Tips for cheap travel abroad

[BehindBlueI's]

Interesting thing I noticed, not sure if other airlines are the same or not but when using American Airline miles check both booking round trip *AND* booking the trip as two separate one way trips. IND->Madrid in premium economy was nearly 50k miles less to book separate using the exact same dates. No idea why.

AA has also gotten more friendly about showing the cheapest dates per class for each month. You still have to sort manually to see which ones don't suck, but you can at least filter by number of stops.

 

[JettaKnight]

For anyone who's interested in Portugal, TAP has tickets in early December in the $300-$320 range for round trip from Chicago on certain dates. Premium economy is $1000 on the same dates. TAP doesn't fly every day, so look at the calendar. Direct flight ORD -> Lisbon. Premium economy on TAP is pretty nice, including one of the better airline meals I've had second only to Royal Jordanian.

We've been twice now, and preferred December over April (though both trips were great). Less crowds, perfectly pleasant weather, and everything non-beach related is still open. If you want to see the Algarve regions' sea caves from the inside, then December may not be for you due to rough seas making most tours close down.

Unsure if we'll take advantage of this one or not, but figured I'd throw it out for those who were interested.

You know (well, you didn't, till now) my brother has an apartment in Lisbon...

We've been eschewing it, because it wasn't behind the Iron Curtain (kind of our little travel schtick), but maybe we should...

Under $300 for a direct flight from ORD -> LIS ... now I know why he got that apartment!

 

[BehindBlueI's]

You know (well, you didn't, till now) my brother has an apartment in Lisbon...

We've been eschewing it, because it wasn't behind the Iron Curtain (kind of our little travel schtick), but maybe we should...

Under $300 for a direct flight from ORD -> LIS ... now I know why he got that apartment!

You can probably tell, we really like Portugal. Lisbon wouldn't be my first choice to live in, but it's absolutely worth a visit or two or three. We really fell in love with Porto this last trip and, while I don't know we'd ever want to live there permanently, we're definitely planning to do a several month stay there when I'm retired. It's easier to love a place for a week at a time, and I'm sure there's things that would annoy me there in time, but it's just so much more *relaxed*.

 

[chipbennett]

Interesting thing I noticed, not sure if other airlines are the same or not but when using American Airline miles check both booking round trip *AND* booking the trip as two separate one way trips. IND->Madrid in premium economy was nearly 50k miles less to book separate using the exact same dates. No idea why.

AA has also gotten more friendly about showing the cheapest dates per class for each month. You still have to sort manually to see which ones don't suck, but you can at least filter by number of stops.

A lot of the discount round-trip airfare rates have specific rules around them: day of the week for the outbound and return legs, number of days between each, etc. Booking one-way both ways should theoretically be more expensive for the same trip booked round-trip, but with the fare rules, that isn't always the case.

 

[Ingomike]

A lot of the discount round-trip airfare rates have specific rules around them: day of the week for the outbound and return legs, number of days between each, etc. Booking one-way both ways should theoretically be more expensive for the same trip booked round-trip, but with the fare rules, that isn't always the case.

Had a buddy that was flying to Chicago every Saturday morning and flying back each Saturday evening for his MBA classes. He bought round trip tickets months in advance with a return weeks later. So he used a ticket on a Saturday, its return a few weeks later, and the retu from a few weeks back to go home that day. It saved a lot of money…

 

[BehindBlueI's]

A lot of the discount round-trip airfare rates have specific rules around them: day of the week for the outbound and return legs, number of days between each, etc. Booking one-way both ways should theoretically be more expensive for the same trip booked round-trip, but with the fare rules, that isn't always the case.

I've never seen it cheaper to book one ways with real money.

Miles booking, I'm seeing it's never more expensive with AA, it's either same or cheaper to book multiple one ways.

No idea with other airlines, as mentioned, I only have enough miles with AA to bother with.

 

[JettaKnight]

You can probably tell, we really like Portugal. Lisbon wouldn't be my first choice to live in, but it's absolutely worth a visit or two or three. We really fell in love with Porto this last trip and, while I don't know we'd ever want to live there permanently, we're definitely planning to do a several month stay there when I'm retired. It's easier to love a place for a week at a time, and I'm sure there's things that would annoy me there in time, but it's just so much more *relaxed*.

I should have wrote my brother has a vacation apartment.

And yeah, it was broke into soon after he got it.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

I should have wrote my brother has a vacation apartment.

And yeah, it was broke into soon after he got it.

Does he AirBnB it when he's not using it? Depending on when he got in on it, that's probably a money maker.

 

[JettaKnight]

Does he AirBnB it when he's not using it? Depending on when he got in on it, that's probably a money maker.

The laws prevent him from doing that, so it mostly sits empty or with friends.

I did have a friend tell me about some other network that lets you skirt around anti-airbnb laws for now.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

American Airline Miles opportunities currently a simplymiles.com:

Spend $5 or more on a Kindle book at Amazon, 230 miles . Can only be redeemed once, must use by 05/31. I bought the 2nd book in a series I'm reading since I would buy it later anyway, already had the miles hit a few days later.

*IF* you use Kroger delivery anyway, 465 miles with a delivery order of $50 or more. I don't know what Kroger charges for delivery fees so make your own mind up if it's worth it or not.

Fry's electronics 465 miles with $50 purchase on their website, can be used 4 times. I don't need anything at the moment, but that's a solid kickback if I did.

Total of 166 offers currently, just scroll through and see what you would be buying anyway and tack on some bonus miles for your shopping. Note that simplymiles requires you to enter your credit card info so they can verify your purchase, but you still get your credit card rewards as well.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Bad news: 18 year old Fridgidaire is on it's way out, running constantly and barely keeping food cool. Freezer can't keep ice frozen.

Good news: Couldn't have happened at a better time of year, given Memorial Day sales. Ordered a new fridge direct from Samsung, $200 cheaper than Costco on the same fridge, then $100 discount with a code for having a Samsung account, then 10,500 American Airline miles for using the AAdvantage shopping portal.

Meh news: 2 week delivery time. Luckily we have a chest freezer and don't have a lot in the fridge at the moment, so should be ok in the meantime.

 

[firecadet613]

Here's a domestic travel tip.

If you fly Southwest, ALWAYS check a bag (even a cooler).

We bought a cooler when we landed in Bozeman for our Yellowstone trip, with the plans to leave it at the hotel for someone else to use. I ended up really liking this $20 Igloo cooler (it's a perfect size) so why not check it for free on the flight home!

Ground stops in Denver caused many delays and our flight from Bozeman landed after the flight to Indy started to board. We made the plane, the cooler did not.

We arrived in Indy at 2am, just 30 minutes late. Not bad, but it meant out total travel time from BZN to IND was only 3:59! The cooler arrived at 10am on the next flight and I was given the option of them delivering my "checked bag" or picking it up. Picking it up myself meant I got a $200 travel voucher.

Talk about a great ROI. This little red cooler is my new travel buddy and will be checked on every Southwest flight I take from here on out!

 

[WebSnyper]

Bad news: 18 year old Fridgidaire is on it's way out, running constantly and barely keeping food cool. Freezer can't keep ice frozen.

Good news: Couldn't have happened at a better time of year, given Memorial Day sales. Ordered a new fridge direct from Samsung, $200 cheaper than Costco on the same fridge, then $100 discount with a code for having a Samsung account, then 10,500 American Airline miles for using the AAdvantage shopping portal.

Meh news: 2 week delivery time. Luckily we have a chest freezer and don't have a lot in the fridge at the moment, so should be ok in the meantime.

Need an update. Get that fridge yet? Need to borrow Firecadet's cooler or all good?

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Need an update. Get that fridge yet? Need to borrow Firecadet's cooler or all good?

Got it on the 6th. It's a big upgrade, other than the silliness of needing an app to adjust the temperature. I will say that it alerted me when my son was at our house and didn't get the door closed all the way. I was in Cincinnati at the time, so there's that. French door with glass panels instead of steel, and hidden handles so easy to keep clean. Hopefully durability is good, this particular model gets really good reviews and I watched YouTubes where a repairman disassembles appliances and talks about the quality and potential weak points of various models. He didn't rate it the best, he liked GE for the same money, but still said it was good.

On the travel side, I got my miles for it yesterday, which pushed me into Gold for next year, meaning it'll be very easy to requalify for Platinum again by next March 31st (with AA, for those who haven't followed the whole thread).

Planning a trip to Badlands Nat'l Park and other attractions in the area, but it will be a driving trip.

 

[WebSnyper]

Got it on the 6th. It's a big upgrade, other than the silliness of needing an app to adjust the temperature. I will say that it alerted me when my son was at our house and didn't get the door closed all the way. I was in Cincinnati at the time, so there's that. French door with glass panels instead of steel, and hidden handles so easy to keep clean. Hopefully durability is good, this particular model gets really good reviews and I watched YouTubes where a repairman disassembles appliances and talks about the quality and potential weak points of various models. He didn't rate it the best, he liked GE for the same money, but still said it was good.

On the travel side, I got my miles for it yesterday, which pushed me into Gold for next year, meaning it'll be very easy to requalify for Platinum again by next March 31st (with AA, for those who haven't followed the whole thread).

Planning a trip to Badlands Nat'l Park and other attractions in the area, but it will be a driving trip.

Glad to hear it.

I like the ability to have an app and notifications, etc, but I dislike it when they don't even include the ability from the device itself to do the simplest configs such as set a temp (which is about as basic as it gets for a fridge).

 

[BehindBlueI's]

@Frank_N_Stein @DDadams

Any advice on a trip to Athens, particularly in December? It looks like Christmas markets and festivities begin Dec 6. Is a week too much for staying every night in Athens? Looking at a nice Airbnb with an Acropolis view at it's cheap AF for a week long stay. Hotels don't look bad in December either, like half the price of October.

If staying near the Agora, I'm figuring no car needed? Metro from the airport, as we do the 'backpack only' thing when we travel abroad and don't have to lug along suitcases.

Anyone else with experience is welcome to chime in, I just know Frank has experience and recall DDadams said he was Greek at one point.

 

[vulindlela]

@Frank_N_Stein @DDadams

Any advice on a trip to Athens, particularly in December? It looks like Christmas markets and festivities begin Dec 6. Is a week too much for staying every night in Athens? Looking at a nice Airbnb with an Acropolis view at it's cheap AF for a week long stay. Hotels don't look bad in December either, like half the price of October.

If staying near the Agora, I'm figuring no car needed? Metro from the airport, as we do the 'backpack only' thing when we travel abroad and don't have to lug along suitcases.

Anyone else with experience is welcome to chime in, I just know Frank has experience and recall DDadams said he was Greek at one point.

One of our favorite places!
We travel light as well, and took the metro from the airport to the city. We exited at the Syntagma station and it was maybe 10-15 minutes walk to our hotel.
This was the view from our hotel room.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Delta is doing targeted ads for their co-branded Am-Ex. Using different devices, I've gotten offers from $250 to $500 statement credit for my next flight +40k miles if I hit $3k spend in 6 months. Do *not* just sign up for the card or you won't get the statement credit offer, go through the process of booking a flight and it'll show before you check out. No annual fee the first year, so free money.

Unsure if best play is for both me and my wife to open one for upcoming trip, take the cash (she's only seeing $400 offer) and not worry about minimum spend on both for miles or me open it for this one and get the miles, cancel it at 11 months, and then let her get one hoping the cash offer is still there.

Delta flyers, is 40k miles enough to be concerned with? I can do a status match with AA and get Gold for 3 months if that helps.

 

[chipbennett]

Delta is doing targeted ads for their co-branded Am-Ex. Using different devices, I've gotten offers from $250 to $500 statement credit for my next flight +40k miles if I hit $3k spend in 6 months. Do *not* just sign up for the card or you won't get the statement credit offer, go through the process of booking a flight and it'll show before you check out. No annual fee the first year, so free money.

Unsure if best play is for both me and my wife to open one for upcoming trip, take the cash (she's only seeing $400 offer) and not worry about minimum spend on both for miles or me open it for this one and get the miles, cancel it at 11 months, and then let her get one hoping the cash offer is still there.

Delta flyers, is 40k miles enough to be concerned with? I can do a status match with AA and get Gold for 3 months if that helps.

Which co-branded card: Reserve, Platinum, or Gold?

40K miles might get you a single, round-trip ticket. Current redemption rates are about 1.3 cents per mile (and you get a 15% miles discount if you hold the co-branded card, so, maybe 1.5 cents per mile).

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Which co-branded card: Reserve, Platinum, or Gold?

40K miles might get you a single, round-trip ticket. Current redemption rates are about 1.3 cents per mile (and you get a 15% miles discount if you hold the co-branded card, so, maybe 1.5 cents per mile).

Gold, no annual fee first year.