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When I was a child, we went on family vacations every summer, and most of the time, we flew. Flying was a different experience compared to what it is today. I don’t remember whether people actually smoked on planes, but I do remember the dirty ashtrays built into the armrest. I also remember the hot food. One time in particular, we were served delicious salisbury steaks. Probably with mashed potatoes and gravy, but what I remember clearly is the well-seasoned steak. What a time!
Airports were different then too. We didn’t have to arrive two hours early to go through a burdensome security process. We got there, dropped our bags off at the front counter, and breezed right through to our gate.
We didn’t have online ticketing options or internet search engines to help find the best deal. Truthfully, we didn’t need it. There were so many airlines competing for our dollars, the prices were reasonable. My mother would call our trusted travel agency, AAA, and book our flights and accommodations with them. At some point, an envelope would arrive in the mail with our tickets and separately, traveler’s checks. Writing about it now, it seems like such a primitive process but it’s what we had and it worked just fine.
Those summer vacations, accommodations and transportation included, were affordable for our family. Today, it’s a different story and those born in more recent generations are our own travel agents. So many airlines have folded or merged, competition has given way to collusion, I’d bet, and we, the consumers, have to use all the resources at our disposal to outsmart corporations seeking to squeeze every last dollar from us.
Over the years, I’ve learned some tricks of the trade when it comes to finding reasonable deals on flights. I used to use Travelocity or Cheaptickets, or even Expedia from time to time. At some point, each became less useful as ticket prices and vendor-added fees, some of them hidden until the very end, continued to rise. Once again, corporate greed reared its ugly head, so I had to find another method to save money.
Somehow, in my quest to find the most affordable ticket I could, I stumbled upon Google Flights, which became my go to. Other sites, like Momondo, have similar features, but my personal preference is Google. It works like other search engines, where you add your travel dates and it does the legwork for you. But, if you have flexibility, you can pull up a grid and find the cheapest departure dates around the dates you selected.
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Let’s say you want to fly from New York to London on November 3 and return on November 10. It gives you options for those days. But if you check the grid, maybe it’s cheaper for you to depart on November 4 and return on November 12. If you have that flexibility, you can choose the cheaper option and it doesn’t require a lot of additional time or a bunch of extra clicks.
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What I really like doing is tracking flight searches. It works just as you’d imagine; you set the search criteria and save it. The site then keeps an eye on those dates and when there are price fluctuations, it sends you an email. I remember there was one particular fight that decreased by $300 between the time I bought my ticket and the time of the flight. I called myself being smart by booking six months ahead of time and I ended up paying more.
There is a downside to Google Flights and, once again, there’s that word, “greed”. Let’s say you have a rewards credit card that you like to use. With my card, for example, if I book through the credit card’s travel website, I can increase my travel points. Sometimes, however, the flight you see on Google Flights isn’t available through your travel portal, so you have to decide the best course of action.
The other thing is, some airline cards (American) now force you to book through their site to collect travel miles. If the best-priced travel itinerary contains different airlines, you’ll have to figure out how to manage that itinerary. It’s a system that definitely doesn’t work for the consumer, but for big business, the more limits they implement, the more money they can make.
Airline tickets are expensive, especially if you’re traveling with a family or have inflexible dates. Tools like Google Flights can help you save a few dollars but remember, on the other end, someone is always looking to make things more expensive. Sometimes you have to put in some legwork to make life a little cheaper.
I’m a pretty private person. I mind my own business, live my life quietly and I don’t like to provide more information about myself than absolutely necessary, especially to the government. I don’t know what makes me think they don’t already know me better than I know myself, but I’m not going to make anything easy for them.
Miami International Airport changed all that. Sometimes, for your own comfort and sanity, you have to break your own rules.
We were returning to the country and our connecting flight was through Miami. When we finally navigated our way to customs, the lines were zigging and zagging like Disney World, and you know how long it can take to make it to the front. There were people as far as the eye could see and I was worried we were going to miss our flight. Fortunately, we had wheelchair service for my mother and auntie, so we were able to go through a shorter, separate line. I said to myself, “Self, I’m not dealing with this kind of stress again.” Right then and there, I decided to apply for Global Entry.
When Global Entry first came out, my bosses immediately signed up. I remember scheduling their appointment with the TSA and thinking to myself, “It’s just another way to separate the haves from the have nots.” At the time, it cost around $100 and that is a lot of money.
I swore I wouldn’t waste my hard-earned dollars and contribute to a system that wants to further separate us by socioeconomic status. It was the principle. Pay a little more, keep your shoes on. Pay a little more, board the plane first. Pay a little more, go through customs faster. Divide. Divide. Divide. Greed. For years I took my shoes off, boarded the plane last and waited for my turn to go through customs, resentment building.
But when I saw those long, winding lines in the Miami Airport, and thought about missing a connecting flight, I reversed my position. The fact that that my credit card provided Global Entry reimbursement made it a no brainer, so it was time to take advantage.
When we made it home from that trip, I went to work. Found the application on the website and gave up all my private information. I didn’t anticipate any problems because I’m as plain and boring as can be. I was more concerned about driving to the local office to interview, which was at the airport and I hate airport runs.
The fast part was the approval to move from the application stage to the in-person interview stage. The slow part was actually waiting for interview day. It took a couple of months to get an appointment but once I arrived for my appointment, I understood why.
I navigated my way to the dingy interview office. If you didn’t know it was there, you would walk right past it without giving it a second glance. It was nothing special or even interesting, just a dark place with bad fluorescent lighting. It could’ve easily passed for a police station.
A white man and Black woman personed the office that was filled with a rows of empty desks. We sat at his station and I half expected him to start interrogating me. Clearly, someone has watched too many episodes of Law & Order.
The interview process wasn’t as daunting or invasive as I’d imagined. There were a few basic questions, he took my picture and fingerprints, I was finished.
A few weeks later, I had my approval. Throughout the process, my mother was right there with me, getting her Global Entry card as well. It has made traveling so much easier. Our tickets now have the TSA Pre-Check notice and at our airport, the line is usually much shorter. Coming home, we just stop at a kiosk and skip the long lines.
The downside is traveling with others who don’t have Global Entry or Pre-Check. They have to endure the lines, take off their shoes, take their electronic devices out of their bags and all the other annoying things you have to do in the name of security. You’ve got to leave those folks behind and meet them at the gate or parking lot.
Is it worth it? Unfortunately, it is. I hate that I’ve become one of those, but missing a connecting flight could be more costly than the application fee for Global Entry.
Some people maintain a travel fund or, those who are a little more…seasoned…may keep a few dollars stashed in their bra or under their mattress. I, a cheapskate, don’t like spending more money than absolutely necessary, so I make the money I do spend work for me–I use the points system.
Let me explain…
I’m not a fan of credit cards. I was raised by two very different parents: one who deals in cash and a one who deals in credit. Before I really understood how credit worked, I carried a manageable balance, but nothing I couldn’t dig myself out of. I never paid much attention to the interest rate or how by paying the minimum, I was giving away money.
It wasn’t until I tried to buy a co-op and learned how credit really worked, that I began to understand how banks make their money off of people like me. An older Black woman who worked for the lender, spent a long time on the phone explaining exactly how credit scores are calculated and what I could do to improve my number. For the next few years, I followed her lessons to the letter and watched my good credit score grow to great.
After I paid off all of my credit card debt, I became a cash spender. If I didn’t have the cash on me, I didn’t need it. Or, if there was something I wanted to buy online, I made sure the money was in my checking account to pay for it in full at the end of the billing cycle. It was how I conducted business for years until a different option made its way into my mailbox.
You know those credit card offers you get in the mail or pop up on your computer screen? Well, one day I actually opened unsolicited mail that wasn’t a bill and thought to myself, “Hmm, maybe I can find a card that’s right for me?” At the time, I flew home at least three times a year, so anything to defray the rising costs (and decreasing service), sounded like a winner to me. If I played my cards right, I could use the bank’s money to my benefit.
Nerdwallet and I became close, personal friends as I sifted through the pros and cons of various cards. I landed on one that seemed like a perfect fit. The annual fee was waived for the first year, a plus. It included an annual travel credit worth a couple of hundred dollars, access to airport lounges and I could earn something like 5x points for every dollar I spent on travel. And, if I spent $3,000 within the first three months, I would earn 60,000 points!
I signed up and as soon as the card arrived, I put all the bills I could on autopay using the card. This is where Leave No Money on the Table comes in.
If you have the ability, and discipline, consider getting a credit card so you can take advantage of the bank and, this is important, pay it off each month–never carry a balance. Every single purchase I make, goes onto this single card. If I’m booking travel, I’ll go to Google Flights first, find the flight I want and then go to my credit card’s portal to search for the same flight because I earn more points by using the portal. The same flight isn’t always available, but it's always worth a try.
There are people who juggle multiple cards and amass points on flights, hotels and other things, but that’s not me–I’m simple. I like my one card and I’ve used it for years, until another offer was presented this past holiday season.
I was on an American Airlines flight, sleeping, when I heard the flight attendant make an announcement about a special holiday offer. By obtaining their branded credit card, new users would earn 60,000 points with their first purchase. It could be anything for any amount. A flight attendant came down the aisle and handed out paper applications. I didn’t take one at that time because that same flight attendant was quite rude to me while I was struggling to put my luggage in the overhead compartment, and the paranoid part in me was worried about him stealing my information.
Long story short, I found the deal online and applied for the card. As soon as it arrived, I bought something cheap and earned my 60,000 points. There is an annual fee, waived the first year, so I have a note on my calendar to cancel.
The point is, if you can, make the system work for you. Don’t rack up debt, rack up points while paying off that card every single month. I have managed to pay for at least one trip a year by using my points. My mother has traveled with me, for free, more times than I can count.
Traveling isn’t cheap, so when you have an opportunity to make it a little easier on your wallet, do it. Not all cards are created equal, so choose the one that best suits your spending habits and budget.
If you've been putting it off, put it on. We live in dangerous times and one never knows when they may have to hit the road. After all, Octavia Butler foresaw much of what we're seeing now and it's better to be prepared than trapped all because you didn't trot down to the local CVS to get that passport picture taken and then over to the post office with your check, patience and most polite attitude to get your passport.
I'm a late bloomer, I admit. Within days after the election I've memory holed, I went through the quick and easy process of getting my passport just in case. I never dreamed I'd have so many stamps!
So, stop procrastinating and get it done. Processing times are long and with the uncertainty of the next election (I'm optimistic but preparing for the worst), it's better to do it while we still have a functioning government. Click on this link and prepare to take your own journeys.