Money Tips from a Travel Blogger

I've been a travel blogger for more than 15 years and this year was a major travel year for me. I'm always either packing for a trip, unpacking from a trip, or planning the next one.

Through all of this craziness, I've learned a bit about how to prioritize certain things in travel to get the best deals. One thing I practice is how I allocate my spending. If you have something that is a huge priority for you spending-wise, that doesn't have to be a problem.

It's different for every person - some people like crafts, nice cars, designer clothes, having a house with the granite countertops and all the fancy stuff, or going to concerts, etc.

Whatever your preferred indulgence is, you need to cut back your spending in other ways to make room for your "thing". In order to facilitate my travel habit, I'm willing to drive a junky car, have an older cell phone, forego remodeling projects in our home, etc.

I guess what I'm saying is that you can have ANYTHING, but you can't have EVERYTHING. It boils down to being firm in your priorities and allocating your money effectively.

Travel Agent - Not if You Want a Deal

I'll be honest, I really LOVE acting as my own travel agent. It's kind of fun for me to research a trip, find the most fun things to do, and dig up the best deals. But I'll be honest, it does take me HOURS and some people don't enjoy it like I do.

We've used a travel agent maybe TWICE, and while you don't have to pay them a fee, they definitely are NOT going to steer you towards the best deals. They are going to send you to their travel partners because they get paid a nice juicy commission to do so, which means that you are definitely paying a higher price than if you book on your own.

Here's a fun tip - try using AI to help you plan a vacation. I did that for our trip to Ireland and Scotland last year, and it was very helpful. Read more about it HERE.

Flights - The Big Ticket Item

In most cases, your airfare is going to be your most expensive item (unless you are taking a road trip). I've gotten REALLY good at finding cheap flights lately. Just this year, I scored a trip to the Big Island of Hawaii for $211 each (wowza!), and a Bahamas trip for 28K Skymiles and $200 bucks (that was a rare deal from Delta). We also managed about a half-priced trip to DC - $449 instead of the usual $800-$1000.

One key to scoring deals like these is flexibility. Because we are retired, we have the flexibility to travel any day of the week and in each case, the deal was dependent on flying on a pre-set schedule. It's a bit harder if you're working or have kids and school schedules to deal with - that's why school holidays are WAY more expensive.

For the Bahamas trip, we didn't necessarily want to go to the Bahamas. We were originally thinking St. Thomas and an assortment of other St. islands nearby. And it was like a week prior to our actual 40th Anniversary, but we are the type to be flexible and take what comes along.

What did we want? A pretty island view, some nice snorkeling, good food, a few drinks with paper umbrellas, and some time together. We could just as easily do that on one island as another and after 40 years, does it really matter if we hit the exact date or not? Naaaaah - take the deal!

Another trick to getting good flight deals - learn how to use Google Flights. Usually, my oldest son and I sit down and spend about 45 minutes researching flights. You can specify particular airlines, skip airports with bad on-time reputations, pick different times of day, and see what the average flight prices are for your time frame.

Then when you've tinkered around and found a good deal, you can either go ahead and book OR you can set an alert on that flight. If the price goes lower (or higher) you'll get an Email immediately. I did that for my younger son's flight to Texas next month and I found like 4 lower priced flights, so we got him the best deal.

Another trick I use is a flight service. I actually have two that I use - Flights from Home and The Flight Deal. Each has a free plan, but it's worth the small annual fee to sign up for premium.

Flights from Home sends me 3-4 Emails per day for cheap flights specific to Salt Lake or Provo. That's how we got the DC flight - we had to fly from Provo which is 30 min away, but it was worth if for the deal we got, plus they only have four gates, so security took like 5 minutes! Flights from Home is available in some major cities, but I'm not sure which - The Flight Deal might be better for you.

Even if you only travel once in a while, I would definitely recommend a travel service. They spend all day long scouring the Internet for the cheapest flights - both US and Int'l. Well worth it, but you've got to be prepared to jump on a deal. They typically only last 24-48 hours.

Hotels - Your Next Big Ticket Item

Hotels can be extremely pricey, so you want to really take stock and figure out what is important to you. For us, we are very busy vacationers, so the hotel is just a place to sleep and shower. As long as it is comfortable and clean, we're fine with a mid-priced non-fancy hotel.

But for some people, staying in a four or five star hotel is a MUST. If that's your deal, then go for it and just allocate those funds in your travel budget.

I've used Hotels.com to book my hotels for years. I like that you can narrow it down to a specific neighborhood or price range, they give you very complete information, including maps of the surrounding area, and honest reviews from previous guests. Plus sticking with the same service earns some small rewards in the form of discounts or free nights.

What about Airbnb's? They used to be a great deal, and we just stayed at an Airbnb cabin last weekend that was very nice. But there are two drawbacks with Airbnb's. The fees are completely out of hand. Especially for a 2-3 night stay, they can price you out completely. So really read all the fine print.

The other issue is safety. Hotels are pretty safe - they are brightly lit, there are people around, they're typically in a fairly safe area, and it's easy get in and out with a programmed key.

Airbnb's though - none of those things. You know the sketchy areas to avoid in your own town, but in a strange town - who knows? And you don't know who might have access to steal your stuff when you're gone, or break in while you're sleeping. I don't think it's a huge problem, but it happens. Save money, but be safe!

Activities

It's no fun to go to a new place and just stare at the wall or just sit on a beach or something. When we go to a new place, we know we might not ever visit that place again, so we want to see EVERYTHING we possibly can.

Here are some fun and affordable things we like to do on just about every trip - Hop On Hop Off Buses are terrific in the larger cities. They're about $35-$40 usually and they'll run you around to just about every major attraction in a particular city. You can get on and off as many times as you like and another bus comes along in 15-20 min. We did a night one in DC that was particularly wonderful since we could get pictures of the monuments in the moonlight.

We also like to take a cooking class sometimes. We don't cook especially, but it's a fun way to meet people and get a sample of the local cuisine. Our class in Barcelona included a tour of the local farmer's market, so that was extra fun!

In Mazatlán, we did a pirate tour with our kids on a replica pirate ship. In Cancun, we did a walking tour or several restaurants and food trucks, so that was fun, and pretty affordable.

We generally use Viator to book these types of tours. They aren't cheap, but they are safe and we've always had a good time with them. Bonus option is that they will pick you up at your hotel in many cases, so it saves some money and confusion with trying to meet a van and driver somewhere.

Bonus Tip - Visually Plan Your Trip

This is a trick I learned from my son. Every time we are going on a trip, I make a little grid like this.

It's so handy to be able to visually plan out your activities for every day. You can put in set items like your flights, or your hotel check-ins, then you can arrange your activities easily to make sure you don't have days that are overbooked or days where you have nothing to do. It's also easy to see the days of the week, in case some places are closed on the weekend or on slower days of the week.

MORE Ways to Save Money

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Hope you found this helpful!