Category ArchiveEverywhere Once |

How to Save a Bundle on Travel

by Brian on November 26, 2014 in How To, Travel, Travel Tips

If you’ve ever had the sneaking suspicion that online booking sites are messing with you, that’s because they are. They know where you’ve been. They may very well know your buying history and your preferences. And they’re increasingly using all of that information against you.

One thing we’ve found particularly egregious is something we’ll call “locational pricing.” That’s when different people in different locations are charged different prices for the same exact thing. Mostly we’ve found that locals get better rates than travelers even when buying stuff online. It’s an extension of the Vagabond Tax we’ve commented on previously. But at least this one you can beat.

How to Save 20% or More on Hotels

by Brian on July 28, 2014 in How To, Travel, Travel Tips

(Update: The Chase Ultimate Rewards Portal no longer offers bonus points for booking through Hotels.com)

I’m writing this partly as a Public Service Announcement for our readers and partly as a reminder to myself to stop being so stupid. Hopefully putting this down in pixels will help me get my head out of me bum, although that might be asking a lot.

So what’s got me so ticked? Before I get to that, I need to fill in some background first.

If you have a Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card, and you probably should if you do a fair amount of traveling (to see why check out our Best Reward Card for Travelers article) and if you book lodging with Hotels.com (which you should at least consider for reasons we’ll explain momentarily), it’s possible to use the two together to get discounts and benefits totaling more than 20% of the cost of your hotel. It’s also possible to book the same hotel and not get those benefits, which is partly what I’ve done a couple of times now. And I’d really like to stop doing that.

So here’s how you can learn from my mistake and save 20% or more on lodging.

TV Travel Tips (How to Stream the Latest Game of Thrones)

by Brian on June 27, 2014 in How To, Travel, Travel Tips

In an earlier episode we taught you how to stream your favorite television shows while traveling abroad. Sadly, not all shows are always available for streaming. If you’re hooked on Game of Thrones and want to watch the latest season, for example, you’re mostly out of luck.

It took more than eight months for Season 3 to be released on DVD or made available for download. Considering that Season 4 just wrapped up last week, you won’t be able to see the fallout from the Red Wedding until sometime in 2015 (long after your blabbermouth friends will have likely spoiled any surprises.) The same is true for Homeland, the third season of which ended in December 2013 but still isn’t available to stream more than six months later.

Only, none of that is entirely true.

Proof of Onward Travel Required

by Brian on June 16, 2014 in How To, Travel, Travel Tips

We knew we were taking a small risk by showing up at a border crossing without proof of onward travel. We never really thought it would be a big deal, though. It’s not like we were trying to enter Soviet-era Russia on our U.S. passports. We were just trying to board a train to London from Paris.

“Can I see your tickets home, please?” It was among the first of many questions we were asked by the British border agent standing between us and our train.

We didn’t have tickets “home” (wherever that is) or anywhere else for that matter. We were planning on spending the next five months in the U.K. We only just started thinking about where we’ll go afterward. We’re nowhere even close to booking tickets to wherever that might be.

The Fulltime Travel Weight Loss Miracle

by Brian on June 4, 2014 in How To, Travel, Travel Tips

Call it the Tapas and Wine Diet. Or maybe it’s the Stewed Chicken, Rice and Beer Diet. Whatever you call it, whenever we’ve put on backpacks to travel, we always lose weight.

Spain, the legendary land of salted pork, dark red wine, and deep fried tapas was no exception. After a month of traveling around Spain, Shannon and I both lost a noticeable amount of weight – somewhere between five and ten pounds each. We did it without trying. We did it without necessarily needing to. It’s just something that happens with this lifestyle. Maybe we should just call it a side benefit of living well.

In a previous post we discussed why fulltime travel is cheaper than staying at home. Now we’re going to explain why it’s better for your waistline too.