In December, we’ll be celebrating our 3 year anniversary. Our little tradition so far has been taking a vacation. Since we’re getting a townhouse a month before our vacation, however, we’re scaling back a bit this year. After talking with some friends about saving money on travel, I have some more tips to share.
Planning ahead [...]

Read the full article »

By the time most of you read this, I’ll be airborne. I’m heading out for a short work-related trip, and will be renting a car at the other end. Unfortunately, I waited until the last minute to book a car rental, and the rates were atrocious.
According to Kayak (my overall favorite travel site) the best [...]

Read the full article »

Taking a summer vacation can be a great way to get away and spend some time together as a family. In some cases, however, vacations end up draining savings accounts and causing more stress then they relieve.
The good news is that it doesn’t have expensive to go on a great vacation. I’ve listed below some [...]

Read the full article »

Have you ever noticed that certain airports are consistently more expensive than others? I certainly have. The good news is that our nearest airport offers generally competitive fares. The bad news is that I grew up near one of the country’s most expensive airports, so many of our family trips involve a choice between a [...]

Read the full article »

Back in early July, I wrote an article called “Cheap is Not Necessarily Frugal.” In it, I argued that you’re often better off in the long run if you opt for a more expensive product or service rather than skimping and trying to save a few bucks.
While I still believe that this is often the [...]

Read the full article »

I’ve mentioned in that past that I’m a huge fan of TripAdvisor for researching our travel plans. Well, last night I got an e-mail from them containing a list of the ten places that TripAdvisor users searched for most often during the month of August. Here it is:

Las Vegas, NV
Cancun, Mexico
Paris, France
San Francisco, CA
New York, [...]

Read the full article »

Northwest Airlines (NWA) has officially joined the ranks of airlines that charge for the privilege of checking luggage. Their new policy calls for a $15 fee on the first checked bag, a $25 fee on the second bag, and a $100 fee for the third bag (and beyond). This policy is in effect for tickets [...]

Read the full article »

When we picked up our rental car while this past weekend, I was reminded of the many hidden costs associated with renting a car. You can comparison shop until the cows come home, but odds are you’ll still end up paying more than you expected. Here’s a sampling:
Refueling charges
It’s no secret that rental car agencies [...]

Read the full article »

By the time you read this, we’ll be well on our way to a lengthy family vacation. With all the news about a bad economy and ever-increasing gas prices, I can’t help but wonder what sort of impact this is all having on vacation plans this summer. For our part, we found a great deal [...]

Read the full article »

Wow. I just saw this over on The Consumerist… As of June 15th, America Airlines will begin charging $15 for your first checked bag. Apparently United’s decision to charge $25 for your second checked bag (but give you the first one for free) just wasn’t enough, so American decided to go a bit further. They’re [...]

Read the full article »