Travel Resources

Credit Card Points – Article to come

Rewards Programs – Most Airline & Hotel Rewards Programs are free, so take a few minutes and sign up!  Scroll to the bottom for reward information.

Air Travel – General Guidelines

Best to book on the airline’s website unless you find a crazy cheap ticket.  If there are any changes  complications with your flight.  For Example:  If you miss a connection from a different airline’s flight, you may not get it rebooked for free unless you booked directly with the airline.

  • Larger airports have Constomer Service Desks for some airlines in case you can’t get through on the phone. 
  • If possible, don’t check a bag. 
  • If you will have time, buy generic  toiletries at your destination rather than packing them.  Less drama at security and less weight, space and mess in the checked bag.
  • If your  flight is cancelled due to mechanical failure, be polite and ask for a free hotel voucher.  Even if you are stressed, don’t be rude, or you won’t get any help at the airport.

Bare Bones / Discount Airlines – Spirit, Breeze Airways, Frontier, Ryan Air

These Air Taxis can be crazy cheap.  Sometimes under $50.  A good option  if you have a very flexible schedule  and don’t check luggage. 

  • Look at the full “landed” costs before you buy. It may not really be cheaper than a regular airline.  Discount airlines often charge for Carry-On and even the Personal Item (handbag, small back pack, laptop bag etc) Water , rand Crackers!   Sometimes, the cost of a checked bag I higher than the ticket costs. 
  • Overhead  storage and seat spaces are often smaller.   
  • Flights routes may be just once per week so if there is an issue with you flight, you may have to wait a week for the same route to be available. 
  • Frontier’s “Go Wild” Pass – is a TOTAL scam.  Those fuckers!  If you see a cheap airfare better just to book it separately on the website.  I’m still bitter!

Better  Discount Airlines – Southwest, Jet Blue, American

  • Have more frequent flights and routes in case you have a cancelled flight or missed connection.
  • Websites tend to state clearly what is or isn’t included in each air fare. 
  • Beter Service than Bare Bones Airlines

Jet Blue – Monthly overview of pricing offered at a glance by color.  Green / Yellow / Red

Southwest – Very clear chart format for pricing, have some very cheap “Wanna Get Away” fares.

American – While technically, this is a major airline, there are often cheap airfares, but service could use improvement.

Major ” Premium ” Airlines – KLM / Delta / Kathay / Air France /Quatar / Swiss Air / JAL / Ana / Singapore Airlines / Lufthansa

  • Customer Service is usually better than other airlines
  • These airlines tend to be more expensive but don’t usually charge for Carry – On or Check Baggage.
  • For regular seats some  still offer 2 free checked bags.   For a long trip with a lot of Luggage these may have cheaper landed costs than other cheaper airlines.
  • Offer luxury seating, some with “sleep pods”, but you will pay for it.

3rd Party Sites

What you need to know…

  • Not all airlines and hotel chains use them
  • Customer Service can vary greatly
  • Better for Hotels than Airline tickets
  • For efficient  searching, you can start with a 3rd Party Site, and when you find the flight you want,  use the time / date/ flight number  to find the same flight on the airline site.

Booking.com

  • Great, straightforward website that offers Stays (accommodation), Car Rental, Activities, Airfare. I use this one often for stays.
  • For discounts, Booking has different “Genius Levels”  that apply to stays and car rental, but not to Airfare or Attractions / Activities.  Your Genius level is determined by how many bookings (of any type) you’ve had over a 2 year period of time.  If you don’t have any bookings over a 2 years period of time, you will drop a “Genius Level”.  If you book a combination of 15  Stays / Car Rental / Air Fare / Activities you will be  at Genius Level 3 for the next 2 years. 
  • The discounts are applied before taxes, fees, & insurance.  Note that Taxes, Fees & insurance can cost more than the car rental.  They also offer rooms in homes like AirBnB, but I find the telephone service is better with Booking.com.

Kayak.com – Website works very well, good filters.   

Google Travel  –  Website works very well, good filters. Offers a glance of monthly airfares over an entire month. 

Hotwire.com / Priceline.com – Usually pricing is very close on both websites.

The “mystery” hotels can have some really good deals, though it is a gamble and best to confirm it really is less than the standard rate by checking hotels with the same amenities, and star rating.  Sometimes, they list “you will get 1 of these 3 hotels”. Then you can verify the pricing on all 3 and see how good the discount is.  Even though they are discount sites, I’ve had good luck with customer service.  

Guest Houses / Home Stays – Air BnB / VRBO / Agoda

These can range from simple bedrooms with shared bathroom to entire castles and beach mansions.  These are usually better for stays of 1 week or more. Pay attention to the “cleaning fees” as often a stay for a day in USA or Costa Rica

AirBnB.com – Offers Significant  discounts for longer stays, though I don’t believe they vet the hosts.

Cleaning fee usually itemized separate from the room / house rate. I had a weird issue once where a host demanded my bank account info for a refund.  Of course, I didn’t give it to him.  To protect future guests from getting scammed,   I took screenshots from What’s App of the entire dialogue as part of a formal complaint. .   Air BnB “customer service”  didn’t give a shit.   Good deals, but Buyer Beware!

VRBO.com – More upscale and expensive than other similar sites. Offers good discounts for longer says. Cleaning fee usually itemized separate from the room / house rate.

Cleaning fee usually itemized separate from the room / house rate.

Agoda.com – Focuses on Asian stays.  Offers some discounts for longer stays, but not as much as other sites. 

Cleaning fee often  itemized when you are in the “check out” part of purchase.

Booking.com – In addition to hotels, they also offer guest house stays.  Very good filtering options. 

Cleaning fee usually included in the listed price, not itemized.

Awards Programs

There are so many, some are amazing deals some less so.  Most Airlines and larger hotel chains  have some type of awards programs.  The “Awards” charts can be harder to find, and may take some digging to find. There is a lot of variation in terms of how far the points can be stretched for tickets.  Very General Guidelines are listed below:

General Rule / Guidelines

  • Hotel points 20,000 points = $100 USD
    • Most larger programs offer free cancellation until the day before and late checkout, usually 1pm , sometimes 3pm for Award Members
    • More expensive countries is where these points tend to be most valuable. Don’t waste your points at a destination where the local price is relatively cheap!
    • To check how far the points stretch, bust to log into the website and toggle “use points” .
  • Airline points 10,000 points = $100 USD
    • Jet Blue and Southwest may have awards of just 5,000 points = $100
    • The reward charts tend to be updated often and are not easy to find online.
    • To check how far the points stretch, bust to log into the website and toggle “use points” .  Some “Stingy” airlines may need double the points that other airlines charge for rewards. 

Booking’s “Genius”  Award Program

Level 1  – Kicks in after 2 bookings

10 – 15 % accommodation

10 – 15 % car rental

Level 2 – Kicks in after 5 bookings

Might have free upgrades & breakfast, but you have to push for it, maybe ask if a manager can verify (if you get turned down).

10 – 15 % accommodation

10 – 15 % car rental

Level 3 – Kicks in after 15 bookings

Might have free upgrades & breakfast, but you have to push for it, maybe ask if a manager can verify (if you get turned down).

10 – 20 % accommodation

10 – 15 % car rental