Travel spontaneously?

[athena53]

Two questions:

1. How does one find out about these deals?

2. How do you know if it's truly a good deal?

Even among the frequent travelers on flyertalkdotcom, there appear to be no good resources for Business Class fares. They all want to know when you want to travel, where, etc. and then quote rather than show you a list of bargains and let you choose. One site apparently beats whatever price you have, but they route you through 3 connections rather than 2, or have exceptionally long or short layovers, etc. so it's not a fair comparison. I get weekly e-mails from Joe Brancatelli (joesentmedotcom) that occasionally have "headlines" about Business-class fare sales on particular airlines. He's one source I'd trust but all the details are behind a pay wall.

As for how you know- I do research and get ballpark estimates and then book if I see something good and don't look back. That way lies madness (unless you can cancel and rebook with no penalty). I knew what Business Class airfare was running for my planned trip to Edinburgh and one day it dropped $300. I grabbed it. It happened to be Thanksgiving weekend when the price dropped, so Black Friday Sale? No idea.

 

[RunningBum]

I was reading a Clark Howard post on saving money on travel. https://clarkdeals.com/travel/ways-to-save-on-your-next-vacation/

He says find a great deal first (as in, regularly check KAYAK for cheap flights from your chosen airport) and then figure out why you want to go there. That is his #1 travel tip.

I'm wondering if any of you have subscribed to that philosophy? Or how do you figure out where to travel?

omni

I think that's absurd, unless you just really like to travel and just don't care where.

It's like buying something that's on a really good sale, and then deciding whether you even want or need it. Saving money is not good personal finance, spending less money is.

 

[Nemo2]

I think that's absurd, unless you just really like to travel and just don't care where.

It's like buying something that's on a really good sale, and then deciding whether you even want or need it. Saving money is not good personal finance, spending less money is.

If you have, say, a dozen, two dozen, places you'd like to visit, and a super deal arises for one of them.....why not go to that one?

 

[athena53]

If you have, say, a dozen, two dozen, places you'd like to visit, and a super deal arises for one of them.....why not go to that one?

I agree with that. I'm thinking of hanging out for a couple of weeks in a major European city in Spring, 2020. There are many bases I'd be happy with. Id certainly be open to choosing the one with the best airfare deal.

 

[RunningBum]

If you have, say, a dozen, two dozen, places you'd like to visit, and a super deal arises for one of them.....why not go to that one?

Had that been the recommendation, I wouldn't argue it.

 

[Nemo2]

Had that been the recommendation, I wouldn't argue it.

Perhaps his rule should have substituted 'if' for 'why'?

 

[FIREmenow]

Spontaneous adventure

 

[Sojourner]

We don't travel a whole lot, but we use the same concept for local events and day trips. I have a seat filler subscription that usually has 100+ events on it, plus I check Facebook, Groupon and some other lists fairly often to see what pops up.

This comment about a "seat filler subscription" made me wonder if there are any airlines that do something similar. That is, offer last minute, bargain-basement prices on tickets for undersold flights that will have many empty seats available. I know I've been on numerous flights over the years that had dozens of empty seats, and it seems like the airline would rather have people in those seats even if their tickets generated only 1/3 the revenue of the typical fare for that seat. Do any airlines do this kind of thing?

 

[RunningBum]

Perhaps his rule should have substituted 'if' for 'why'?

I'd agree with that too.

 

[Chuckanut]

One of the problems with the Internet is how things are so easily taken out of context. A man spends 5-10 minutes explaining his methods for traveling cheaply and it gets condensed down to a 5 second clip. Not so good.

I have listened to Mr. Howard talk about his 'find the deal and figure out why you want to go there' and I doubt he means that one should go to some miserable/dangerous/boring place just because the plane ticket is cheap. If Slovakia is cheap this August and looks interesting, why not go there this year instead of Norway which is expensive right now. When Norway pops up on the cheap (we can hope!!!), then go.

It's a filter to point you in the direction of a less expensive vacation, not some absolute rule one must mindlessly follow to be one of his groupies.

 

[Nemo2]

We are scheduled to arrive in Copenhagen by ship mid May 2019.....we want to do the Baltics from there....seems the cheapest flight from Copenhagen is to Riga...so that's where we figure to start.

Had it been Vilnius, or Helsinki, or or.....

 

[Bamaman]

I have listened to Mr. (Clark) Howard talk about his 'find the deal and figure out why you want to go there' and I doubt he means that one should go to some miserable/dangerous/boring place just because the plane ticket is cheap. If Slovakia is cheap this August and looks interesting, why not go there this year instead of Norway which is expensive right now. When Norway pops up on the cheap (we can hope!!!), then go.

It's a filter to point you in the direction of a less expensive vacation, not some absolute rule one must mindlessly follow to be one of his groupies.

I have been a Clark Howard devotee for almost 30 years. He is an equal opportunity traveler--publishing great airfares to any city no matter how nice they are.

We have been flying Norwegian Air Shuttle the last 3 years to Europe. They continue to fly to Norway and the Scandinavian countries very cheaply. But once you get there, food and hotels are priced out of sight. Best way to see that region is by cruise ship, but that is another story. We flew last month for Dublin to the U.S. for $158 one way.

We are very thankful for the budget European airlines like Norwegisn, EasyJet and RyanAir. If not for their competition with the big legend carriers, we would be taking our vacations on the ground. We prefer to travel overseas in the continental style at fares 30-40% of normal airfares.

 

[FUEGO]

We've done that with cruises. Usually it's 2-3 weeks out or more and we drive down. Last fall we booked a last minute cruise 6 days out. The cruise was dirt cheap but we paid a small premium for booking last minute plane tickets. It was just the 2 of us and not us plus 3 kids so the extra cost for last minute tickets was worth it to scoop up an incredible cruise bargain.

And we got to go on a 7 night cruise without our 3 kids

 

[athena53]

This comment about a "seat filler subscription" made me wonder if there are any airlines that do something similar. That is, offer last minute, bargain-basement prices on tickets for undersold flights that will have many empty seats available. I know I've been on numerous flights over the years that had dozens of empty seats, and it seems like the airline would rather have people in those seats even if their tickets generated only 1/3 the revenue of the typical fare for that seat. Do any airlines do this kind of thing?

I was getting mailings like this from Southwest till I unsubscribed. Continental (back before the merger) did that as well and I may have unsubscribed or they stopped sending them. I think they were 99% domestic flights and never anywhere I wanted to go, but if you have a relative in Cleveland you might find deals. Poke around on the individual airlines' web sites and see what kinds of e-mails they offer.

I have to mention one "almost" spur-of-the-moment trip DH and I took and I'm so glad we grabbed it. It was Fall, 1998 and I'd just put DS in a military boarding school, so no childcare concerns. I got an e-mail from Continental offering OnePass travel on their new nonstops from Newark (our home airport) to Rio for 17,500 OnePass miles per person. I had the miles so we made the reservations- fly down on a Thursday redeye, back on a Monday redeye. We did need some lead time since Brazil requires a visa. It was great- bit of a whirlwind and we came home exhausted, but one of our most memorable trips.

I never saw that offer again.

 

[kcowan]

I’m afraid if we wait and do things on the fly, we won’t get to see some of the things we really want to see. I had originally thought with a six week trip to Greece, we’d be pretty spontaneous, but as I researched it, I realized there were specific places we wanted to be sure to see so I wasn’t comfortable taking a chance that it would just work out on the fly. Maybe someday I’ll get there.

We have the attitude that we will never see everything so we see what we want to see most. If we discover many things that we don't have time to see, we plan a return in a few years. Often some of the most fascinating things to see are not in the guide books.

 

[kcowan]

Mostly we plan.
However one night I was browsing a rental site, and there was a week long 2 bed, 2 bath timeshare house for $250.
I checked the mapquest, saw we could drive there in 8 hours.

3 days later we were there.

So how good was the week for $35/night? Was this a TS distress sale?

 

[kcowan]

The more we travel, the more we want to keep our schedules open. We really do not have any time constraints. Out of country medical insurance can be extended with a quick email. Same with our neighbour who checks on our home from time to time. No doubt this may sound nuts to some people but it has been working well for us over the past five years.

Yes we have found that, after the key relatives and pets died, we have total flexibility. It is an amazing sense of freedom, and required an adjustment to our planning-oriented selves. But the returns are worth it!

 

[Sunset]

So how good was the week for $35/night? Was this a TS distress sale?

We enjoyed it, and the place was a house, and it was really really nice.

It was through: https://www.tradingplaces.com/

They do TS trades like RCI, but they also just rent out TS's , and when it's getting close to an expired week , the price drops, or is cheap for off season.

 

[FIREd]

I am not one to do anything spontaneously. I might consider a last minute road trip, but otherwise I prefer to plan well in advance.

 

[Scuba]

We have the attitude that we will never see everything so we see what we want to see most. If we discover many things that we don't have time to see, we plan a return in a few years. Often some of the most fascinating things to see are not in the guide books.

I agree. We have had some great serendipitous moments while traveling. We do stay flexible on how we spend our days and what we do, but I haven’t yet gotten comfortable with not knowing where I’m going to be staying that night or whether we will make it to certain islands or not.

 

[davismills]

We only do carry on. We pack for seven days max. The only constraint is what we can fit in our 20" rollers. For a one week trip or a three month trip.

We use laundromats, laundry services, and wash some out by ourselves.

We try not to take anything that we will not wear often but this can be difficult.
We left home in Jan-cold and snowy. Went to South America. No need for our jackets (albeit light) and jeans. But we did need them on our cruise around the horn. After that it was six weeks in Chile, Panama, Costa Rica. Shorts and shirts. Easy to wash out or get cleaned. Did not wear our jeans and jacket until we boarded the flight home two months or so later.

When we arrived in Panama the only given was the date of a flight home. ALthough that could be fixed with a change fee. Ended up in Panama City, then Bouqete, bus to San Jose, Costa Rica, and two weeks of rental car travel and beach time. Dropped the car back in San Jose, flew to Panama City, and took our scheduled flight home to the cold north.

The more we travel, the more we want to keep our schedules open. We really do not have any time contraints. Out of country medical insurance can be extended with a quick email. Same with our neighbour who checks on our home from time to time. No doubt this may sound nuts to some people but it has been working well for us over the past five years.

Reminds me of my FIL's habit on long trips. He always packed his old undershirts and skivvies. Wear and toss all over Europe.

 

[athena53]

I agree. We have had some great serendipitous moments while traveling. We do stay flexible on how we spend our days and what we do, but I haven’t yet gotten comfortable with not knowing where I’m going to be staying that night or whether we will make it to certain islands or not.

That's exactly how I like to travel. I have the airfare and the hotels/Airbnb booked but nearly everything else is up for grabs, with just a general list of things I might want to see/do. I make up my mind in the morning and it may depend on information I get locally- a concert, an exhibition, etc. that I didn't know about. The only exception to this would be some of the more expensive small-group excursions such as the day trip I took to Greenland from Iceland. I book those in advance to make sure I can get a place.

 

[Nemo2]

. We have had some great serendipitous moments while traveling.

Serendipity is your friend......embrace the unexpected!

 

[Bestwifeever]

That's exactly how I like to travel. I have the airfare and the hotels/Airbnb booked but nearly everything else is up for grabs, with just a general list of things I might want to see/do. I make up my mind in the morning and it may depend on information I get locally- a concert, an exhibition, etc. that I didn't know about. The only exception to this would be some of the more expensive small-group excursions such as the day trip I took to Greenland from Iceland. I book those in advance to make sure I can get a place.

DH has planned a trip this fall and we have reserved some amazing hotels. He has done so much research for almost a year, but only two activities seem to need advance purchase of tickets, so he will do those ahead of time. We are going with some friends, and one has just decided we need to each spell out now exactly what we want to do and when and then coordinate with each other. Even DH, who has never in his life left an uncrossed t or and undotted i, thinks this is a ridiculous. We will decide these things at breakfast every day!

 

[Nemo2]

We are going with some friends, and one has just decided we need to each spell out now exactly what we want to do and when and then coordinate with each other.

I just had flashbacks of Cool Hand Luke and envisioned a chain gang...everyone joined at the ankles.....yuk.