How to travel frugally

[downer]

Avoid big dinners with lots of people who want to split the bill. You will inevitably lose out.

I love the socializing of the big dinners. I try to keep a granola bar in my bag at all times, and if I know we will be going out, I'll eat it before I join the group for the meal. If I'm less hungry, I can order something small. If we visit the bar, I'll often order a fancy soda and drink it slowly.

AR.

That works very well if you can get individual checks. However, lots of restaurants will not do that for large groups. I remember the time I paid $75 or so for a meal that would should have cost me about $25. These days I make a point of asking for individual checks, or at least checks for groups of 3 or 4 seated at tables, so it is possible to pay just for what I order. I am ready to leave the restaurant if they won't do that.

[paultuttle]

If you're traveling for fun, not for business, you can always search ahead of time for free festivals and other kinds of entertainment that don't have an admission fee.

[Morris Zapp]

I tend to buy a lot of groupons for activities if we're going to a touristy hot spot, like Miami or something.  Buy the museum admissions, boat rides, etc.  through groupon if they're available.

[hmaria1609]

I've purchased multi-day city passes for individual European capitals.  I like the reduced or free admission, fast track at popular sites, and discounts in the gift shop where available.

[AvidReader]

I tend to buy a lot of groupons for activities if we're going to a touristy hot spot, like Miami or something.  Buy the museum admissions, boat rides, etc.  through groupon if they're available.

I do this, too. I especially like it for restaurants--on vacations, we'll pick one night to go somewhere a little fancy and get a groupon to keep the costs manageable.

On a related note, lunches are less expensive than dinners in many places, so if I am traveling alone/for pleasure I'll often eat lunch out and dinner in.

AR

[secundem_artem]

I make little to no attempt to travel frugally.  Every time I have tried to save the uni some money, it has blown up in my face and I've had a crummy hotel, messed up flights or got food poisoning.  I use university funds the same way I would use personal funds - I sleep in a traditional hotel without a roommate; I eat such meals as I would normally eat; I don't fly on budget airlines where they charge for carry on baggage; I take cabs or uber as I would if I were travelling for pleasure; I rent a normal sized car, not a roller skate with a sewing machine motor.  Nothing in my university contract or faculty handbook says I need to live like a monk on uni business.

[mamselle]

The difference may be whether you have enough on hand to pay for those as you go with the assurance of being reimbursed, or whether your day-to-day pocket change totals less than $20.00 most days.

It's great if you can front all those expenses, I'd never be able to without a radical change in several sets of circumstances.

M.

[polly_mer]

The difference may be whether you have enough on hand to pay for those as you go with the assurance of being reimbursed, or whether your day-to-day pocket change totals less than $20.00 most days.

It's great if you can front all those expenses, I'd never be able to without a radical change in several sets of circumstances.

M.

One way to gauge how much the institution really supports travel is whether one can get a company travel card or get a significant advance for anticipated expenses.  Even Super-Dinky College would pay for large expenses upfront (hotel, airfare, etc.) and would transfer advance funds to a personal bank account prior to travel if the traveler started early enough and jumped all the hoops. 

One of my colleagues loved to tell the story of ending up with $10k in cash from Super-Dinky College as their solution to her anticipated expenses for leading a study abroad trip.

[apl68]

I have a designated annual budget for conferences and travel and a company card that can be used for that purpose.  No approval needed as long as I stay within the budget.  It's plenty to cover in-state conferences, not enough to travel to anything national.  I'm not allowed to pay for overnight accommodation if it's not an overnight event, which is fair enough.  I have colleagues who can only do professional travel at their own expense, or by jumping through lots of hoops.  Considering the small size of our library, I'm actually fortunate to have the support I do.

[Volhiker78]

I've gotten in the habit of playing the waiting game in regards to hotels.   I first book a refundable reservation at the conference hotel/rate or at a hotel I am willing to stay at.  I note the last day to cancel without a penalty.   Then a few days before that,  I recheck the rates at the hotel I reserved at or at equal/higher quality hotel within walking distance.  If I can save more than a minimal amount,  I cancel the original reservation and re-book at the lower rate.  I saved about 60 dollars a night for a better hotel in New Orleans for 4 nights (conference) and 50 dollars at the same hotel for one night in Ann Arbor.  What I've learned is that my professional society doesn't get very good rates at their conference hotels and I'm almost always getting savings by being willing to walk a block or two.   

[the_geneticist]

I stay at hotels that include breakfast with the room.  I like being able to get a mug of tea to enjoy and not feel rushed.  I don't know if it's actually saving me money compared to staying at a cheaper hotel and having to go out for breakfast.  But I normally eat a small breakfast and hate paying $10 for something I could make at home for less than $1.

[mamselle]

Did I already say "book early"?

I'm looking at my next winter research trip, probably 12.15/19-01.03/20  now.

I can get a Paris RT on Delta for 385.00 before taxes if I do it this week.

All else equal, I probably will.

M.

[tuxedo_cat]

Posting another enthusiastic vote for Airbnb: for conferences I always search for places that are $50/night or less, and I have always found a place that was entirely comfortable and private.  In fact, in a few cases I have found a really lovely place.  In Kansas City, I had a whole flat with fully outfitted kitchen--that was awesome.

I also much prefer to get far away from the conference site and hotel––my introvert's threshold for contact with other people kicks in pretty quickly.  The one hitch is figuring out how to get back and forth to your Airbnb place, but of course if you have driven to the site, problem solved!  One trade-off is parking:  no cost to park where you're staying, but then when you drive to the conference site, you might have to pay parking for each day.

I've steered away from the really cheap motels because of the more heightened bedbug risk.  Someone's room in a house, by comparison, will seem luxurious.  Hosts on Airbnb strive to get top reviews for "cleanliness" -- the icky places are very easy to identify.

The one downside to Airbnb is that my current university will not reimburse for that lodging. But honestly, I don't mind paying $150 or so out of pocket or for a few nights.  The trade-off has always been worth it.

[downer]

Did I already say "book early"?

I'm looking at my next winter research trip, probably 12.15/19-01.03/20  now.

I can get a Paris RT on Delta for 385.00 before taxes if I do it this week.

All else equal, I probably will.

M.

That's a great price and good advice. I should buy my winter tickets soon.

Sometimes it is hard to make plans that far ahead if they involve other people, because most people don't seem to want to plan that much!

[spork]

Does anyone know what the restaurant/cafe situation is projected to be in the next month or two in Montreal? U.S.-Canada border checkpoints are closed until at least June 22 but I assume they will reopen at some point this summer. Traveling to a place like Montreal is pointless though unless there are eating options beyond buying supermarket food.