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 and looking at the total costs of going on vacation can help you control your spending. Some people spend frivolously on vacation and then wonder where their money went. Like everything, prioritize your spending.

My husband and I like to have memorable trips, and love taking pictures as our main mementos. Some people like grabbing gifts and other like to spend money on food. Pick one or two areas where you want to splurge and cut back on the rest. It is possible to have a good time on vacation and not spend a lot of money.

While I share some things that have worked well for us and our friends, see if you can add some more tips in the comments. I’d love for everyone’s next vacation to be both fun and frugal.

Getting a car rental for the trip

We usually have a rental car for the trip. We’d like to avoid wear and tear on our cars since we usually drive some distance. We also like the option of turning in the rental car if there is a problem and exchanging it for another. It’s less hassle than finding a shop while out of town and getting a repair made.

Last year we tried renting a car through Priceline, and it worked well for us. We started low with a bid of$11/day. We then slowly raised that number until we got an offer. We ended up getting a mid-size car for $14/day plus tax.

Before going to pick up the rental I checked with my car insurance company to see if they provide rental car coverage. Our policy, like many others, will transfer all our liability and collision coverage to a rental driven in place of our own car.

If you’ve ever priced insurance at the rental counter, you know free insurance coverage is a huge savings. If you’re planning on renting with a credit card, you should also check to see if the card issuer offers any sort of insurance coverage.

Eating on road trips

If you’re driving to destination, I suggest packing plenty of snacks and drinks for the trip. This will save you from impulsively buying expensive snacks at gas stations and also cut down on stopping for breaks on the road. We also estimate our trip time and plan for a longer lunch stop to eat and relax. Using Google Maps, we can usually find a nice local spot that’s affordable.

Saving money on airfare

Friends of mine recommend using Kayak to compare airfares. It saves them time aggregating the best fares from several top sites at once. One friend is currently out in Oregon visiting family and friends — she got two cross-country tickets for $149 total! Her tip is to plan ahead and check repeatedly as prices change constantly.

If you’re also considering smaller, budget airlines, Nora Dunn (a world traveler) suggests using Which Budget to see if you can find better rates.

Packing for a vacation

If you’re flying, pack light to avoid luggage fees from the airlines. Call your airline ahead of time to find out about their baggage policy and fees. Travel expert Anne McAlpin’s “Pack it Up” has some wonderful tips on packing your carry on bag and for airport security.

• Keep your clothes basic and choose outfits that work interchangeably with your shoes and accessories. If you’re traveling during the winter season, bring items to layer. If you’re traveling during warmer weather, McAlpin suggests getting some clothes made of natural fabrics.
• Take inexpensive jewelry with you when you travel. Leave your nice pieces at home. The exception, of course, is your wedding ring.
• Go easy on shoes. Make sure you have comfortable walking shoes, dress shoes for nice dinner, and possibly sandals.
• Bring dryer sheets to de-static your knit items and help keep your luggage smelling fresh.
• Take a photo of what you’ve packed in case the airline loses your luggage. It can be hard to remember who’s bag had what.
• If you like to pack lots of clothes, consider getting compression bags. They can save you space and reduce your luggage count (but not weight).
• Don’t stress out over getting luggage insurance. You may already be covered by the airline, your credit card (if you bought the tickets with it), or your homeowner’s insurance.

Making the most of your hotel

We again used Priceline to bid on a comfortable hotel near Disney World and ended up paying 1/3 of their regular prices. When we placed our bid, we requested a three star or higher property, and low-balled our price. We got accepted on our first bid (maybe we should’ve bid lower!) and wound up near both Universal Studios and a friend who lives just outside of Orlando — knowing a local person can be an invaluable resource.

When you get to the hotel, be pleasant with the staff and ask them for some local recommendations for places to eat. I use to work as a front desk clerk while in college, and I loved to help tourists discover local spots. Doing this can both save money and help you find a memorable place to eat. I would also ask the concierge (if they have one) for some smaller events that are happening around town.

Cutting your expenses home

If nobody will be in your house when you’re away, go ahead and unplug some appliances such as your microwave, toaster oven, computer, and stereo. Our electric company, Progress Energy, notes that “up to 75 percent of the energy used in home offices is consumed when the electronics are plugged in, but not in use.” You might also want to change your thermostat you’re out of town.

Your thoughts

Do you have any further suggestions for planning a fun and fugal vacation?

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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 I could do was $149/day for a full-sized car. Yes, smaller cars were marginally cheaper, and they might upgrade me at the rental counter due to availability, but I’m tall and want the guaranteed legroom.

After a quick perusal of the rental agency web pages confirmed these rates, I decided to try something I’ve never used before… Priceline.

Checking rental car prices at Hotwire

Before heading over to Priceline, I decided to check Hotwire to get a feel for the types of discounts that might be available. For those that are unfamiliar with these services, Hotwire and Priceline are both travel discounters with a twist.

Neither Hotwire nor Priceline let you know who your service provider will be prior to the transaction. Hotwire does, however, list prices up front. In contrast, Priceline lets you “name your own price.” Of course, they won’t necessarily accept it, but it’s worth a shot.

According to Hotwire, I could get a full-sized car for $89/day — much cheaper than going straight to the source. Moreover, since Hotwire only uses “mainstream” rental companies (Avis, Budget, Enterprise, Hertz, and National), I wasn’t too concerned about which one it would end being.

Naming my own rental car price at Priceline

With the $89/day price point in hand, I headed over to Priceline. Like Hotwire, Priceline only uses major rental companies (Alamo, Avis, Budget, Hertz, and National) so I wasn’t too concerned about which one I’d end up with.

I’ve read that a good strategy for figuring out what to bid on Priceline is to undercut the Hotwire price by about 20%. I ended up bidding $70/day for a full-sized car and got shot down. However, they offered me a “one-time opportunity” to rent for $83/day. Not wanting to spend any more time on this, I accepted.

In the end, I was able to save roughly 45% over the going rate. I could’ve probably gotten the car even cheaper (and saved on some taxes/fees) if I’d been willing to look at off-airport car rental locations, but this is a very quick trip and I don’t want to deal with it.

The downside of travel discounters

The biggest downside to both Priceline and Hotwire is that your arrangements are non-refundable and cannot be modified. If your Priceline bid is accepted, you are charged immediately. Likewise, if you accept a Hotwire deal, you pay immediately. Here’s the scoop from Priceline:

Priceline rental cars are non-refundable, non-transferable and non-changeable even if the reservation is not used.

If your offer is accepted, we will immediately lock in your reservation and charge your credit card. If your offer is not accepted, your credit card will not be charged.

Additional changes may apply at the counter if you pick-up or drop-off the car at a different date or time than you requested for your reservation.

Only the driver will be able to pick up this rental car at the counter. You will be able to add an additional driver at the counter for an additional charge.

The driver will be required to present a valid driver’s license and a valid credit card or debit card in his/her name with a minimum of $200 available credit as a security deposit on the vehicle. If you plan to use a debit card, you may be required to provide round-trip flight information at the rental counter.

Your offer price does not include vehicle liability, collision or personal accident coverage for your rental car. You should determine if you have insurance coverage prior to pick-up. Additional insurance can be purchased at the rental counter.

Something else to keep in mind is that you can’t instantly re-bid on Priceline. In fact, you can only bid once every 24 hours for a particular date, type of car, and location. You can, however, bid more often if you’re willing to change one or more of those variables.

Finally, as I’ve already noted, you don’t find out who you’ll be dealing with until after you pay. For rental cars, I don’t really care. As long as it’s a reputable company, I’ll rent from pretty much anyone. But for hotels? In some instances, location is critical, and not being able to control exactly where I’ll be staying could be a problem.

Into the unknown…

And now I’m just hoping that there’s actually a car waiting for me at the rental counter when I arrive. While I expect everything to be fine, I’ve never used Priceline before (have you?), so I’m still in the “get to know you” phase.

I’m assuming that everything will go smoothly, but I’ll be sure to update when everything is said and done.

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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 tips that helped us save money on our last couple of vacations.

Compare prices on multiple travel sites

You can often find great travel deals online. Just be sure to compare prices across sites, as the results can be surprisingly different.

If you’re new to online travel planning, here are some sites that we use:

• Kayak
• Orbitz
• Expedia
• Priceline
• TravelZoo
• Hotels.com

If you have any questions about local hotels, TripAdvisor is a great resource.

Handling a car rental for the trip

For our family vacations, we usually rent a car. Our cars are older and have pretty high mileage, so we don’t like to go to far from home in them. Beyond that, rening a car is typically cheaper for us than flying, and we’re usually able to make the drive itself relatively entertaining.

Using Priceline’s bid option, we got a ‘name brand’ standard size car rental for one week at $14/day (plus fees). For the sake of comparison, the ‘base’ rate from the rental agency’s site was about $220.

Another tip here is that many credit cards provide car rental insurance and, in some cases, your car insurance will cover the rental as long as you’re driving it in place of your own car. If you’re not sure, call and check.

Finding a good deal on a hotel

On our last trip, we went down to Orlando to see Disney World and Universal Studios. Once again, we used Priceline to bid on a three star or higher hotel and ended up saving around $50/night after taxes and fees. Our hotel was so close to Disney World that we could see the Magic Kingdom fireworks from our window.

Dining out inexpensively

We usually try to find hotels that include breakfast. We then eat out for dinner and save the leftovers for lunch. This is especially easy if your hotel has a kitchenette.It worked pretty well last year. We checked and the hotel has a kitchenette.

A great way to find local spots with great food at a reasonable price is to read reviews online. One useful trick for this is to look up your hotel on TripAdvisor and read the reviews — many travelers talk about their dining experiences in the area. You can also check menus online with MenuPages, and even make reservations with OpenTable.

A few other money saving tips include skipping the appetizers — order a salad with your entree instead — and skipping (or splitting) dessert.

Souvenir shopping for friends and family

Picking up a few local gifts for friends and family is often a part of our family getaways. We are, however, careful not to buy too much, as we don’t want to create clutter.

The key is to avoid overpriced trinkets from souvenir shops. Instead, try to pick up a thoughtful gift that reflects the local culture.

Have fun!

Remember… The whole point of going on vacation is to relax and have fun. By planning ahead and saving up for your expenses, you can relieve a lot of the stress associated with going on vacation.

One last tip… Be sure to check out local activities/events in addition to the “big” attractions. Viator is an excellent resource when it comes to planning a memorable vacation.

What trips are you planning this year?

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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 steep airfare and a long, long, long drive.

With that as a backdrop, I thought I’d share this list of the country’s most expensive airports that I ran across in a recent issue of Forbes. Entries on this list are ranked based on the cost per mile travelled.

• Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky (Covington, KY) — $0.48/mile
• Cherry Capital (Traverse City, MI) — $0.41/mile
• Tri-Cities Regional (Johnson City, TN) — $0.39/mile
• Columbia Metropolitan (Columbia, SC) — $0.39
• Duluth Intl. (Duluth, MN) — $0.38/mile
• Greenville-Spartanburg Intl. (Greenville-Spartanburg, SC) — $0.38/mile
• Shreveport Regional (Shreveport, LA) — $0.37/mile
• Yeager Airport (Charleson, WV) — $0.37/mile
• Douglas Intl. (Charlotte, NC) — $0.37/mile
• McGhee Tyson (Knoxville, TN) — $0.37/mile
• La Crosse Municipal (La Crosse, WI) — $0.36/mile
• Springfield-Branson National (Springfield, MO) — $0.36/mile
• Roanoke Regional (Roanoke, VA) — $0.36/mile
• MBS Intl. (Saginaw, MI) — $0.36/mile
• Fort Wayne Intl. (Fort Wayne, IN) — $0.36/mile
• Outagamie County Regional (Appleton, WI) — $0.36/mile
• Kahului Airport (Kahului, HI) — $0.36/mile
• Evansville Regional (Evansville, IN) — $0.35
• Panama City-Bay City Intl. (Panama City, FL) — $0.35
• Kona Intl. (Kona, HI;) — $0.35/mile
• Memphis Intl. (Memphis, TN) — $0.35/mile
• Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport (Charlottesville, VA) — $0.35/mile
• Capital City Airport (Lansing, MI) — $0.35/mile
• Ronald Reagan Intl. (Washington, D.C.) — $0.35/mile
• Asheville Regional (Asheville, NC) — $0.34/mile
• Minneapolis-St. Paul Intl. (Minneapolis, MN) — $0.34/mile
• Chattanooga Metropolian (Chattanooga, TN) — $0.34/mile
• Hilo Intl. (Hilo, HI) — $0.34/mile
• O’Hare Intl. (Chicago, IL) — $0.34/mile
• Huntsville Intl. (Huntsville, AL) — $0.34/mile
• Bangor International (Bangor Maine) — $0.34/mile

For reference, Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood Intl. ($0.16/mile) Long Beach/Daugherty Field ($0.15/mile)m and Ted Stevens Anchorage Intl. ($0.14/mile) are amongst the country’s cheapest airports.

One of the things that you’ll notice is that the list is tilted toward smaller, regional airports — perhaps in part to the fact that these airports tend to specialize in shorter routes — there are a number of larger airports, as well. In most of these cases, you can see the effects of a lack of competition. For example, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International, O’Hare International, and Minneapolis-St. Paul International are all major hubs whose gates are disproportionately controlled by a single airline.

So… What’s a savvy traveller to do?

As is the case with just about everything, you’ll get a better deal if you’re willing to shop around. If your nearest airport is a ripoff, perhaps you can drive slightly further to another airport in your area. Of course, that’s not always possible, so you might be stuck paying for the privilege of flying out of an overpriced airport. Beyond changing locations, your best bet is to be flexible with regard to times, dates, and airline of choice.

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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 case, I was recently reminded that sometimes cheaper truly is better…

Park, ride, and save

On a recent trip out of town, I shared a ride to the airport with a co-worker. At our airport, you have three options when it comes to parking: Daily, Economy, and Park-and-Ride. In the past, I’ve always opted for Economy because: (1) it costs about half as much as Daily, and (2) it doesn’t require a shuttle ride like Park-and-Ride, which is by far the cheapest option. As we approached the airport this time, however, my compatriot turned off into the Park-and-Ride lot.

While this wouldn’t have been my first choice, I wasn’t about to complain — after all, I wasn’t driving. Much to my surprise, we were out of the car and into the airport in record time. While I’ve had terrible experiences with Park-and-Ride at other airports in the past, these lots were managed in much the same way that Disney handles their parking. They had signs pointing you to the currently open lot, and there was a shuttle sitting right there in the row in which we parked.

Upon boarding, we were handed a color-coded ticket that would direct the driver back to our car, and we were dropped off curbside just outside our airline’s check-in counter. And when we returned, the driver dropped us off alongside the trunk of our car. All in all, this was far more convenient that the Economy lot — in fact, it was arguably better than the Daily lot. And yet, we paid just a fraction of the price.

Lesson learned

The lesson here, which runs far deeper than optimal parking strategies, is that you shouldn’t assume that a higher price necessarily signals a better or more convenient product or service. While it’s often worth paying extra for quality, it’s important to be sure that you’re actually getting more for your money. In this case, the airport was simply charging a premium for the perception of convenience.

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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:

1. Las Vegas, NV
2. Cancun, Mexico
3. Paris, France
4. San Francisco, CA
5. New York, N.Y.
6. Punta Cana, D.R.
7. London, England
8. Maui, HI
9. Playa del Carmen, Mexico
10. Orlando, FL

Sounds like fun! I’ve only been to four five of the ten, how about you?

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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 sold on or after July 10th for flights originating on or after August 28th. Elite frequent flyer members and those that purchase full-fare tickets are exempt.

Starting September 15th, NWA will also start charging for the redemption frequent flyer miles. It will cost $25 for domestic flight, $50 for a transatlantic flight, and $100 for a transpacific flight. Finally, they are also increasing their fees for making changes to non-refundable ticket by $50.

While Northwest refers to these fees as “temporary,” this doesn’t bode well for fans of Delta Airlines (DAL) — the two companies recently agreed to merge and will operate in the future under the Delta name.

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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 stick it to you if you return your car with less gas than a full tank of gas, but this is starting to get ridiculous. When picking up your car, you have two main choices: prepay for a full tank of gas or refill it yourself.

The upside of prepaying is that they you’ll pay market price for gas. The downside is that you don’t get any credit for unused gallons. Thus, you end up paying for any gas that’s left in the tank when you bring it back. Given the recent runup in gas prices, you’re paying a lot for convenience with this option.

Conversely, if you choose to refuel it yourself and then fail to do so, they’ll gouge you like there’s no tomorrow. in our case, the price per gallon for returning it less than full is $7.99/gallon. Fortunately, I’ve never had trouble finding a gas station when returning a rental car, and I certainly don’t intend to start now.

Taxes

Regardless of how low the “normal” sales tax in a given area, you can typically expect to pay 10-15% (or more) in taxes when you rent a car. There’s nothing quite like building a tax base on the backs of visitors.

Airport fees

If you rent at the airport, you can count on paying additional “concession” fees. These are fees that are charged to the rental agency for the right to do business at the airport, and they’re pass on to you. Here’s a tip: If at all possible, pick up your car away from the airport. In our case, we rented from an agency about 2 miles from the airport, but we’re returning it at the airport — the concession fees only apply for renting, not for dropping off.

Additional drivers

I totally forgot about this one. We found a great price, but neglected to factor in the fact that my wife would need to drive, as well. If we were AAA members, this would have been free. But since we weren’t, they charged us $11/day (capped at 5 days) for her to be allowed to drive. I asked them to drop it, but they wouldn’t budge.

Loss and damage waiver (LDW)

In my opinion, this is second only to refueling charges in terms of price gouging. Rental agencies always push their loss and damage waiver on you when you’re signing up. This option typically provides you with zero-deductible coverage for any sort of loss or damage to the rental vehicle. Unfortunately, it comes at a price — usually $20-$30/day or more.

But guess what? Individual car insurance almost always covers rentals (check with you agent if you’re not sure). Moreover, many credit cards provide car rental insurance if you pay for your rental with the card.

Drop-off charges

If you pick up at one location and return at another, you might be subject to a drop-off fee, even if the other location is just down the road. This isn’t always the case, though, so check at the rental counter.

Partial days

Almost without exception, car rental agencies charge for each day, or portion thereof. Thus, if you pick your car up at 10AM, be sure to return your car by 10AM on the day you’re dropping it off or you’ll be charged for another full day. This is actually the reason we’re dropping our car off at the airport — the location from which we rented closes on Satrudays at 1PM and doesn’t re-open until Monday morning.

Since we were planning on returning the car late in the day on Saturday (following a morning pickup the previous week) they were not only going to charge us for an additional day, they were going to charge us the daily rate until they re-opened on Monday. By returning it to the airport on Sunday morning, we’ll pay the same that we would have with a Saturday afternoon dropoff, but without the charges running through Monday morning since the airport location is open 24/7. Better yet, there’s no dropoff charge.

Mileage limits

In many cases, car rental agencies limit you to a certain number of miles per day (usually around 150). Exceed this limit and you can expect to pay $0.25-$0.50 for each additional mile.

Frequent flyer fees

Many rental agencies charge a fee (usually around $2/day) if you want to earn frequent flyer miles in return for your rental. This is fine for business travellers (if they don’t mind wasting their company’s money) but it’s not a very good deal for individuals.

Child safety seats

When traveling with kids, it’s important to find out how much you’ll have to pay to rent a child safety seats. In our case, we had every intention of bringing out own. Unfortunately, we forgot two booster seats in our car at the airport. We actually realized it before the plane departed, but security was a nightmare and we didn’t want to roll the dice with a trip back out to the parking deck.

Care to guess what Hertz charges for a child safety seat? $60/week. Plus tax. Our solution? Buy a couple of new Graco booster seats at our destination for $18/each. We’ll probably leave these with family for future trips, but even if we didn’t we’d still come out way ahead.

GPS rental

If you want/need a GPS in your car, be prepared to pay $15-$20/day for the privilege. A much better option would be to print out directions from MapQuest or Google Maps before you depart. Also keep in mind that many hotels have free internet connections for looking up directions. Alternatively, if you absolutely have to have one, you might want to just buy your own and take it with you. For example, you can get this one for $150. This would practically pay for itself with a week-long rental and then you’d have it for future use.

Upsizing and reduced fuel economy

Last but not least, it’s not uncommon for a rental agency to run out of cars in a certain size class. In such cases, the standard practice is to upgrade you to a larger vehicle. That’s all well and good, except that bigger cars get worse mileage, and you might find yourself spending far more on gas than you had anticipated. Fortunately, we weren’t stung by this one. We got exactly what we asked for and the mileage hasn’t been too bad, even considering we’re hauling around six people (ourselves plus four kids).

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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 on flights this past winter and locked in low fares before they started rising.

Of course, in addition to the airfares (six of ‘em!), we also have to rent a car at our destination, so this definitely isn’t the cheapest way to go. That being said, it’s about 1100 miles each way, so flying instead of driving (which we’ve always done in the past) buys us a few extra days of actual vacation. Well worth it in my book.

The fact that we’re flying also creates an odd sort of silver lining inside the cloud of rising gas prices… The higher the price at the pump, the less of a premium we’re paying to fly. But I digress. Bringing it back to the topic at hand…

Have you modified your summer travel plans in response to high energy prices?

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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 also going to increase fees for “oversized bags” and “reservation help.”

Lovely. I wonder how long it will be before others airlines follow suit? I also wonder how they’ll handle people who bought their tickets prior to this announcement. Will they try to get them to pony up for the extra fees?

Source: AP News

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During our vacation last week, we spent some time on Grand Cayman. Aside from the excellent snorkeling and diving, the Cayman Islands are quite interesting from a financial perspective. For example…

According to our local tour guide, the Cayman Islands are home to 550 banks, only 12-14 of which are required for local business. The balance are engaged in offshore banking.

In terms of the local economy, banking is (not surprisingly) the #1 industry, followed by tourism and insurance. And with an average per capita income of $42k, the Cayman Islands have the highest standard of living in the Caribbean.

Interestingly, the government’s primary source of income is indirect taxation, including an import duty of 5-20% on nearly all goods imported to the island, as well as work permit fees for expatriates working in the Caymans.

Finally, Hurricane Ivan passed alongside Grand Cayman as a Category 5 hurricane in 2004 and, according to our guide, 95% of all properties were either damaged or destroyed. While WikiPedia pegs the number slightly lower at 80%, the damage was still clearly evident during our visit nearly four years later.

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When I was a kid, my parents went to the bank to get traveller’s checks before every major vacation. And yet… Now that we’re in the final stages of planning for our Disney cruise, it struck me that my wife and I never get traveller’s checks before we travel. And I suspect that we’re not alone. As a wise man once told me, travellers checks are so 1987…

I’m guessing that the big difference is the prevalence of credit and/or debit cards now vs. then. Since we put pretty much everything on our reward credit cards, there’s little need to carry much in the way of cash or traveller’s checks. And yet… While the situation will be much the same on our cruise in that we’ll be able to charge pretty much everything to our cabin and/or pay with a credit card, I still find myself thinking about picking up some traveller’s check before we depart.

What about you? Do you use traveller’s checks? Why or why not?

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In case you haven’t heard… As of May 5th, United Airlines will start charging domestic passengers with non-refundable economy tickets $25 to check a second piece of luggage unless they have “Premier” status or better in United’s Mileage plus program or “Silver” status or better in their Star Alliance program. The change is expected to generate $100 million in annual savings and new revenue. Not surprisingly, other airlines are expected to follow suit.

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Quick question… What’s the going rate for tipping cab drivers?

I ask this because I recently had an odd interaction with a cab driver. I took a relatively short, very simple cab ride that resulted in a fare of just under $22. Since I only had $20 bills, I gave him two of them and asked for $14 in change and a receipt. He handed me the change and then just stared at me without giving me a receipt. When I again asked for a receipt, he sort of furrowed his brow, then dug one out and handed it to me.

Perhaps he was just an odd, somewhat anti-social guy, but I got the feeling that he was somehow unhappy with the transaction. But why? I had tipped him 20%. And it’s not like he had done anything extraordinary — I only had a couple of small bags, and I tossed them in the back seat myself. He didn’t even bother getting out of the car at either end of the trip. I’ve noodled around on the web a bit looking for an answer, and it seems that the going rate is somewhere in the neighborhood of 15%.

So that brings me back to my question… How much should you tip a cab driver?

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In case you’re not aware, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has developed a Registered Traveler (RT) program to help you speed through security. This isn’t exactly breaking news, but I recently saw a blurb about it in Money Magazine, so I thought I’d investigate.

To enroll, all you have to do is submit to a Security Threat Assessment. Oh, and pay $100/year.

According to the TSA:

Applicants voluntarily provide RT Sponsoring Entities and Service Providers with biographic and biometric data needed for TSA to conduct the STA and determine eligibility. The STA includes checking each applicant’s identity against terrorist-related, law enforcement, and immigration databases that TSA maintains or uses. RT applicants who receive an approved STA result may become program participants.

This program is actually run by private vendors, such as Clear, with oversight from the TSA. Aside from the cost and relatively invasive application procedure, perhaps the biggest downside to the Registered Traveler program is that it’s only available at 14 airports nationwide.

But… If you qualify, and if you’re travelling through a participating airport, here’s what you have to look forward to:

» modified airport configuration to minimize wait times, including dedicated or integrated lines/lanes
» enhanced customer service for participants (divesting assistance, luggage service, parking privileges)
» discounts for service or concessions

So it’s actually more than just an improved experience with airline security. The parking privileges sounds interesting, though I would imagine that it’s just a more convenient lot, as opposed to something like free parking.

If you’re curious as to which airports are currently part of the program, here’s a rundown:

Albany Airport (ALB)
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG)
Denver International Airport (DIA)
Indianapolis International Airport (IND)
Jacksonville International Airport (JAX)
John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York (JFK)
LaGuardia International Airport, New York (LGA)
Little Rock Airport (LIT)
Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)
Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC)
Orlando International Airport (MCO)
Reno-Tahoe International Airport (RNO)
San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
Westchester County Airport (HPN)

Honestly, even if our nearest airport was covered (which it’s not), I don’t travel often enough for this to be worthwhile.

What do you think? Are you member? Interested in joining?

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This past fall I was on a work-related trip and passing through New York’s LaGuardia airport when the following sign in the bookstore caught my eye…

Curious as to what the “Read & Return” program was all about, I stopped to investigate.

In short, this is a program offered by The Paradies Shops, who run stores in ariports across the United States and Canada. The nuts and bolts of this program are that you can buy a book, read it, and return it (within six months) to any Paradies Shop (that sell books) at any airport for a 50% refund. This program covers all hardcover and paperback books that they sell. While this is the first I’ve heard of it, this program has apparently been around since 2003.

While this sounds like a decent deal on the surface, consider the following…

The last two books that I purchased, The Four Pillars of Investing and Your Money or Your Life, list for $29.95 and $15.00, respectively, and this is exactly what you’ll pay for it in an airport bookstore. Yet they can had on Amazon.com for just $19.77 and $10.20, respectively.

In other words, if you save your receipt, and if you remember to return your bookw within six months, you’ll end up paying slightly less than if you had bought it from a mainstream bookseller. Except that you won’t end up owning the book. In essence, you’re rolling the dice and hoping that you’ll pay nearly as much as the “street value” of the book to effectively rent it, with the alternative being paying way too much to own it.

Honestly, if you’re trapped in an airport with nothing to read, you’d be better off buying a newspaper.

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Oh, how quickly things change… We had planned on spending a quiet Christmas and New Year’s at home, but today I checked airfares on a whim and discovered a (relatively) hot deal that will allow us to go visit family without breaking the bank. Don’t get me wrong… It’s far from free at a bit under $220 apiece. But since my wife and I don’t typically exchange gifts, this trip will be a well-deserved gift to each other.

Given that we have six people in our family, we mostly travel by car. And because we live quite far from family, we don’t travel to see them nearly enough. Thus, this should be a rather memorable trip, especially for the kids. And it will be made even more memorable by the fact that we’re departing Christmas night (around 6PM, arriving shortly before 8PM), and we’re not telling the boys about the trip until Christmas morning.

The beauty of our plan is that we’ll be home for Christmas morning, which we love, but we’ll also get to spend time with family around the holidays, which we also love. And hopefully we’ll get to enjoy a healthy dose of snow. Now for the critical question…

Does anyone think we’ll run into trouble carrying our Wii through airport security?

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Update: We’re back. Click through for a review of our cruise on the Disney Magic.

How’s this for exciting? We’re going on a seven day cruise on the Disney Magic in late February! While this might not be everyone’s cup of tea, we’re thrilled… We’ve been looking for a relaxing, family-friendly vacation that will not only be a lot of fun for the entire family, but will also give my wife and I some time to ourselves. Since we have four young kids and no family within easy driving distance, our kids go with us pretty much anywhere we go. In other words, there’s no such thing as a weekend away in our household.

In the past, our “big” vacations have involved things like driving two days (each way) to see family, or taking a trip to Disney World (about a day’s drive from here). Not surprisingly, we typically return from these trips more tired than before we left. So… This time around, we were looking for something that would be both fun and relaxing.

Given our circumstances, a Disney cruise sounds like nirvana… There are tons of kids activities on board, including a variety of age-appropriate “Kids Clubs” where the boys will be able to do all sorts of activities and even take in an occasional meal on their own. And speaking of food, the meals are all full service, and even though you rotate from one restaurant to another throughout the week, the waitstaff rotates with you, such that they’re learn the kids’ like/dislikes throughout the week. Following dinner every night, there’s a live show. The ship also has three pools and fairly extensive fitness facilities. Finally, there are a number of excursions en route, though those cost extra.

As for details, we’ve booked two adjoining staterooms. They’re located midship and relatively low — this is a good thing because it minimizes the rocking in rough seas. While they’re internal, and thus lack an oceanview, we won’t be spending much time (other than sleeping) in our rooms, so there’s no real reason to pay extra for a porthole (much less a balcony).

Here’s the itinerary…

Saturday: Depart Port Canaveral
Sunday: Key West
Monday: At sea
Tuesday: Grand Cayman
Wednesday: Cozumel
Thursday: At sea
Friday: Castaway Cay (Disney’s private island)
Saturday: Return to Port Canaveral

The cost for all of this? Roughly $6k for the six of us in two staterooms. Not cheap, but it’s all-inclusive (aside from booze and excursions), and my lovely and talented wife booked it through Sam’s Club, so we actually ended up getting it for a good bit less than going straight through Disney.

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I’m currently on the road at the tail end of a work-related trip. I arrived at the airport somewhat early this morning and, while checking in at the self-service kiosk, I was greeted by a message offering to bump me up to an earlier flight. Curious, I punched the button for more information. Sure enough, they could get me on a non-stop flight just like the one that I had booked, except I’d depart (and thus arrive) one hour earlier.

The price for this change? Fifty dollars. As tempting as it is to get out of here an hour earlier, I decided against the “upgrade.”

It’s funny… There was a time when you could go to the check-in desk and get moved up to earlier flights for free if seats were available. It makes perfect sense for airlines to do this, as it lets them push unsold seats onto later flights, thereby increasing (albeit only slightly) the likelihood that they’ll be able to sell the seats to other travellers. Apparently upselling passengers to earlier flights is a more profitable endeavor.

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Are you looking to jump start your frequent flyer account, round out a ticket, or earn an upgrade? Then check out the following list of credit card bonus miles promotions. There are offers from a wide variety of card issuers and airlines, and in some cases you get a free ticket in one fell swoop.

Without further ado, here’s the list…

» Miles Card from Discover Card

Airline: Good for any airline
Bonus: 12k miles
Annual Fee: $0
Notes: n/a

» Citi PremierPass Card – Elite Level

Airline: Good for any airline
Bonus: 20k points after after $600 in purchases w/in 1st 3 mos
Annual Fee: $75
Notes: n/a

» WorldPerks Visa Signature Card

Airline: Northwest
Bonus: 10k miles
Annual Fee: $90
Notes: n/a

» WorldPerks Visa Platinum Card

Airline: Northwest
Bonus: 7.5k miles
Annual Fee: $55
Notes: n/a

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Yesterday morning, I refilled a toothpaste tube. I’m not proud, but I did it. (Well, okay, maybe I’m a little proud…)

This wasn’t really an issue of frugality (although those travel-sized toothpaste tubes are a ripoff). Rather, it was a an issue of convenience and efficiency… I was packing up to head out of town when I realized that my travel-sized toothpaste was nearly empty. Given that the TSA says you can’t carry more than 3 oz. of toothpaste on an airplane (the same goes for other gels/liquids), this just wouldn’t fly — literally.

The problem is, I was on a tight schedule, and I didn’t want to stop off at a drugstore on the way to the airport. I also didn’t want to count on the hotel on the other end providing me with toothpaste (many do, but not all of them). So as I looked down at the sink, an idea hit me…

Why not simply refill my travel toothpaste from the larger tube that we use every day? I removed the caps from both the travel-sized and regular tubes, pressed their “nozzles” tightly together and started gently squeezing the larger tube. Lo and behold, it worked great. The travel-sized tube started to fill up with virtually no leaking or mess.

I am now the proud owner of a Colgate mini-tube filled (mostly) with Crest. More importantly, I was able to do this in about 15 seconds as opposed to having to make a side trip to the drugstore.

Photo Credit: Janmi

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This article is a guest blogger submission written by plonkee of plonkee money. If you like what you see, why not subscribe to plonkee’s RSS feed?

I didn’t take a gap year between school and Uni, nor between Uni and starting my first proper job. However, one summer I did travel to the States for three months at a bargain basement price. All together it cost me about £800 including flights, accomodation, insurance, travel, spending money etc. How did I manage it?

I was a BUNAC-er. I took advantage of the J1 exchange visitor visa that allowed me to work in the US for a few months whilst a student.

There are plenty of options for working holidays for students and young people. From the UK, you could go to the US, Canada, Australia or New Zealand as well as all the European Union countries (although you’ll find it easier if you speak the language). From the US, you could go to Britain, Ireland, Canada, Australia or New Zealand.

Working holidays in the US, Canada, Britain and Ireland require you to be a student (sometime a recent graduate). The Australia and New Zealand options don’t require you to be a student, just a young unencumbered person.

People generally work for a few months to save up some money and then travel for the rest of the time – I spent just over 2 months working in North Carolina and then several weeks travelling through Texas and the Deep South.

To me the best part about my experience was actually the time that I spent working. I got to know plenty of local people and to truly appreciate and understand another country in depth. .

It has been an investment that has really paid off. When I went to graduate job interviews, people were impressed by my international work experience and travelling several thousand miles independently massively increased my self-confidence. Travel really did broaden my mind.

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Yesterday I wrote an article praising the convenience of debit cards. Today, I thought I’d shed some light on one of their major potential downsides…

Last week I was out of town on a work-related trip and staying at a Holiday Inn. When I reached first reach my destination, I was greeted at the check-in desk by a sign warning debit card users about their payment policy. It seems that if you use a debit card at this particular location, they will charge your account for the cost of the room plus a projection of your incidentals (phone use, restaurant charges, etc.) and an unspecified deposit. The sign went on to state that unused funds would be restored to your account within 7-10 days of checkout.

While the policy of placing a hold on a portion of your credit line or bank balance (in the case of credit cards or debit cards, respectively) is pretty standard stuff nowadays, the policy at this particular hotel seems a bit over the top. Yes, I understand exactly why they do this — to ensure that funds are available to cover all of your potential charges, but… Having a portion of your credit line (or even your checking account balance) temporarily put on hold is fundamentally different from having money actually withdrawn from your checking account and then refunded to you in 7-10 days if it goes unspent.

In my case, I was using a credit card so it didn’t matter. But I’m still curious…

Has anyone else run into a similar situation? If so, how long did it take to get your unspent funds back? And does anyone have a clear idea as to how quickly holds drop off your account if they choose that route instead of holding your money hostage?

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If you interested in picking up a quick 1,000 Delta SkyMiles, all you have to do is visit delta.com/getdeltaemail and sign update your e-mail preferences. This involves nothing more than entering your e-mail address (it has to be a valid address where you can check mail), selecting what types of e-mail you wish to receive, and then clicking to confirm when the confirmation e-mail shows up.

I opted out of everything but the delivery of but my SkyMiles statement, and I see no reason that I can’t go back in and opt-out of that, too, once the miles post (if not sooner). For those of you that need it, hopefully this will reset your mileage expiration date.

And if you’re really interested in piling up the free miles, you might want to check out my post on getting free credit card miles just for signing up. You can pile up as many as 20,000 miles in return for just one credit card application!

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Just before Christmas, I wrote about the fact that my wife’s Delta SkyMiles were set to expire at the end of the year. I ended up thwarting this attempt to reclaim her miles by buying 1000 miles for $29.95. Not a perfect solution, but far better letting a ton of miles slip away.

The reason that I bring this up is that airlines are starting to crack down on ‘dormant’ frequent flyer accounts by tightening up their rules regarding expiration. While most programs have traditionally given travellers a three year grace period (i.e., fly at least once every three years and your miles are safe), many have recently begun tightening their belts when it comes to mileage balances. Here are some examples:

AirTran: 12 months
Continental: 18 months (though the airline claims not to enforce the policy)
Delta: 2 years
JetBlue: 12 months
Southwest: 2 years
United: 18 months
USAir: 18 months

It’s also important to note that, even though you can earn miles in many different ways, not all account activity is created equally… Indeed, my wife had recently earned a 250 mile bonus for participating in some sort of Delta survey, but it didn’t reset her mileage expiration clock. It’s also worth noting that, even if you don’t have enough miles for a trip, most airlines allow you to redeem your miles for non-travel rewards, such as magazine subscriptions.

Alternatively, there are a lot of frequent flyer credit card signup bonuses out there waiting to be taken advantage of. These cards offer as many as 20,000 bonus miles just for signing up, and are thus really useful for jump-starting your account, or rounding out reward travel.

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Okay, I just have to get this off my chest… One of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to travelling is that the more a hotel costs, the less likely it is to have free internet access. When’s the last time you walked into a value hotel and were asked to pay $9.95/day for internet access? It’s just not that common. But jump up a few notches in price and the likelihood of having to pay for your access jumps up accordingly. I have a good idea why this is — high end hotels attract more business travellers, and they can simply put it on their expense account — but it still bugs the crap out of me.

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As a followup to my previous posts that talked about cashing in on business credit card signup bonuses and taking advantage of 0% balance transfer offers, I thought I’d highlight the bonus miles promotions that I’ve run across when looking at frequent flyer credit cards. While miles aren’t necessarily as flexible as cash, these bonuses can be a great way of jump starting your frequent flyer account, or rounding out a ticket or upgrade.

Without further ado, here’s the list…

Discover Miles Card

Airline: Good for any airline
Bonus Points/Miles: 12k
Annual Fee: $0
Notes: n/a

Discover Escape Card

Airline: Good for any airline
Bonus Points/Miles: 25k
Annual Fee: $60
Notes: n/a

Citi PremierPass Card – Elite Level

Airline: Good for any airline
Bonus Miles: 20k after $600 in purchases w/in 1st 3 mos
Annual Fee: $75
Notes: n/a

Platinum Delta SkyMiles from AmEx

Airline: Delta
Bonus Miles: 25k
Annual Fee: $150 ($95 if you already have an AmEx charge card)
Notes: n/a

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We’re looking for a nice family-type vacation spot along the Florida panhandle that would be suitable for a 3-5 day trip in mid-February. Does anyone have any recommendations? We’re looking for both general information (cities and whatnot) as well as specific information (e.g., hotel/resort recommendations and things to do). Please don’t be shy…

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A couple weeks ago, I ran across a post over at MyTwoDollars that clued me in to the possibility that our frequent flyer might be expiring at the end of the year. I pointed to this in one of my Weekly Roundups, but have since decided that it’s worth a post of its own…

When David mentioned concerns about Delta SkyMiles in particular, alarm bells went off in my head. My wife and I used to travel Delta fairly regularly, and we both have a decent stockpile of miles. I’ve actually been travelling with Delta regularly, and so I wasn’t too worried about my own miles. But my wife travels has been travelling less in recent years, and hasn’t used Delta in quite some time — the expiration date gets pushed back everytime you fly with them. So what did I learn when I logged in to check? Well, my miles are safe, but my wife’s are set to expire on 12/31/06.

If you find yourself in the same boat, what can you do? I’d like to say that you can just earn miles in whatever way possible and you’ll be okay, but that may not be the case… Back in November, my wife earned 250 bonus miles by completing a Delta survey, but that sort of activity doesn’t seem to reset the clock.

According to David, one possibility is to call Delta and buy more miles — $29.95 for 1000 miles. The other possibility is to redeem an award ticket for some future date, and then either take the trip or change the dates at some point in the future. In this case, there would be a $50 fee to change the ticket later. The other problem for us is that my wife is just shy of the 25k miles required for a flight.

The bottom line here is that it looks like we’ll be buying the miles. Our only other clear option is to let my wife’s miles expire. However, I value frequent flyer miles at about $0.01 apiece, so letting over $200 slip away just to save $29.95 would be penny wise, but pound foolish in my book.

In response to my previous post, a commenter named Savvy Steward chimed in to suggest that you enroll a credit card in the SkyMiles Reward Network and then buy something (perhaps a drink or a meal?) at a participating merchant. The problem is, there’s only a week to get this sorted out, and I can’t vouch for this approach, as I’ve never tried it.

Another possibility would be to spend your miles on magazine subscriptions — obviously, this won’t work if you’ve got a ton of miles.

Finally, I’m not sure how charges on something like the Delta SkyMiles Amex card affect the expiration date, but I’d hope that that sort of activity would be enough to reset the clock…

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Related Articles at fivecentnickel.com:

» From the Archives (December 16th – December 22nd)
» Get Free SkyMiles from Delta
» Use ‘Em or Lose ‘Em: Frequent Flyer Programs Accelarate Expirations
» Updated List of Free Credit Card Mile Promotions
» Free Bonus Miles for Applying for Frequent Flyer Credit Cards (Updated!)
» Weekly Roundup – 12/08/06
» Discover Escape Travel Rewards Credit Card
» Weekly Roundup – 02/16/07

If you travel internationally, you’d better listen up… In just a couple of months, you’ll have to present a passport when arriving in the United States from North, Central, or South America as well as the Carribean (and Bermuda). Previously, U.S. and Canadian citizens were allowed to enter the U.S. from select countries if they presented a birth certificate or driver’s license, and some Mexicans could enter without a passport if they had a special border crossing card. But as of January 23, 2007 that will be history.

The good news is that you can actually get a passport reasonably quickly (I’ve talked about applying for a passport in the past), although I wouldn’t delay if I were you… This policy change may well prompt a lot of people to go out and apply for a passport, and thus there could be an increase in applications, possibly resulting in delays.

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Related Articles at fivecentnickel.com:

» From the Archives (November 25th – December 1st)
» Applying for a Passport
» Are You a Registered Traveler?
» How Much International Exposure Should Your Portfolio Have?
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» Save on Travel: The Most Expensive Airports
» Reconsidering Our Asset Allocation
» Citi to Remove Automatic Travel Insurance

I’ve recently been travelling by air a good bit more than I used to, and I’m in the market for a good pair of noise-cancelling headphones to go along with my iPod. I’m more interested in quality/performance over price, although I don’t want to break the bank, either. Obviously, Bose is a well known company in this market, but I’m wondering about others… Perhaps Sennheiser?

Does anyone have any experience with these or others?

Beyond company reputations, can anyone recommend a specific model?

Thanks.

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How’s this for enterprising? In case you haven’t heard, you can once again brings small containers of liquids and gels through airport security as long as you put the containers in a clear plastic bag. Well, while I was going through security this morning at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta, I noticed that a steady stream of people heading from the security table (set up at the entrance to screening area) over to a nearby shop. As it turns out, these people hadn’t brought plastic bags for their stuff, and an enterprising shop owner was selling small Zip-Locs for $0.50 apiece. Mix in a captive audience, and you’re talk about a very high margin business… You can buy a box of 100 bags for a couple of bucks (retail), and then turn around and sell them for fifty bucks! He was probably taking in more on bag sales than on all other sales combined.

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» Are You a Registered Traveler?
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I travel off and on for work-related conferences and meetings, and to date my travel to date has been entirely domestic. That being said, it’s not likely that I’ll be presented with the opportunity to travel overseas in the near future. Thus, I thought it was high time to get myself a passport. That’s right, I’m 35 years old, and I’ve never had a passport. In fact, I’ve never been anywhere outside the country except for Canada, Mexico, and a few random stops on a Caribbean cruise. While I’ve been meaning to get a passport for a couple of years now, I’ve never managed to just go do it. But other day I finally pulled the trigger.

The main reason I got off my butt and took care of this was that I needed to get a new ID card for work, and was presented with the opportunity to get passport photos for eight bucks at the same time. I jumped at the opportunity, headed back to my office to download and print the passport application forms (available from the State Department web site), and then headed to the Post Office a couple of days later to turn in the paperwork. Since this was a new passport application, I actually had to apply in person — depending on the circumstances, you can often renew your passport by mail.

The only real gotcha for getting a passport is that you need positive identification and some sort of proof of citizenship. In my case, this was certified copy of my birth certificate (complete with a raised seal). I nearly forgot this, but managed to show up at the Post Office with everything that I needed. The application process was totally painless. There’s a spot on the application where you need to sign in front of the clerk (so be sure not sign it before you show up).

In terms of cost, I wrote a $67 check to the US Department of State, and paid an additional $30 to the Postmaster for the privilege of applying at the Post Office. The most surprising thing to me was that they kept my birth certificate. Apparently this has to go in with the application (they must not trust the clerks) and it will be returned to me with my passport. The most disconcerting thing about this is that I won’t have a certified copy of my birth certificate for the next six to eight weeks. It’s not like I use it all that often, but I still don’t like having it out of my possession. To be fair, I could’ve paid an additional $60 for ‘rush’ service, in which case I would’ve received my passport within 15 days, but it just didn’t seem worth it.

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Related Articles at fivecentnickel.com:

» New Passport Requirements for International Travel
» From the Archives (November 25th – December 1st)
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A couple of weeks ago we stayed in a Hampton Inn on the way from our old house to our new house. We got in late and crashed immediately. The next morning when we awoke, I decided to hop on the free wireless internet to check my e-mail, read a bit of news, and check hotel prices at the next stop along the way. Much to my chagrin, it was down. I’ve stayed at that particular hotel in the past and have sometimes had a tough time picking up a signal in the room, but the connection itself has always been great.

When we (and by we, I mostly mean my wife) got the kids dressed and headed down for breakfast, I stopped by the front desk and mentioned to the clerk that the internet was down. He replied that he was aware of the problem, and that hopefully they’d have it back up later in the day. Having been deprived of my morning internet, I was a bit grumpy, and replied that later in the day wouldn’t help us much as we were headed out within the hour.

His response? “Would you like your room for free? I’d be happy to take care of that for you.”

I responded that a free room seemed a bit excessive, as everything but the internet had been great. But he persisted. “No really, it’s not a problem. Let me just take care of that for you.” And so he did.

While the room had started off at something like $119/night (plus astronomical taxes), we walked out without paying a dime. Not only had we slept perfectly well, but we also took advantage of their complimentary breakfast (for six, no less). To be honest, it felt kind of slimy, as if I had somehow pulled on over on them. As it turns out, this is just business as usual for Hampton Inn, where they promise:

Friendly service, clean rooms, comfortable surroundings, every time.
If you’re not satisfied, we don’t expect you to pay.
That’s our commitment and your guarantee. That’s 100% Hampton.™

I’ve always felt that every little snafu is actually a tremendous opportunity for a company to win over a customer. In this case, it definitely worked. Not only am I now a huge fan of Hampton Inn, but I’m also singing their praises publicly.

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Related Articles at fivecentnickel.com:

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While on our way to and from our recent Disney World vacation, we found out just how handy 1-800-FREE-411 can be. On the way down to Orlando, we realized that we had forgotten a few things (including our one year old’s shoes). Thus, we needed to find a convenient place to shop along the way. Free 411 to the rescue! We got the number for a Wal-Mart in the next town, called ‘em up to get directions, and then stopped in for a quick shopping trip. Then, on the way back, the DC power input on our portable TV/DVD combo died. Once again, Free 411 saved the day. We called ahead to find a convenient Radio Shack, then stopped in and picked up a power inverter so we could run the TV off the standard wall plug. Bip, bop, bam. We were back on the road in a few minutes, and the kids were able to enjoy movies for the duration of the trip.

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We recently spent the better part of a week on vacation at Disney World, and I thought that I’d write a few words about how we got a ‘discount’ on our park tickets. First off, I should say that Disney is pretty stingy when it comes to getting a ‘deal’ on park admission — people will pretty much pay what they’re asking when it comes to ticket prices, and they know it (although they do offer an advance purchase discount on certain tickets). But if you vacation there fairly regularly, you can create your own deal by buying a multi-day pass and splitting it across trips. Here’s how it works…

Disney World offers what they call ‘Magic Your Way’ tickets that vary in terms of both duration and options. The price per day is on a sliding scale, such that you pay progressively less for each day that you purchase. You can then ‘upgrade’ your tickets to include things like Park Hopper privileges, as well as a non-expiring option. Park Hopper refers the ability to go in and out of any of their parks each day, rather than being restricted to just one. Thus, you can visit the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, the Animal Kingdom, and MGM Studios all in the same day. And the non-expiring option means just that — you can spread the days on your pass over as much time as you wish, rather than having your tickets expire two weeks after your first use. You can also add access to their water parks, Pleasure Island (their night club complex), etc. if that’s your thing. So how do you make your own discount? Simple. Just buy enough days for two visits and add the non-expiring option. As I said above, this really only works if you’re a semi-regular visitor. But if you are, you can save a bundle. Just don’t lose your tickets! (Actually, you can get replacements as long as you save the pertinent paperwork.)

In our case, I’ve long since realized that we fall into the ‘frequent Disney World visitor’ category (it doesn’t hurt that we’re within a day’s drive), so we went ahead and purchased eight day passes such that we can make two four day visits. All in all, we saved around $300 as compared to buying two separate four day tickets without the non-expiration option for each person (note that we have a pretty big family, so you might not save as much if you do this yourself). We also locked in the current price, so our savings might end up being a bit higher if Disney bumps ticket prices up in the next year (and they almost certainly will). Yes, we could be earning interest on the money that we put toward our next visit. But there’s no way we’d come anywhere near earning $300 on this amount in the next year, so buying the longer-term tickets and stashing them in our safe deposit box in between trips really was a no-brainer.

Oh, and for those of you thinking about buying a longer-term ticket, using part of it, and then selling the remaining days to cover a portion of your vacation expenses, think again. They now use a biometric hand-reader-thingy at the gate to make sure you’re using your own ticket.

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Related Articles at fivecentnickel.com:

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Every month we get a packet of coupons in the mail. You know the type… It comes complete with coupons/ads for carpet cleaning, check printing, oil changes, handyman services, local restaurants, and more. And almost without fail it includes a discount certificate for air travel on a major US airline. One day awhile back I noticed that people were selling these on eBay so, curious guy that I am, I slapped together an ad and threw one up for auction. Well, the auction ended and I cleared about $15. So now I’ve gotten into a silly little habit of selling one of these every month when that coupon packet show up in the mail. I know, I know… Just like the Credit Protector rebate coupons, this hardly seems like it’s worth the effort. But it has sort of turned into a game for me and, like I’ve said before, stuff like this amuses me (yes, I’m easily amused). Besides, now that I have the ad written, it literally takes about 2-3 minutes to put up the auction, and another 2-3 minutes to send off the discount code to the winning bidder when all is said and done. And $15 for five minutes of ‘work’ isn’t too bad.

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Related Articles at fivecentnickel.com:

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Just a quick tip that I was reminded of when traveling recently… Car rental agencies do their best to push their overpriced insurance on you when you’re standing at the rental counter. Be prepared for their sales pitch by checking whether or not your own policy extends to rentals. In our case, it does. As long as we’re driving the rental in place of our own car (like when on vacation) then it’s covered.

If you’re going to be paying with a credit card, you should also check into what sort of coverage the card provides. In some cases credit cards provide secondary coverage that picks up where your own leaves off, thereby paying your deductible. In other cases, a credit card will cover the whole shebang. If you check with both your insurance agent and your credit card company before you depart, you’ll be able to make an informed decision and your savings could be substantial.

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Related Articles at fivecentnickel.com:

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» The Hidden Costs of Renting a Car
» Planning a Family Vacation Without Breaking the Bank
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