Black Girl Travel on a Budget Part One: Plane Tickets and Travel Planning
It feels good to be back!!
I took some time off to figure out my purpose for this blog and website, how I'm going to approach writing from here on out, and to go on some road trips. I still am working out how I want to use this platform and my talents, but right now, I'm back with you guys to answer some frequently asked questions on how I travel! Since I've been gone, I've done quite a bit of traveling within the country: I've gone to a music festival in Alabama, a wedding in Missouri, spent Labor Day in Michigan, and went to Austin, Texas at the beginning of August! I've still got a couple more domestic trips planned for the next couple of months--Atlanta for Thanksgiving, and Phoenix for my birthday!--but I'm also off to Scotland for a week in October, and want to fly down to Cuba in February. I get a lot of questions about how I'm able to travel so much and what I do once I'm there, and I want to answer them all! I'll start off with the basics: getting there.
While traveling is one of most costly pastimes, it really isn't as expensive as you'd think. Depending on where you're going, the plane ticket may be the most expensive part, like when I traveled to Argentina. One US dollar was the equivalent of 14 Argentine pesos, so once I was in the country, food, lodging and public transportation was extremely inexpensive. Even if the plane ticket is the most expensive portion of your travels, it doesn't have to break the bank. Here are six plane ticket and travel planning tips that will hopefully make your next trip a little easier and a little cheaper.
1. Track your tickets a few months in advance
Most of my big trips are planned at least four or five months ahead of time. When I went to Argentina, I started looking at tickets in January for a trip in June, and booked them at the end of March. For my study-abroad trip to Scotland, I booked my tickets in March for a trip in June. For my Fall 2018 trip to Scotland, I started tracking the plane ticket prices in late April for a trip in October, and booked them in July. This will give you enough time to watch for changes in price. Some tickets will drop considerably within a month while others may only change by a few dollars. When I traveled to Austin, there was virtually no change in price for close to two months, and it would've been the same price to fly anytime in August, September or October, so I was able to jump on those tickets pretty soon. When I booked my flight to Scotland for October 2018, I waited a little too long, and the price went up by about one hundred dollars.
Yeah, I was pretty sad about that.
To track prices, I use TripAdvisor and SkyScanner. TripAdvisor emails you when tickets are super low, but they may not be in a time frame that you're able to pick up and go right away. When I say super low, I'm talking traveling from Chicago to Scotland for LESS THAN 400 DOLLARS low. Yes, you heard that right. Less. Than. 400. Dollars. I would have jumped on it, but the tickets were for a specific flight that was in a couple of weeks, and it would've been really mean of me to up and leave my co-teachers that quickly. Still, I would recommend using TripAdvisor for tracking, especially if you have a job where you could jump on tickets like that. TripAdvisor will also show you the lowest prices for the next several months to the destination you are tracking.
SkyScanner is an app you can download on your phone to track tickets. You can track a specific flight's prices and specify times you want to leave and arrive. The app has a section for popular destinations, quick getaways, longer trips, last minute trips, solo travel, best deals by month and more. SkyScanner has helped me find great flight deals for my past couple of plane tickets and my upcoming trip to Phoenix.
If you're looking for hotels or flight and hotel combos, try Expedia. Most times, you will end up with a better deal by booking them both together versus separate. I book combos on Expedia, and use either Booking.com or Expedia for only hotels. Booking.com can be tricky with their cancellation fees, so keep an eye out when using them!
If you're looking just for a flight, Google Flights almost never fails!! Google Flights saved me HUNDREDS of dollars when I was going to Scotland last summer, and cut hours off my travel time. Instead of getting on a 1,200 or 1,300 dollar flight with a several hour layover, I found a flight in the 800 dollar range with about an hour layover in New York. Google Flights lists prices under each calendar date so you can play with dates and prices, and adjust to whatever best fits your budget and schedule!
2. Search on Incognito Mode
When you search for a flight, the cookies on your computer track your search. When you continually search for the same flight to the same place on the same dates, that tells the cookies that this is a popular time and place to travel, and the airlines up their rates. By searching on Incognito Mode, the website's cookies can't track this information, and the rates will stay down. It's also helpful to search for a date that's not your exact travel date to avoid making the tickets go up in price. For instance, if you're traveling somewhere in October, try searching for the weekend just before or just after the dates you wish to go. If you can, try to go a year out in advance, or search for dates on a different month in the same season. The rates will be relatively close to the date you're actually looking to travel, so your prices shouldn't be too far off--unless, of course there is something big happening in your destination city that could skew the prices, like a festival or a major concert.
3. Plan a trip for an "off season"
Instead of taking a Summer trip, what about an early Fall trip? Or a late Spring trip? Certain months and seasons are more expensive to travel than others. For instance, flying to Scotland in the summer generally costs in the 700 or 800 dollar range, depending, while the fall was closer to 500. Everyone likes to go to warm places, but sometimes traveling during different seasons can give you a unique experience in a different country's seasons. I got to witness Scotland in the summer, but now I'll get to see the beautiful fall colors! I went to Argentina towards the beginning of their winter, but there were several bank holidays while I was there, and since so many people were off from work, I got to visit several ferias or outdoor markets!
4. Have a plan for getting to and from the airport ahead of time
If you know someone in the area, see if they're available to pick you up or drop you off. Contact your hotel ahead of time and see if they have a free airport shuttle. Make sure there's Uber in the area or country if you plan to use it, and double check how far the hotel is from the airport. Hire a shuttle service if necessary, and have everything squared away before you travel so it's a little less stress on your part. In some countries, there are trains and buses that have special routes to and from the airport. Double check ahead of time what they are, when they run, and how expensive they are! When I went to Brussels, I had a moment of panic when I didn't see a city bus to take me from the airport into the city, and thought I'd have to spend the night in the airport in a city where I didn't speak the language. Luckily, there was a 24 hour shuttle service running--but even once I made it into the city, I hadn't looked up the distance to my hostel ahead of time, and ended up taking a cab around the corner when it would've been a free, less than ten minute walk.
5. Plan to explore!
When I travel, I always have a list of a few touristy things I want to do on hand, but I spend most of the day exploring, finding little shops and restaurants, or hidden nooks in the city. In Argentina, I explored lots of bookshops and libraries, and in Scotland, I did a lot of hiking. Look for local eats and shops, little hole-in-the-wall places that only the locals know about. This approach will keep your days relatively inexpensive, and gives you more money for treats and souvenirs--or to pay bills once you get back home! It'll also give you a look into the city as more than just a tourist, and you may find some unique places you would've never thought to look.
6. Take out an exact amount in cash to spend while traveling
This tip may be more important depending on where you're going. I went to Argentina with sixty dollars cash in my pocket, and struggled to take out more cash the whole rest of my trip. Not all restaurants accepted debit/credit cards, and even if they accepted card, they didn't always accept Visa--and even though I had three different cards, all of them were Visa. Most ATMs and banks allowed for cash withdrawals, but my card did not work with their machines, so all of my cash had to be taken out through a money service. I had to send money to myself, then travel to Barrio Chino (China Town) an hour away by bus to pick it up.
I got smarter when I went to Scotland. I brought cash with me and would convert it about eighty dollars at a time at a Currency Exchange in the mall about a fifteen minute bus ride from my school. Virtually everywhere in the UK accepted both card and cash, so I had a lot more flexibility with spending.
For my most recent trips, I set a reasonable amount I figured I would spend during the course of my trip, took out that amount in cash, and refrained from using my debit card unless it was necessary for splitting Uber costs. By doing this, you'll know once you've hit a definitive amount of money while saving, and won't stress about whether or not you have put enough away. It may take a little bit of research into where you're going to determine this amount, and you can reduce this amount by following tip number four: planning to explore and visiting free attractions.
Was that long? Sorry. Was it helpful? I hope so! Next post, I'll be talking about how I travel solo, and tips on how and why to take your first solo trip!
Love and light,
Reina
