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In October, I flew AirTran to Florida. I had a lot of luggage and, as you know, you pay a premium on some airlines for luggage. The nice fellow at the reservation desk looked at me and said, “For an extra $9, you can fly Business Class.” It took me about a nanosecond to say yes. I was so glad I did. AirTran Business Class has these benefits:
• more legroom and more room in the seat
• first and second checked bag fees waived
• priority boarding so you’re on and off the plane first
• complimentary cocktails
My friend was flying with Air Canada around the same time. She got to the airport and asked them how much it was to upgrade to First Class. It was about $100. She was thrilled and took the seat. She said she arrived rested and comfortable.
If you try and book business or first class online or ahead of time, you will see that it usually doubles (can be as much as five times) the cost of the flight. But asking at the airport is the cheaper way. Sometimes they prefer to let those points collectors or frequent flyers get the upgrade but it never hurts to ask.
My brother was telling me that when he was travelling around doing trade shows, he would look and find a hotel/motel and walk in around 9:00-10:00 p.m. and say, “I can only pay $–” which was at least 30% lower than their regular room rate. He’d point out that that was all he could pay and he’d be gone first thing in the morning. He said that most of the time, he’d get a room at the rate he asked. It did help if it was a smaller, owner-operated place. He figured, hey, it’s late and they can get his money or have an empty room and no money.
I thought I’d put together the best of my past posts on traveling.
First was the whole idea of staycations - exploring your own neck of the woods. Plan day trips in your area. We live in a tourist area but we’ve discovered many out of the way things to do within a 45-minute drive.
You could housesit just about anywhere in the world. “If you’ve ever imagined enjoying rent-free living as a housesitter for a vacation property in the Rocky Mountains, a villa on a Caribbean island, an estate in Australia, or just about any other geographic area, you’ll want to use The Caretaker Gazette.”
Check out Priceline for deals on hotels. I’ve snagged decent 3-star hotels for $39 per night. I discuss accommodations on this post.
We have a campground and RV park and many of our seasonal campers live half the year in a warm climate and the other half here in Niagara Falls. Not a bad life. You can also work which I discuss here.
Do an online search for things to do in a city that are cheap. I did a post on Ten Frugal Things To Do in Niagara Falls.
We see a lot of people here at the campground with their bicycles and good shoes for walking. You can always explore a city by biking or walking. Cheap and good exercise.
And never forget camping!
My husband has lived in Niagara Falls for all of his 52 years. You would think he’d know the surrounding 100 miles like the back of his hand. Not so.
We decided to go exploring in a pretty close-by town when we were picking up a bookcase for the barn. He turned to me in the truck and said, “I’ve never been here.” A delightful little town not far from where we live. Vineyards on hills, little shops, curving roads, lovely homes and the best ice cream shop I’ve ever been to. She made her own ice cream. I had a cup of dark chocolate ice cream with bits of cheesecake and fresh raspberries. I was happy for a week. We heard her story of starting the shop and how she demonstrates a recipe each week for the local TV station.
Explore your area. You’ll be surprised. You don’t have to travel far. My mother used to say that one should shop locally. If people spend their money nearby, it helps your area.
I live in a tourist town - Niagara Falls, Canada. Loads of souvenir shops. Expensive. But if you go to any dollar store in town, they have lots of items that are souvenirs. For one dollar (and sometimes it’s $1.25), you can get things like mugs, balls, flags, key chains and pencils. They have the Canadian flag on them or they have a red maple leaf or some other Canadian insignia.
I expect that you could find the same sort of dollar store souvenirs in Florida, California, New York and other places.
So if you’re in a tourist town, check out the dollar stores for your souvenirs.
I was perusing The Houseit site (a subsidiary of Caretaker Gazette), and they say in their newsletter:
“If you’ve ever imagined enjoying rent-free living as a housesitter for a vacation property in the Rocky Mountains, a villa on a Caribbean island, an estate in Australia, or just about any other geographic area, you’ll want to use The Caretaker Gazette.”
Visit http://www.caretaker.org/
This is a unique site containing property caretaking and house sitting jobs around the world. Some involve taking care of the pets and mowing the lawn while the owners are away. They have a fabulous blog.
So maybe this is for you. Put your stuff into storage and travel the world and housesit.
1. Go straight to your thermostat and turn it down a few degrees. “The rule of thumb is that you can save about 3% on your heating bill for every degree that you set back your thermostat full time,” says Bill Prindle, deputy director for the nonprofit American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.
2. Make a coffee to take with you rather than stopping for one on the way to work. Everybody should own a thermos.
3. Go online and get a few quotes for your car insurance and compare to what you are paying.
4. Drive more slowly and avoid speeding, rapid acceleration and unnecessary braking. It can lower your gas mileage by 33 percent at highway speeds and by 5 percent around town.
5. Plan your driving trips so that you’re driving fewer miles over the course of the day.
6. Turn down the temperature on your water heater slightly. Do not lower it less than 120°F or 49°C and only if you can see the thermostat easily. A lower setting can lead to the growth of the bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ disease. For every 10ºF you turn down on your water heater, you save 3%-5% in energy costs.
7. Eat a hearty breakfast, and a good midday snack. That way if you do go out for lunch you’ll need to eat less (unless you brown bag it and you’ll really save money).
8. Turn lights off when you leave a room. According to British Columbia Hydro, if every household in B.C. (pop. 4,113,487) turned off a 100-watt incandescent light for four hours each day, each bulb could save 3.3 cents a day. It would also save the province 227 GWh, which could power Whistler (pop. 33,000) for 12 years.
9. Unplug unused electronics. (See those little lights on them? That means they are using electricity). According to PC World, you can save hundreds of dollars a year.
10. Look for possible alternatives to the regular phone company. There are plenty of different choices out there (Internet phones like your cable company offers, Vonage, Magic Jack, Talkster, or Skype.
11. I know we said 10. A bonus. Call your credit card and ask for a lower interest rate. Winnipeg 2008 – the CBC approached ten people and six were promised a lower rate by identifying themselves and simply following the script: “I think I’ve been a good customer. I’d like to stay with you, but I really want you to lower the rate on my card. Can you help me?” Worth a try.
When you are traveling, instead of going to an Internet café, drop by the local library. Most have Internet access. I have found that if you are visiting locally, they ask for your hotel or visiting address. Usually, you get one hour of use and it’s free.
Don’t forget that most libraries have magazines for sale for a song. I recently bought four Martha Stewart magazines for one dollar. They also have lots of specialty magazines for traveling, golf, renovation, crafts and decorating. They often have CDs and DVDs for sale as well.
Many have children’s reading and craft programs. When my sister-in-law had three young children, this was the highlight of her week.
I live at a campground. Campark Resorts. We have people who come here from May 1st until October 31st and then disappear in the winter to places like Arizona, Florida, Texas and other southern states. Some even go to Portugal and Spain for the winter.
Obviously, you have the cost of the trailer which can range from $20,000 for a basic model to a $700,000 state-of-the-art “Oprah” bus complete with fireplace, convection oven and luxury features. You’ll need a truck or fifth wheel to pull a trailer.
The cost varies at different RV parks. It can be less if you pay for the season in full. Prices can depend on the services available at the park you choose. Many have fun activities such as themed weekends, karaoke, swimming, hot tub, volleyball, basketball, hay wagon rides and more.
Other costs would include your gas to take you somewhere in the winter with your trailer. Some luxury RV parks in the US can be as much as $6000 for the season (six months). Many cost less. You have to factor in your utilities and travel insurance while you are away.
In the southern states, there are work-camper programs where you can work at the RV park to offset the cost of your lot fees.
Do your research.
Pros?
A mobile lifestyle where you have the things you need with you
Travel North America
No home upkeep except maintaining your trailer
Depending on the RV park, you have built-in entertainment
The kids can’t live with you anymore
Cons?
Gas prices
Smaller space to live (for some, this is a pro)
Your neighbors can be close
Reader Email: Can you travel and not have to pay an arm and a leg?
I’ll start with accommodations.
When I worked for a marketing company, we would have to book hotels for our employees who were attending trade shows. I discovered Priceline.com.
You bid on a room in a zone in a city. Let’s say it’s Dayton, Ohio. You pick the area of the city, the number of stars for the hotel and bid a price. Go low. You will probably be rejected but you creep up with your price and there will be some point where the price will be accepted and you’ll get a room. The name of the hotel and the location will be revealed to you at the end. You do have to submit a credit card before this point and you are committed to following through.
By bidding on Priceline, I’ve gotten rooms for $79/night at 4-star hotels. But when you called the hotel directly, they quoted a price of $189/night. Savings were always significant.
As long as you’re not too particular about where you stay in that part of the city, you can score some good deals. I have called the hotel after booking and made further requests for small fridges, cots and whatnot. Depends on the hotel as to whether you get it. Most of the time, they allowed the request.
Another great site is ratestogo.com
I did a search for hotels here in the Niagara Falls area and you can get rooms at the Great Wolf lodge for less than half of their going rate. The advantage of Rates to Go is that you know the hotel you’ll be staying at before you pay.
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