Traveling is a popular New Year’s resolution—more than 30% of U.S. adults who set goals include a travel-related resolution each year. During this Meetup Live recording, we’re talking about ways to make travel more accessible and affordable. Discover how to cross world destinations off your bucket list for free (or almost free) using these essential travel hacks.
Watch this Meetup Live with Paul Welden, organizer of the Travel Hacking & Ways to Travel for Free (or very cheaply) Meetup group, to learn tips on how to travel smarter in 2023. You will leave knowing how to find the best rates on rental cars, score deals on lodging, and learn to redeem and earn travel miles efficiently.
Timestamps:
Top Q&A Questions and Resources and Travel Hacks:
- How do you save on baggage and other fees which sometimes cost as much as the airfare?
- The best way to save on baggage fees is through airline-specific credit cards. For example, if you have an American Airlines credit card the baggage is free. You don’t even have to use the credit card but as long as you have it, you’ll get free baggage. Sometimes you also get free wi-fi, or discounts as well, so the best way is through certain travel credit cards. Some of these credit cards have an annual fee, but if you’re traveling multiple times a year and you’re always checking a bag, that annual fee can pay for itself by getting all that free luggage.
- Cheap flights are usually not changeable once purchased, so what are some tips if there is an unexpected need to change or cancel?
- Trip insurance will help with this. If you are using a credit card that has trip insurance built into it, you can cancel anytime and get your money back, otherwise buy trip insurance. You can go to insuremytrip.com, or you can go to other trip insurance websites, and you can buy trip insurance for that specific itinerary. If you buy the insurance within a certain period of time before your flight you can get a provision on your insurance policy to cancel for any reason. Sometimes the airlines will sell it to you as well, but it tends to be a little bit more expensive, and not as comprehensive.
- What are some tips for booking rental cars to ensure that the rental car service won’t say “they’re out of cars” when you arrive?
- One travel hack is to book through National Rental Car. They generally tend to be one of the most expensive rental agencies, but with one of my American Express credit cards, I get their free platinum access so as long as I book a mid-size or larger vehicle, they will absolutely guarantee that rental car. If you can’t do that, then I would book through multiple agencies and hope for the best. Even if you prepay you’re still not guaranteed that the rental card is going to be there which is unfortunate.
Resources:
- Meetup Group Travel Hacking & Ways to Travel for Free (or very cheaply)
- Trusted Housesitters
- Rakuten
- TopCashBack
- Scotts Cheap Flights
- Airbnb
Last modified on November 29, 2023
