Traveling on a dime: getting started

[Workinghard]

My dh and I are getting closer to retirement and want to start traveling more. Although we're going on an international trip next year(post retirement), he does not like flying. Most of our trips will be driving in the U.S. We have 3 short ones, less than a week, coming up this year.

What's the best way to start saving on gas, car rentals, hotel, and meals? Out current credi cards are BoA and Diacover with cash back.

I love the idea someone posted about taking a crockpot which we would totally do if we had kids. However, we don't eat out much and that would be part of the travel experience and enjoyment. I'm thinking rooms with breakfast and then an early dinner that we could probably share.

More than likely we'll rent a car as ours are 14 and 16 years old, although we're looking at buying a later model next fall.

Would appreciate any tips!

[aceyou]

Food
- several pounds of almonds/cashews/peanuts.  Endless good calories that take up hardly any space. 
- 5 pound bag of mandarin oranges to for lots of quick sweet snacks, plus the vitamins. They come in their own wrapper so they are easy to put a couple into a backpack.
- always have a water bottle on you so you are never tempted to buy a "convenient" quick drink EVER.  I NEVER pay for liquid...when the healthiest option is also a free option, it's a no brainer.  An exception would be a beer, but that's more of an entertainment purchase rather than a food purchase. 
-alcohol, I typically will pick up a few beers for the hotel room, and drink less when out at the bars/restaurants.  plus the selection is generally better at a store than the restaurants/bars, so it's cheaper and better.

Hotels:
- www.room77.com is the best website I've found for getting the best price on hotels.  Way better than travelocity, expedia, etc.  in my opinion.  airbnb.com looks awesome, but I haven't personally used it yet. 

[Kaminoge]

It really depends on the type of people you are (so some of these ideas might not appeal at all) but here's a few things I'd look into:

1. AirBnB. I use it a lot. My mum (who's pushing 70) is currently on a trip and staying in several AirBnB places. When I rang her today for mother's day she was just telling me how glad she is that I put her on to it.

2. Check out more interesting options than just taking a random vacation. For example if you're happy to stay one place for a while then something like this https://roadtrippers.com/stories/ever-wanted-to-live-in-a-ghost-townand-get-paid-heres-your-chance?lat=40.80972&lng=-96.67528&z=5 could be fun. That's just one example that I came across recently but I know there are other volunteer options that would really make for cheap and interesting holidays.

3. On that note, if you do decide you want to do some international travel and you'd like a fun experience I highly recommend this organization http://www.vaughanenglishteachers.com/about-teaching-at-vaughan. It's a brilliant business idea (they make LOADS) but it's a fun way to get free food/accommodation and to meet a whole bunch of people you'd never otherwise meet.

But my biggest recommendation is that if time isn't an issue and you want to save money then SLOW DOWN. Instead of spending 2 or 3 days in a city and hitting all the highlights why not rent an apartment and stay a month (AirBnB often gives much cheaper deals if you stay a month). Then you have all the advantages of a kitchen and you can space out the meals that you eat out (I completely agree that you don't want to never eat out but it's nice to make it special when you do rather than ending up paying for a cheese sandwich). You can really get to know a place and enjoy the little perks like finding a local park you love walking in or a coffee shop that you really enjoy.

Enjoy!

[Trifle]

We travel 4-6 weeks per year on the cheap with our two kids.  The two areas where we focus our mustachianism are (1) the food, and (2) the stay. 

Food-wise we do well.  We have taken many two and three week vacations without ever once eating at a restaurant. The key is that we travel with a bag of non-perishable grocery foods -- loaf of bread, bag of nuts, jar of peanut butter, jar of honey, apples, etc. plus our COOLER.  The cooler lets us take milk, cheese, salami, bag of spinach, hummous, bags of raw vegetables, and a couple adult beverages.  All it needs is a fresh bag of ice ($2 or so) every day or two.  If we happen to be staying in a hotel, we load up on fresh ice before we go.

As for the Stay -- we camp a lot, using a 4-person tent.  We love being in beautiful wild areas.  National and state parks range anywhere from $6 - $35 per night for camping fees.  When we aren't camping we usually stay in inexpensive hotel chains that offer breakfast.  Once in a great while we will rent an apartment or condo, to live like a local for a week or two in a location. 

For example -- next weekend we are taking off for northern California for two weeks.  We are flying into San Francisco taking all our camping equipment as checked baggage, including -- of course -- the cooler. (Checked baggage is free with the airline loyalty card I have).  First thing we will do, before we even check into a hotel, is hit a grocery store and stock our bag and cooler.  Two days will be spent in SF seeing the sights/visiting Alcatraz and then we will rent a car and hit the road for 12 days camping in Yosemite and Redwoods national parks.  The trip will cost us about $1200 for the four of us -- which is mostly food, gas, and camping fees.  We are paying for the hotel nights, rental car, and most of our plane ticket costs with points/rewards from two very successful credit card 'churns' we did over the winter, and prior travel miles and vouchers. 

It is possible to travel/camp much, much cheaper than this, if you are able to use your own car (not fly), and stay on public lands that don't charge camping fees.  Throw in an inexpensive hotel stay every so often on long trips (to get a shower and do laundry) and you are good.

Good luck!  Many happy adventures. 

[vivek440]

  We are paying for the hotel nights, rental car, and most of our plane ticket costs with points/rewards from two very successful credit card 'churns' we did over the winter, and prior travel miles and vouchers. 

Would love to know more about these churns! I might do the same churns :-)

[Trifle]

@Vivek -- there is a post on this on MMM -- http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2014/10/13/credit-card-churning-for-mustachians-or-sucka-consumers/ that explains it better than I can.

We did two new cards last fall/winter -- the first was the Chase Ink, which had a 70,000 point signup bonus at the time. After you meet the spending requirement (check the rules) signup bonus points can be redeemed for cash or travel or other things.  You come out further ahead if you book travel on the card's website versus taking cash.  In the case of Chase the travel portal is called Ultimate Rewards.  The second card we got was an upgrade of our AAdvantage bronze card, which we have had forever, to an AAdvantage Platinum Select, which had a signup bonus of 50,000 points.  We then used those points on the AAdvantage website to book rental car and hotel stays. 

Over the years we have used the AAdvantage, Delta Skymiles, and Chase Ultimate Rewards travel booking portals, and they all work well.  My personal favorite is the AAdvantage portal -- fast, easy, straightforward.  Its best feature is excellent deals on rental cars compared to Skymiles and Chase UR.

This was the first time ever we intentionally signed up for cards just to get the bonuses, but it did work out well.  On those two 'churns' I figure we got the equivalent of about $1600 worth of travel.  Some people do this type of thing all the time, so we are just amateurs, but I think we may continue to do one card a year or so.  Things to watch out for in general -- the spending requirement to get the signup bonus varies from card to card.  You don't want to sign up for a card if you will have a hard time making the minimum spend.  Also some cards have no annual fee and some do. So if you are signing up for a card that has a $95 annual fee, you'll have to deduct that from your 'profit' on the churn.  And you want to be careful about what signing up for the cards may do to your credit rating, especially if you are going to be in the market for a mortgage or other loan sometime soon.  There is an explanation about that in the MMM post. 

Good luck!

[Snow White]

A friend and her hubby routinely take three week trips and spend very little money.  They can be gone the whole trip without eating a single meal in a restaurant. It helps that they are food-is-just-fuel type people and they will happily eat peanut butter sandwiches every day.  They drive a small, older pickup truck with a camper shell and sleep nights on a mattress and snuggle under her homemade quilts.  They usually stay in RV parks or National Parks with access to hot showers and WIFI.  Their joy is hiking and exploring in natural areas so it suits their personalities.

Their type of travel is too spartan for my tastes as we like trying new restaurants when we travel.  DH and I save money by renting a house, condo or apartment (usually through Home Away) and eating two meals in...usually breakfast and dinner.  Lunches out are often less expensive than dinner and we look for meals that will yield leftovers and often that works.  We stay in homes with laundry facilities and travel lightly since we can wash clothes. We shop at the local grocery stores and check out community activities.

[vivek440]

@Trifele - Thank for sharing your experience and the knowledge. I see lot of people use it but have never tried it myself...... Primarily it is just inertia !!! Perhaps I will soon take a dive!

Also thanks for sharing the link. I saw the post when it was published but at that time I was not FI (Financially Independent) and hence optional expenses like travel was a big big *NO* and didn't read the post very carefully !!! But now will go through the post in detail...... This year we plan to travel a lot and hence credit card churning can come handy ! Thanks !

 

[Workinghard]

Thanks for the ideas, suggestions, and links! I'll start checking them out. My dh is older and has some health issues so camping is not an option. More than likely, he'll have a more sedentary retirement but at least we can travel. The trips coming up are obligations and limited time-wise since we're both still working.  Next year will be different though!

[Catbert]

A couple of websites that you might check out for travel CC bonus info:

www.thepointsguy.com

www.frugaltravelguy.com

Both have beginner guides on-line which can get you started. Often travel hacking websites will be happy to help you select CC as long as you acquire them through their affiliate links.

What hotels do you like to stay in?  Look for a co-branded CC.  For example, IHG CC covers Holiday Inns and several other brands.  For a minimum spend (2K in 3 months IIRC) you get 70,000 points.  Rooms in a small town in Pennsylvania are 10,000 points while rooms in downtown Seattle are 35,000.  (I guess you can guess what my next two trip are.)  If you're more a Marriott couple they have a CC also.

[Cole]

A well maintaned 14 or 16 yr old car will handle a long drive easily. A poorly maintained 4 yr old car probably couldn't handle the same drive. My 17 year old car just did 3300 miles Colorado-california and back without breaking a sweat.

[vivek440]

@mary w - Thank you for the links!I have bookmarked the links. For now, it is not a very high priority item for me! Perhaps subconsciously I find it too complex to take a dive :-). Anyways, thanks for the links!

[Trifle]

@Workinghard -- If camping is out, then I think your next cheapest travel options will depend on what you want to do.  if you would like to go somewhere and stay in one location for a week or two, then renting an apartment or condo is almost always going to be cheaper (and way more comfortable) than a hotel.  We have done the cost/benefit math many times, and the tipping point where we rent rather than staying in a hotel is about 4-5 days.  If the stay is going to be shorter than that, we do a hotel, but if it's longer, we rent.  When renting, you have a kitchen and a nice base of operations, and you can 'live like a local' while you are there.  We have successfully rented through vrbo.com (vacation rentals by owner) and the TripAdvisor website.  We have heard good things about airbnb but have not yet done it.  If you are visiting a known tourist destination (think Florida beaches) there will always be nice condos for rent.  Some places allow their condo owners to rent out their places themselves, and some condo complexes have a central office or a property manager that handles the bookings.  You can find both types of condo rentals on vrbo.com or TripAdvisor.

If on the other hand you want to be moving more -- a road trip with a couple days spent here, couple days spent there, then a hotel is usually going to be more cost effective.  If you have a hotel chain loyalty membership and a credit card that will help you rack up hotel points toward it, you can score yourself a number of free hotel nights per year, depending on how much you spend on the credit card.   Or you could get an airline credit card that will help you rack up 'Miles' , which can be used for plane tickets but also for hotel stays and rental cars if you book through the airline's travel portal.

Final note on campers -- some people with health problems, or who just don't want to 'rough it', use campers, which can be quite comfortable and luxurious.  We have friends that have a camper, and we have a friendly debate going with them about whether they actually ever save any money using it versus staying in hotels.  Of course, it depends on the camper (up front cost, gas mileage, etc).  My take -- even for a simple/low-end camper I am convinced that it is usually cheaper to drive your own car and stay in hotels on a road trip, then visit the natural park areas by car/foot/bike during the day, returning to your hotel at night.  Although we prefer to go into a park and camp with our tent, we do this car/hotel strategy on occasion (if the weather turns really bad, it is middle of winter, we couldn't get a camping spot, etc) and it works out fine.  There is also a lot to be said for a hot shower, a clean comfortable hotel bed, and breakfast  in the morning.  :)

Good luck!  Happy travels. 

[Workinghard]

When I first started reading this forum, I saved posts and eventually put together a binder with information about retirement: Roth conversions, SS, RMDs, etc.

Now I'm going to start doing the same with travel tips! I really appreciate everyone's input. Some day I may learn how to do travel hacks and credit card points/churning, but right now I don't have the time or energy. We'll start slow with some short trips while we're still working, but will definitely look at longer term rentals when we start traveling for real.

Thanks again for the links, and suggestions, and putting in the effort to reply.

[southern granny]

We rent from home away or vrbo.com.  We eat out at lunch out instead of dinner.  We will also have a couple of breakfasts out during the week.  The rest of the time we eat in the room.  I love tripadvisor.com for checking out local restaurants.  Check with the local tourism bureau for where you are going and they will often end you a packet that contains some good coupons. 

[Workinghard]

FYI: there's a foreign transaction fee if you use the one site that was suggested easytobook.com.