Okay so to be real, I have more money saving tricks than I can outline in a short episode. So what I’m going to do is just outline 2 main categories – air and accommodation.
Let’s start with air. There’s always that insider tip that Tuesdays are the cheapest day to book travel, in my experience that’s generally true, but that’s not to say I haven’t scored a deal on a Wednesday, or Thursday. Typically flight prices surge on the weekends. The cheapest round trip flight I’ve ever had, was roundtrip from Florida to Maryland, for $30. Yep, $15 each way. I flew Frontier Airline and only carried a backpack. I’ve been able to score dozens of stupid cheap flights like this from Frontier Air as well as Spirit Air. Now neither of these airlines most spacious of airlines and they do up-charge for everything. I tend to choose these providers when I don’t have a layover, if the flight is less than 5 hours in length, and I can compile everything I need into a backpack when it comes to luggage. There’s no such thing as free snacks on these flights, so bring your own or be prepared to pay. Frontier does allow free cups of water, but spirit charges for water.
If you’re staying longer, traveling further, want to bring more luggage or even just want more space – then check out Southwest. I have a Southwest Credit Card which has enabled me to gain points for every day purchases. With the 40,000 bonus points I received as a new cardmember, I was able to take no exaggeration, 8 roundtrip flights and 1 one way flights, and I still had 4,000 points left over from my initial bonus – not to mention I was continuously gaining points per purchase. Cashing in points for flights varies, sometimes the price point is 2,500 one way, and other times a one way is 16,000. I’ve noticed that it’s lower in point price, the further out you book. I do have a link on the mindbizlife.com website under MindBIzlife favorites, if you sign up for a Southwest Credit card using my link, we each get a bonus 10k miles!
Even If you don’t want the card, Southwest is still my airline of choice. You get to pick where you sit, you can cancel with a free refund up until a few hours before your flight, you can bring a personal item and a carry-on item without extra charge PLUS you get a snack and a drink. Southwest often has flight sales starting at $59 one way.
When you’re checking for flights, I like to use google.com/flights for convince. This doesn’t show Southwest flights, so you’ll need to check that independently – but I like to search for the flight that way, and then book through the airline’s website. This is solely a personal preference, I know others who like to use priceline, but I like going straight through the airline.
Okay – Accommodation.
There are TONS, I mean TONS of good websites for accommodation. But I’ve found value in choosing one that has a good rewards program, and sticking with it. My preferred choice for booking hotels, is hotels.com – that’s not to say I don’t price check on other sites, but for every 10th stay at a hotel, I earn a free night. And I know y’all know that I love free, so the rewards keep me loyal. Now I can pay for my hotel with my southwest credit cards and boom – double rewards! haha Hotels is also really awesome because some hotels have “Book Now, Pay Later” with Free Cancellation. Those are my keywords for booking anything. Pay Later, Free Cancellation. Why? Because That keeps my options flexible and I thrive on flexibility.
A few weeks ago this came in handy when we originally had a hotel booked for a trip, and then realized we could pay less and get more… with an AirBNB.
Which leads me into my next favorite… AirBNB! I’ve used Airbnb numerous times and i’ve personally have not had one single bad experience. My first Airbnb was during my stay in Bali – but I’ve also had stays within the states. Most of the ones I’ve been in, are not people’s every day homes, but income properties with more of a homey feel. When booking I pay attention to guest reviews, photos, and tend to lean towards homes vs. apartments or shared spaces.
I shared this tip before but if you miss it, when you sign up you get up to $55 to use towards your first stay. When you refer someone, you also get rewarded with up to $40. If you want $55 towards your first airbnb stay, head over to mindbizlife.com and check out the mindbizlife favorites, then click on the Airbnb icon.
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That’s all for today, I’ll see you next week and until then remember every level of life is an opportunity to grow. Be well my friend.
