Lifestyle, Travel

Travel Talk | Traveling On a Budget

If we’re connected at all on social media or even friends, you know I travel for pleasure a lot. And when I say “a lot,” I’m saying, “a lot more than one might think I’d be able to considering my paycheck + budget. Don’t get me wrong, I have a great job in Corporate America that I enjoy coming to every day which not everyone can say. I make decent money but who wouldn’t want to make a little more. I’m living with my parents right now because I’d rather save for a down payment on a house than put a ton of money into rent + never have anything at the end. Because I don’t have to pay for rent, utilities + absolutely everything one would need if they’re living on their own, I can budget so I can travel. It still can be done if you do live on your own with apartment bills + whatnot, you just have to focus + budget carefully.

I’m not kidding about my inability to pack light. This was for my four day trip to Denver. I brought all of this, plus another small rolling bag AND a garment bag to DC for three days. I need my stuff!

One of the reasons I get to travel so frequently + to so many places is because I make smart airline decisions. I fly Southwest almost exclusively unless I’m flying internationally. Their flights are reasonable + I can check two bags for free. As someone who doesn’t know the meaning of traveling light, this is incredibly important to me. The thought of dropping $25-50 on bag checking fees is laughable to me, but I cannot pack in a carry on because I can’t bring my hairspray along for the ride. I’m not going to buy hairspray when I arrive because many of my trips are long weekends + I’m not going to waste money since I’ll be back on a plane in a few days’ time but I’m getting ahead of myself. This gives me the freedom to bring whatever I may need. If you’re a Jenna Marbles fan, you may remember her People I Hate At The Airport (part 2 ish) video in which she shares that she does not trust girls who only pack in a carry on because, like me, half of her checked bag is makeup + beauty products you can’t bring through security with you. I’m not joking about this. I have one of those giant hard sided spinner suitcases + in it rests a “weekender” bag I got in college at Charming Charlie that is strictly products. It holds everything from hair + makeup to lotion + shaving needs. You would not believe how important these shaving needs are even for an overnight trip for a strawberry blonde. If my regular hair + eyelashes could swap growing rates with my leg hair, that’d be great. So really these free checked bags are a must!

On top of the free bags, I’m a fan of their rewards program, Rapid Rewards. Every dollar you spend on tickets translates to points. They have three fare tiers, Wanna Get Away?, Anytime + Business Select. Because Southwest is open seating + all economy, I only buy Wanna Get Away? fares. These fares translate to six points for every dollar spent. The higher tier of fare you purchase, the more points you can earn. But I’m on a budget. Six points to the dollar is fine with me. If you create a Rapid Rewards account, you can stash these points for a future flight. Now you might be wondering “Can you actually ever earn flights with these points or do you need some exorbitant amount you can never actually earn?” The answer is a resounding “Yes!” The last two years I’ve cashed in points for a round trip flight + am on course to earn another round trip this year. Granted, I fly at least once a month so I tend to rack them up pretty quickly, As long as there’s activity on your account within 24 months, your points won’t expire. So when you do accumulate enough points for a flight, it will only cost you $5.60 one way because unfortunately you can’t use points to pay tax or the September 11th security fee. My friends and I are batting around another trip to LA next year… here’s hoping I can go for $11.20 round trip.

My favorite thing about Southwest that makes traveling more affordable is the ability to rebook your flight if the price goes down. How many times do you book a flight + not give it another thought until it’s time to check in 24 hours beforehand? I imagine that’s most of the time. Not me. I check the price of my seat until I check in to my flight, aka every morning. When you book a Wanna Get Away? fare with Southwest, you can’t get a refund on the remaining balance if you rebook your flight for cheaper, BUT you can apply those funds to a future flight. Let me tell you how successful rebooking is for me. In mid June, mom + I flew from Denver to Chicago to visit our cousins. When we initially booked our flights, they were $87 each way. Flying to Denver for $174 round trip including bags isn’t anything to sneeze at. But thanks to my religious stalking of Southwest’s website + my flights, mom + I ended up going for $104 each round trip at $65 going + $39 coming home. Now, I’ve never seen a flight as low as $39 + I likely won’t again but this is not the first time this has happened this year. Check out my rebooking successes this year:

  • February trip to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, Originally $380, final $316.
  • May trip to LA, Originally $250, final $232 per person.
  • June trip to Orlando to celebrate my sister’s birthday, Originally $260 per person, final $218 per person.
  • June trip to Denver, Originally $174 per person, final $104 per person.
  • June/July trip to DC over Independence day weekend, Originally $190, final $157.
  • August birthday trip to Orlando, Originally $180 per person, now $150 per person. I don’t expect this one to go down any more but who knows?!

Now this not 100% fool proof. Flights don’t always come down in price. My parents + I just spent the weekend in Boston with my parents + mom + I flew for $404 round trip EACH. Those flights did not drop below $202 each way for us, but we were able to use funds from two Orlando trips + Denver to make these flights a little easier on our checking accounts.

When I don’t fly Southwest, ie., the flight times don’t work with my plans, the flights I want are sold out or they don’t fly to my destination, I’ve had really good luck with CheapOAir. They work basically like Expedia + Hotwire comparing all the major + not so major airlines in an effort to find you the best deal. I’ve had decent luck with their ticket costs, especially when I traveled to Abu Dhabi last year. I always double check against the airline’s websites before booking, however. I once found a relatively decent flight on American for my sister on CheapOAir, but then ended up finding it for $20 less on American’s website. That was not the case with my flight to Abu Dhabi, thank goodness. Booking through CheapOAir ensured my checked bags were included in the airfare on Etihad, however if I had booked the same economy seats through their website, the cost would have been double + I’d still have paid for bags.

This dedication to finding the best deal has made it possible to travel to all of these cities this year:

  • Orlando
  • New Orleans
  • Baton Rouge
  • Indianapolis (I drove here, but I had the money because I saved elsewhere)
  • Los Angeles
  • Denver
  • Washington, D.C.
  • Milwaukee (again, this was a driving trip but when you budget, you find freedom!)
  • Boston
  • Austin (?) (this is still up in the air but the girls + I have tossed this city in the air for October)
  • Raleigh (also a future but definite trip for a wedding)

I have read that on Tuesdays around 2:00PM local time six weeks before a trip is the most affordable time to book airline tickets + I do know that Tuesday tends to be the cheapest day to fly, however that’s not an exact science, either. I haven’t found much luck on Southwest with the 2:00PM rule + I don’t always know six weeks ahead of time that I’m going somewhere. I booked a trip for this Thursday for the day two weeks ago. Sometimes opportunities fall in your lap + you have to take them. But hopefully this provides some insight to my frequent traveling, how I afford it + how (hopefully) you can, too! Happy travels!

xo.