There are many ways to
make certain that your travels cost you less.
Indeed, a great deal less!
When you have to spend
all your savings on a trip and you have to make payments, every month, on your
credit card, travelling is much less pleasant, don’t you think? In order to implement travelling into your
lifestyle, it must be affordable. If
not, travelling on a regular basis is just not realistic.
Thus, here are a few
tricks you can hopefully use in your future travels!
1- Place of departure
When traveling, the
most important thing is not where we are heading but where we are leaving
from! It is the most often overlooked
component and is also the most important because our destinations change but
our place of departure always remains the same.
It is the common denominator that makes all the difference!
Namely, what does this
mean?
1) Departure costs
will be influenced by your departure airport.
2) There are
additional costs if you live far from your airport.
2) You will enjoy your
trip more if you minimize transit time.
Let’s start with the bad news: Montreal is not a very interesting hub (connection airport). If you look at airports like New York, Atlanta or several European airports, flight prices are always cheaper. For example, the NYC-Vancouver flight is almost always cheaper than the one departing from Montreal and this, even if it is a domestic flight for us!
The good news is that
the Montreal airport is quite nice in comparison to the ones in Toronto and
Vancouver. For the most part, flights
are not usually more expensive (except, perhaps, Vancouver flights to Asia
locations). When comparing to the rest
of Canada, it isn’t too bad.
If traveling is your #1 priority and you take that very seriously, you might want to consider relocating somewhere near a more favorable hub. However, you must keep in mind that flight cost is not the only detail. The cost of living must also be taken into account, if one was to relocate to Paris or New York. Let’s say that a city like Barcelona is hard to beat in terms of cost of living and flight prices. It’s your life, your choice, options are limitless!
Getting back to
Quebec, your departure airport is probably the Montreal one, if you live in the
area. If this is the case and you wish
to travel regularly, I obviously recommend that you live as close to your
departure place as possible. I often
hear travelers, on the plane, who explain to me that they still have two to
three hours of travel time when they arrive in Montreal. I find the thought of that absolutely painful
after an overnight flight that has already lasted seven hours! These people who already travel to the
airport also have to pay for parking on top of traveling costs to their homes…
this is a lot of extra expenses.
If you only travel on
occasion, it is normal to have to travel this much. However, if you want to implement traveling
into your way of life, it is impossible to live far away from your departure
place. It is equivalent to living two to
three hours away from your place of work, it’s simply impossible!
In comparison, think
of how nice it would be to arrive at home a few minutes after landing. In Montreal, the best way is to live on route
of STM’s 747
shuttle.
The stop closes to the airport is the one at the Lionel-Groulx metro station,
which makes it the fastest way to get to YUL.
2- Purchasing the flight
That’s why you’re on
Yulair, is it not?
If you have read the “What is Yulair?” section, you have probably understood the most important rule to saving money when purchasing tickets: purchase your ticket in accordance with the cost and not the destination.
If you have a
destination and specific dates in mind, expect to pay full price for your
tickets. On the other hand, if you stay
on the lookout for sales and you purchase your tickets when prices drop, for
destinations you had not planned, this is the best way to pay the lowest
prices.
It takes schedule
flexibility and an open mind to be able to take off for destinations unknown
and it is also an exciting adventure to let chance guide you!
There are also several
other ways to save on your plane tickets:
1- Stopovers
On certain tickets, it
is possible to make a stopover in the connecting city. For example, if you are flying on KLM to Copenhagen,
you will most certainly make a stop in Amsterdam. And, in many cases, you could
stop over in Amsterdam for a few days, without additional costs, and then take
off again to wrap up your trip in your final destination. This is an easy and money saving way to visit
various places over the same trip. But,
stopovers are not available on all connecting tickets!
2- Gateway
I use the term “gateway” to describe flights for the least expensive destination in a region, where you can then move onto other less expensive flights heading for the chosen destination. For example: you are heading to Barcelona, but direct flights are very expensive. It would therefore be cost-effective to purchase a flight for Paris, spend a few days there sight-seeing, if you wish, then take another flight from Paris with a low-cost air airline such as Easyjet or Ryanair.
3- The multi-destination flight
The multi-destination
flight is sort of the same idea as the gateway. However, the departure gate is
different than the arrival gate. For
example: you arrive in Paris then you travel to Barcelona and from Barcelona you
catch your return flight to Montreal.
Even more interesting
(and strange), the price for a multi-destination ticket is often less expensive
than a round-trip ticket for the same destination! The number of places you visit between your
gateway and return destinations is limitless!
Don’t forget: within a
trip that includes several flights, you can use various airlines to obtain the
least expensive flight.
4- The road trip
The road trip is
another variation of the “gateway”; you can make your way to the departure
airport using ground means of transportation.
If you have a bid of time to spare, you can thus combine two trips. Let’s say you are driving a car or taking the
bus to New York. You could take this
opportunity to visit this city for three to four days to make your way to JFK
airport to catch a flight to Turkey.
When returning you come to New York again, spend another couple of days,
and then hop on a flight to Montreal.
3- Loyalty programs (the Miles)
Almost all airlines
have a Miles program. If you don’t think it is worth your time to
take advantage of a Miles program,
you are wrong!
Obviously, if you are
counting on the points from your pharmacy purchases to pay for your trip, you
could be waiting a long time for your free ticket!
What you must keep in
mind is that all airlines that have a Miles
program give you 1 reward mile for each mile you travel. This is when it becomes very beneficial. It’s true that it can take quite some time to
spend $25 000 at the pharmacy (!) but, traveling 25 000 miles is not too difficult.
In order to obtain a
round-trip ticket, here is the approximate number of miles needed for most companies:
?
North America: 25 000 miles
?
Europe: between 40 000
and 60 000 miles
?
Asia: 75 000 miles
(Be advised that the
number of miles needed varies from one company to the next.)
To give you an idea of
how quickly you could accumulate miles,
here is a real-life example: if you purchase a plane ticket on sale for
Singapore for approximately $1000, this route will give you 20 500 reward miles.
This means that with the miles
you accumulate using this ticket you have almost obtained a free round-trip
ticket for anywhere in North America! If
you decide to spend a week of holidays in Los Angeles, a ticket that would cost
you between $500 and $600 and this means that your ticket to Singapore has only
really cost you $500, if you take
into account that you obtained $500 in points!
Thus, rule number #1: once you purchase tickets from
an airline, sign-up for their Miles
program.
I suggest that you not
always travel with the same airline in order to obtain your miles, instead, take advantage of
various Miles programs at the same
time: by doing this you will always be able to reserve your seats irregardless
of the airline you use. However, if you
travel a lot, it could be worth your while to always travel with the same company
in order to benefit from other Miles
account bonus’ that could also help you collect miles more quickly. In
short, this is all extremely complicated!
Furthermore, being a
member of a Miles program can give
you more benefits: free baggage check-in, access to VIP lounges at airports, seat
upgrades, priority boarding, etc.
Here is a very
interesting document on Frequent
Flyers. Collecting miles is an art
in itself!
4- Luggage
Not that long ago,
almost all airlines offered free baggage check-in. This is no longer the case.
Upon purchasing your
ticket, check to see if you have access to free baggage check-in. If you don’t, you will have to pay an extra
fee in order to check-in your large suitcase.
You won’t have this
problem if you can travel with a small suitcase that you can carry-on.
5- Accommodations
Accommodation expenses
on your trip are probably the most important fees that you will have to pay
for, especially for a longer trip.
In fact, there are
several options available to avoid having to sell the farm in order to go on
your trip:
1- Hotels
For trips in North America and Europe, you can reserve on sites that allow you to pay for a room in an “anonymous hotel”. In particular there is "Name your own Price" on Priceline and also the Hotwire that offer this service.
The idea is that
hotels can advertize, (at low cost!), their Le inventory of rooms that did not
sell at regular price but they do this anonymously so as to not link these low
prices with their hotel name. By doing
this, hotels maintain their "stature" and can continue to offer their
rooms at regular prices and can avoid getting a cheap hotel reputation.
However, you only pay
the reduced price! Isn’t that
great?
Therefore, by booking
a hotel room in this manner, you will only know the name of the hotel after the
transaction has been completed. You can
choose the area in which your hotel is located, the number of stars and many
other options, which makes it possible to make your reservation with a minimum
amount of information. This means that
if you are looking for a hotel located downtown, you will full well get a hotel
located downtown.
And, this way of
making reservations works very well! I
know this from experience. You can access hotels that you would have paid much
more money for but at a lower cost.
2- Airport hotels
Hotels located close
to airports are always less expensive than those located downtown. Thus, if you have a flight that leaves very
early in the morning, you would be wise to make your reservation at an airport
hotel.
Firstly, the cost will
be less. Secondly, almost all these hotels offer a free shuttle service to the
airport. Keep I mind: you will be able
to sleep in longer the morning of your departure since you will only be a few
minutes from your departure airport!
3- Renting an apartment
Renting an apartment
is a classic accommodation option for longer trips, but, it is also possible to
rent an apartment or home for a few days.
There are sites that specialize in these types of rentals such as Homelidays and Airbnb.
The rental price for
an apartment is often equivalent to that of a hotel, but, you then have access
to a kitchen which will make it possible for you to avoid eating all your meals
in restaurants, this being very expensive!
Furthermore,
apartments often have a washer and dryer available and this makes it even
easier to travel light with your small suitcase and avoids extra fees for
checked baggage.
Most apartments also
offer free Internet access (sometimes even a computer), which is not always the
case in most hotels.
And, lastly, an
apartment is just all that much more comfortable than a hotel room!
4- Couch-surfing
Couch-surfing is an
excellent way to see the world and to meet people. As far as cost goes, it can’t be beat because
it’s free! But, it comes with strings
attached: if you want to stay on someone’s couch, you have to be willing to
accommodate travelers on yours.
If you are interested
in this option, visit couchsurfing.org for more
information.
5- Camping
Recently, I developed
a new technique: camping by plane!
Upon first impression,
this might sound odd, but, it is in fact simple. All you need to do is purchase a large
travelling bag (military type backpack found in army surplus stores) and fill
it with all your camping gear. Once
you’ve arrived at your destination, place the bag in the rental car waiting for
you at the airport and voila!
For this type of
camping, it is important not to leave with the idea that you are going camping
in the wild because no, your burner, camping dishes and entire kit will not fit
in the bag. You only bring the essentials:
tent, sleeping bag, mattress, and pillow.
You can purchase the rest of the stuff on-the-spot.
5- Youth hostels
Well, it’s a classic
and doesn’t need much explanation.
Whether in the
dormitory or in a private room, this is much less costly than hotels.
6- Transferring from the
airport
Contrary to the train that almost always brings you right downtown, arriving by plane can often mean arriving quite far and outside the city. Those who remember Mirabel Airport know that an airport can be quite far indeed!
Not all airports are
connected to downtown via a train or metro, therefore, it is important to do
your research before leaving so as to avoid any surprises like $60 or more for
a taxi when a train ride to the city can cost $3 and you don’t get stuck in
traffic.
All you need to do is
go onto the airport’s website and look up the “ground transportation”.
In many cities there
are also private shuttles available to connect you from the airport to downtown
hotels. They are usually not as
expensive as taxis.
Lastly, if you rent a
car, rent it from a company located at the airport. Car rentals in the city are often more costly
than those at the airport and you don’t have to worry about getting from the
airport to your destination!
------------------------------
Fred
Fondateur de Yulair et chasseur de photos de graffitis à travers le monde.