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About #2: I still see Tuesday sales, but have not participated in a worthwhile one for quite some time.
#7 and #8 are true in my experience, it's just that not everyone can always be that flexible for #8. We avoid even having a car if we really don't need it.
There is a lot more to cheap lodging than negotiating a hotel rate or using Priceline. CouchSurfing, AirBnB etc.
But I have had success with Priceline in the past.
Has anyone actually seen a fare decrease on Tuesdays? I've booked a lot of flights and never found that one to be true!
We bring our iPhones on all international trips and keep it an airplane mode. Then, we find wifi and use Skype to make calls back home or if we want to make restaurant reservations/book excursions. Smartphones are definitely great for travel!
I think the best thing to do is to be loyal to one airline. Because of our loyalty to Delta, we have gotten many free flights last year. Places like Costa Rica, Turks and Caicos and several trips to NYC, many of them bumped to first class...it really pays to be loyal!
Yes, I ALWAYS fly on Tuesdays, I usually get the best fare on average
With Priceline, it could have been 40% less! We rarely pay more than $80/night for a hotel room, and I'm talking some nice places not 2 or 3 star hotels. Priceline rocks!
I am on MAK's side with this one, she got me using priceline and it is something every traveler should do if they are looking to save money somewhere.
I haven't found that *buying* tickets on Tuesdays saves me money but I have found that departing and returning on a Tuesday or Wednesday saves me a significant amount of money (domestic travel anyway, not so much internationally).
I thought that a lot of the recommendations were hardly exciting or anything special that most travelers would not already know. And there were very few references to low cost providers like Priceline, Southwest, etc.
I agree, I thought they would reference Southwest because they don't charge to check bags but they didn't. Also I have found that flying Tues/Wed/Thurs is always cheaper. You just have to check different dates or search flexible dates to see what's cheaper.
Perhaps I'm not using Priceline correctly, whenever I've checked it, it doesn't seem any cheaper than other sites (travelocity/expedia). Is there a secret to searching Priceline?
Perhaps I'm not using Priceline correctly, whenever I've checked it, it doesn't seem any cheaper than other sites (travelocity/expedia). Is there a secret to searching Priceline?
You don't search Priceline, you bid. If you do a search like you do on all other sites, yes the prices are the same because those are published rates. You have to click the "For deeper discount name your own price button" on the left. If you go to Better Bidding, you can almost always pinpoint the hotel you'll win.
You can also bid multiple times on the same thing, if you know how to work around that. They tell you if your bid isn't accepted, you have to wait 24 hours or change something...not true and on BB you can also find tips to bid over and over again for the same hotel class/location.
I always get into the debate with myself about how much my time is worth when arranging travel. Like I find a flight for $900 but there is one available for $600 if I'm willing to add another stop and wait five hours there, making total travel time +8 hours.
The other angle is whether to pay more for a flight that gives me more time on-site. Like I can save a couple hundred bucks but arrive Saturday night instead of Saturday morning. Do I pay the extra but sacrifice having nine hours available on my first day of the trip, on my preciously limited vacation time from work?
I always get into the debate with myself about how much my time is worth when arranging travel. Like I find a flight for $900 but there is one available for $600 if I'm willing to add another stop and wait five hours there, making total travel time +8 hours.
Although if you're nearing a new level for FF status, adding that extra segment on a few flights can pay off greatly.
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