how to travel

Travel tips: getting there

Me? I wanna fly cheap. I want to spend my money at my destination, not in the air. Planes are just subways in the sky. The days of luxurious air travel are long gone. Get over it. Upgrade to first class? Be my guest. I save my precious frequent flyer miles for free trips, thank you very mucy. Blowing 5000 miles here and there to sit in the front of the plane is foolishness.

My frequent flyer wisdom: concentrate your efforts on no more than two airlines. Be a mileage whore. Get miles for everything). Do you get miles on one of your credit cards? Run everything you can through that card and be sure to pay it off promptly every month. It's stupid to run up the balance for the miles only to carry a balance and pay interest forever. Duh.

I use AARP's travel site. Yes, I'm old enough to join and it's well worth the $12/year for both Lisa & I. There have been only one or two occasions when AARP isn't the cheapest price I can find anywhere.

When it comes to travel sites I prefer Expedia. It works better for me than Travelocity. I want to know who I'm flying with and where I'm going to sleep so Priceline and Hotwire don't do it for me. Certainty and choice beat out absolute price. It's the compulsive control freak in me.

Pay attention, there are times when booking a hotel and/or car at the same time as the plane tickets is cheaper than booking them separately. When in doubt, have 2, 3, or even 4 browser windows open at once, each with a different reservation option. Try booking a reservation without paying for it to lock in the price for 24 hours while you continue to shop online.

Like all rules of thumb in days of old, all bets are off now that planes are flying at full capacity, fuel prices are outrageous, and the airlines' books are in shambles. Sign up for your favorite airlines' weekly emails of bargain fares, consider secondary airports like Providence or Manchester instead of Logan, Newark or Islip instead of Laguardia or JFK, or heaven forbid BWI. Be flexible and have fun.

Pssst... Once you land look for cheap ways to get into town. I've used local buses and subways (great ways to soak up local color) and piggybacked on airport shuttles into downtown even if I'm not staying at that particular hotel. Hey, it beats a hefty cab fare.

Small hint: I pack magazines-I-mean-to-read-one-day in my carry on bag, read them on the flight, and leave 'em on the plane. Kills time, cleans out my reading queue, and recyles forward to the next passenger(s).