Travel Season Approaches and Here’s How to Avoid Airline and Hotel Fees

There’s a subject that annoys me to the core more than almost any other, especially when it’s wrapped around planning a fun, long-awaited event like a summer vacation! I’m also willing to bet it’s a major source of frustration for you as well. I’m talking about those annoying fees you find these days everywhere, now even more than ever before. Hotel fees, airline fees, and more! They’re so crazy, fees on just about everything. Businesses are busy thinking up new and even more annoying ways to grab our money even now as I write this post.

Hotel room representing airline and hotel fees

You are hearing all about inflation and the rising costs of everything. But you would think that when it comes to the travel industry, these vendors would be so happy to see a traveler planning a real vacation that they would at the very least try to exercise some control over the prices. I know that would attract me, how about you? So it’s up to us to try to figure out the best ways to save, because you won’t get much help from “Mr. Businessman” in the summer of ’22!

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The Soaring Cost of Post-Pandemic Life and Vacation Travel

It’s starting to look like we can make some kind of real plans again to get away from home and enjoy traveling as we always did before COVID-19. But when you do go back to life as you knew it, how are you going to feel? If you haven’t yet ventured out of your home, or even more daringly gone away on a vacation yet, you are not alone. For most of us, just getting back to work or any kind of “normal” routine is still the adventure we are experiencing. There are lots of questions about what we should know and do when it comes to “post-pandemic” life and vacation travel. But as you do it, beware.

The number of people getting out and traveling is on the rise and so are all of the prices!

Family checking in to resort despite high cost of vacation travel

Caution Has Been My Middle Name

Just yesterday, I went shopping in an actual store for the first time since March of 2020 (yes, I am a highly at-risk person for COVID-19) and I still found myself being very wary despite now being fully vaccinated.

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Planning Travel for 2021 the Smart Way

Does booking a vacation and planning travel for 2021 seem like a gamble to you? If you are like most people, you can’t not think about a vacation for you and/or your family after what we all have been going through now for the past year plus. Like most sensible people have been doing, being locked down and staying put, winter, summer, fall, and spring has been really difficult. Just how many movies and videos can you watch each week before your head explodes?

Despite (and because of) the pandemic, many people are ready for a vacation. Planning travel for 2021 may be tricky, so be sure to do it the smart way.

So now, the weather is starting to warm up and you are venturing a little bit more outside. That is especially true since the pandemic is at least starting to feel like we’ve made a bit of a dent in it—there’s a vaccine being administered, workplaces are gearing back up, and even such things as sports and entertainment seem to be moving forward, albeit just a bit too fast for some and definitely for me.

So here’s the really big question for 2021: “Can you plan a vacation this year?”

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14 Tips That Help You Save on Travel

As summer hits its middle, it’s not too early to think about next year’s vacation and how to save on travel. This year we may just be lounging around the community swimming pool and having a few BBQ nights on the grill, but not next year.

When planning your vacation, follow these tips to save on travel. The more you think about it in advance, the less you'll worry on your trip.

My wife and I are in the process of planning a big vacation for 2020 right now and we’re getting pretty excited. Excited, but also a bit worried, too. After all, vacations these days have become a pretty hefty expense and because of that we have to use our “super saving” skills to limit the cost and to maximize the fun.

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8 Summer Travel Tips I Know Will Save You Money

Summer vacation is on my mind and I’ll bet it’s on yours, too. I actually have been thinking about it a lot for months now, since it’s been awhile since my wife and I have traveled on a “real” vacation.  I have always touted myself as a pretty good travel planner, a skill that I have mastered from personal travel planning experience. So I have put together a short list of 8 travel tips I know for a fact will definitely save you money if you are up for a vacation this year. These tips are not only good for the summer travel period, but are year-round bonafide winners that really only require a bit of awareness and a little planning effort. I think that’s worth saving some big bucks and I think you will as well!

Summer tends to be travel season, so it's the perfect time for travel tips that will save you money. A little extra planning upfront can save your budget.

While there’s staycations and weekend getaways and road trips, today I’m focusing on your typical week-long family vacation. Trips like these often involve airfare, hotel, car rental, and food plus entertainment costs as well.Continue reading“8 Summer Travel Tips I Know Will Save You Money”

6 Ultimate Travel Hacks to “Game” the Airlines

What I am going to tell you about today is real. It will open your eyes and while some of it reveals reasonable travel hacks, some of it boldly borders on the illegal. That is something you will have to decide for yourself when you’ve finished reading.

6 Ultimate Travel Hacks to "Game" the Airlines

Gaming the airlines has become a lifestyle for many who need and want to travel and they do so at the highest levels. The players involved are people just like you and I, with one major difference. They’ve taken the art of saving money and upgrading their travel experiences to an entirely new level. You may love them or hate them, but they are real and may be costing you money because they’re so good at it.Continue reading“6 Ultimate Travel Hacks to “Game” the Airlines”

True or False? Your Best Financial Decisions Are Still Ahead of You

You constantly make financial decisions. That’s just a fact. Some of them are seemingly simple and unimportant like where you’re having lunch today when you are out and about. Or whether you should buy that new pair of shoes you saw online today or just wait until the next big sale.

Two college students studying representing your best financial decisions

But then there are the other decisions you make: the really significant ones like taking on a new job or buying an expensive car. Those decisions can have a major impact on your financial future.

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The Must-Know Money Tips to Take Your Finances to the Next Level

It occurred to me, after being on the planet for almost 73 years, that what I and most of us call good money habits are unknown to millions among us who just haven’t any clue about that. After all, if they did, then the need for me or anyone to write about it would be a totally moot point, wouldn’t it?

Figure climbing stairs representing money tips taking your finances to the next level

If you don’t understand anything about personal finance, I’m not here to scold you or mock you. It’s not your fault because you probably either had no practical education in the field or worse, you may have had some really bad examples of how to manage money demonstrated to you as a child or young adult. In any case, you will eventually find out the truth about you and your money. The question is only when and how much damage it might inflict upon you. That’s why it’s never too early or too late to learn these “must-know” money tips you need to take your finances to the next level.

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