No. of Recommendations: 21
To help kick things off, I offer my LBYM travel hints.
I've got 1.6 million miles on Delta Airlines, as well as countless miles on other carriers. Many of those miles were racked up when I traveled for work, but for the past decade or so it's been on my own dime. So I've learned some hacks for traveling LBYM.
1. Use Google Flights to find cheap flights. With a few clicks, you can see charts and graphs of fares, narrow them to particular airlines, nonstops, travel dates, etc. Even though 90% of my flights are on Delta, I start here and then book the flight on the Delta website.
2. Use Rome2Rio to explore overland travel. It lays out all the alternative modes and their costs. I love it.
3. Never check bags. My wife and I have traveled comfortably for as long as a month using one (international sized) rolly apiece, plus a small daypack. This not only saves time and baggage fees but also allows you to use public transport instead of a taxi from the airport, which saves even more time and money. It also enables you to change flights easily should you miss a connection due to delays or canceled flights. It's easy to wash a few things out if you need to, especially if you ...
4. Stay in a rental apartment or cottage (or villa!) rather than a hotel if you plan to stay for more than a few days. You can save thousands of dollars this way, on lodging costs and on meals. (We use VRBO, mostly.) Many of these places also have washing machines.
5. Walk, if you can. There's no better way to get to know a place, and it costs nothing. We also use public transportation a lot.
6. Consider getting an airline loyalty credit card. If you frequent a particular airline, its co-branded card can help you rack up points for free trips, score an upgraded seat, and even use the airport lounge, depending upon the card you get. Some of the cards charge an annual fee (which we've found to be well worth it), but some of them have no fee. Many also offer bonus miles if you charge a minimum amount within a specified number of days after receiving the card. We always--and I mean always--pay the total amount charged each month.
DW and I can afford to travel far more expensively than we do. We travel LBYM not because we need to but because it's more enjoyable for us.
What are your LBYM travel hacks?
