Travel Like a Millionaire but don't spend a Million

Photo by Ben
The best way to travel for less is to ask more questions.
When you mention travel, most people light up. Traveling to new places, seeing sites you’ve only read about, and anticipating exciting adventures in romantic locations are what makes travel so popular. We don’t only travel for pleasure; business travel is a big piece of the travel business. There are lots of reasons to travel. And, if you enjoy it as much as I do, let me assure you that you can travel more than ever and increase the quality of your trips if you become a smart buyer of travel. At first glance, travel would seem too expensive for most people, even if they don’t plan to travel in high style. The perception is that any travel is expensive, and the cost of good travel is just out of the question. It is true that the cost of travel can be very high. Sometimes it can be outrageously expensive. But, first class travel does not have to be out of reach for you. First class travel can be very affordable, all of the time.

How is this possible? How can it simultaneously be expensive and very affordable for the same quality of travel? The answer is simple: For years, the travel industry, which is ones of the biggest industries in the world, has made its product available at greatly discounted prices. Can you guess why? If your answer is competition, you are right on target. When you start thinking about all the competition in the travel business, it is mind-boggling. From travel agencies to theme parks to cruise ships to hotels to airlines to resorts and campgrounds, it is incredible how many travel options you have from which to choose. Now, throw in our current economic slowdown and fear of terrorist attacks, and you have a great many companies that are hungry and fighting for your business. These businesses have chosen to compete on price; they have turned their product into a commodity that is sold almost entirely based on the price. Think about it: Did you make your last flight reservations based on the quality of the airplane you’d be flying on and the quality of the service that would be provided by one airline over another? Or, was your decision based totally on the price of the
ticket?

THE HIGH COST OF TRAVEL
The travel industry’s retail prices are set very high. Not counting the annual family drive back to Dad’s hometown and the week’s stay at grandma’s house, a real vacation—including everything—is not cheap. The average hotel room in the United States costs close to $100 per night. Airline tickets, ground transportation, tickets to attractions, meals, and miscellaneous expenses can run the average four-member family $1,000 to $3,000 or more for a week, depending on where you go and how you travel. Many families take one big vacation a year. This can be stressful because you want to get your money’s worth. Add to that the stress of trying to make everyone in your family happy. It is tough enough renting a movie that will appeal to everyone in your family. Planning one great trip that everyone will enjoy is a thousand times more difficult to pull off—it is your one shot during the year to have a great time. Using the strategies contained in this chapter, you will learn how to travel more often at half the price or less than you would normally pay. People sitting right next to you on the airplane will be paying double or even triple what you will be paying. Learn and use these techniques and affordable, stress-free, high-quality travel that the entire family enjoys will become a reality for you.

DISCOVERING AIR TRAVEL DISCOUNTS
You will find that in the world of travel, the more questions you ask, the more money you will end up saving. The truth of the matter is most people you talk to when you are planning and buying travel are salespeople, and salespeople are normally paid some sort of sales commission. The more of a discount they give you, the lower their commission will be in most cases. So, unless you ask for a discount or a lower fare, no one is really going to go out of their way to tell you about the discounts that exist. Once in a while, a very helpful travel sales representative will pleasantly surprise you and tell you about every discount available for your trip, but this is rare. To illustrate this, let me use the airline industry. Most people shop for airline tickets the wrong way. To begin with, they wait until the last minute, which guarantees they will pay more. People usually call two or three airlines and ask how much it will cost to fly to their destination city on a certain day. Airline number one gives them a price and then they call airline number two. They get a price from number two and, maybe call a third, although, finding three major airlines that fly to the same city is getting more and more difficult. Then, they pick the airline that offered the lowest price of the two or three they called. The problem is, the prices quoted were probably the highest-priced fares available. So, the uninformed traveler is choosing from the two or three highest prices available rather than the lowest available fare. Remember those three words; this is what you should ask for every time you shop for a flight. If you simply say you want to fly from city A to city B on a certain day at a certain time of day, you limit the responses the salespeople will give you. By asking for the lowest available airfare, they are required to tell you about the fringe flights that are also available, for example, overnight flights, referred to as red-eye flights, and flights leaving very early in the morning. Airline reservation agents are trained to fill up flights that are lacking in passengers without regard to saving you money. If the noon flight is empty, they are going to try and put you on that flight, even if it costs you an extra $200. Unless you become a good travel detective and dig out the discounts, you’ll almost always overpay.

One the most effective techniques for saving money on airline tickets is to plan as far in advance as possible. If you buy airline tickets two or three weeks in advance of a flight you will always save money, and often the savings will be 50 to 60 percent, or more. This goes for cruises and almost every other mode of travel. The early bird gets the savings. Look at the savings that are available with a little advance research. I discovered this pricing scenario when I researched a flight from Philadelphia to Orlando. A full fare ticket, with no restrictions and no advance purchase requirement, was priced at $838. The same ticket bought with seven days advance notice was $596, a $242 savings. If we bought the ticket fourteen days in advance, added a Saturday night stay (we couldn’t schedule our return flight until Sunday), and some restrictions like non-refundable cancellation (we had to take the trip), non-upgradable (we could not pay to move into first class), the price ranged from $204 to $299. This is a savings of at least $593. Often, you can save 44 to 70 percent simply depending on the month, season, and day of your travel. If possible, plan to travel during mid-week. The best airline fares are available on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and late nights. In some cities, Saturdays are low fare days. Watch for the seasonal price changes and try to plan your travel for the week right before or after a destination’s high season. In the United States, the lowest airfares are available generally between October and March, holidays excluded.

If you are flying to Europe, airfares are highest during summer and are lowest from December through March, which is off-season in Europe. Flights to Asia are less expensive from about mid-November through March. Flexibility is another great asset when it comes to saving travel money. If you can schedule your travel to take advantage of discounts and low fares, you are in a good position to get the lowest prices. The more rigid your schedule, the fewer discounts you will have access to. There is an exception to this rule, however, and it goes back to what I said about managing the occupancy rate. Once a flight is getting close to takeoff and seats remain unsold, those seats may go on the bargain block to the benefit of last-minute flyers. It is difficult to wait to the last minute to try to book a flight if you have to be somewhere at a certain day and time. But, if you are flexible, this can work in your favor. As a rule, airlines will try to charge you more for flying at the last minute, as if they are doing you a favor for letting you buy a ticket for a seat on one of their airplanes that is still empty. Airlines will make exceptions to the rule of charging more for last-minute travelers in emergency situations or in case of a death in the family. If you truly must travel for some reason, like a family illness or death, and it is a financial hardship for you, be sure to mention this to the agent at the time you make your reservation. I have found airline personnel to actually be very flexible when they can be. They really don’t have a problem accommodating you if there is room to do so. They have certain guidelines they have to work within and most are willing to do what they can to help people who are courteous and patient. I see people blaming the airline service personnel for things out of their control. A lot of frustration comes from the fact that people overpay for airline tickets and then expect to be treated in accordance with how much they paid. Paying more than $300 for a coach ticket anywhere in the United States is not worth it. But, tickets at that price are being sold every day. If you pay $700 and have to fly in the coach section, you will be disappointed and frustrated. My best advice is to avoid ever paying so much for a flight that you feel you have overpaid. Here are some additional ways to cut your travel costs in half without sacrificing quality: ➤ Learn about the discounts available to people less than two years of age and over age sixty-two. Generally, a discount of between 10 and 20 percent is offered to people in these age categories. But, be careful.

Don’t automatically think the discount is being taken from the lowest available fare. You should find the lowest available fare and then ask for your discount off of that fare. That would be getting a deal. ➤ Opting for a flight with connections rather than a non-stop flight could save you money. This is inconvenient, especially on short flights. If you are traveling with children, the inconvenience of getting off of planes and rushing through airports to make connections may not be worth the savings. If you do choose flights with connections, try to book the earliest possible flights since, as the day goes on, the chance for connecting flights to be delayed or missed increases. ➤ Be sure to book your flights using a credit card that rewards you with membership points. Some credit cards are aimed at frequent travelers and offer a host of benefits like free flight insurance and luggage insurance. If you travel a great deal, it is definitely worth your time to find credit cards that cater to you. Be sure to join the airline’s frequent flyer program, even if you don’t travel much. Being a member of several of these programs will open a floodgate of discount and promotional travel offers designed to help you travel more. Researching travel fares and destinations has never been easier thanks to the Internet. Travel Web sites abound with information and savings on everything a traveler needs. One great strategy for using the Internet could end up providing you with an unbelievably low fare and, at least, verify that you have found a good fare. Here is what you can do: Once you have called airlines or researched fares online, take your lowest price and subtract 10 to 25 percent and submit the low price to one of the sites where you name your own price. You may just end up with an incredible deal. Security concerns are responsible for a new cost that is really becoming an issue and one you should take action to avoid. If you thought your luggage cost a lot when you bought it, wait until you see some of the new fees the airlines are imposing on extra baggage. Some airlines are limiting checked baggage to two pieces per person and charging high fees for each extra bag. Be sure to check on the airline’s policies before you show up with extra luggage. Many airlines are also charging extra fees to handle what are considered oversized bags. A bag that measures more than sixty-two inches when you add its height, width and depth is considered by most airlines to be oversized. Fees can be as high as $80 per bag, one way, for domestic travel and several hundred dollars per bag for travel outside of the United States. Traveling lighter will not only save you money, but it can save you time and a great deal of inconvenience as the new security measures require more bag searches.

HOTEL BARGAINS AND DISCOUNTS
Once you get your lowest possible airfare booked, you need to find a place to stay, and one of the easiest places to save money on a trip is at the hotel. Start by asking for promotional specials; group, corporate, and military rates; senior, student, and association discounts; summer, winter, spring, and fall discounts; and off-season discounts. I’m sure you get the point. Ask for discounts! There are literally hundreds of discounts available. It may be as simple as paying with a certain credit card to receive a substantial discount. Often, if you fly a certain airline or use a certain rental car company you will qualify for discounts when you stay at a certain hotel chain and vice versa. You have to ask for these things because the salespeople will rarely volunteer this information. Negotiation plays a major part in hotel savings. If you know of a certain discount offered at a certain hotel, but it is not the one you want to stay at, by mentioning the other hotel’s promotion to your desired hotel’s reservation agent you might get the same discount at the hotel of your choice. Again, your ability to bargain is dependent a great deal on availability. If you are traveling to a city with five thousand members of an association you belong to, good luck at the bargaining table. If demand exceeds supply, it is tough to find a cheap rate; conventions usually set up discounted rates for attendees in advance. Even if the convention facilitator has offered you “discounted” accommodations, shop around anyway. Often, you will find a good rate in a neighboring town away from the action. If the slight inconvenience is not a problem for you, this can be a big money saver. But, if you stay too far away, you may need a rental car, which would add more to your cost than the higher hotel cost for staying at your meeting site. If you are traveling for pleasure, rather than business, and you do not have to be at a specific location at a specific time, there is another thrifty reason to consider accommodations that are off the beaten path. Hotel tourist taxes, or bed taxes as they are often called, can be as high as 25 percent in some cities. Often, you can save more than half of the tax bill by staying in a nearby city or county. It might be right across the street where the county or city line separates different tax structures, so you may not have to travel far to save big. One more way to save 10 percent or more on your hotel stay is to know the costs associated with using the telephone in your room, or in the hotel in general. It is frustrating to ponder how out of control these fees have gotten. Even local calls are beginning to get outrageously expensive. The price for convenience is high; hotel telephone usage fees can reach double digits per minute plus tax. You could spend several hundred dollars dialing direct long-distance from the telephone in your room, especially if you are traveling overseas. It used to be that you could dial an outside, local line, then dial the toll-free number on your long-distance calling card and only pay for a local call plus your calling card fees. Now, many hotels are charging you per minute that you are on the local line. (See section below entitled “Phone Home and Save” to learn how to s while on vacation.) avoid hefty phone charge.

GREAT DEALS AT RESORTS
One of our favorite ways to travel is to stay at condominium resorts. These resorts are a great alternative to hotels, especially for families requiring more than one bedroom. Condos differ slightly from typical luxury resorts in that each condominium is owned by a different owner, whereas in a typical luxury resort, all units are owned by one entity. Each condo is decorated differently, prices are set by the different owners, and amenities vary from condo to condo. If your trip is planned to last more than one or two days, and you are bringing more than two people, including children or teenagers, a condominium resort is not only a financially attractive alternative to a hotel room, but it is also a better choice most of the time when you consider the amenities that are usually included. Resort personnel often represent the individual owners of the condominiums when they host guests. These owners demand that the guests are well taken care of so they can get return business. They also know that anyone staying at the resort has the potential of becoming a condominium owner, so the management company makes every attempt to provide first-class accommodations. Take a look at these comparisons and you will see why staying at a luxury resort may be your best choice. With a little shopping around, you should be able to stay at a beautiful condominium resort for a week for between $250 and $500 depending upon season, occupancy rate, and other factors. Of course some will be a bit more expensive but, in general, the price will range between $35 and $71 per night for a seven-day stay. In a condominium, you can expect to have one, two, or three bedrooms, a living room, a dining room, a fully equipped, eat-in kitchen, washer and dryer, and lots of other comforts of home. A resort will also feature many outdoor amenities on the premises. In addition to the pool, you’ll enjoy access to fitness centers, golf courses, and tennis courts. Many resorts will employ social directors who will plan daily activities. Many also have kid’s clubs that cater to the needs of children and teens during the day so parents can enjoy some time together to do what they would like to do for a change. These social directors, or activity coordinators, often have better access to more discounts, special events, and special promotions than the front desk personnel at a hotel. So, you are more likely to be made aware of a few great things to see and do while you are in the area. Often, your resort stay will include free things like rounds of golf, sightseeing trips at no cost, and transportation to areas of interest for free. By staying in a hotel, you can expect to pay anywhere from $60 for lower-end accommodations to more than $150 per night. And, as you know, there is no privacy in a hotel room. Certainly there are no kitchen facilities or separate rooms. As the children get older, you may have to have two rooms, which is not only more expensive, but is also a security issue, especially if the rooms don’t adjoin with a doorway. The hotel is perfectly designed to provide sleeping, eating, and meeting accommodations for business people or the traveler who is passing through. I’ve spent several weeks at a time in a hotel room on business. Though I was comfortable, I still wished that I were staying at a resort. It is simply more like home and I strongly suggest it for any stay of more than a day or two. There are some all-suite hotels that make the hotel experience a bit more comfortable by creating a separate living area with a fold-out couch and possibly a microwave and small refrigerator, but for a stay of four to seven days, nothing beats resort accommodations.

BURN A WEEK IN THE LAP OF LUXURY
I’ve mentioned the convenience of condominiums and resorts, and the assortment of amenities available. But did you know that you can stay in the most exotic and luxurious of resorts at rock-bottom prices? You can do this by taking advantage of what the industry calls “burn weeks.” There are thousands of resorts and millions of one-, two-, and three bedroom luxurious condominiums around the world. For an owner of a resort unit, the worst thing in the world is to have that unit go empty for a week. Someone, either an individual or a resort company, is paying a mortgage and other expenses on that unit. In many cases, it may not be a time-share type unit. It may be a condominium owned by an individual and leased by a management company on the resort premises. The management company’s job is to fill that unit during the times when the owner is not using it. You can rent these accommodations for as little as $100 for an entire week. I have done it. My family of three (at the time) spent a wonderful week for $100 in an incredible, three-level ski chalet that is built to house ten people. This unit normally leased for more than $1,000 a week. But, the unit was not being used the week we planned to be there; the resort would rather have $100 than nothing. This type of price break on this type of unit is not the norm but there is no telling how much you can save. We had to wait until the week before our trip to know for sure if we would be able to get the unit, so we had alternative accommodations ready at a much higher price, just in case. Many travel agents have access to the burn week market. I suggest you call the resort you want to stay at directly and ask if they have any units that are going unused during your planned trip. Sometimes you will get a great deal of advance notice on a bargain week. More often you will have to wait until shortly before your trip to find out if something is going to be available. When you begin to plan a vacation, contact resorts and ask about their burn-week inventory and other special discounts they might have available.

PHONE HOME AND SAVE
When you travel, it is a good bet that you will be making some telephone calls for a variety of reasons like letting people back home know you are safe. Long-distance calling cards have really become a traveler’s best friend in recent years and with the massive changes in the long-distance calling industry, the cost of using a calling card has fallen by as much as 80 percent. Calling cards can also become a black hole where you throw away lots of money if you are not careful. Here are some basic guidelines for calling cards that should prevent you from paying too much for calls. First of all, a calling card is cheaper than calling collect. If you call someone collect, you are going to pay many times more than you would with a calling card. Shop for a low-priced calling card, preferably, a card that does not hit you with a surcharge, or “bong” charge, every time you attempt to make a call. This is a fee that is charged for each call you make, usually 25¢ to $2, on top of the long-distance cost, per minute of usage. You can easily find a calling card with no surcharge. Next, shop the price-per-minute charge. This is an amount that you pay for each minute you are speaking. If you don’t pay more than 18¢ per minute with a calling card you are doing well. If you are paying more than 18¢ per minute, and paying a surcharge, you are paying too much. Find another card or tell your current provider you need a more affordable pricing plan. If you are traveling out of the country, make sure your calling card has international calling capabilities. Don’t assume it does. If you travel outside the country a great deal, then you want to check into a service called “international call-back.” International call-back, which is becoming more widely available as the technology allows it to do so, will offer you huge savings on international calls. Here is how it works: You place a call from London, for example, to New York. You have an international call-back service in place, the call is connected in New York, terminated, and then you are immediately called back at the location in London where you made the call. You see, it is cheaper to call London from New York than it is to call New York from London. That may change in the next ten years as the telephone companies work on connecting the telephone systems of the world together, which should further reduce rates. This service offers major savings for companies with offices in cities around the world but could also benefit you if you travel abroad often. Beware of credit cards that also offer you calling-card privileges. You will often pay much higher prices for calls in order for the credit card company, or whoever is marketing the long-distance service, to earn commissions. Make sure your pin number, which is a pass code you are required to dial in order to complete your card call, is not printed on the card itself. If it is and you lose the card, or it is stolen, someone else will be able to use your card and you will get the bill. Also, as a safety precaution, be careful to cover the dial pad when you dial your access numbers at a phone booth, especially at airports where thieves specialize in stealing your calling card numbers and reselling them. If the only reason for using your calling card is to place calls to one location, like home or the office when you are away, I suggest you look into getting a toll-free number to use instead. That way you don’t have to worry about losing a calling card or dialing in lots of access numbers.

Again, if you are traveling outside the country, be sure your toll-free number has international capabilities. A toll-free number for your home won’t cost more than $5 per month and should be as cheap per minute as a regular long-distance call at no more than 4 to 5¢ per minute. Not even the incredibly popular and convenient cellular telephone service can beat that price per minute. Pre-paid calling cards are another great way to both save money and control the cost of long-distance calling. Commonly used in Europe and other parts of the world for many years, pre-paid calling cards have only recently caught on in the United States. As the name implies, you pre-pay for a certain amount of talk time, an hour for example. When you are ready to make a call, you dial some access numbers and you are connected. At the beginning of each call, a recording will inform you of how much talk time you have left. When you have used all of the talk time, more time can be added to the card. This is called re-charging the card and can be done by calling the company that issued the card and adding more time and paying for it with a credit card. Or, the calling card can simply be thrown away. There are many benefits to the pre-paid calling card if you can find a good price. A good price per minute would be no more than 10¢ per minute with no access charge. Watch out for access or connection fees that can be as high as $3 for each call that you make. That money comes right out of your allotted time on the card. The connection fee is charged as soon as you connect even if you connect with an answering machine, voice mail, pager, or wrong number. You must calculate the per-minute charge at the time you buy the card. Just divide the cost of the card by how many minutes of talk time you are purchasing. For example, if you buy a one-hour (sixty minutes of talk time) card for $15, you’d be paying 25¢ per minute ($15/60 minutes 25¢). However, the connection fees per call must also be calculated into your ultimate cost per minute. Look for these fees either printed on the card or posted where you purchase the card. If you are not sure what fees you will pay, generally there will be a toll-free number on the card where you can call to recharge it. Call and ask for a listing of usage fees. Watch out for the access fees on pay phones also. These fees are federally mandated in this country and also eat into your calling card’s allotted value. The billing increments of your card are important to know also; the lower increments the better. For example, six-second billing increments are better than three minute increments, meaning that, even if you talk for only one minute, you will be charged for using three minutes. Sometimes even six second billing increments are still rounded to the next minute. It pays to read the fine print. If you lose a pre-paid card or if a thief steals the access codes from you your liability is limited to the amount of time already on the card. The thief won’t be able to exceed the pre-paid call time, unless he also has your credit cards. Businesses like the pre-paid card because it allows them to have more control on costs. By pre-paying, a company can decide in advance how much it wants to spend on long-distance. Parents with children away at college or on other school or vacation trips find this technique valuable as well. First-year college students tend to get lonely and call home a lot. They also make friends from all over the world and like to keep in touch with them, on the telephone. They will occasionally let a friend use their card. If your child has access to a regular, unlimited, long-distance calling card, you run the risk of getting a surprise in the mail in the form of a huge long-distance bill. With pre-paid calling cards, parents can decide how much they are willing to spend each month for long-distance and then recharge the card for a certain number of minutes. Once those are used, the student can add more time herself or simply wait until next month for you to refill the card. Many parents report that this is just one technique they use to teach their children the value of money. Cheap cellular telephone costs are allowing cell phones to quickly take over as the communication tool of choice for everyone, especially travelers. If you are going to rely on your cellular telephone when you travel, be sure to check with your provider before you leave to make sure you will have uninterrupted service in the areas you will be visiting. Often, some simple programming is required before you leave your home city in order to get service in your destination city. I once spent a month in California without cellular service because I did not perform a simple programming task on my telephone before I left, so the California provider could not recognize my telephone as being part of its system. Also, check the costs of using your cellular telephone in the cities where you will be traveling. Roaming fees can sometimes make the cost of using your cellular telephone very expensive. Ah, the high price of convenience. For safety during car trips of any length, cellular phones cannot be beat. Don’t forget to bring extra batteries or your charger.

SAVING ON CAR RENTALS
Back on the road, literally, let’s talk about winning the car rental game. All of the rules that apply for booking airline tickets are valid for renting vehicles. Advance reservations are the key to saving money. If you book your rental seven to fourteen days in advance, you will almost always receive discounted rates. If you show up at the car rental counter unannounced, anywhere in the world, be prepared to pay top dollar. If you must rent a car at the last minute like that, you are advised to pass up the big, well-known companies, and seek out smaller, local companies with locations away from the airport. You generally always save money by picking your rental car up off the airport’s property, even if you rent from the name-brand companies. Again, the Internet gives you incredible research power when it comes to shopping rates for rentals. Ask for discounts and special promotional offers. Memberships that you have in different organizations may provide a discount or you may qualify for a senior discount. Remember, the quoted price will usually not include taxes, location fees, insurance, second driver fees, drop off charges, and other extras that can add 10 to 30 percent to your cost. Always choose to return the rental car with a full tank of gas. It may be inconvenient but you will save a lot of money. The rental company will charge you a very high, premium price per gallon, plus additional sales tax and airport fees could also be tacked on to the bill. Another task often overlooked in our zeal to get going after a long flight is the inspection of the vehicle. Go over the car very carefully before you take possession and note any existing damage carefully. It may seem inconvenient, but you will be glad you caught the dent in the bumper before you drive off because the rental company will catch it when you return the car and the repair will not be cheap. Finally, be sure to ask your airline and hotel if they have any special money-saving, promotional programs with any car rental companies.

ADVANTAGES OF THE MINI-VACATION
There has been a real trend growing over the past few years for people taking short two-, three-, and four-day trips, as opposed to full one- and two-week vacations. This is mostly due to the fact that, though our leisure time is supposed to have increased, people work too much to even consider taking a week or two off at a time. Many are afraid to be away from the office for too long, especially in a difficult economic environment, which accounts for continuing downsizing. It is a shame that so many employees fear being perceived as expendable. But, who can blame them, especially after what has happened in the last year? Actually, taking shorter trips, but more of them, is a great way to recharge the batteries. Longer vacations can actually make you weary, which is the opposite of what you were trying to accomplish. Also, with longer trips, we tend to go to the big destination, bypassing the great local spots that weekend trips allow us to enjoy. Think about how many great places and things there are to see and do that are just a car ride away. There may be places you don’t even know about within a few hours from where you live that would make fabulous mini vacation spots. If there are resorts or attractions located within driving distance or a short flight from where you live that you would like to visit, perhaps more than once a year, contact them and ask about any discount offers or savings programs they may offer frequent visitors. Many cities and towns offer local residents, or people from the same state, a discount. It is very common to save a great deal of money and enjoy your travel more if you travel and stay off of the beaten path. Independent inns, hotels, and bed and breakfasts in smaller towns can give you a more realistic feel for the area you are visiting. Don’t be afraid to venture off of the interstate highways. Travel should always be an adventure.

WORK WITH A TRAVEL AGENT—OR BECOME ONE
If all of this research and negotiation seems like it will be too much for you, you might consider using the services of a travel agent or travel consolidation company. Many people don’t use travel agents because they are not quite sure how those agents make their money. The truth is that travel agents still make most of their money in the form of commissions from the airlines, hotels, cruise lines, and car rental agencies. There was a time when it cost the traveler nothing to use the travel agency’s service. But, that is changing now that the airlines and other travel vendors have drastically cut commissions they pay to travel agents. Airlines and others are opting to sell their product online. Displacing the human workforce is one of the ill effects of the growth of the Internet. In many respects, the Internet, with its vast amount of information and fast search capabilities, has taken the place of the travel agent. A good travel agent can be very helpful in organizing your travel plans and doing research. Individuals should consider using a travel agent for special trips. For example, some inside knowledge will be very helpful if you take a cruise or a trip to some exotic location or foreign country that you’ve never been. It is my experience that you can do just as well on your own for basic, domestic travel planning that consists of little more than airfare, hotel, and a rental car. Remember, travel agents are salespeople paid on commission. The more you pay for the trip, the higher the commission the agent will earn. There may also be financial incentives offered to agents if they use certain vendors, regardless of your particular financial needs. So, it is not in their best interest to push too many discounted fares your way. Even though you don’t technically pay the commissions to the agents, you actually do by paying higher travel prices. As with anything, you have to be an informed consumer. Leaving every detail in the hands of professional salespeople leaves you at risk of paying more than you have to. If you decide to use a travel agent, call some agents in the city where you are planning to travel. Since these agents will be much more familiar with what is going on in their city, they may have access to information or special pricing, which your local agent may not be aware of. Here is a great strategy if you really love to travel and like the idea of making money while doing something you enjoy. Consider going into business as a home-based travel agent. There are some good, legitimate programs out there that allow you to start your own travel business for less than $400. These business-opportunity companies provide training, credentials, and give you access to real travel agencies so you can earn referral fees and commissions when clients book travel through you. Sometimes these programs are offered directly by travel agencies. One of the major benefits to being in the travel business is the opportunity to earn what are known in the business as FAM trips. (FAM is short for familiarization.) Resort owners and other travel wholesalers and retailers know that the more familiar you are with a destination, the more apt you are to recommend it to your travel clients. So, if you are selling travel legitimately, you will often have the opportunity to visit great destinations very inexpensively and often for free. As a home-based travel agent you will have the opportunity to earn credentials that identify you to others in the industry. This identification can allow you to receive special discounts on all types of travel as well as free and low-cost FAM trips if you are really selling travel to people other than yourself. Not to mention all of the benefits of owning your own small business. However, due to abuse by people masquerading as travel agents simply to save money, and unscrupulous business people selling travel agent IDs, the travel industry has tightened up in regard to who gets access to travel agent discounts. So you may be scrutinized a bit more these days than in the past. If you have earned legitimate credentials and are honestly trying to do some travel business, you have nothing to worry about. If you do consider getting into the travel business and decide to enroll with a company offering a home-based travel business, be careful to deal only with companies that are actually operating real travel agencies or at least have solid connections to established travel agencies. I suggest you contact the travel agency through which you will be ultimately booking travel and verify everything about the program. Visit the agency in person if at all possible and check with the state that the agency is based in to make sure the company has the proper licensing. Also, verify that the travel agency is a member in good standing of organizations such as the International Airlines Travel Agent Network (IATAN), Cruise Line International Association (CLIA), and the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA). There are no federal licensing requirements for travel agents. Nine states require some form of registration or certification of retail sellers of travel. As a home-based business, your state and local governments may require you to have a business license. The agency should also be accredited by the Airline Reporting Corporation (ARC), and the International Air Transport Association (IATA). As with any business opportunity, check the company out completely before investing any money. And do not just get into the business to save money; there are plenty of travel savings clubs you could join for a lot less than the cost of starting a home-based business.

CRUISING LIKE A MILLIONAIRE
You can travel like a millionaire in other ways as well. Cruising is wonderful! Amazingly, a very small portion of the population has actually been on a cruise. However, year after year, cruise companies keep forecasting huge demand for their product, which causes the construction of new cruise ships. With such great supply and little demand, discounts can be had at 50 percent or more off of the retail price of cruises. Because of the high cost of building cruise ships, like airplanes, these ships tend to remain in use for a very long time. That is why one of my biggest pieces of advice to you is to check out the cruise line thoroughly and ask for actual pictures of the cabin you will be staying in during your cruise. Never assume you will be staying in a luxury suite like those you saw on the television show The Love Boat. Remember, that was TV. In reality, depending on how much you spend for your shipboard accommodations, you could end up in a cabin that is twenty years old with bunk beds and extremely small bath and dressing areas. Keep in mind, even though cruise ships are huge, it is still a boat, not a resort or hotel, so there is limited space to begin with. Some ships, on the other hand, are very luxurious. They also cost much more. The best way to avoid any surprises when you get to the ship is to do your homework, even if you are booking a trip on one of the more popular cruise lines. The ports of call are also very important when choosing a cruise. That is where you will spend your days, and often some nights, and you should make sure there are activities available for everyone in the family, especially the kids. Cruise lines are attempting to become “child-friendly” with the addition of children’s activities but I suggest you check on what night-time activities, if any, are available. This is crucial if you and your spouse plan to enjoy some of the entertainment and gambling facilities aboard the ship after dinner. Most of the shows take place in bars, and the gambling is certainly not suitable for minors, either. There is usually a movie theater that may or may not be showing a family movie. Be sure to ask for a schedule of movies to be shown in advance. Some cruise lines offer babysitting and childcare. Get a schedule in advance so you can plan your vacation just as you would at any other destination. Here is a quick cruise tip that the cruise lines will hate me for giving out. But my allegiance has to be to you, my loyal reader. On board the ship, the cruise line will offer to sell you tickets too many things such as scuba diving trips, gambling junkets, sightseeing trips, and more. Pressure is put on you to purchase these items before the ship docks at the port. Most of the time, you can save money by purchasing these items off the ship once you get into town. You can actually negotiate better prices on shore, by dealing directly with the providers, as you won’t be paying extra to cover the cruise line’s commission. But, as with anything you buy, be careful to deal with legitimate businesses. Ask for identification. A receipt tells a great deal about who you are dealing with. Illegitimate operators rarely give receipts with business addresses and telephone numbers imprinted on them and they usually demand cash only. Keep in mind that when you travel to distant lands, the locally accepted way of doing business may not be exactly like what we are accustomed to here in the United States. Many times salespeople meet you as you leave the boat and will offer you a wide variety of discounts. Not all of them are going to be working for real travel companies. Some may be working for themselves and may not have all of the trappings of a “legitimate” business, but could still provide wonderful service. I am reminded of one cruise my wife Lori and my son Drew, who was two years old at the time, took to the Bahamas. We thought it would be great to go on a snorkeling trip and waited to get off the ship before purchasing the outing. Upon leaving the ship we took a taxi ride to a town square and were directed to the beach where we found a gentleman selling snorkeling trips for less than half of what was being charged aboard the cruise ship. The salesman was in an official looking uniform and had legitimate looking receipts. The snorkeling boat was about to leave for the half-day adventure so we went for it. It was definitely an independent group hosting this trip aboard what seemed to be a very old—if rust is any indicator—and often-used vessel without a lot of luxury seating. But, hey, we were there to snorkel and, besides, we just got off of a luxury liner. The trip called for a ride of about two miles out to sea where we would then snorkel. I suppose we were about a quarter mile away from the dock when I began to fear what can happen if these gentlemen were not legitimate. Here I was with my two-year-old on an old boat in a foreign country on our way out to sea with a camera and money and feeling very vulnerable. I thought the worst. But, we were on the boat with several other people from our cruise, which was comforting. Nevertheless, the thought did cross my mind that I had jeopardized the safety of my family to save some money. Once we started snorkeling and enjoying the beautiful underwater scenery, my feelings of anxiety were gone. The crew couldn’t have been more friendly and courteous. They made a special effort to entertain Drew by spearing some fish and bringing them aboard, to his delight. That snorkeling adventure and the pictures we took of it are some of my favorite travel memories. I can’t imagine if we had missed it. And, to make it even better, we saved a great deal of money. Fall is bargain time to cruise the Caribbean. June through August is high-season and will be more expensive. The most expensive time to cruise is Christmas and New Years. If you do not live within driving distance to the port from which your cruise ship will be leaving, and most people in the United States do not live that close to a port, you will be required to fly or drive to the port city. This is a good reason to utilize a travel agent, who often can put together an attractive cruise package that includes the airline and possibly a hotel stay in the port city either before or after the cruise. Don’t forget that taxes and port charges will always be added onto whatever prices you are quoted for a cruise.

TAKING ADVANTAGE OF FREE VACATION OFFERS
Have you ever received a travel certificate in the mail? These are those official-looking certificates that arrive in the mail announcing that you have won a vacation. In order to receive your vacation you need to place a call to the company’s office where you will then speak to a tele-sales person who will attempt to sell you a vacation. These programs aren’t all bad, but don’t be fooled by any promise of a free vacation. You will need to pay something. And do not call any 900 numbers to find out if you are an instant winner of a fabulous trip for the whole family. That is simply a ploy to get you to call the 900 number, which will cost you money to find out you did not win. But, there are many, legitimate travel marketing companies offering good, discounted trips if you agree to stay at a certain resort. Some require you to agree to attend a time-share sales presentation in order to get the discounted trip. We will talk about time-share shortly. The fine print is very important on these offers that come in the mail. Read the offer several times very carefully. Then have two or three other people in your family read it to catch anything you missed. If you are the type who is easily persuaded to make impulse-buying decisions, do not call for information. Let someone else with a stronger will make the call for you. Ask the company to send you information like pictures of the resort, and details of the trip and prices in writing. Don’t let high pressure tactics such as, “You must make a decision today or you will miss out,” cause you to make an expensive mistake. Check the company out thoroughly before you authorize any purchase. Call your state’s attorney general’s office and ask if they have had any complaints on the company. Check with your local postmaster if you receive an offer in the mail and ask about any problems with fulfilling the products offered. In most states, organizations that sell or market travel are required to be registered. Request the business’s state license number and ask the salesperson how long the company has been in business, where the office is located, and for a local telephone number where you can call back. Hesitation in answering these types of questions signals either a very new salesperson or an illegitimate company. Ask if the company is listed with the chamber of commerce or Better Business Bureau. Be sure to write down the exact details of the trip the company is selling. You will need this information so you can shop the same trip on your own to see if you are truly getting a bargain. When you decide it is safe to proceed further with the company and you are given a price for the trip it is selling, negotiate with the salespeople. Ask them if that is the best they can do. For more on negotiating, refer to chapter 5 for tactics and strategies that will save you money. Beware of companies that demand you send cash only. This is a sign that the company is attempting to do business without any paper trails like cashed checks or credit card statements. Legitimate operators will send money orders. normally take credit cards, checks.

TO TIME-SHARE OR NOT TO TIME-SHARE?
As I say, most free travel offers are a way to get you to attend some sort of time-share sales presentation. The topic of time-sharing could be a book subject unto itself. Also known as Interval Ownership, buyers purchase ownership in resort accommodations for seven-day stays. These are known as time-share weeks. You purchase a week of the year during which you have access to the accommodations. The initial investment can be from $5,000 to $30,000, which most people finance. You will also have to pay annual maintenance fees, which can average $300 to $500 per year. It is really hard to justify investing that much money in buying and maintaining time-share accommodations unless you have a really good reason. Many people buy a week with the idea of trading for stays at different resorts each year. Yes, in many cases, you can trade weeks at other resorts if weeks are available at a resort where you want to go. Be sure to read the fine print of your contract and get a list of fees that will be required to trade weeks. This process can be time-consuming and costly, depending on where you want to go. The more popular the resort, the tougher it will be for you to get a week there. In my opinion, you need to decide if the money invested on an annual basis in the mortgage and maintenance of the time-share accommodations would not be better off invested properly and growing for you in some other financial instrument. If you are thinking it will be an investment that will grow in value, reconsider. The time-share re-sale market is tough because there are so many bargain basement repossessions for sale and owners who want out of their commitment that it would be difficult for you to recoup a large investment. In fact, the place to buy a time-share is on the secondary market. If you want to buy a week, look in the paper for owners who are motivated to sell their investment. You can often buy weeks for a third of what the original owner paid. He may only owe a couple thousand dollars on the week but doesn’t have the time to travel or is tired of paying the annual maintenance fee. The question to ask yourself is why are you considering time-share. If it is to save money, you may be mistaken. Certainly you can buy a trip for the same or less than the cost of the payments. annual maintenance and mortgage.

AND DON’T FORGET THE COUPONS!
There are so many ways to save money when you travel and so many places to find bargains, discounts, special promotions, and freebies that it is impossible to include everything in one chapter. My newsletter dedicates an entire section monthly to the subject of travel and will continue to be a great source of up-to-the-minute travel savings information. An often overlooked way to save money is to request coupons in advance. For example, one year as we planned a skiing trip to Park City, Utah (one of my favorite destinations in the entire world, by the way), we asked each travel company we spoke with, like the rental car company, if any discounts or special promotional offers were available in addition to the discount we were getting on the car rental. The clerk told us of a special winter promotional package that he would send to us. Just a few days later, we received much more than we had hoped for in the mail. In fact, a large discount book full of money-saving coupons and discount offers was sent in addition to a complimentary membership in a National Ski Association, which gave us access to many additional discounts and services. This package became an invaluable companion during our trip and the savings allowed us to enjoy twice as much as our initial budget had room for. We learned about many great local shops and attractions that we might have missed without this package. Always ask the hotel or resort you plan to stay at, as well as the airline you’ll be flying, and any other travel vendor you come in contact with while planning your trip, about money-saving offers and promotional programs that might be available. If they don’t have any available, often they can tell you who does. Manufacturers of products are a good source of money-saving programs especially if they create and sell specialty items for special seasons. If you are planning a ski trip and need to buy snow boots, check for special offers like free ski lift passes with the purchase of a company’s boots. Once you get to your destination, begin looking for visitor coupon books, magazines, and other publications when you visit stores and restaurants. Hotel lobbies and rooms are other great places to look for these publications. Don’t forget to check the phone book. In most cities the phone book will include money-saving coupons. Travel magazines are full of discount offers and news about special events in cities around the world. When looking for magazines, be sure to look for copies of the local paper from the city you plan to visit. It will be full of information on local events and certainly will be full of money-saving coupons. Hopefully, you can see the value of planning travel in advance and asking many questions. All of your research can be done using a telephone and a computer in just a few hours time. Getting information in advance of a trip and using it to your advantage is the key to traveling first class for less. Once you arrive at your destination, your main goal should be to have a good

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