Tips for cheap travel abroad

[BehindBlueI's]

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.

As to #6, as long as it's a country I plan to return to again, I don't change currency back. I just stick it in the gun safe for the next trip. Given how many countries are on the Euro, I'll probably die with a couple hundred Euros in the safe for the next trip that didn't happen.

The US dollar thing is, to my understanding, a theory that was mostly invented well afterward and popularized by Ayn Rand. Contemporary documents show it's a combination of "P" and "S", for Spanish Peso which was widely used as a universal currency before we had our own currency. It appeared on receipts in both colonies that would become the US and trade ports in Europe like Portugal before the "United States" was a thing.

 

[Nevermore]

Great tips, I must admit I've never really looked into travel outside of the country owing to limited means but this is getting me thinking...

Honestly shocked that we're on page 3 and no one has suggested that the cheapest form of travel abroad is doing so on Uncle Sam's dime in the military. Plus, sometimes you get special access to attractions and food that even the locals don't get!

 

[snorko]

As to #6, as long as it's a country I plan to return to again, I don't change currency back. I just stick it in the gun safe for the next trip. Given how many countries are on the Euro, I'll probably die with a couple hundred Euros in the safe for the next trip that didn't happen.

No, you stack the variety of currencies in a small pouch along with your passport, a knife and flashlight, maybe a couple gold coins. I call it the Jason Bourne pouch.

 

[teddy12b]

Honestly shocked that we're on page 3 and no one has suggested that the cheapest form of travel abroad is doing so on Uncle Sam's dime in the military. Plus, sometimes you get special access to attractions and food that even the locals don't get!

Been there and done that. I get why nobody is chiming in recommending that.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

I booked tickets to Hawaii this week, 3 round trip tickets for $33.60 in cash and the rest in miles. That about taps me for miles accumulated, but that's what they are there for. It's *generally* a bad idea to horde miles as they tend to go down in value long term and AA has announced they are going to a more dynamic pricing (which means miles become more of a fixed exchange rate to dollars) this March.

I've detailed the many ways I accumulate miles at no cost to myself, other than some time. Surveys for airline miles, co-branded credit card, and using shopping portals for purchases I would make anyway being the main ones. With my Platinum status getting me free upgrades I got exit row economy plus seats for every leg but one and that one we couldn't sit together unless I took a preferred (one step down) instead. Outbound trip is a little wonky with 2 connections, but return flight is just one connection with a reasonable 2 hour layover.

AirBnB was $1100 for the week. Rental Jeep Wrangler was $800. I could have done an economy car for $250 less and gotten a free upgrade to a mid-size, but we wanted the Jeep.

Veterans get in National Parks for free, and there's not a lot of paid attractions we intend to do. We'll take some limited groceries in our luggage and cook some meals at the AirBnb.

We'll likely be able to do the entire trip for under $3k this way, and that includes gas and food that we would have still bought some of if we'd stayed home.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

AA was advertising this card hard on their flights: https://cards.barclaycardus.com/banking/cards/aadvantage-aviator-red-world-elite-mastercard/ Barclay is a huge British bank.

60k miles bonus on your first purchase of any amount, no annual fee for the first year. 500 bonus miles if you apply with a code from the flight. So, essentially you're getting 60k miles for the bother of applying and it's free as long as you cancel it before your 1 year anniversary.

60k miles is enough for 4 round trip tickets IND to Miami in the off season, so it's a fairly significant bonus. There does not appear to be a limit per household, so my wife and I applied separately. Oddly, I got a credit limit that is roughly 3x what American banks tend to give me. I could buy a pretty decent vehicle on my card.

I will cancel my Citi card before my next anniversary and use the Barclay card for now. Citi resets bonuses after 2 years, IIRC, so it's worth it to let it lapse and then pick it up again after a few years. Note this churn may affect your credit score, but only a few points that quickly recover unless you're on the bubble anyway.

 

[wcd]

AA was advertising this card hard on their flights: https://cards.barclaycardus.com/banking/cards/aadvantage-aviator-red-world-elite-mastercard/ Barclay is a huge British bank.

60k miles bonus on your first purchase of any amount, no annual fee for the first year. 500 bonus miles if you apply with a code from the flight. So, essentially you're getting 60k miles for the bother of applying and it's free as long as you cancel it before your 1 year anniversary.

60k miles is enough for 4 round trip tickets IND to Miami in the off season, so it's a fairly significant bonus. There does not appear to be a limit per household, so my wife and I applied separately. Oddly, I got a credit limit that is roughly 3x what American banks tend to give me. I could buy a pretty decent vehicle on my card.

I will cancel my Citi card before my next anniversary and use the Barclay card for now. Citi resets bonuses after 2 years, IIRC, so it's worth it to let it lapse and then pick it up again after a few years. Note this churn may affect your credit score, but only a few points that quickly recover unless you're on the bubble anyway.

WOW THANK YOU! who would have thought.

We are missing our son and this is going to really help with travel cost.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Double dipping opportunity if you have the Capital One Venture X and will use the AAdvantage shopping portal:

Activate the $60 credit offer on Capital One for a Motley Fool subscription, use their link to take you to the Motley Fool website. Click on the browser addon for AA portal. Buy the cheapest one year subscription, which is $79.

End result should be $19 for 6200 miles. That's nearly enough for a one way flight to Miami, etc. I'll monitor to make sure I get my CC credit, but already got the notice for the miles.

Set a reminder in your calendar to cancel in 11 months, 2 weeks, if you don't want to resubscribe automatically. Do not fall for the upsell, which is $200. Pay attention to what option you select.


****
If you're a veteran or first responder, you can sign up for USA Today for $1 for 3 months, renewing at $5/month in month 4. AA portal will give you 550 miles to sign up. Cancel at 2 month 2 week mark, $1 for 550 miles. Non-vets/first responders can do the same but will cost $3 as it's $1 a month for the first 3 months last I checked.

****

If you are a vet or first responder and like Merrell shoes/boots, buying directly from Merrell gives you a roughly 30% discount depending on the model. AA portal gives a variable rate on miles, but if you wait you can usually get 3 miles per dollar spent. I bought my wife and I hiking shoes, got both pairs for $20 more than REI wanted for one pair, and got my miles. Note you need to know what size you wear, $5 return cost but free exchanges.


Good news is these all count toward loyalty points as well, meaning you can get those sweet frequent flier upgrades like choosing better seats, not paying for checked bags, priority luggage handling, priority check-in, etc. even if it's your first flight.

So far this month, I've accumulated 10,478 loyalty points and 70,978 miles (the bonus from the Barclay's card hit, but bonus miles don't count for loyalty, as in you can use them to buy flights but they don't raise your status). That's without the Motley Fool bump, which I just did and hasn't hit yet. Total cash outlay on things I wasn't already going to buy anyway (gas, the boots, etc) is the $1 for USA Today. It does take time, but this is what I do with the time I used to screw around on forums, I don't watch much TV, etc. Bad weather and can't play outside? Miles plucking time...

 

[BehindBlueI's]

60k miles is enough for 4 round trip tickets IND to Miami in the off season, so it's a fairly significant bonus. There does not appear to be a limit per household, so my wife and I applied separately.

We did both get our miles after our first statement. We also got the 500 bonus for applying with the code from getting the brochure on a flight.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

6200 miles. That's nearly enough for a one way flight to Miami, etc.

6200 miles to Miami? From where? Somewhere in Europe?

 

[BehindBlueI's]

6200 miles to Miami? From where? Somewhere in Europe?

Miles as in the reward currency for airlines, not miles as in actual distance traveled. They don't correlate. You would need to redeem about 15k miles to fly roundtrip from IND to MIA off peak times but maybe 50k+ during peak travel times. 70k will go to Australia in the offseason, with a $110 fuel surcharge.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Domestic travel bargain using miles and status. My wife and I are visiting Yellowstone Nat'l Park this fall. Capitalonetravel had a $75 off travel offer for flights in to Montana as long as you booked by 08/30. Plus you get 5 miles per dollar spent on flights through their portal. That brought the price of two American Airlines tickets down to $639.80 in total, selecting the cheapest basic economy (plus 3200 miles, which has a minimum value of $32).

Then using my "Platinum" status I added my frequent flier info to my tickets on AA's site which let me upgrade to Economy + for free for both of us. This let me select exit row seats for every leg for free, plus free drinks (beer/wine). I purposefully selected a layover in DFW, which has a Capital One lounge, which I can get in for free with the Venture X card. It's supposed to be a pretty swanky lounge for the US, free food both eat in and take away, free drinks, and a nice assortment of amenities. Since I'm taking a gun, I'll have to check a bag, which I can do for free and get priority handling with the "Platinum".

Rental car: Budget wasn't bad. Using Venture X for the free car insurance and I will use Capital One miles to refund the price. (Semi-scam alert: If you use miles to book you get a 1:1 ratio of miles to dollar. Instead, book using the credit card to pay, which gets you 10 miles per dollar. Then use miles to pay for a "travel credit" on your statement. You still get the 10x bonus miles and you still pay $0 vs getting no miles and paying $0, effectively netting you a 10% discount.

Less of a bargain: Lodging is pricey AF in and around Yellowstone. Shoulder season is much more reasonable than summer prices, but still not what I'd call a "bargain" by any means. I'll be booking some of the outside the park hotels through American Airlines' portal, which will net me 1800 miles or so per night and is cheaper than booking direct or through Expedia in most cases. This helps keep my status up since I don't fly enough to keep it high just by flying. I shouldn't have any issue maintaining Platinum for next year.

 

[chipbennett]

Lodging is pricey everywhere right now. Hotel inflation seems to be worse even than airline inflation - and it's shrinkflation, too, since they have raised prices 30-50% (or more), and have reduced services (less-frequent housekeeping, lounges still closed, etc.).

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Deal alert (IMO)

American Airlines is running an unannounced sale on miles redemptions to a *bunch* of European destinations in early 2024, looks like January through the end of April. IND is one of the origin airports. Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon, London, and Paris are all pretty cheap. Some are apparently sub-30k. We are booking tickets in April to Lisbon for 42k +$70 each. Keep in mind you can get 40k-60k miles for signing up with various credit cards and hitting a spending limit of between $1 and $3k over 3 months, depending on which.

 

[BugI02]

Domestic travel bargain using miles and status. My wife and I are visiting Yellowstone Nat'l Park this fall. Capitalonetravel had a $75 off travel offer for flights in to Montana as long as you booked by 08/30. Plus you get 5 miles per dollar spent on flights through their portal. That brought the price of two American Airlines tickets down to $639.80 in total, selecting the cheapest basic economy (plus 3200 miles, which has a minimum value of $32).

Then using my "Platinum" status I added my frequent flier info to my tickets on AA's site which let me upgrade to Economy + for free for both of us. This let me select exit row seats for every leg for free, plus free drinks (beer/wine). I purposefully selected a layover in DFW, which has a Capital One lounge, which I can get in for free with the Venture X card. It's supposed to be a pretty swanky lounge for the US, free food both eat in and take away, free drinks, and a nice assortment of amenities. Since I'm taking a gun, I'll have to check a bag, which I can do for free and get priority handling with the "Platinum".

Rental car: Budget wasn't bad. Using Venture X for the free car insurance and I will use Capital One miles to refund the price. (Semi-scam alert: If you use miles to book you get a 1:1 ratio of miles to dollar. Instead, book using the credit card to pay, which gets you 10 miles per dollar. Then use miles to pay for a "travel credit" on your statement. You still get the 10x bonus miles and you still pay $0 vs getting no miles and paying $0, effectively netting you a 10% discount.

Less of a bargain: Lodging is pricey AF in and around Yellowstone. Shoulder season is much more reasonable than summer prices, but still not what I'd call a "bargain" by any means. I'll be booking some of the outside the park hotels through American Airlines' portal, which will net me 1800 miles or so per night and is cheaper than booking direct or through Expedia in most cases. This helps keep my status up since I don't fly enough to keep it high just by flying. I shouldn't have any issue maintaining Platinum for next year.

Stay in Jackson, WY (not to be confused with Jackson Hole). A good selection of 3 star properties and numerous restaurants and gastropubs within a two block walk. Its about 55 miles to the park, which is cool because you mentioned having a rental car and most of that trip is through Grand Teton NP which is gorgeous

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Stay in Jackson, WY (not to be confused with Jackson Hole). A good selection of 3 star properties and numerous restaurants and gastropubs within a two block walk. Its about 55 miles to the park, which is cool because you mentioned having a rental car and most of that trip is through Grand Teton NP which is gorgeous

We'll take a look at it, we're staying in different areas each night. Jenny Lake Lodge on our anniversary!

 

[BugI02]

We'll take a look at it, we're staying in different areas each night. Jenny Lake Lodge on our anniversary!

Sweet!

If your in and out of that area, Signal Mountain Lodge and Grand Teton Lodge at Willow Flats are good places to grab a meal, too. I like Grand Teton @ Willow Flats a little bit better but it can get busy with tour buses stopping there too

If you stay in Jackson at all, Local on Jackson Square is very good as is Snake River Brewing's brewpub on Millward

 

[BugI02]

A couple more things, if I may

If you're flying in to Jackson Hole airport (JAC) the rental companies often rent more cars than they actually have. I think it is due to customers having the means and flexibility to extend their vacation by a day or two on the spur of the moment and the rental agencies don't get cars coming in when they expected

And on my recent trip out west, I had a Hyundai Ioniq 6 for a rental as an upgrade and it was an excellent car that easily handled 2 + gear. It is a hybrid that was surprisingly easy to live with. It had a capable suspension and could be driven quite hard on twisty roads because it didn't come with skinny little low friction tires. Driven hard it turned in 46 to 50 mpg in mountains, driving usually between the 3000 ft and 7000+ foot levels mostly with quite a bit of up and down, and 64 to 70 mpg on the freeway for any run more than a few miles. I would jump at the chance to have one again. It was Avis that had them

 

[BehindBlueI's]

A couple more things, if I may

If you're flying in to Jackson Hole airport (JAC) the rental companies often rent more cars than they actually have. I think it is due to customers having the means and flexibility to extend their vacation by a day or two on the spur of the moment and the rental agencies don't get cars coming in when they expected

And on my recent trip out west, I had a Hyundai Ioniq 6 for a rental as an upgrade and it was an excellent car that easily handled 2 + gear. It is a hybrid that was surprisingly easy to live with. It had a capable suspension and could be driven quite hard on twisty roads because it didn't come with skinny little low friction tires. Driven hard it turned in 46 to 50 mpg in mountains, driving usually between the 3000 ft and 7000+ foot levels mostly with quite a bit of up and down, and 64 to 70 mpg on the freeway for any run more than a few miles. I would jump at the chance to have one again. It was Avis that had them

We're flying in to Bozeman. I don't know why but I read "capable suspension" as "cable suspension" multiple times and was trying to figure out WTF a cable suspension was.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Double dipping opportunity if you have the Capital One Venture X and will use the AAdvantage shopping portal:

Activate the $60 credit offer on Capital One for a Motley Fool subscription, use their link to take you to the Motley Fool website. Click on the browser addon for AA portal. Buy the cheapest one year subscription, which is $79.

End result should be $19 for 6200 miles. That's nearly enough for a one way flight to Miami, etc. I'll monitor to make sure I get my CC credit, but already got the notice for the miles.

This worked. My miles finally hit, back dated to the purchase date. The CC credit hit on the statement after the purchase. The 6200 miles bump put me over 44k loyalty points accrued toward 2024's status. It takes 40k for "Gold" and 75k for "Platinum" (the status year runs March 1-March 1, I have Platinum until March 1, 2024 regardless) and I'll hit platinum again with no issue. 125k for Platinum Pro, which I probably won't hit.