WEBVTT - A Cornucopia of Budget Travel Tips #395 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:03.079 Welcome to How the Money. I'm Joel and I am Matt, 0:00:03.120 --> 0:00:06.480 and today we're discussing a cornucopia of budget travel tips. 0:00:25.840 --> 0:00:27.360 So do you see a cornucopia or do you say 0:00:27.440 --> 0:00:29.480 corn ucopia? Can? I'm gonna go back and forth, like 0:00:29.520 --> 0:00:31.639 whenever I'm feeling in the moment. It all depends on 0:00:31.720 --> 0:00:34.840 what you have for breakfast, I guess exactly. Um So, counacopia. 0:00:34.880 --> 0:00:36.640 That's not a word that we use often, and we 0:00:36.680 --> 0:00:39.200 can't not help but think of the Hunger Games. Yeah, 0:00:39.240 --> 0:00:41.320 of course I picture it just like they talked about 0:00:41.320 --> 0:00:44.560 in the book, right, like this giant metallic architectural wonder 0:00:44.720 --> 0:00:49.479 full of weapons, which actually makes me wonder, what if 0:00:49.520 --> 0:00:52.120 you were in the Hunger Games? What item do you 0:00:52.120 --> 0:00:54.080 think you would have gravitated to? My gosh, I would 0:00:54.080 --> 0:00:55.880 have ben for like the bow and arrow Like I 0:00:55.920 --> 0:00:57.960 would have been out in no time, So I feel 0:00:57.960 --> 0:00:59.680 like I would have had to choose something like an 0:00:59.680 --> 0:01:02.560 axe or a sword. But even still, I wouldn't have 0:01:02.640 --> 0:01:05.240 lasted very long with it. You wouldn't have um which 0:01:05.280 --> 0:01:07.240 one of which one of the guys like took the 0:01:07.280 --> 0:01:09.400 classes on how to like disguise himself and make him 0:01:09.400 --> 0:01:11.200 blend into the mud, Like I feel like you would 0:01:11.200 --> 0:01:12.760 have done good just to be like, Okay, I'm out 0:01:12.760 --> 0:01:14.880 of here, guys. Let all of you kill each other 0:01:15.000 --> 0:01:16.720 and then I'll be the last man standing. I'm not 0:01:16.760 --> 0:01:21.039 gonna hiding either, so we're doing a disaster. I'm not 0:01:21.120 --> 0:01:23.120 like the biggest dude, you know, like if I had 0:01:23.160 --> 0:01:24.880 to go hand to hand combat with somebody, so I 0:01:24.880 --> 0:01:28.760 would probably have like set like traps and I would 0:01:28.760 --> 0:01:30.360 have been all about the snares. So you do that, 0:01:30.360 --> 0:01:32.800 you're little sneaky. Yeah, yeah, well yeah, today it's it's 0:01:32.800 --> 0:01:35.679 not a corny copia of weapons, it's a corn copia 0:01:35.760 --> 0:01:38.560 budget travel tips. That's we're gonna talk about today about travel. Man. 0:01:38.600 --> 0:01:41.679 There's just so many things, Matt, especially as people are 0:01:41.720 --> 0:01:44.880 beginning to travel again in big numbers, and hopefully the 0:01:44.880 --> 0:01:47.640 delta variant doesn't have just like this huge negative impact 0:01:47.720 --> 0:01:50.600 on people starting to travel again, but as people are 0:01:50.600 --> 0:01:53.040 looking to that, they're starting to book those trips again. Like, 0:01:53.080 --> 0:01:55.480 we want to give you a ton of ideas for 0:01:55.480 --> 0:01:57.440 how to save money on that trip that you're looking 0:01:57.480 --> 0:01:59.320 to take, So stay tuned. There are going to be 0:01:59.440 --> 0:02:01.760 a lot of tips, that's right, and kind of on 0:02:01.760 --> 0:02:03.840 that note to the beer that we're enjoying this episode 0:02:03.920 --> 0:02:06.559 is called v K day Dreams, and on the can 0:02:06.680 --> 0:02:10.600 it says calendar and it's in the trash physically, good riddance. 0:02:10.720 --> 0:02:14.520 This was a beer that they were essentially acknowledging the 0:02:14.560 --> 0:02:16.280 fact that we all had plans that we had to 0:02:16.280 --> 0:02:19.880 put on hold. Those vacation plans just became day dreams. 0:02:20.040 --> 0:02:21.760 But like you said, hopefully these are plans that we 0:02:21.800 --> 0:02:24.200 are going to be able to get back to, and 0:02:24.240 --> 0:02:26.399 so I'm excited about enjoying this beer on the episode. 0:02:26.440 --> 0:02:28.000 But at first you wanted to talk about like a 0:02:28.040 --> 0:02:30.000 little shopping tip, right, I just wanted to mention just 0:02:30.040 --> 0:02:33.800 one thing I stumbled upon recently. As you know, before 0:02:33.960 --> 0:02:36.240 a recent summer trip, I was looking to buy some 0:02:36.320 --> 0:02:41.120 sunscreen and decided to get this sunscreen from Target, you know, 0:02:41.320 --> 0:02:45.000 super wonderful little store named Target that everyone everyone has 0:02:45.080 --> 0:02:48.480 near where they live. And I didn't realize this, but 0:02:49.080 --> 0:02:51.520 I was looking online and attempting to pick up in 0:02:51.600 --> 0:02:53.680 store because we just didn't have enough time before the 0:02:53.680 --> 0:02:57.239 trip to get a shipped. And I found out by 0:02:57.440 --> 0:02:59.880 happenstance that that was actually the cheapest way to get 0:02:59.880 --> 0:03:02.240 this products. Because having it shipped, you know, even with 0:03:02.400 --> 0:03:04.600 zero dollars and shipping costs would have actually cost been 0:03:04.680 --> 0:03:07.239 would have actually been more expensive. And also going into 0:03:07.280 --> 0:03:09.239 the store just to grab this product off the shelf 0:03:09.280 --> 0:03:12.519 would have been more expensive. For some reason, on certain products, 0:03:12.840 --> 0:03:17.240 Target incentivizes you to add it to your cart online 0:03:17.440 --> 0:03:19.200 and then to choose in store pickup and they give 0:03:19.200 --> 0:03:21.480 you an additional discount. So on these products it was 0:03:21.520 --> 0:03:25.160 an additional fiftent savings. Uh. For some random reason, I 0:03:25.200 --> 0:03:27.560 think they're just really trying to promote that service and 0:03:27.639 --> 0:03:29.560 saying I just wanted to mention that two people that 0:03:30.400 --> 0:03:32.959 check the price online before you walk into the store, 0:03:33.000 --> 0:03:37.160 because sometimes it's going to be priced lower online to 0:03:37.200 --> 0:03:39.240 your due diligence when you're shopping. And and you know, 0:03:39.320 --> 0:03:41.800 my sunscreen needs were substantial, Matt, so it was a 0:03:41.840 --> 0:03:43.760 big savings. Yeah, that's right. At the time, you were 0:03:43.760 --> 0:03:46.280 getting sunscreen for two full weeks at the beach. Right, 0:03:46.280 --> 0:03:48.440 So you did a family trip and then we did 0:03:48.440 --> 0:03:51.040 a family trip together, or we did a combined family 0:03:51.080 --> 0:03:53.160 trip essentially, And that was my my first time ever 0:03:53.240 --> 0:03:55.720 doing literally two weeks back to back. And I gotta 0:03:55.720 --> 0:03:58.280 say I recommend it to everyone. But the most I've 0:03:58.280 --> 0:04:00.240 ever done is like eight or nine days. And to 0:04:00.320 --> 0:04:03.520 do a full like fourteen days where I was gone 0:04:03.720 --> 0:04:06.560 and wasn't working, which is really nice because sometimes it 0:04:06.600 --> 0:04:09.800 takes a few days just to feel like you've got away. Um, 0:04:09.840 --> 0:04:12.280 you still kind of feel connected or those the things 0:04:12.320 --> 0:04:13.960 that you have on your to do lists are still 0:04:14.000 --> 0:04:15.720 humming in the back of your mind. And so to 0:04:15.760 --> 0:04:17.839 be gone for two weeks was just was wonderful. Yeah, 0:04:17.880 --> 0:04:19.839 we're almost kind of getting in lunching in the upiside 0:04:19.839 --> 0:04:22.800 a little bit too taking as much vacation as you 0:04:22.839 --> 0:04:25.279 possibly can. But but yeah, that's a great chip. Look 0:04:25.360 --> 0:04:27.640 online to make that purchase, but then opt to pick 0:04:27.640 --> 0:04:29.919 it up in person and there might be some discounts 0:04:29.960 --> 0:04:32.400 that you snag along the way. You don't want to 0:04:32.400 --> 0:04:34.719 do the opposite where you go in in person and 0:04:34.760 --> 0:04:36.960 then order and then wait for it to get shipped. 0:04:36.960 --> 0:04:38.920 Tone that's the opposite of what you want, right, that's 0:04:38.960 --> 0:04:41.720 just inefficient, Yeah, exactly, But ye, hopefully that tip helps 0:04:41.720 --> 0:04:44.440 you out in your future shopping endeavors. But Matt, let's 0:04:44.480 --> 0:04:46.720 get onto the topic of hand. Let's talk about these 0:04:46.760 --> 0:04:49.640 budget travel tips, and and anybody who's listening to How 0:04:49.640 --> 0:04:51.719 the Money for a while knows that disc golf is 0:04:51.720 --> 0:04:53.680 one of my favorite pastimes. It has been for a while, 0:04:53.960 --> 0:04:56.920 and it's apparently gaining in popularity. I just saw that, Uh, 0:04:57.120 --> 0:05:00.440 some disc golfer signed some sort of ten million dollar deal. Uh. 0:05:00.600 --> 0:05:03.560 Some of these disc golf tournaments are being broadcast on ESPN. Now, 0:05:03.880 --> 0:05:05.080 I was like, all right, it's good to see one 0:05:05.080 --> 0:05:06.680 of my favorite sports kind of start to get into 0:05:06.720 --> 0:05:11.440 the limelight. Yes, Ben thirty five the Ocho. Yeah, And 0:05:11.680 --> 0:05:13.559 I think one of the coolest things about disc golf 0:05:13.760 --> 0:05:16.720 is how accessible the sport is. Right, Like, anybody can 0:05:16.720 --> 0:05:19.200 play disc golf, and you know, you buy one or 0:05:19.240 --> 0:05:22.520 two discs at a place like Play Again Sports, you're 0:05:22.520 --> 0:05:25.560 gonna spend fifteen dollars, and you know that's gonna afford 0:05:25.600 --> 0:05:28.200 you years of fun. It's one of the cheapest sports around. 0:05:28.600 --> 0:05:30.320 The fact that it costs little to no money is 0:05:30.640 --> 0:05:32.520 is really just the cherry on top. I would say, 0:05:32.520 --> 0:05:35.600 of the many wonderful days I've had outdoors, whether it's 0:05:35.600 --> 0:05:37.640 by myself or with my friends, you and I going 0:05:37.680 --> 0:05:40.159 to hang out and you know, play some discolf together, 0:05:40.320 --> 0:05:43.760 that's right. And when something that you would do anyway, 0:05:43.800 --> 0:05:46.040 Like I would play disc golf no matter what because 0:05:46.080 --> 0:05:49.200 I love it, but when it's substantially discounted, like you 0:05:49.200 --> 0:05:52.240 don't pay money at almost any disc golf course to 0:05:52.240 --> 0:05:55.200 play the public parks, there are something that are really nice, yeah, 0:05:55.240 --> 0:05:57.159 that you would pay for that's like a private club. 0:05:57.880 --> 0:05:59.320 I've never been to one of those, but I want 0:05:59.320 --> 0:06:01.200 to see one kind of is going to a different 0:06:01.240 --> 0:06:04.520 direction than what we like about. Yeah yeah, but like 0:06:04.560 --> 0:06:06.120 even if I did, I don't know. Like that that 0:06:06.279 --> 0:06:08.640 free the ability to play for freeze like this, like 0:06:08.720 --> 0:06:11.000 cherry on top of the Sunday right, like um, and 0:06:11.360 --> 0:06:12.960 I think that is the same thing when it comes 0:06:13.000 --> 0:06:15.119 to travel. Right today, we're gonna talk in depth about 0:06:15.360 --> 0:06:17.320 something that lots of our listeners like to do. They 0:06:17.400 --> 0:06:19.560 like to travel, and then how to partake in that 0:06:19.600 --> 0:06:24.120 activity while consistently spending less on it, because that is 0:06:24.279 --> 0:06:26.200 going to be the silver lining really, when it comes 0:06:26.200 --> 0:06:28.240 to doing something you love but doing it for less money, 0:06:28.400 --> 0:06:30.520 there's nothing wrong with that. It's just all good. Yeah, 0:06:30.600 --> 0:06:32.840 well you call the silver lining, but in some instances 0:06:32.880 --> 0:06:36.760 maybe it's like the whole point. Right at least here 0:06:36.800 --> 0:06:39.120 on the show we talk about money first and foremost, 0:06:39.480 --> 0:06:41.919 and finding ways to spend as little money as possible 0:06:41.920 --> 0:06:44.320 and all things. But in this case, travel, that's what 0:06:44.360 --> 0:06:46.880 we're talking about. And you know, like you said, travel 0:06:47.040 --> 0:06:49.000 is basically back. It might look a little bit different 0:06:49.040 --> 0:06:50.600 than you know, kind of how it used to look 0:06:50.640 --> 0:06:55.840 before covid um. And along with travel comes spending money. 0:06:55.880 --> 0:06:58.159 It can cost a lot of money. That's probably you know, 0:06:58.160 --> 0:06:59.800 the first thing that you think of when you, yes, 0:07:00.040 --> 0:07:02.479 you see pictures or videos of a friend of yours, 0:07:02.520 --> 0:07:05.240 like traveling abroad or even like a fun city here 0:07:05.240 --> 0:07:07.120 in the States, you might be thinking, oh, ouch, like 0:07:07.160 --> 0:07:09.480 that probably costs a lot of money. Honestly, that's kind 0:07:09.480 --> 0:07:11.480 of like the first thing I think of. That's kind 0:07:11.520 --> 0:07:13.760 of the first place my mind goes to. But we're 0:07:13.800 --> 0:07:16.160 trying to point out that it doesn't have to cost 0:07:16.200 --> 0:07:17.360 a lot of money. There are a lot of ways 0:07:17.400 --> 0:07:19.560 to do it on the cheaps. You're like addering up 0:07:19.560 --> 0:07:23.640 their itinerary in your mind and like, oh gosh, that's 0:07:23.640 --> 0:07:25.800 that's that's a lot of money. But then again, it 0:07:25.880 --> 0:07:28.640 doesn't have to cost you a fortune. When we want 0:07:28.640 --> 0:07:30.800 all of our listeners out there to experience just all 0:07:30.800 --> 0:07:34.520 the joy of travel while listening the financial pain of it. 0:07:34.840 --> 0:07:37.760 The amount of money that Americans have spent on travel 0:07:37.800 --> 0:07:40.480 over the years, it has steadily increased to the point 0:07:40.480 --> 0:07:43.000 that before the pandemic, this is back in nineteen we 0:07:43.040 --> 0:07:47.520 collectively spent nine and seventy two billion dollars on domestic 0:07:47.520 --> 0:07:51.040 travel alone, so without even leaving the States. And so 0:07:51.120 --> 0:07:53.760 in this episode, we're gonna cover just a litany a 0:07:53.800 --> 0:07:56.160 cornucopia of tips and tricks that will allow you to 0:07:56.160 --> 0:07:59.120 save on your next trip. Will attempt to cover every aspect, 0:07:59.120 --> 0:08:01.440 giving you the just the different knowledge and the different 0:08:01.440 --> 0:08:03.600 resources that we've come across that you can keep coming 0:08:03.600 --> 0:08:06.160 back to in order to save every single time that 0:08:06.200 --> 0:08:07.760 you book a trip in the future. All Right, so 0:08:07.800 --> 0:08:09.640 let's get straight onto it, man, Let's get and do it. 0:08:09.800 --> 0:08:12.000 The tips will start digging in, and yeah, there are 0:08:12.040 --> 0:08:15.160 a lot here, um, but the first one we want 0:08:15.160 --> 0:08:18.280 to say is to go when others aren't going to 0:08:18.400 --> 0:08:21.360 zig when everybody else is at right. And this is 0:08:21.400 --> 0:08:24.200 like a good kind of thing to remember when it 0:08:24.240 --> 0:08:26.440 comes to a lot of things in life. When you're 0:08:26.480 --> 0:08:28.640 doing what everyone else is doing, often you're paying more. 0:08:28.920 --> 0:08:32.120 Often it's going to be crowded or maybe less enjoyable. 0:08:32.160 --> 0:08:34.679 But when you're kind of going the opposite route of 0:08:34.679 --> 0:08:37.000 what everyone else is doing, it's gonna save you money, 0:08:37.120 --> 0:08:39.720 it's gonna be less frustrating. Um and this, of course 0:08:39.880 --> 0:08:42.480 can be harder to do for folks with kids. Right. 0:08:42.800 --> 0:08:45.560 Possibly the only perk of virtual school last year was 0:08:45.760 --> 0:08:47.599 the fact that your travel schedule was freed up in 0:08:47.600 --> 0:08:49.440 a big way. You could, you know, do that schooling 0:08:49.480 --> 0:08:53.000 from anywhere, and you could travel wherever or however you wanted. 0:08:53.280 --> 0:08:55.720 And so people took off in droves, you know, around 0:08:55.720 --> 0:08:57.959 the country. Lots of people hit the road who otherwise 0:08:57.960 --> 0:09:00.400 wouldn't have been able to and Matt lot of those 0:09:00.400 --> 0:09:02.680 folks decided that the RV life was the best way 0:09:02.679 --> 0:09:04.600 for them to do that. It seemed like the best 0:09:04.600 --> 0:09:07.080 way to do virtual school, and um, yeah, that's gonna 0:09:07.120 --> 0:09:10.480 be a lot harder for families in one as kind 0:09:10.520 --> 0:09:13.520 of some schools. Most schools get back to a little 0:09:13.520 --> 0:09:17.440 bit more normal hours. So yeah, maximizing those non summer 0:09:17.480 --> 0:09:20.280 school breaks is one of the essentials to saving money 0:09:20.320 --> 0:09:22.280 on a trip if you have kids, And for people 0:09:22.320 --> 0:09:24.640 who don't have kids, you'll find that you're able to 0:09:24.679 --> 0:09:27.600 score some of the best deals far more easily actually 0:09:27.679 --> 0:09:29.840 by taking the advantage of some of these times when 0:09:29.840 --> 0:09:33.520 families can't go, by taking advantage of non summer travel, right. Basically, 0:09:33.520 --> 0:09:35.560 when you have that flexibility, that's going to lead to 0:09:35.640 --> 0:09:38.760 you saving money. Yeah. And in another perk is that 0:09:38.880 --> 0:09:41.319 when you go when others aren't going, there's fewer people. 0:09:41.400 --> 0:09:43.719 The crowds are just less. As example, when I went 0:09:43.760 --> 0:09:46.320 to Ireland going at an off period time, you know, 0:09:46.360 --> 0:09:49.640 some of those main attractions, some of those main beautiful 0:09:49.679 --> 0:09:53.240 places that people want to visit, they're not overrun with people. 0:09:53.520 --> 0:09:55.280 So I would say shoulder season for the win here 0:09:55.320 --> 0:09:58.760 when you're considering when to travel, shoulder season rocks and uh, 0:09:58.840 --> 0:10:00.640 you know, it saves you money. To Matt, we've been 0:10:00.679 --> 0:10:04.200 to Ireland before together. B and B rates are much 0:10:04.280 --> 0:10:06.200 cheaper in the fall than they are in the summer 0:10:06.240 --> 0:10:08.559 travel season. So there's fewer people and you're paying less money. 0:10:08.559 --> 0:10:10.320 It's kind of a win win. Yeah, and the pubs 0:10:10.360 --> 0:10:12.920 are a little less crowded as well. And so you 0:10:12.960 --> 0:10:14.760 know this is true here in the States if you're 0:10:14.760 --> 0:10:16.600 exploring our beautiful country. But yeah, like you said, it's 0:10:16.600 --> 0:10:19.360 also true when you're looking abroad to other countries as well, 0:10:19.800 --> 0:10:22.720 visiting your favorite European destination in the summer is gonna 0:10:22.760 --> 0:10:26.559 mean higher airfare, higher costs just all around, right, lodging 0:10:26.559 --> 0:10:28.560 and car rental costs as well. And then you know, 0:10:28.600 --> 0:10:30.680 again like you mentioned the crowds, so make sure that 0:10:30.720 --> 0:10:33.560 you are getting the seasonality right when it comes to 0:10:33.600 --> 0:10:35.800 that booking. Uh. This is sort of a big picture 0:10:35.880 --> 0:10:38.800 item that's gonna lead to you saving hundreds of dollars. 0:10:39.000 --> 0:10:41.160 And so for instance, let's get specific here, April and 0:10:41.200 --> 0:10:44.760 October are typically the best months for European vacation. Uh, 0:10:44.800 --> 0:10:47.040 if that's where you're headed, Joel, you mentioned the r 0:10:47.120 --> 0:10:49.000 vs and how a lot of folks you know rented 0:10:49.080 --> 0:10:51.439 RVs or even maybe purchased r vs because they knew 0:10:51.440 --> 0:10:53.720 that they weren't gonna be able to travel abroad. I 0:10:53.720 --> 0:10:55.679 got a feeling in the coming years we might be 0:10:55.720 --> 0:10:58.480 able to actually snag in our v uh for cheap. 0:10:58.679 --> 0:11:00.439 I mean, I'm not looking to buy one, but like 0:11:00.720 --> 0:11:03.600 the different sites where you can rent r vs from 0:11:03.600 --> 0:11:06.560 other individuals, the different companies that exist, they're gonna have 0:11:06.559 --> 0:11:08.000 a lot of RVs on hand, and I got a 0:11:08.040 --> 0:11:09.880 feeling that they're going to come down and cost in 0:11:09.920 --> 0:11:12.199 the coming year, So like that's already something I'm already 0:11:12.240 --> 0:11:15.080 looking ahead to because I'm thinking, all right, there was 0:11:15.200 --> 0:11:17.000 a massive increase in the number of folks who were 0:11:17.040 --> 0:11:20.320 interested in that, but that interest is gonna wane. I'm 0:11:20.320 --> 0:11:23.320 gonna be there to catch that ball. I think there 0:11:23.320 --> 0:11:24.439 are a lot of people who are going to be 0:11:24.440 --> 0:11:27.080 in that position if they're looking for it, right, And 0:11:27.120 --> 0:11:29.840 so I think that you know, going when others aren't going. Well, 0:11:29.880 --> 0:11:32.319 that's true on just this this macro level, but it's 0:11:32.320 --> 0:11:34.520 also it can be true on a micro level. There 0:11:34.520 --> 0:11:37.440 are you know, smaller ways that we can zig when 0:11:37.440 --> 0:11:39.800 others are zagging. There are ways that we can influence 0:11:39.840 --> 0:11:43.240 the price all on our lonesome, no matter when we're going. 0:11:43.520 --> 0:11:45.679 And so like, for instance, when you book your flight 0:11:45.960 --> 0:11:48.440 matters a whole lot, right, So we would suggest to 0:11:48.440 --> 0:11:50.480 be sure that you're booking at the right time in 0:11:50.559 --> 0:11:53.480 order to save the most money. And I don't necessarily 0:11:53.559 --> 0:11:57.520 mean not buying your ticket on a Tuesday versus a Friday. 0:11:57.760 --> 0:11:59.319 There have been studies done in the past, and I 0:11:59.360 --> 0:12:02.839 think they did show maybe that Tuesday was it used 0:12:02.880 --> 0:12:05.000 to be a thing like now it's like in reality, 0:12:05.080 --> 0:12:07.640 the savings it's I mean, it's school one percent. It 0:12:07.679 --> 0:12:09.840 doesn't really work the way it used to work. Um, 0:12:09.880 --> 0:12:13.120 and I think that's partially because airline pricing changes happen 0:12:13.160 --> 0:12:16.200 so much more frequently. But yeah, studies have shown that 0:12:16.240 --> 0:12:18.240 you'll get the best deals on international flights when you 0:12:18.280 --> 0:12:20.880 book at least six months out, so you know, when 0:12:20.880 --> 0:12:23.320 you're planning an international trip, basically it pays to be 0:12:23.320 --> 0:12:26.360 a planner. However, when you book domestic travel, you're likely 0:12:26.400 --> 0:12:28.280 going to see the best deals two to three months 0:12:28.280 --> 0:12:30.240 in advance of your trip. So yeah, if you try 0:12:30.280 --> 0:12:32.760 to book that domestic trip eight or nine months in advance, 0:12:32.920 --> 0:12:35.480 you're actually gonna pay more. You're actually gonna be penalized 0:12:35.520 --> 0:12:38.840 for planning ahead. Fares are likely to be higher than 0:12:38.880 --> 0:12:40.800 they would be if you waited a bit longer, or 0:12:40.840 --> 0:12:42.840 if you're booking last minute, like that's going to cost 0:12:42.840 --> 0:12:44.640 you a whole lot extra two that's right, Yeah, And 0:12:44.640 --> 0:12:46.440 so make sure to set air fair alerts right so 0:12:46.480 --> 0:12:49.360 then you'll be notified when the prices of the particular 0:12:49.360 --> 0:12:52.520 flight that you're looking for experiences a price drop. Because 0:12:52.559 --> 0:12:54.880 you know, although these kind of overall tips are going 0:12:54.920 --> 0:12:57.360 to be helpful when it comes to you budgeting travel. 0:12:57.880 --> 0:13:00.600 Air Fares do fluctuate quite a bit, and it's important 0:13:00.600 --> 0:13:03.400 to know that Google Flights specifically is probably the best 0:13:03.480 --> 0:13:05.960 airfare search tool on the market. Uh. They just do 0:13:06.080 --> 0:13:08.120 such a great job helping you to see whether the 0:13:08.160 --> 0:13:10.160 price that you're looking at is solid, whether or not 0:13:10.240 --> 0:13:12.360 you should book, or you know, whether they might actually 0:13:12.400 --> 0:13:14.600 come down in the coming weeks. They've got this price 0:13:14.600 --> 0:13:16.880 graph and they've got this date grid. They are incredibly 0:13:16.880 --> 0:13:19.760 helpful and they make it just crystal clear that by 0:13:19.920 --> 0:13:21.520 changing one of your travel dates that you might be 0:13:21.520 --> 0:13:24.000 able to to save a big chunk of money. When 0:13:24.040 --> 0:13:25.640 you know, they put the prices on every single one 0:13:25.640 --> 0:13:27.120 of those days just to let you know what every 0:13:27.160 --> 0:13:29.880 single day is going to cost. I love that. It's 0:13:29.880 --> 0:13:32.400 like Google somehow has a lot of information or something 0:13:32.400 --> 0:13:35.040 in this disposal to create these authorithms. I wonder how 0:13:35.040 --> 0:13:37.400 they have all that infot I don't know, that's a question. Uh. Yeah, 0:13:37.480 --> 0:13:41.000 So again, travel date flexibility is crucial to saving. Also 0:13:41.000 --> 0:13:43.640 to sign up for the different flight tracker emails uh 0:13:43.800 --> 0:13:47.200 specific to Google Flights. UH. And so you know, as 0:13:47.240 --> 0:13:48.840 you start to look at the different prices as they 0:13:48.880 --> 0:13:50.280 show up in your inbox. It can help you to 0:13:50.400 --> 0:13:52.600 learn what is a good deal and what isn't a 0:13:52.600 --> 0:13:54.360 good deal. So if you know that there's a trip 0:13:54.360 --> 0:13:56.640 that you're interested in, start looking ahead of time. That 0:13:56.679 --> 0:13:59.240 way you feel really good about pouncing on a deal. So, 0:13:59.320 --> 0:14:00.960 for instance, Joel to this a few weeks ago for 0:14:01.000 --> 0:14:03.200 flights from Atlanta to Denver. Kate and I were kind 0:14:03.200 --> 0:14:04.880 of talking about, like what if we went away for 0:14:04.960 --> 0:14:07.360 the weekend did some hiking, And so now I know 0:14:07.440 --> 0:14:09.640 that if I see a flight that's like forty one bucks, 0:14:09.640 --> 0:14:11.600 that's a really good deal because it sounds like a 0:14:11.600 --> 0:14:15.120 good seeing deals that low before uh. And then again 0:14:15.160 --> 0:14:17.120 if I see a price maybe on a weekend that 0:14:17.120 --> 0:14:19.720 we're interested in that's sitting around to fifty three hund oh, 0:14:20.080 --> 0:14:22.760 I know that is not a good deal. So obviously 0:14:22.800 --> 0:14:24.560 you've got the price grid and you have all the 0:14:24.560 --> 0:14:26.720 information there at your disposal. But it's also helpful for 0:14:26.760 --> 0:14:29.000 you as an individual just to be confident not just 0:14:29.040 --> 0:14:31.240 looking at the tools, but just but also knowing what 0:14:31.440 --> 0:14:32.640 is and what isn't a good deal. And I want 0:14:32.680 --> 0:14:35.200 to say if you're a planner, oftentimes you planners like 0:14:35.200 --> 0:14:36.480 they they want to book, they want to have that 0:14:36.520 --> 0:14:38.280 air fair like in their hands, and they want to 0:14:38.320 --> 0:14:41.120 make sure that that's over and done with. UM. But 0:14:41.200 --> 0:14:43.040 ultimately those people do end up paying more, is what 0:14:43.080 --> 0:14:45.240 we said. But one way if you're a planner that 0:14:45.320 --> 0:14:48.280 you can actually take advantage of your tendency to think 0:14:48.320 --> 0:14:50.440 ahead is to set up those air fair alerts. And 0:14:50.440 --> 0:14:52.680 it feels like you've done something to gain some control 0:14:52.720 --> 0:14:55.600 of the situation without actually spending too much money. So 0:14:55.640 --> 0:14:58.400 I agree that those fair alerts are really important, especially 0:14:58.920 --> 0:15:01.520 for people whom I have a tendency to book too early. 0:15:02.000 --> 0:15:04.680 Uh And skip lagged dot com is another site we're 0:15:04.760 --> 0:15:06.320 checking out. By the way, we're going to mention a 0:15:06.440 --> 0:15:08.400 lot of sites on this episode, so we'll link to 0:15:08.440 --> 0:15:10.400 all of them in our show notes. Um, it'll be 0:15:10.840 --> 0:15:14.320 a more lengthy show notes for this episode. But the 0:15:14.400 --> 0:15:17.600 airlines actually aren't too fond of this site, and they're 0:15:17.640 --> 0:15:21.200 actually recently sued by Southwest Mats for displaying some of 0:15:21.200 --> 0:15:24.480 the airline's cheap fairs that you know, Southwest only wants 0:15:24.520 --> 0:15:27.040 to exist on Southwest dot com. But yeah, well we'll 0:15:27.040 --> 0:15:29.200 see what happens in that one. Skip lagged has actually 0:15:29.360 --> 0:15:32.040 won previous lawsuits by airlines trying to prevent them from 0:15:32.120 --> 0:15:35.040 sharing cheap deals that the airlines don't want you to see, 0:15:35.360 --> 0:15:37.800 because what they're doing is they're exposing something called hidden 0:15:37.880 --> 0:15:40.560 city fairs. And so what this means is that you 0:15:40.600 --> 0:15:42.680 might be able to book a trip to New York 0:15:42.720 --> 0:15:45.080 City with a stop in Ohio, but actually where you 0:15:45.120 --> 0:15:46.360 want to go is not New York City. You want 0:15:46.360 --> 0:15:48.160 to go to Ohio. So let's say you start in 0:15:48.200 --> 0:15:51.040 Atlanta and uh that that your trip to New York 0:15:51.080 --> 0:15:54.360 City is routed through Columbus, and instead of taking the 0:15:54.400 --> 0:15:57.440 whole itinerary, you hop off the plane in Columbus, you 0:15:57.560 --> 0:15:59.520 leave the airport, and boom, you're where you want to be. 0:15:59.720 --> 0:16:01.760 But if you would booked directly to Columbus instead of 0:16:01.760 --> 0:16:03.720 booking to New York City, you would have paid more 0:16:03.760 --> 0:16:06.480 because of how airlines priced their tickets. So this is 0:16:06.520 --> 0:16:09.040 what skip lagged is taking advantage of. So yeah, it's 0:16:09.040 --> 0:16:11.360 definitely worth checking out a site like skip lagged in 0:16:11.440 --> 0:16:14.360 order to potentially get an even better deal on a ticket. 0:16:14.560 --> 0:16:17.040 But really, when it comes down to it, airline tickets 0:16:17.080 --> 0:16:19.720 are only one piece of the puzzle when it comes 0:16:19.720 --> 0:16:22.920 to saving money on travel. So yeah, we've got a 0:16:22.960 --> 0:16:25.080 lot more budget travel tips to get to and we'll 0:16:25.160 --> 0:16:36.760 hit those up right after this break. All right, we'll back. 0:16:36.800 --> 0:16:39.800 We are still talking about travel tips, like ways to 0:16:39.880 --> 0:16:43.240 make the trip you want to take less expensive and not. 0:16:43.440 --> 0:16:45.600 We've covered I feel like a lot of tips about 0:16:45.680 --> 0:16:48.680 saving on air travel, which is certainly a big part 0:16:48.720 --> 0:16:50.800 of the puzzle for a lot of trips that people 0:16:50.840 --> 0:16:53.440 want to take um but there are other things that 0:16:53.520 --> 0:16:56.960 people need to consider as well, And I just wanted 0:16:56.960 --> 0:16:59.640 to say, you know, kind of from an overall standpoint, 0:16:59.680 --> 0:17:01.160 one of the other tips that we have is to 0:17:01.680 --> 0:17:06.200 not make the destination the primary consideration. And that might 0:17:06.400 --> 0:17:09.200 sound weird because they're like, uh, dude, I want to 0:17:09.240 --> 0:17:11.800 go to this one place and you just told me, Well, 0:17:11.800 --> 0:17:14.000 that's what travel is all about, exactly. You pick some 0:17:14.080 --> 0:17:15.640 place that you want to go, and you go get 0:17:15.640 --> 0:17:17.679 to know that place, you enjoy, you experienced the culture. 0:17:17.840 --> 0:17:20.479 But there are ways to do that without having to 0:17:20.480 --> 0:17:22.200 pay out the nose. Yeah, and you're like, I want 0:17:22.200 --> 0:17:23.800 to go visit Turkey and I just told you to 0:17:23.800 --> 0:17:25.680 go to Iceland because it's cheaper, and you're like, that's 0:17:25.720 --> 0:17:28.400 not cool, man, those are two totally different places. Well, 0:17:28.480 --> 0:17:30.520 I just wanted to share this example to like my 0:17:30.560 --> 0:17:33.600 wife and I we always wanted to visit Norway, um, 0:17:33.640 --> 0:17:36.720