We travel several times a month either on road trips, international vacations, or quick weekend getaways in a nearby state. We’ve learned a few ways to get more bank for your buck and optimize your time there so we’re sharing our best travel hacks.

If you want travel life hacks that will ultimately make it possible to travel more often then you’ll want to listen to this episode! Most of these travel hacks are focused around saving money without sacrificing anything in your trip.

Travel Hacks from People that Travel A Lot – Episode Transcript

2 (58s):
Welcome to episode 114 of the Travel Squad podcast today. We’re giving you 21 quick hacks to really fuck ’em hard on your next trip.

3 (1m 7s):
We always like to fuck them hard, right? So, oh yeah. So this episode, we’re talking how to save money when booking during your time of travel. And when you arrive to your final destination

1 (1m 18s):
And I love Travel, Hacks, love fucking them hard. And some of these hacks we’ve tried ourselves. So they are ones that we know definitely work. And some of these hacks we have worked for others and today we’re sharing them all with you.

2 (1m 31s):
All right. So let’s dive right in no tips on this episodes. We’re going fully in right away.

1 (1m 36s):
Tip number one is to just ask for an upgrade, simple as that, and then phrase it as would it be too much trouble?

2 (1m 43s):
That’s the nicest way to ask for something? Would it be too much trouble if I could move up a couple of seats

3 (1m 48s):
Or is it possible something to that effect?

2 (1m 50s):
Is it possible? In fact, I have a funny story here. We just recently went on a trip to Ecuador, but it flew out of Miami. So we did a little weekend or in Miami as a bonus. So Zayna and I were sharing a room. And when we booked, we looked at the price of a king bed versus two queen beds. And it was like, I don’t know, 30 or $50 different, I think for the two beds, more expensive. So I asked Dana what she wanted to do. And we decided that we were going to book the one bed and then play dumb. When we got to the hotel and say, oh, we meant a book to, is there any way you can move us to a two bedroom? And our plan was foiled because there were no two bedrooms on a Saturday night in south beach, Miami, but we did ask.

2 (2m 34s):
So sometimes they’ll work. Sometimes they won’t, but here’s what we did do instead. And this was actually legit. It was really fucking loud. It was like right by the lobby was very loud to go really shitty sleep. And I need my sleep. So the next day we went up to the front counter. I said, hello, miss. It was very loud. Last night,

1 (2m 53s):
You said, just like that.

2 (2m 56s):
Is there any possible way we could move to the second floor or farther back? And then she’s like, oh, you’re in a one bedroom. And I said, oh, actually that was by accident. We meant to book a two bed ruined. So we got upgraded to a quieter room with two beds.

1 (3m 10s):
Wow. I remember that day because Jamal and I had our hotel in the very, very back of the hotel. And so we didn’t hear anything. We got perfect sleep. And so when we went to get you guys in the morning and you’re like, how is your sleep? I was like, oh, that’s great. And then you looked at me with like the piercing dead eyes. Like there was a fucking party out in front of our room all night long and I didn’t get to sleep until like 2:00 AM

3 (3m 33s):
The C in her twenties. The person partying would have been Kim in her thirties. This is now Kim complaining about too much noise outside of her hotel room. But see, I think they would have done it for you. I think because we got there on a Saturday, people were checking out and now there was space. So yes, even though there was the noise, I don’t think that was the deciding factor. I think it was people had finally checked out. So it definitely does work. There’s been other instances where I know we’ve kind of asked for something to that effect or some sort of upgrade and we’ve gotten it, but that’s the most recent one coming to.

2 (4m 4s):
There was another one. We went on a week long trip to Yellowstone and grand Tetons. And we do have an episode on both of those. And we got back to our hotel in salt lake where we were planning to spend the night and the next day I think our flight was like later in the day. I think that’s what it was. And we, we saw there was an early morning flight. And so we called Southwest and asked if they would switch our flight and not charge us the fee that the online service was telling us we would, oh, we just simply asked in, Jamal’s very polite way of asking. And this is actually something Jamal did on that call that I noticed as soon as the person got on the phone, he’s like, oh, hello, thank you for taking my call.

3 (4m 46s):
I always say that because I’m so used to doing that at work. That it’s just habit in my daily life, but you know what? That is a good pack. It really works, you know, thanks for taking my call. Right. Yeah.

2 (4m 56s):
And so we got the flight switched to the earlier time, no charge. And all we had to do was ask.

1 (5m 1s):
Yeah. And if there’s been a lot of different changes to your flight schedule, which was definitely happening during the pandemic, you would book a flight and then they would move you to an earlier flight early later flight. And your change, your flight drastically, if you just simply call them and ask and say, you know, my flight was actually changed from what I originally booked. Is there any possibility, would it be too much trouble for you to switch to this? They’re more than likely going to do it.

3 (5m 23s):
Yeah. And it’s not 100% foolproof, but I think the biggest takeaway from tip number one here is just, don’t be afraid to ask, but just ask nicely. Right? And more often than not, you’ll be pleasantly surprised with how nice other people want to be. If you’re nice to them.

2 (5m 36s):
Number two on our list is if nice isn’t working, tell him it’s your anniversary,

3 (5m 43s):
The story he did this once, right?

2 (5m 45s):
Yeah. So I had gone on a trip to Washington, to Seattle and Portland with an ex-boyfriend and I really wanted to stay in this amazing boutique hotel, the hotel max. And when we, there, it was a Sunday that we were checking in. So, and that’s, I guess another tip right there is the Sunday check-ins, you’ll have better luck with upgrades. Cause that’s when it’s less full maybe during the week as well. So anyway, she goes, are you here celebrating anything? Like she opened the door for me and I just said, yeah, it’s our anniversary. No, it was not at all our anniversary. And she upgraded us to the king suite

1 (6m 19s):
LA,

3 (6m 20s):
Well, I think this tip even works when it’s not checking into a hotel, even when you’re making a reservation online, sometimes they’ll ask you, are you celebrating anything? He say, it’s a birthday anniversary. A lot of times maybe they’ll bring out, you know, a complimentary drink. Like one of the times more recently, this happened to Brittany and I, it wasn’t our anniversary, but it was our anniversary week and we just happen to be going out to dinner. And they’re like, are you celebrating anything? We said, oh yeah, our anniversary. And then what do you know? They bring us a complimentary drink. So I don’t like to advocate line. But I mean, if you also tell them that it’s your anniversary birthday, if they opened the door for you, if you’re celebrating anything special, usually you’ll get a little something, something on top of that.

2 (7m 1s):
You could be your anniversary of the new lipstick you’re trying out, or the anniversary of this new shirt you’re wearing, but they don’t ask what kind of anniversary it is.

1 (7m 17s):
But yeah, Jamal, what you’re talking about, we went to barley swine in Austin. If you guys haven’t been definitely check it out here in the area, really great tasting menu. Our anniversary was the next day we went out to dinner the night before, which was a Saturday night. We didn’t go out to dinner on Sunday night cause we were going to be leaving and they brought us out a complimentary champagne. So that was really nice to enjoy.

2 (7m 38s):
Number three on our list where newlywed shirts, again, we’re not lying. So if you’re on a honeymoon where you’re newlywed sure. I think anytime in your first year of marriage, you’re newlywed.

3 (7m 50s):
That’s true. That’s true. But you know, what’s so funny is I’m not judging anybody who makes newlywed shirts, especially, you know, if it’s for a wedding and then it’s like bridal party or groomsmen party attire and you kind of have it. Sure makes sense. But when I see these shirt things, it always reminds me of when I go to Disneyland or amusement parks and you always see who’s part of the family, cause they have the matching shirts like family trip, 2020 family trip. I know. Well, you know, if you have them do it a lot of times, if you are a newlywed, they do give out the freebies. I know for example, when Brittany and I had gotten married, we got married on the beach at the hotel Del Coronado. When we were checking in, they saw Brittany and her dress. They didn’t charge us for parking.

3 (8m 31s):
They always charge for parking at the hotel Del or natto. When we went out to dinner, she was still in her wedding gown. They brought out free champagne and a couple appetizers for us. So if you are a newly married, I guess Kim’s definition is still within the first year, throw that out there and you’ll get a little something.

1 (8m 48s):
So we haven’t actually tried the theme shirts. But again, anytime like you’re wearing your wedding gown or if you do have newlywed theme shirts, try this hack out, let us know about,

3 (8m 58s):
I love how you say anytime you’re wearing your wedding gown. Like you wear it more than once out in public, other than the date of your wedding.

1 (9m 4s):
I haven’t, but maybe I will in the future.

2 (9m 7s):
Let’s see

3 (9m 7s):
Fun. I know. But the day that you did wear it, we got couple complimentary things because you were wearing it. So definitely does help.

1 (9m 14s):
So number four on our list is asked for a corner room or a quieter space because those rooms in the corner are usually bigger. Also really helps to reduce down the noise. Cause you don’t want to be in a room right next to the hotel elevator, especially in Vegas, everyone is going up and down those elevators getting

3 (9m 34s):
Out or in Kim’s case. Miami.

2 (9m 35s):
Exactly,

1 (9m 37s):
Exactly. Ask for a room towards the back and the corner tucked away. Nice and quiet.

3 (9m 42s):
Yeah. If there are standard shape buildings like rectangles squares, standard shape the hotel, like a holiday Inn or something like that. Those corner rooms tend to usually be bigger. If you are in a high rise, usually they have extra windows on two sides instead of one side. So it makes a room feel bigger, better views asked for the corner room. Usually the same price more often than not. It’s not something that they charge extra for, but you can ask for that. And more than likely if it’s available, you’ll get it. And they usually are better rooms,

2 (10m 10s):
Same kind of situation for ADA compliant rooms. They’re usually a little more spacious, a little lower cost. And if the equivalent non ADA compliant room is sold out, there’s typically that one still open.

3 (10m 23s):
Number five is ask your company HR about corporate travel discounts. I love this one because you know my profession by day, I’m an insurance broker. We work with a lot of employer groups administering their group health insurance. And I know a lot of insurance companies, if an employer group is with them, they do have these type of travel discounts. I’ve seen discounts on certain carriers for amusement parks, hotels, rental cars, even discounts for that matter on like your phone bill, depending on if you’re with a certain carrier like at and T T-Mobile, et cetera. So always just ask your HR. If they have anything like that.

2 (11m 1s):
I have United healthcare through my employer and we have a lot of travel discounts and perks offered through the company

3 (11m 7s):
Such as

2 (11m 8s):
Exactly what you were saying. Car rentals, hotel discounts, amusement park discounts. I’m actually pissed because last time I bought an amusement park ticket, I didn’t check through my work first. And then I got an ad through an email newsletter about that amusement park. And I was like, God damn. And I could have saved like 50 bucks.

3 (11m 25s):
Well, that’s a lot. That’s like a meal in the amusement park that you could have.

2 (11m 29s):
I know. I know. So definitely always check. And then on top of that, if you work for a larger corporation, think like IBM or Google or

3 (11m 37s):
The state worker. Yeah, yeah,

2 (11m 39s):
Yeah. Some of these bigger companies, they will also sometimes have special for your company discount codes for different hotels like Hilton and maybe IBM has a certain code. They give their employees to get a discount on Hilton

1 (11m 52s):
Hotels. You know, this actually inspires me because I need to go in and look at what benefits our corporate offers us.

2 (11m 59s):
I think the time I went to Austin and rented a car, I did rent it through my work car rental booking navigation, because that was the best price of everything I looked up.

1 (12m 8s):
Yeah, my brother, whenever he fix the car, he books it through his corporate code. He says it’s always the cheapest he can find. And he swears by it and he constantly runs cars. So he definitely uses this hack.

2 (12m 20s):
Okay. Number six on our list is one I’m really excited about because I’ve used it several times. And this is, you know, those times you’re doing a red eye flight and you get in at like 6:00 AM or in my case, like you’ve gone to Las Vegas on a Friday after work. When you don’t have a hotel booked until Saturday night and you get in around 3:00 AM. It needs something to do.

3 (12m 39s):
I know Kim, hasn’t done that at 30 plus. I know she has not done that flight pattern at 30.

2 (12m 44s):
You know what? The last time I went to Vegas, I was 29 and I was like two months away from 30,

1 (12m 49s):
But you weren’t 30

2 (12m 50s):
Yet. What’s right.

3 (12m 51s):
Like your body knows the moment you hit 30. I know you haven’t done that since

2 (12m 54s):
Then. I

3 (12m 55s):
Still would. I know you would. I’m just saying, I know you haven’t done it since then.

2 (12m 59s):
Okay. So if you get in around 6:00 AM or 7:00 AM whatnot, you can go up to the front desk and ask for an early check-in. Most of the time, if they have a room available, they will let you check in. Or if they do charge a fee, sometimes it may be like 30 bucks or so you have to pay, but 30 bucks beats a hundred or 150 or more for that extra room you would have spent when you’re only spending really half that night. There

1 (13m 23s):
It’s a good hack.

2 (13m 23s):
It’s a good hack. I’ve used it in Las Vegas, which I think there was like a $30, $35 early check-in fee. No big deal, whatever. When you’re 7:00 AM drunk in Vegas on the strip and you need somewhere to go, that’s good. Could option.

3 (13m 36s):
You know, we actually use this hack ourselves one time, Brittany and I, we were flying to Fort Lauderdale because we were going to be taking a cruise the next day out of Florida. And same thing, a lot of flights west coast to east coast, I do feel like tend to be red eyes, right? So we landed at 6:00 AM and we’re like, well, are we going to rent a room for that night? Are we just going to take our luck and you know, ask for the early check-in we got to the hotel at 7:00 AM. Hey, we have reservations today. Can we check in early? Oh sure. No fee, no nothing. They let us into the room. Boom, bam done. Great. Yeah.

2 (14m 10s):
I’ve also done it in Miami and I’ve done it in Boston successfully as well.

3 (14m 14s):
So definitely just ask. And like you said, if they do charge you the fee, it’s going to be cheaper than what the room for the night would have been. Right? So the fee beats it.

2 (14m 22s):
You can also call ahead and ask for the early check-in. If you want to ensure you’re going to get it before you just show up

3 (14m 28s):
Number seven on our list. Something that I’m really passionate about because I believe in putting good karma out in the world and always being nice to people, especially nowadays flight attendants, they have a really rough job, a lot of unruly passengers issues going on with COVID. So number seven, give the flight attendant a little gift, maybe like a little box chocolates. And they typically will give you a free alcoholic beverage or treat you nicer on the plane. And they would other people. So you’re putting good karma in and eventually getting something out of it as well. Now in the days of COVID a lot of airlines aren’t really serving alcohol either at this point, unless you’re sitting in first class. So do keep that in mind, but definitely a good little hack to get treated better and potentially get something free.

3 (15m 11s):
Whether it even be like one of the paid snacks, for example, that a lot of airlines sell now, not the free ones. So that’s a really good hack to do for the flight attendant.

1 (15m 19s):
You know, I’m a part of a lot of travel groups on like Facebook and people have posted similar things like this and all of the flight attendants are also net group. Absolutely love it. They’re like, oh my God, that’s so sweet. I would really appreciate it. If I received this, you know, if someone gave this to me during their flight. So it seems to be very well received by flight attendants online.

2 (15m 39s):
I know anytime I’ve done something like this, they’ve been so happy. So thankful. Like I think unfortunately the norm is more the opposite or just like indifferent. So just to get something a little special out of the ordinary, even if you get no perks puts you in a better mindset and I don’t know, doing something nice, putting something nice out there during your trip.

3 (16m 2s):
I wholeheartedly agree with you, Kim, very recently on a trip. I forgot where we were going, but we were traveling as a squad. I do remember that much and we were on Southwest. I didn’t bring something this time for the flight attendants. So I feel bad about it in that respect. But I always like to say hello to the flight attendant. When I come on the plane, look at the name tag, address them by name. And I kept every time the flight attendant came by, do you want a snack? Do you want a drink? I would call her by her name. And she actually said to me, I appreciate you calling me by my name. It actually makes me feel human and my job. And so even something as small as just addressing the person by their name goes a long way also.

2 (16m 41s):
Definitely.

1 (16m 42s):
Yeah. I feel like when people get on flights, sometimes they treat them like they’re servants are like, oh, you you’re here to serve me. Well, they’re people too. And they want to be treated with a little bit of respect. But number eight on our list is a money saving hack. And it’s one of my favorites. It’s to rebook your rental car, hotel rooms, flights. We do this all the time. I constantly book rental cars and I’ll look at them in a few weeks, a few months as we get closer to the trip, see if the price has gone down. If it has then I’ll cancel the original reservation. Rebook it same with flights on Southwest. Southwest is constantly having sales. They’ll put out a sale. I’ll look to see I’ll do like a change flight. Look, give me the travel fund refund, put it in like a Travel account.

1 (17m 25s):
So you won’t get the actual refund, but you’ll be able to use those funds for a later trip within a year. And it works like a charm every time.

3 (17m 32s):
Yeah. So definitely for the rental car hotel rooms, you really need to make sure when you’re originally booking it, that it is refundable or no fees for cancellation. Otherwise then it really doesn’t work. But Southwest we’ve mentioned that before, like Brittany said, you don’t get the money back, but it saves that flight credit. So really good to use for that. Not too sure how that works with other airlines, but Southwest is legit when it comes to saving money. When they already have sales on flights that you’ve already purchased,

1 (17m 57s):
You know, and if we ever experienced another pandemic in our lifetime, this may be another good tip for her like hotel rooms. Especially we went to Yellowstone and grand Teton national park. We had booked the hotel rooms way in advance. They were on the, you know, moderately pricey end. Then COVID hit, everyone was canceling their vacation, the national park shut down. And so I really looked to all of the prices. They were hundreds of dollars cheaper and I rebooked them and the national parks reopened. We got them at that new discounted price and it was a fucking savings.

2 (18m 29s):
Number nine on our list is for the Packers that can’t fit it all in their suitcase. If you’re looking for more space, but don’t want to pay a, another carry on or checked bag fee, bring a pillow, but don’t put a normal pillow in the pillow case. Put your sweaters, your shirts, your socks, anything soft, make that your pillow because pillows fly free.

3 (18m 53s):
Have you done this one before?

2 (18m 55s):
No, I haven’t because I’m an expert packer, but I’m tempted to just to test it out. It’s been really fucking hard.

3 (19m 1s):
That’s a good idea. You know, what’s funny is none of us have tried that, but the way you said it almost made me think, did Kim do this one time when we weren’t flying together? But I have seen so many different tick talks or other travel forums. Talk about this hack, doing it that way because of exactly what you said, pillows five, really take it on. And that’s your carry on right there. And you couldn’t use it on the plane and there’s an extra suitcase for you at the same time. Yeah.

2 (19m 23s):
Yeah, totally. I have done not in a pillow, but I’ll bring like a gift bag kind of thing that looks like you bought it in the airport and put like a book in there. Maybe my trouble pillow case, my foot hammock for the plane so that I don’t have to put that stuff in my backpack and it flies free, but it adds space to what you’re carrying on. It’s

1 (19m 41s):
Another good hack that was like a twofer in a way, a

2 (19m 44s):
Twofer.

3 (19m 45s):
I love them. Hey,

2 (19m 46s):
If you have a hat, put some stuff in your hat before you put it on your head,

3 (19m 50s):
You did a certain type of hat for that, like a Lincoln hat.

1 (19m 54s):
This is better than wearing all the clothes that won’t fit in your bag. You know, where you like layer on nine layers of clothing cause

2 (19m 60s):
Your biggest jacket and your biggest boots.

1 (20m 2s):
I do do that. Hey travelers, let’s take a quick detour to talk all about our Travel Itineraries that we’ve created just for you. We now have six different trip itineraries one week in Kauai

2 (20m 14s):
And American Southwest weekend or road trip

3 (20m 16s):
A week in Yellowstone and grand Teton, national parks

1 (20m 20s):
Road trip adventure featuring all three of Washington. State’s national parks,

3 (20m 24s):
Big island, Hawaii, and an Arizona road trip that features all three of Arizona’s national parks.

2 (20m 30s):
We are obsessed with these. These itineraries are 20 to 30 page PDF guides with every detail of the trip laid out. We’re talking where to fly into the exact route to take where to stay park entrance prices, where to eat and driving distance between attractions plus what things to see and do even the we recommend and their mileage and the time to allow for each one and so much more.

1 (20m 52s):
We have story highlights on our Instagram at Travel Squad Podcast, where you can see the full guides. We’ve done all of the research and have taken these exact trips, taking out all of the guesswork from the planning. So all that you have to do is show up and have fun

3 (21m 5s):
Purchase your comprehensive Travel Squad Podcast, itinerary on our website at Travel Squad, Podcast dot com, best of all, they’re on sale right now for $30. So travel on over and get yours today. So we’re halfway through this list. Number 10 here, great hack travel credit card. This isn’t so much a hack as it is a tip in general, but still nonetheless, if you want a travel hack, you have to have a really good travel credit card. We’ve talked about this many times before I have the chase Sapphire reserve credit card. Love, love, love that credit card. So many hotels, flights and things of that nature we’ve been able to purchase or get for free because we accrue points through it. Lounge life that we get through that we just got back from Ecuador.

3 (21m 48s):
Use the lounge got free breakfasts. Even some of the restaurants that are in the airports itself, alcoholic beverages in the lounge place to chill, relax, private bathrooms. If you’re in there, it’s a really, really good travel hacking as get that substantial travel credit card.

2 (22m 3s):
For all of our newer listeners, you can go back to episode 67, where we broke down the best travel credit cards that exist out there, the benefits that they have, the perks that they have and kind of see which ones might be best for you. I know the one that you’re just mentioning Jamal, all of the hacks that you get in the airport are one thing, but then all of the ways you can build points, transfer points, pay for hotels, for flights, for all this cool stuff like it almost pays you to travel.

3 (22m 30s):
Yeah, it really, really, really does. And I’m glad you mentioned episode 67. It’s a good base to go back and listen to, to just get a bunch of ideas here. Those credit cards keep in mind. We’re on episode one 14. Now that was episode 67. It’s almost halfway back our whole episode catalog. So things have changed. There may be better ones at this point, by the time you’re listening, but it’s really good base point for you to just get ideas of what you can do with travel credit card.

1 (22m 55s):
I actually just got the chase Sapphire preferred card. They were offering a hundred thousand points once you hit the minimum amount to buy in the first three months. And that ends up being $1,250 that you could spend on anything travel related. That’s a lot of hotels. That’s a lot of rental cars. That’s, you know, a few flights. So it’s definitely worth it. And it’s not on the same level as the car Jamal has. So the fee is a lot less.

3 (23m 21s):
Yeah, so less perks. But again, depending on how much you travel, what you want with it, but that a hundred thousand points that you mentioned that you got Brittany, you could transfer that to any airline of your choice to their point system on an equal basis. So say you’re going to be flying somewhere in, oh my gosh, this business class ticket is a hundred thousand points. Well, here I am. I have a hundred thousand. Let me transfer it. Now I have business class or if you don’t want to use it all in one shot, you want to take a couple trips, fly coach. You know, so you have a lot of things that you can do with those bonus points that they give you at initial signup. If you meet the criteria again, caveat want to put this in here. Little asterisk for you guys. Don’t abuse credit cards. If you aren’t going to be paying them off, but if you are going to be paying them off, they are great Travel Hacks uses.

2 (24m 4s):
Number 11 on our list is to book a package through Expedia and the packages include your flight and your hotel in one. And the reason that you’ll want to do it like this is because it will save you a ton of money. I was recently looking at going to an all-inclusive in Cabo for two nights was around I think $300 for two nights per person. If you booked it from the website directly. In addition to that, the flight was around two something so combined all of that five to $600 per person. But if you book through Expedia for two people, book the package, all inclusive package with it, same place. It ended up coming to about 400 per person.

3 (24m 44s):
Whoa, what a deal

1 (24m 45s):
And hotel

2 (24m 46s):
For flight and

3 (24m 47s):
Hotel a hundred dollars more to get it as a combo.

2 (24m 49s):
Yes. And you save a lot of money by booking it together, then booking a separate one other thing you can do, because obviously you may be flying into a place, but then going somewhere else, you’re not actually staying in that place. You can select with Expedia. I only need a stay for part of my trip. And then you only have to book one night of the hotel, but you still get all that money savings.

1 (25m 12s):
Ooh, that’s a really good tip.

2 (25m 14s):
Yes. And then so say we want to go to Breckenridge, but it flies into Denver. We put Breckenridge in Expedia. It will give us flights to Denver, but put our stay in Breckenridge. Oh,

1 (25m 25s):
Okay. That’s very handy. Cause I mean, that saves a lot of legwork.

2 (25m 29s):
Yeah. I mean it saves time and money. So what markets you ask for

3 (25m 34s):
Right there,

2 (25m 35s):
And then you earn points on Expedia that you can redeem for discounts later. Triple whammy. You’re fucking them from every which angle,

3 (25m 43s):
The double fuck em hard.

1 (25m 45s):
Well, and you know another thing too is, I don’t know if you guys use any sites like Rakuten that give you like money back, you can book Expedia through Rakuten and get like 3% back on the full thing. So not only are you getting Rakuten points, you’re getting Expedia points.

3 (25m 59s):
Oh, we’re at the quadruple fuck apart now.

2 (26m 1s):
But wait, there’s more credit

1 (26m 3s):
Card for you.

2 (26m 4s):
It’s your credit card, your travel credit card and get those points. That’s

1 (26m 7s):
Like triple fucking them hard.

3 (26m 9s):
That’s a lot of fucking Lamar,

2 (26m 10s):
But we have more for you here.

3 (26m 12s):
Yes. Moving on to number 12. One of my favorite Travel Hacks that I recently discovered is using a VPN to book your hotel or flights, particularly flights. And by using the VPN, it pretty much puts your internet that you’re using in another country. So what I really mean by this as an example is if we aren’t familiar with a VPN basically instead of using your internet, you are using it, but it reroutes your location as if you’re accessing the internet from another country or another city in the United States, for example. Right. And you choose where it is that you’re using that and why it comes into play when it comes to travel is let’s say I’m here in the United States, which I am in San Diego.

3 (26m 54s):
And I want to book a flight San Diego to London, for example. Well, if I’m booking it through an American site, it’s probably going to be more expensive than if with my VPN. I say, Hey, I’m in Europe. I need to San Diego to London. And a lot of times airlines have different prices based on the region in which you search. So you can experiment and put your location in different places while you’re searching. And a lot of times you can find the exact same flight for cheaper, depending on what site you’re using it from. And by that, I mean, let’s say it’s American airlines, oh, it’s the American airlines version for Europe or for south America or north America. And by that way, you can get cheaper flights and it’s substantially substantially cheaper that way.

2 (27m 34s):
In fact, that is our tip number 13 in which you can search for flights on different countries. TLDs so instead of.com.uk.br for Brazil, you know, whatever country you’re looking for, I actually have used this and kind of found it on accident. When I went to Thailand, we were searching all of the different platforms, all of the different ways you could possibly fly from Southern California over to Bangkok. And we ended up booking the flight on expedia.uk. And I think it was around 400 something like maybe four 20. But if we were looking@theexactsameflightonexpedia.com, it was a hundred dollars more for the exact same flight.

2 (28m 14s):
That’s

1 (28m 15s):
Crazy.

2 (28m 15s):
Even after the currency exchange, even after the small foreign transaction fee, it was cheaper by a lot of money and it made no sense because U K Thailand us, it doesn’t make any sense, but Hey, use those glitches to really fuck em hard.

1 (28m 29s):
And it kind of leads us into our next hack, which is number 14 is if you aren’t using it out of another country, or you’re not using a VPN at least use an incognito browser while searching flight and clear your cookies because the travel sites save your cookies and they’ll adjust the price that you’ll see. And so make sure you’re doing it on a private browsing window so you can get the best price.

3 (28m 49s):
Yeah, this is actually a real thing. There’s an official term for it. It’s called dynamic pricing. So if you’re searching a flight from wherever you are to another city and you just keep looking at it regularly, or even hotels for that matter, the travel sites, airlines, hotel rentals, whatever, they’ll save those cookies and they can adjust the prices based on the fact that you yourself are actually searching this. So unless it’s like one company and we love Southwest, I’m just throwing out Southwest. They don’t necessarily do this because their prices are their prices. But a lot of other airlines booking sites, they do this dynamic pricing use that incognito browser or private window. So they can’t track your cookies. And you can not worry that they’re going to raise the price on you, just because they know you’re looking for it.

2 (29m 32s):
Tip number 15 is about how you can get some of your money back. So when it comes to refunds, there’s a couple parameters and rules that you need to know about to protect yourself in Europe. There’s a law that states, if your flight was delayed or canceled within certain amounts of time periods, that you’re entitled to a refund or a prorated amount back that’s specific to Europe, but there are other laws here in the United States or by airline that state, if your flight was direct, but then they changed it to one with a stop. You’re entitled to get a refund on that flight, even if it’s been more than the standard 24 hours. And even if it was a non-refundable ticket.

1 (30m 12s):
Yeah, that’s a great tip. And you know, we had mentioned this kind of before, when we went to Utah, they had changed our flights so many times, and I believe they went from a non-stop to one with a layover. And because of that, when we called and asked them, Hey, can we change our flight to another one? They did it at no additional costs because truly you are entitled to a refund. Even if it was a nonrefundable.

2 (30m 34s):
We were also going to go to Costa Rica this year, back in July for Jamal’s birthday. And so we had booked this flight from LA to San Jose, Costa Rica nonstop. It was a good flight, but then Brittany and Jamal had booked that the next day I went into book it, the flight was gone and I was like, oh shit. And it was because that the airline changed their flight schedule, but it hadn’t come out maybe for a week or so later. So we ended up getting them a refund on that ticket because it was non-stop. And because of that specific law or rule for the airline, you were entitled to get your money back,

1 (31m 8s):
Right? And so if you book a nonrefundable ticket and your plans change and you know, you won’t be traveling, it don’t cancel it right away. What you want to do is you want to cancel the ticket at the last possible moment, because if the airline cancels your flight or has major schedule changes, it can entitle you to a credit or a refund at that point. So if you had just canceled it on your own right away, you’re not going to get anything. But if you wait and something happens to the flight, then you might be entitled to something.

2 (31m 36s):
And also if you miss your flight within an hour of that flight taking off, you can arrange to have it rebooked at no extra charge. But if you miss that hour, like I have before, you’ll end up having to buy yourself a new ticket.

3 (31m 49s):
So don’t miss the hour, apparently. So next on our list. Number 16, hotels tend to give out a lot of stuff for free, not just your toothpaste or razors anymore. They will usually have international power, adapters, safety, pins, sewing kits. So a lot of times people forget a lot of things when they travel the normal stuff, right? Toothbrush toothpaste, razors know they have lots of stuff. So if you’ve forgotten something, just don’t be afraid to ask the hotel because they may have what you need and give them to you for free.

2 (32m 21s):
Another thing, wine opener, I will often get a glass of, or a bottle of wine, and I want to drink it in the hotel room. When we were in Boston, we got a bottle of wine to drink in bed while we were eating our canolas in our robes. And who travels with a wine opener, Nobody but hotels, every I’ve asked, they’ve had a wine opener that they’ll bring up to your room for you.

3 (32m 43s):
I remember one time when we were doing our Southwest road trip, we went to the grand canyon, my hiking pants. I put them on that morning for whatever reason, my button just decided that it wanted to come off. I’m just like, oh fuck. What am I going to do? How am I going to hike? Oh, what do I do? I asked the front desk, they had a sewing kit. Granted, I can’t. So luckily my beautiful wife sitting here next to me can, and she sewed on my button and that sewing job is still holding strong on those pair of pants. So lots of little things that may come up or things that you forget do ask the front at the hotel,

2 (33m 16s):
Tip number 17. If you want your bag to be handled properly, just tell them that there’s fragile items in it. They’ll mark market as fragile. It’ll come out first, usually on the conveyor belt to collect your baggage. And it will be nice and cared for.

3 (33m 30s):
That’s a really good hack because I’ve seen a lot of times just sitting on the plane, the people on the tarmac are still loading suitcases in, and I hate to throw them under the bus, but sometimes you just see that they don’t handle that stuff with care. Right. And not that they’re purposefully not handling it with care, but they don’t handle it with as much care as you would hope. So if you do have something fragile or even not, and you just don’t want them to be throwing that around. Yeah. When you check your bag, tell them they’ll put that marking on it. It’s really great.

2 (33m 56s):
We recently went on a trip and I bought a new suitcase, a larger one as, as well as Dana did, who was on the trip with us. And we checked our bags. As soon as they came out, we’re like, Ooh, our new luggage. You want to show it off scuffs everywhere.

1 (34m 11s):
I was just going to say that, like your guys’ luggage looked like it had been traveling around seven years and it was brand new. It was on its first journey.

3 (34m 19s):
The same thing happened when I had bought in my luggage tag, my personalized one that I had first time putting it on my check suitcase comes out. And then I’m just like, what the hell happened to this? Like the leather on it was all scoped up and kind of torn. And the piece itself did break. But when she was like, what did they do under the plane? Or putting it on it that already ruined it. So that’s what I mean by, you know, a lot of this stuff is unintentional, but it definitely does happen. So that fragile marking clutch,

1 (34m 47s):
How’s your Flamingo holding up because I feel like maybe the plastic Flamingo on like the luggage tag would be better than something that’s like cloth. It

2 (34m 55s):
Definitely looks dirty, but it’s intact.

1 (34m 58s):
Okay. Maybe we just need to make the investment for like a silicone or plastic one instead.

2 (35m 4s):
Yeah. But unfortunately you can’t get too worked up over scuffs on your luggage.

1 (35m 9s):
No,

2 (35m 11s):
I used to have a white luggage actually. And it went through the ringer. It was so dirty. It actually, when I came back to Thailand, one of the wheels is busted off. They had to tape it close because the zipper broke. Oh my

1 (35m 24s):
That’s crazy. Yeah. So number 18 on our list is to look, to see if hotels have apps because a lot of them do. And if you check upon arrival, a lot of them will include discounts or freebies or thank you for downloading it. Like they might have a free round at the hotel bar or something like that.

2 (35m 42s):
Ooh. An extra pillow, a little turn down service.

1 (35m 46s):
Some of the hotels will let you choose your room the day before you check in as well. So there might be some perks in that

2 (35m 52s):
Member situations like the Hilton honors program or holiday Inn has one. If you stay at these hotels more frequently, it definitely pays to join the membership programs. They haven’t get the points and the perks that they have for members, Ooh, coming in with a hard one, really gonna fuck them hard on this one. So speaking of membership programs, ARP is a major one that offers a lot of travel discounts. And the kicker is here. You do not have to be retirement age to join a RP. There actually is no minimum age requirement. And a lot of people don’t know that you can save massive amounts of discounts with a RP plugging in that discount code. Similarly, AAA has a discount code that will often get you discounts.

2 (36m 34s):
But this ARP one is a hack because people think it’s for older generations, but it’s not only,

3 (36m 41s):
I mean, you would think so because the last two letters and RP stands for retired people, right? So you think it’s of a certain age. I know. I know, but

2 (36m 48s):
What now with entrepreneurs and early retirement, people are retiring at 30 and you know, who’s to say what retirement is.

3 (36m 57s):
We’re all retiring at 35. So I mean joining ARP right away to get these discount codes. But yeah, the most important takeaway of that is you don’t need to be of a certain age. It is a membership. So you got to pay for it. I think what is it like 20, $30 a year

2 (37m 12s):
Compared to the discounts you can get?

3 (37m 13s):
That’s what it’s gonna say. Very inexpensive, lots of solid discounts. When you book things online, again, amusement park, tickets, hotels, flights, et cetera, a lot of good discount programs through ARP. So don’t think you have to be a senior citizen, a sign up, sign up at any time and get those membership discounts.

1 (37m 28s):
So number 20 is a hack that I just recently learned about is when you pack your makeup. And this is for the ladies, put a cotton swab in your blush or your compact foundation or eye shadow. And they won’t crack. How many times have you been on vacation and things have just rolled around in your bag and you get there and you open a blush or an eyeshadow and it’s cracked. And like you have to dump part of it

2 (37m 51s):
Out or it gets everything dirty.

1 (37m 53s):
Yeah. This way it works.

2 (37m 54s):
Yeah. I remember taking a trip once I had boughten a new powder contour kit. So it had bronzer and highlighter in one, it fell on the ground and completely cracked and it was brand new oh, Dirty side.

1 (38m 8s):
But if there was a cotton swab in there, it may have, you know, helped it out a little bit. I cushion the fall.

2 (38m 13s):
I will always do this for now on

1 (38m 15s):
Jamal. What do you use the cotton socks for?

3 (38m 18s):
Oh gosh. I mean so many things, but this is a new travel hack for me that I can’t wait to use with my specific compact foundation. I won’t lie to you now. This is a really good one for the girls specifically, or anyone who uses makeup and really good hack. And I’ve seen Brittany use it recently. And I can’t tell you how many times in the past I’ve heard before. And I never understood because again, I don’t utilize it, but you would complain like, oh, it’s like cracked. And now that you’ve started doing it, don’t hear that anymore. So it definitely does work. So number 21, coming in hot last on the list here, Kim was talking earlier, not about just the tips, putting it all the way in. And here we are giving you the full thrust with number 21 right here for you guys Travel Hacks.

3 (39m 1s):
And this is going to be our hack that we use to get upgraded on flights. We just got back from Ecuador. We mentioned it on our episode. We’re mentioning it again. Right here. Got moved from regular coach

2 (39m 13s):
From the back of the plane

3 (39m 15s):
Back of the plane, all the way to premium economy, which had way bigger seats, reclined, even more had foot rests. We weren’t in business class. I did see, as we were leaving the plane, I think it was full I’m hopeful that we would have gotten there. But flight attendants very grateful us, very grateful for the upgrade, private cabin, nobody pretty much in there. And again, cannot tell you what that hack is over the podcast. If you want to know what it is, we’re happy to tell you, but we need something in return from you. Five star written review on our podcast on apple podcast, guys, please,

1 (39m 49s):
And emphasize written written review, not just tap the five stars, but you actually have to write a review in order to get this.

3 (39m 57s):
The top of the five stars is appreciated. You want the hack got to do the writing?

2 (40m 1s):
Yeah. If it’s a one-star review, just move along. No, but we’ve been offering this upgrade hack to all of our listeners. Since we started this podcast for written reviews, we want written reviews because they help us rank better in the system that helps people find our podcasts when they’re searching for the content that we have. So it’s really a win-win. We love reading them also. Like we get so much joy out of reading them. And as soon as we see one, we share it with the group chat. So we love it. And the hack that we have for you, we’ve tried so many times. It works just about every time. If you can be upgraded, you will be upgraded or you’ll be treated like you’re in first class. It’s an amazing hack. You’re going to want it.

2 (40m 41s):
So let us help you.

3 (40m 43s):
Any final thoughts on these top 21 hacks that we had before we get into questions of the week? No,

2 (40m 49s):
Let’s hit

3 (40m 50s):
It. Let’s hit it.

2 (40m 52s):
The wig PayPal. Woo. Let’s get

1 (40m 54s):
It.

2 (41m 1s):
Okay. Our first question is coming in with, what is your ideal hack or upgrade?

1 (41m 6s):
Ooh, I have two,

2 (41m 8s):
Two first.

1 (41m 8s):
Yes. One would obviously eat to be upgraded on like business class on an overnight flight. So I could like fully recline. Can you imagine like

2 (41m 19s):
Getting down comforter?

1 (41m 20s):
Yeah, redeye and then being able to sleep the whole way. Lying flat, sipping a little champagne.

3 (41m 27s):
I just want to say real quick, that number 21 hack that we said that we will share with you guys that could have came to fruition. The flight attendant told us if there was room in business class on that flight that we took San Diego to London when we were doing Lebanon and Dubai 2020, right before COVID he would have put us in there. He said there is absolutely no room in premium economy or business, but they treated us five star. So we were really close with that one, but that could have came to fruition and it could come to fruition for you before us. Maybe if you give us that review.

1 (41m 58s):
And my other ideal upgrade would to be upgraded, to like a penthouse suite at a hotel

3 (42m 5s):
That penthouse suite at a hotel, I feel like has to be like Vegas status and got to gamble a lot. What do you gotta do? Yeah, I know. I wonder what you would have to do to get it.

2 (42m 14s):
Gotta be big ball in

3 (42m 15s):
Big ball. I don’t know. Mine are on the same line as Brittany, realistically. I just want to be in a, not even business class. First class first 10 by first class. I don’t mean first class on a domestic flight. I mean, first-class on an international flight. So business is legit. They have the full life flat beds. First-class now on certain airlines, especially like Emirates Singapore, airline

2 (42m 40s):
Emirates would be next level.

3 (42m 41s):
Yeah. Qatar, airways, all those ones. They now have private suites, so it’s not even just, oh, I have a lie flat bed. You have a private suite that’s closed off. That would be the ideal upgrade.

2 (42m 55s):
Well, I’m going to blow your minds right now. Blow it. I don’t necessarily need to be upgraded, but I would love to hack my way into an affordable private jet experience. Ooh,

1 (43m 8s):
That’s a great one.

3 (43m 8s):
My mind is not blown. I’m just kidding. No,

2 (43m 12s):
Because I don’t know how you’d get upgraded to that. Maybe with a little sugar daddy action. But if I could find a way to pay the same amount for a commercial airline, but get it on a private jet. That’s the business I’m looking for.

3 (43m 26s):
That would be legit. I was joking about my mind. Not being blown away.

2 (43m 30s):
I’m talking, you want a private suite. I want a private plane.

3 (43m 34s):
I’m a little bit more modest than that camp. So, you know,

2 (43m 36s):
Hey, some people like the simple life

3 (43m 39s):
That’s me. All right. The second question that we have. So thanks for the submission is what’s the worst place you’ve ever stayed in?

1 (43m 46s):
Oh, easy red roof Inn And talking to assert.

2 (43m 52s):
Yeah, that was pretty grimy.

1 (43m 54s):
Yeah. Kim asked me, I asked actually Kim, when we booked the trip, how much do you want to pay? And she said, as cheap as possible. So I found as cheap as possible. And you know, it was a little grimy. It was like near a railroad track. People were definitely living in the hotel for sure. Not a place I would want to stay alone.

2 (44m 16s):
Yep. Same, same.

3 (44m 18s):
I’m trying to really think where the worst place that I’ve stayed at with Brittany. Clearly not as a place, as bad as where U2 stayed. Cause I did not go on that trip, but one place in particular that I’m remembering, I don’t want say it’s the worst. There’s probably something more worse than that. But this is just coming to mind is when we went to Carlsbad, caverns national park, we were staying at a hotel and it wasn’t even a very inexpensive one. It was quite expensive for the night. Maybe it’s because the only thing to do out there is go to the national park and the hotels know this, but I said to Brittany, like, I don’t even want to be barefoot on this carpet.

1 (44m 54s):
I was like over 125 a night, but there was also a place we didn’t stay here. But Jamal, I we’re going to the Philippines with my family. And we had kind of booked a tour and they booked our hotels for us. And so we were looking at all of the hotels they booked for us and everything looked good. We were like, okay, first place great is I can play. It’s great. We get to one of the last places we’re staying. And we look at the reviews online and it looks horrific. Like it looks

3 (45m 19s):
Horrendous.

1 (45m 20s):
Oh my God. There’s like mosquito netting. And like the shower looks a little haphazard. Like you might get electrocuted while you’re in. There looks a little crazy. And your mom’s like, have you checked out this hotel? And you know, we’re, we’re modest people. So we can live with a little grimy under every once in a while. I was like, I don’t think we should stay here. So I tell my mom, I’m like, mom, we don’t agree with this hotel. We need to tell like the travel agent that we need a different hotel and exchange. So my mom’s like, okay, we get to the Philippines and we pass that hotel. Thank God we

2 (45m 54s):
Didn’t stay there.

3 (45m 57s):
And we

1 (45m 57s):
Looked ref.

3 (45m 59s):
So we avoided that one, but that one had the potential to be on this list here of worst. If we had stayed there just from the outside appearance

2 (46m 7s):
Photos

3 (46m 7s):
I saw, I’m kind of glad I didn’t because the hotel that we stayed at in El Nieto in the Philippines, because that’s where that was nice. Not the place that we could have stayed though.

2 (46m 18s):
All right guys. Well, I hope that you’re going to take these tips and really give them the one to thrust and get your money’s worth for these trends. Thank you so much for tuning into this week’s episode. Keep the ventures going with us by following us on Instagram and YouTube at Travel Squad Podcast, send us in your questions of the week and tag us in your adventures. Let us know where you’re going.

3 (46m 38s):
And if you’ve found the information in this episode to be useful, or if you thought we were just playing funny, please be sure to share with a friend that would enjoy it too. And please subscribe, rate and review our podcast and tune in every travel Tuesday for new episodes.

1 (46m 51s):
Stay tuned for next week’s episode, we have some more amazing adventures and tips in store for you. Hi,