More Money-Saving Travel Tips

September 10, 2015

Before sadly leaving us as a regular blog writer, my colleague Greg Ward wrote a post on “Money Saving Tips I Learned As a Frequent Traveler.” I wrote a similar one a few years ago. Since then, I’ve learned a few more tips that could save you a few bucks (or a headache) when traveling:

Never Choose a Middle Seat

I love having the window seat on a plane (my long limbs get bumped too often in the aisle seat) and I’m often tempted to pay a few dollars extra to get a premiere window seat when there are no free ones available. However, I learned a little trick that has usually paid off. If there are only middle seats left, I simply don’t select a seat. I usually end up getting assigned one of those seats for free when I check-in. There’s no guarantee there will be any available but choosing a middle seat guarantees…a middle seat.

What if you’re traveling with someone? You and your travel partner might want to each choose an aisle and window seat in the same row. If someone sits in the middle seat, I’m sure they’d be happy to switch with one of you. But if no one chooses to sit in the middle, you have the whole row to yourself.

Share a Ride Share

Many people know that ride sharing services like Uber and Lyft can be cheaper (and nicer) than a taxi service. If you’re going from and to popular areas, you can save even more money by taking that sharing to another level with UberPool and Lyft Line, which let you split the ride (and the cost) with other passengers. On my last UberPool trip, a regular taxi ride would have cost about $64 with a 15% tip, a regular Uber ride would have cost about $55, and my UberPool ended up being just $34.

Pay With the Right Credit Card

Another one of my colleagues, Kelley Long, recently wrote about how to use reward credit cards. Kelley pointed out how credit cards can be easily abused but there are lots of benefits of using a credit card to book travel. I personally use the Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card for the following benefits but other credit cards may offer them too so check the details of your cards:

  • Points or cash back for travel expenses: My Chase card offers 2 points per dollar spent on travel, which can be converted to cash or points with other travel companies. (Although a friend pointed out to me that my card is beaten by his Citi Thank You Premier card, which offers 3 points per dollar spent on travel, including gas).
  • No foreign transaction fees: Avoid paying a fee to use your own money if you travel out of the country.
  • Primary rental car insurance: Many credit cards offer secondary rental car insurance, which means they’ll only pay your out-of-pocket expenses after you report an accident to your auto insurance company and potentially have your premiums increase as a result. Primary insurance covers you without having to get your auto insurance involved at all.
  • Trip cancellation/interruption insurance: You can get reimbursed for prepaid, nonrefundable travel expenses if your trip is cut short by illness, severe weather, or other covered situations.
  • Baggage delay insurance: If your baggage is delayed more than a certain length of time, you can be reimbursed for the cost of buying toiletries and other essentials to hold you over.
  • Trip delay reimbursement: You can be reimbursed for expenses like meals and lodging if your flight is delayed for a certain length of time or requires an overnight stay.

Do you travel? Have any money-saving tips of your own to share? Feel free to leave them in the comments section below.