Focus: FUN!! - Cheap Travel During A Pandemic
Tools, tips and tricks on how to travel the world on a budget!
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Wanna Get Away?
Photo by Sebastian Herrmann on Unsplash
We’ve spent a lot of time talking about budgets and exercise and getting on the same page with your significant other and discovering your purpose. That’s a lot of work! Let’s just have some FUN this week! Ya wanna? Let’s talk about exploring the world! Too expensive for you in retirement? Think again!
Discount Deals!
You guys, I’m going to the Maldives! And Phuket and Greece, too! And I’m doing it for a fraction of the usual cost. The deals are good through the end of 2023, there are no blackout dates and I can cancel or refund at any time with no penalties. How? This is the ONE place where the pandemic can actually be your friend! There are great, fully refundable or fully changeable-without-fees deals out there right now because the world is an uncertain place. Take advantage of it while you can! UTO has an amazing one right now that is 8 days in China for $299 per person and you can reschedule any time through 2023 without penalty. Seriously?? Yes! Seriously!
My favorite discount travel site is Travelzoo. I’ve used them a lot and they are really good to work with. They are very responsive and there are no “gotchas.” At the height of the pandemic, they were offering up to 75% off travel. They’re down to most deals being 50% off, but many are still good for 18 months without blackout dates and most are either fully refundable or you can reschedule any time without penalty. How about Bali for 2 for 5 nights at a 5-star Hyatt resort for $795 total including daily breakfast, daily cocktails and airport transfers? It’s good any time through March of 2023 and is fully refundable any time up until then if you don’t travel. Want to go exotic with a 7 night Peru with Machu Picchu tour with air for $999 per person fully refundable? It’s about $1600 off similar tours. Or is Europe more your thing? Try Barcelona for 4 nights including daily breakfast and one 7-course dinner for 2 with wine for $295 per person. It’s fully refundable through March 2022. Go out to Travelzoo and play around and see what you find! Seriously, you guys, as the pandemic wanes and the uncertainty of travel starts to subside, these deals will go away. They’re already limited in the US (though there are still some great ones) and they’re starting to be less eye-popping elsewhere, too. Get ‘em now! What do you have to lose? Just refund them if your travel eyes were bigger than your stomach.
How do I get there?
Many of the Travelzoo deals are land only. You have to find a way to get there. How can you do that without breaking the bank? I love Matt’s flights. He scours the airline sites for super deals that anyone can book. If you just don’t have time or patience to do daily searches of airline deals, he’ll do it for you for free! Just sign up for his emails. He also has a premium offer for $97 per year where he’ll get you deals that aren’t available to just anyone. I haven’t tried that option yet, but I might.
Use your groceries to travel to Bali!
Still too expensive? Looking for free flights? Points cards are an excellent option. You buy stuff anyway, why not use that certainty to fly to Bali or at least get some money off the tickets? There are three types of credit cards that you can use to accumulate points. The first is Airline Miles cards. These are cards that are dedicated to a specific airline. If you fly United a lot because you belong to their frequent flyer club, it might make sense to get a United credit card, as well. You will likely only be able to use the points on United, but that might be OK with you and their points add up quickly because they give you 2 points for every dollar spent vs many bank credit cards that are 1 point for every dollar spent. The second type of credit card is a Hotel Points card. These work very similarly to airline points cards, but they are dedicated to a specific hotel chain. If you have a favorite chain, this could work well for you. Finally, there are Transferrable credit card points. These are usually bank credit cards and their points can be used on many airlines and other travel purchases. They are the most flexible, but sometimes do not offer the best rewards. My friend swears by her Wells Fargo points card. Her husband knows to put all of his purchases on the credit card or else! :-) She accumulates one point for each dollar she spends that she can spend on lots of things, but she chooses travel. She pays off her card every month so she’s essentially getting free air travel! If you’d like a comprehensive list of cards that offer good rewards for travel, The Points Guy has you covered. Here’s his list of the best along with features and pros/cons so you can compare. If you’re looking for a credit card with no annual fee and good travel rewards, check out the Nerd Wallet’s list.
Forget the discount. You want FREE travel!
You can totally travel for free if you are willing to put a little work into it. And I mean travel YOUR way. Do you like international travel? Maybe a little cabin in the woods in Colorado? How about a road trip across the US? All of those are possible to do for free.
In my next Focus on FUN newsletter in August we’ll talk about options for free travel including volunteer vacations, house swaps, house sitting, vacation rental swaps and even “AirBnB’ing” your RV to earn enough to pay for the ride and your trip across the country! If you want to get a jump on any of those options, check out the Further Reading section below, but I’ll break it all down for you in August.
Actions to Build Confidence
Tiny: Go find a hotel to book for the weekend on Travelzoo or a unique home rental on AirBnB! I’m sure there’s one in a great town near you!
Bold: Sign up for a points card and start spending! Of course, pay off your balance at the end of the month, but start researching how many points you need to get your first free ticket!
Audacious: Book Bali, because… why not?? It’s fully refundable if something comes up and you can’t travel in the next 18 months.
More Reading
Can’t get enough? Here are some resources to make your travel more affordable or to go for FREE!
Airfare Watchdog has an awesome blog. They have everything from the best Amazon Prime deals for travelers to hidden travel fees you may miss. If you want even more deals, here’s a post on Priceline hacks to get 50% off premium domestic hotels.
You want free travel? I’ve got you covered! Here’s a site for home swaps. Here’s a site for house sitting. Here’s a site for RV sharing and here’s a site for volunteer vacations. You can stay for free (or have your costs covered by rental fees) with each of these options, but each comes with some responsibilities and/or specific risks. I’ll go into depth on pros/cons and what to know on each of them in August.
Want to do a little more research before you decide if a travel reward credit card is a good fit for you? Here’s an awesome article for beginners. It takes you through the types of cards and then gives you a ton of links and things to look for in the various offers.
Next Week’s Focus: Wellness
I want to put you on a diet - but don’t panic. You can eat exactly as you do today. Sound intriguing?
Have travel secrets to share? Please do in the comments!
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