met my wife.

Kinda, and it depends on the airline. Like Southwest still has free bags even for coach/economy, but most others don't. Some have free bags for international travel but not domestic. Seats have gotten more crowded on many airlines to cram more revenue into each plane, and since people have gotten fatter it's sometimes problematic. Since we have 3 travelers we just get our own row and not deal with it. Solo I try to grab an exit row for sure.

My wife has rapidly adjusted to traveling lighter after walking with bags for awhile. Took her 2 trips, but she also finally adjusted to comfortable shoes over cute shoes. Learning eventually occurs.

 

[JettaKnight]

Dammit.

This thread has me now looking at how we can get back to German Christmas markets this year. It'd be nice to go and not have to wear a mask and show our papers.

 

[chipbennett]

If anyone is looking to book air travel, flights are really cheap right now. I just booked a flight to Dublin (for work) for under $1,000.

 

[teddy12b]

Here's my travel tips.

I went to Alaska in '18 & '21.

'18 Trip: Flight from Kayak.com. Car from the same. The flight was just shy of $700, and the shared car rental was about $250 per person. We were there for a week and we picked up a few hotels after backpacking a few nights. Shockingly had great cell phone reception and finding hotels without reservation was as simple as it gets. Total travel costs around $1,000.

'21 Trip: Flight from kayak.com was about $325 each this time. Car rentals at the airport more than made up for any flight savings and I found an app called "Turo" where you can rent someone locals car. We went from over $300 per day car rental at the airport to under $100 per day and all we wanted was 4 wheels and an engine.

How I find cheap flights:
Start with having either knowing where you want to go, or where you want to leave from. This website shows you all the direct flights. I have no desire for connecting flights if I can't avoid them.

✈ FlightConnections - All flights worldwide on a flight map!

Direct flights from more than 900 airlines on an interactive flight map. Search, find and compare any flight path or airline route with our flight maps!

www.flightconnections.com

For example, click on Anchorage, then see what options you have for a direct shot. Then you can look at the pricing of flights and the timing of them. For another example, if you take a direct flight at the end of Aug early Sept from Chicago to Anchorage you'll save a pile of $$.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

This applies to any air travel, but illustrates the value of travel credit cards and collecting airline miles for non-air travel purchases. Over the past 18 months or so I accumulated enough miles to fly my MIL round trip from LAX to IND and still have enough for 3 round trip tickets to Honolulu from IND, assuming off season travel. I can now fly my family round trip to Hawaii for $33.60 in cash ($11.20 in taxes per ticket) and miles. I didn't "buy" miles for cash at any point. I accumulated miles using:

American Airlines co-branded card, sign on bonus and routine spending accumulation
AA eshopping portal (I recently ordered a replacement chef's pan from Oxo, for example, and going through the portal gave me 6 miles per dollar spent bonus vs not, and I was buying it anyway)
Milesforopinions.com, a service where you take surveys in exchange for AA miles.
Actually flying

I've also gotten Gold frequent flier status and will have Platinum shortly despite not flying nearly enough to gain that status through flights alone. Platinum is actually pretty helpful, giving you (among other things):

• Better chance at free upgrades to premium economy or first class from economy
• Status match with multiple international carriers via OneWorld
• Priority check-in, boarding, and screening (which Gold already does)
• Free seat selection, including "Preferred and "Main Cabin Extra" seats that normally have additional costs up to $100 or so due to being nicer

I've also got nearly 100k miles with capitalone travel, enough to transfer to Iberian or British for one round trip ticket to most European destinations, entirely through sign on bonuses, spending, and using their portal to book flights, hotels and/or rental cars. Be careful using the portal, though, and compare vs expedia, etc. Sometimes the portal is cheaper, sometimes the same, sometimes more expensive. Booking my flight to Portugal was cheaper through capitalonetravel.com than it was direct from TAP by about $100 a ticket. Booking hotels, some were much more expensive through through the portal so I didn't use it, but if it was same or cheaper I did.

If you want to travel more, are someone who uses a credit card for routine purchases but does not carry a balance from month to month, and are willing to do some research, you can save significant amounts of money by using the right credit card for the right purchases (this one for gas, this one for groceries, this one for airfare, etc. based on bonus categories for each card).

I was very resistant to getting the CapitalOne card because of their use of Samuel Jackson as a spokesman for so long, but I got over it and it's been really beneficial to us.

 

[WebSnyper]

This applies to any air travel, but illustrates the value of travel credit cards and collecting airline miles for non-air travel purchases. Over the past 18 months or so I accumulated enough miles to fly my MIL round trip from LAX to IND and still have enough for 3 round trip tickets to Honolulu from IND, assuming off season travel. I can now fly my family round trip to Hawaii for $33.60 in cash ($11.20 in taxes per ticket) and miles. I didn't "buy" miles for cash at any point. I accumulated miles using:

American Airlines co-branded card, sign on bonus and routine spending accumulation
AA eshopping portal (I recently ordered a replacement chef's pan from Oxo, for example, and going through the portal gave me 6 miles per dollar spent bonus vs not, and I was buying it anyway)
Milesforopinions.com, a service where you take surveys in exchange for AA miles.
Actually flying

I've also gotten Gold frequent flier status and will have Platinum shortly despite not flying nearly enough to gain that status through flights alone. Platinum is actually pretty helpful, giving you (among other things):

• Better chance at free upgrades to premium economy or first class from economy
• Status match with multiple international carriers via OneWorld
• Priority check-in, boarding, and screening (which Gold already does)
• Free seat selection, including "Preferred and "Main Cabin Extra" seats that normally have additional costs up to $100 or so due to being nicer

I've also got nearly 100k miles with capitalone travel, enough to transfer to Iberian or British for one round trip ticket to most European destinations, entirely through sign on bonuses, spending, and using their portal to book flights, hotels and/or rental cars. Be careful using the portal, though, and compare vs expedia, etc. Sometimes the portal is cheaper, sometimes the same, sometimes more expensive. Booking my flight to Portugal was cheaper through capitalonetravel.com than it was direct from TAP by about $100 a ticket. Booking hotels, some were much more expensive through through the portal so I didn't use it, but if it was same or cheaper I did.

If you want to travel more, are someone who uses a credit card for routine purchases but does not carry a balance from month to month, and are willing to do some research, you can save significant amounts of money by using the right credit card for the right purchases (this one for gas, this one for groceries, this one for airfare, etc. based on bonus categories for each card).

I was very resistant to getting the CapitalOne card because of their use of Samuel Jackson as a spokesman for so long, but I got over it and it's been really beneficial to us.

 

[JettaKnight]

Yeah, I got my Chase Sapphire last year because it's not tired to any one brand - points can be used for any travel. It can with 100,000 points.

Travel cards also have no foreign fees, better car rental coverages, and some travel delay coverage.

 

[Leadeye]

As interesting as world travel sounds I think I'll remain here, but I do enjoy looking at all the pictures from places around the world. Pictures like those from locals, Sylvain falls into that category, are great as well.

 

[foszoe]

As interesting as world travel sounds I think I'll remain here, but I do enjoy looking at all the pictures from places around the world. Pictures like those from locals, Sylvain falls into that category, are great as well.

You can't save more money on travel than not travelling!

I did the travel mile thing for a long time....I even had contractors that were willing to be paid with home depot gift cards way back when I was getting 2-5 miles per dollar on special purchases and I bought all the stuff for a new roof among other things.....I have several hundred thousand Delta Miles. Plan to use them when I retire. By then I should have over a million miles.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

As interesting as world travel sounds I think I'll remain here, but I do enjoy looking at all the pictures from places around the world. Pictures like those from locals, Sylvain falls into that category, are great as well.

Don't do it once if you don't want to do it repeatedly. That first trip is a gateway drug. I never had much interest in travel beyond some vague "maybe Ireland some day" sort of plans until I went to work abroad and started seeing more countries and cultures.

 

[Leadeye]

I've worked south of the border and spent a fair amount of time in the homes of locals after work, if anything it taught me that most of the people I met have the same concerns about family and aspirations that I do.

Food is sort of a universal language, they seemed astounded at first that an American would cook for them, but they fed me in their homes so I returned the favor.

 

[EyeCarry]

No, I'm retiring to be a traveler. Not today, mind you, but soon and for the rest of my life.

I just see a lot of folks who ask me "how do you afford to..." and the answer is finding deals and not wasting money on things I don't care about. We almost never eat out when we aren't on a trip. I don't have many recurring fees/subscriptions. I buy vehicles I like then keep them for a long time. We well underbought on our house. Etc. We went to Italy by saving $150/mo for 18 months back in 2007, and I guarantee there are people who'd love to go to Italy but "can't afford it" who pay that in cable bills and fast foot every month. Some people would rather have cable, and I get that and it's ok, but I hope posts like these show how accessible travel actually is if you're willing to put in the work. We did all of these trips on one salary (mine) and without accruing debt, even if we had to wait 2 years between trips.

As my salary has went up, we've accelerated our tempo and are taking more trips, but the premise is the same.

.
Lots to read here in this thread.

 

[teddy12b]

One of my favorite travel tips I use fairly regularly is I'll get on google maps and use the street view or pull up picture of a certain area. Most times it's a place I've been or will be going to, but other times it's just something out of pure curiosity. For example, I don't have any plans in the future to visit the holy land, although I'd sure like to "some day". Pull up the street view and take a look at it. Rome, Iceland, Austrailia etc pull up the street view and look at it. Whatever place you can think of, pull up the street view and look at it. Of course it won't do it justice, but it'll give an idea that's not photoshopped. When I pick a route for long road trip, and there's two routes that have a similar time I pick the one with a better road and view. Check out the street view of places, and you may find yourself getting a better feel for it.

 

[chipbennett]

Yeah, I got my Chase Sapphire last year because it's not tired to any one brand - points can be used for any travel. It can with 100,000 points.

Travel cards also have no foreign fees, better car rental coverages, and some travel delay coverage.

Yep. I just recently upgraded my Chase Freedom to Chase Sapphire Preferred. It's a good all-around card. If it's your only travel card, it's likely worth the annual fee to bump up to the Reserve card. But, I've got airline (AmEx Delta) and hotel (Chase Marriott) co-branded cards, plus a travel card from my primary bank, plus the AmEx Platinum (which I use almost exclusively for international travel expenses). I don't need yet another high-annual fee travel card! The ones I have, when used to their full potential, pretty much pay for themselves. But, it becomes a juggling act to maximize the incentives (travel statement credits, etc.).

To BBI's point, it's worth it to do some pre-planning to leverage CC spend and other actions/purchases for travel purposes. I put all my flights on Delta AmEx, all my hotel stays on my Marriott card, etc. I haven't had to pay out of pocket for family air travel or hotel stays in almost a decade. (Most of my other CC points, I save up and use for Christmas.)

 

[chipbennett]

You can't save more money on travel than not travelling!

I did the travel mile thing for a long time....I even had contractors that were willing to be paid with home depot gift cards way back when I was getting 2-5 miles per dollar on special purchases and I bought all the stuff for a new roof among other things.....I have several hundred thousand Delta Miles. Plan to use them when I retire. By then I should have over a million miles.

Just one caveat there (well, two, really - the second one being: beware of rewards programs that expire points/miles after a period of non-activity; Delta miles never expire, but others might): any rewards program points devalue over time. So, the longer you wait to use them, the less they're worth.

 

[BJHay]

We travel a fair amount and usually leave the country twice a year or so. You hit a lot of good points.

1. Get a ride to/from airport if at all possible. Indy economy parking is $9/day and it adds up (mentioned upthread).
2. Watch the rental car deals during the runup to your departure. They can fluctuate wildly. We've seen them go from $200 to $1000 and back for the same week.
3. Always sign up for the airlines frequent flyers clubs and try to stick to one if you can. We fly Delta.
4. Air BNB has some great prices. We usually get a very small place in a very good location. We rarely stay in a traditional hotel.
5. Some credit cards have very high exchange rates when used overseas. Check out your companies terms before you leave.
6. Plan your cash usage so you bring home the minimal amount of non-US currency to change back to USD.

Speaking of US dollars here is my fun fact: The $ is the only currency symbol based on the name of the country. It was designed as a 'U' with the bottom cut off and and an 'S' superimposed over it. United States.