Travel Tips

Week 1 Winner: Olympic Travel Takeaway

Locations in this article:  Amsterdam, Netherlands Detroit, MI Vienna, Austria

Congratulations to everyone who entered our Week 1 of our Olympic Travel Takeaway contest! We still have two more challenges ahead. Click here to see next week’s challenge. And now we have our first Olympians of travel:

The Bronze Medal and a $25 Visa gift card goes to Donusa1:

Use the rule of thumb, if it’s too easy, it’s too expensive.  For example, don’t shop at easy-to-locate tourist places on main squares and streets. Walk just a few blocks further and you’ll find the same items at much reduced prices. This pertains to services and events, too. Skip the on-shore events arranged by the cruise ships. Go to the main area where everyone is getting of the bus, and then look around for local, non-ship affiliated guides. You’ll save tons.  Also, wait to convert currency in a local bank and not at the airport.

The Silver Medal and a $50 Visa gift card goes to Nadia W:

My best budget tip is to use a prepaid credit card. No interest fees, it can be loaded up to $10,000 and it is backed by Visa or Mastercard with their insurance for items purchased.  You can load your card before you go, spend as you see fit and come home knowing you won’t have a huge bill to pay off.

The Gold Medal and a $75 visa gift card goes to Francine Pereny:

Always, always, I check consolidator sites (orbitz, hotwire, kayak) to
see what their best fair is for flights, hotels and cars.  Once I get
the best price from the consolidator, I go directly to the airline,
hotel and car rental sites to book (but only after review of the online
specials/deals).

When traveling to Europe, I check multiple flights from the US to
anywhere in Europe for the best price.  Once I find the best price to a
European city, I look at the European carriers (EasyJet, Ryanair,
Maxx) to see if these airlines fly to the city I’m really interested in
visiting.  I total both tickets to see if they beat the US airline
carrier for a direct flight.

Sometimes, its best to utilize a cheap US
to Europe flight, then drive to your desired city.  I did this for
Vienna.  Flying to Vienna direct from Detroit was $1200 each ($6000. for
five).  I reduced this by flying into Munich, renting a car and driving
the four hours at a cost of $586 per person ($2,930).  Yes, I paid for a
car rental, ($800) but we had it the entire time and we got to see a
lot more of Austria with a fun car ride (kids are happy when they travel!).  Most importantly, we saved $2270.

Also, consider a layover.  For example, I wanted to go to Poland with a
stop in Amsterdam so the kids could go to the Anne Frank house. I
checked pricing from Detroit to Amsterdam:  $1160 each. with commuter
jet ticket $250 to Warsaw, total $1410 each.  When I checked direct
flights from Detroit to Warsaw, the tickets dropped to $860.  I looked
at the schedule of the DTW to AMS flights and found a 23 hour layover in Amsterdam for both the inbound
and outbound flights.  Yes, I had to pay for two hotel rooms, but I was able
to give the kids two days in Amsterdam and the experience of Amsterdam
and the Anne Frank Haus (cost $200 US).  Total cost of travel from Detroit to Warsaw with two days in Amsterdam for three people:  $2980 (as opposed to $4230- savings: $1250).