Courtney FossPeople who know I like to travel have sometimes asked me what the best way to find deals is. Personally, I like to travel as cheaply as possible so that I can enjoy more things once I am at my destination. From booking flights to finding hotels, I probably spend some time every single day looking at travel options. I have broken down a few of my thoughts about travel and accomodations which will hopefully be helpful!
Flights
I usually monitor my flights every so often tosee if the price has dropped from when I booked it. I know that might be crazy, but I find it fun to look at sites and see if I can get an even better deal. And often times, I can!
I primarily fly Southwest – one of the main reasons being its no change fees (well, and their free bag policy). When booking directly on Southwest’s website, you can change your flight for no fee – though you will have to pay the difference if you book a more expensive flight. This means that if you decide to go somewhere else, that’s no problem – just rebook the new flight. This also means that if you see the price of the flight has dropped since you booked yours, you can go in and “change” the flight by re-booking what you currently have. The lower price will be reflected and the difference will be put into your travel fund category on your account to be used at a later date. You can save yourself some good money with just about a minute of work there. I do this for every single flight. I don’t always monitor this daily, but every few days as I’m thinking about where I want to go next, I will do a sanity check of my current flights and adjust if I see anything!
If you decide to cancel, most times you can’t get your money back, but the money will be put into a travel fund that you can use until a certain expiration date. I would completely recommend signing up for the loyalty program Southwest offers because if we’re being honest, most people will want or need to fly on occasion.
Southwest Rapid Rewards Program
- It costs nothing to sign up for the program.
- If you book with your rewards number, you will earn points after you complete your travel. It’s basically like free money that you’re able to eventually use toward a future flight.
- Once you accumulate enough points, you are able to book a flight using those points plus a fee of just $5.60 each way. So after you travel enough, you essentially can get yourself a flight for about $12.
- If you don’t have enough points for a full round-trip flight, book the trip in one-way increments! This way you can use points for at least half of your trip.
I know Delta was more lenient over the last year with their flight change/refund policy as well, but that is one that you can’t just go and change if you see a cheaper flight – that usually has to be “if you find a cheaper flight within 24 hours of original booking”. With COVID, my husband and I were able to cancel our flight from last year so now we have a large amount in our travel funds just ready to be used! We just won’t apply it on smaller/closer flights that Southwest is a better option for.
Hotels
As far as hotels go, I like the Marriott brand overall. Similar to Southwest, they often allow you to change or even cancel your reservation up to a certain amount of time before you travel. As always, you should make sure to check the summary of charges and cancellation policy to make sure that you’re not booking a prepaid rate that is non-refundable. If you do a package or standard rate, those often are able to be adjusted until anywhere from 5 days to even 1 day before your travel. Again similar to Southwest, if you look on the Marriott site and find the hotel you need for a cheaper price, simply go to your existing reservation, modify/change your reservation, and then you can rebook the same thing again but for the new lower price.
Marriott Bonvoy Member Program
- It costs nothing to sign up for the program.
- Member rates typically aren’t a ton cheaper than regular rates when booking on the Marriott site, but approximately $7-10 cheaper per night can add up to some savings basically for free.
- Each time you stay, you’ll earn points that can eventually be used toward a future hotel stay.
- You’ll also receive complimentary internet access instead of having a fee for that.
While I don’t know much about other airlines or hotel chains, I also am a member of the Delta and Hilton loyalty programs, as we have sometimes used those. Many travel companies are being much more accommodating right now with the pandemic still lingering, but these tips have always been the case for Southwest and Marriott specifically.
Food
Pack your own snacks and water bottle if you’re flying! Airport snacks are typically marked up so much that I won’t ever get anything there unless I’m desperate. You can take most food with you through security, so I often pack things like berries, sandwiches, granola bars, or other easy to grab things like that. When we went to Hawaii last year, I think we had a total of 8 sandwiches with us for the journey over there, plus bags of mixed nuts and bars — excessive I know, but that gave us more money to spend on drinks by the pool in Oahu! Also pack an empty water bottle. You obviously can’t take that with you through security if it is full, so we always travel with our Camelbaks so that we can fill them up once we’re at our gate. By doing that alone, you’ve just saved yourselves probably $20-$50.
My main advice for food once you’re at your destination is to look for a good happy hour deal! My husband and I LIVE to find the best happy hour options. Once you figure out where you might want to eat, see if they have any special menus! So many places these days either have happy hour deals around 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. or even late night options around 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Since we usually go to bed by 8 p.m., the early happy hours scream our names. It makes me so happy to go get a $5 margarita with half-price appetizers and just soak in the atmosphere. During one of our recent Colorado trips, we found a great spot in walking distance of the hotel that offered a daily happy hour from 3 to 6. We actually went every single day. One day I went by myself and read a book while sipping on my Moscow Mule and enjoying the mountain backdrop. The next day we took a deck of cards and sat and played for hours while sampling a bunch of appetizers that ended up just being our dinner. Not all great spots have to break the bank!
Other Ideas
Travel Sites
I also receive e-mails from Scott’s Cheap Flights. They send out flight alerts including any deals that they come across from your “home” airport. These could include prices that were put up by accident or glitch, how long the deal will likely last, and any other details you should know about the trip. These often include the most basic fares where you don’t even get to check a bag or get to decide your seat ahead of time, but honestly – if you’re looking to travel and just want to go somewhere for as cheap as possible, this is a great option! You can also sign up to be a premium member for $49 a year to receive more flight options and alerts.
Gift Cards
And if you want to be frugal but still get to travel all over, ask for gift cards! I never know what to ask for on occasions like birthdays or Christmas. But that is what I’ve told my in-laws I wanted for the last few years – Southwest gift cards. With the maneuvers I mentioned above, I can typically book 2-3 trips with those funds and honestly, that’s better than any new gadget I could get! Travel and experiences will always be my preference. The same can be done with Disney gift cards – if you know you have a trip coming up, ask for gift cards! Those gift cards can also be purchased at Target, where you will receive the 5% discount if you use your RedCard.
Main Money-Saving Travel Tips:
- Book flights on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
- Look for travel dates/days that are typically least busy (weekday mornings, non-holiday weekends). Saturday’s actually one of the cheapest travel days – Sunday is usually the most expensive.
- Southwest often offers the cheapest options for nonstop flights over flights that have layovers…to me, this is a no-brainer!
- Book flights between two months and two weeks out from your travel date. At the two-week mark, flight rates will typically just tend to rise.
- Check back every so often on the travel sites to see if your reservation prices have dropped at all; if they have, rebook the same option and get the cheaper rate!
I’ve shown some friends and family these tricks that they didn’t know previously and now they utilize them, which makes me happy! Call me a dork, but I love finding good deals anyways, so finding a good deal on travel is possibly one of my favorite things ever. I hope this helps save y’all even a little bit of money that you can use on a great dinner or some other special activity on your next adventure!
Happy deal hunting!
Courtney
