The excitement of booking a trip is often too much to handle. It’s somewhere in between your first pay day and the best chocolate chip cookie you’ve ever tasted. Somewhere in between lip licking goodness and all the rest – you’re probably making mistakes though. There are a few pro tips which will save you money, hassle and stress. Don’t you want to keep the good times rolling?
Cash Back
If you’ve been missing out on this, the appropriate emoji is: face palm. But fear not – we can get all of this fixed. You can earn cash back on almost any airline, hotel or travel experience, in addition to points you earn from your credit card. All you need to do is click over from a site like TopCashBack, eBates, BeFrugal, ExtraBucks, Quidco. You get the idea. These sites offer between 1%-20% back on travel purchases and most other purchases too, instantly putting money in your back in your pocket. Very useful for purchasing chocolate chip cookies, amongst other things.
Change Alerts
Showing up to an airport for a flight which actually left six hours ago is not the first pay day feeling we’re after. Airlines change schedules all the time, but much of the time – they do a terrible job letting you know. Using apps like TripIt or CheckMyTrip, alerts will pop up on your phone, letting you know when an airline has been naughty. And just FYI, when they have – you can often move to a flight that works even better for you, at no additional cost.
Price Guarantee
When this pays off, it’s like a double chocolate chip cookie on bonus day. Quite a few airlines offer price guarantees. Meaning: if the price of your flight or hotel goes up within a certain amount of days after you’ve booked, they’ll refund the difference or give you a voucher for your next flight or hotel. Sometimes, even more than the difference – just to say sorry. This is a total no brainer, so set some price alerts, check out these airlines offering a guarantee and go get some money back.
Maximum Miles
WhereToCredit.com is an extremely useful tool. Why? Because it shows you how many miles you earn across virtually every potential airline. Yep, for the same flight, one airline may give you peanuts, while the other offers seven luscious, warm chocolate chip cookies. It’s a great way to plot your way towards easy elite airline statuses to achieve, and other perks. Consider which type of airline miles would best suit your points goals and get moving!
Instant Upgrade
Doesn’t an instant upgrade sound awesome? For both flights and hotels, people often inquire about upgrades far too late. If you choose flights with upgrades presently available, it’s far easier than trying when everyone else is. This is especially true for airlines, but depending on how you book a hotel – this can be an important strategy if you’re entitled to an upgrade. Here’s how to get hotel upgrades and here are airlines that let you upgrade with ease.
Were you missing out on any of these?
Not I, but I really like the first sentence, and the chocolate chip metaphors mixed into the article!