Things Not To Cheap Out On When Traveling - Travel Stories, Episode 162

Recorded in the beautiful home office of Chateau’ Relaxo, FL.Roughly two years ago this was our last normal week, and no one knew it! However, things are getting better on the COVID front, the rest of the world…. Not so much.No major trips since our last episode. We had planned for a quick Spring Break trip, not the same types of trips we did in our 20s’, but apparently, the whole Southeastern United States is also on Spring Break which meant we saw Hampton Inn priced well north of $300.00 or 100,000 points so the plan is for some local day trips. Probably head west and visit the Frank Lloyd Wright area at Florida Southern maybe a stop by the Bok Tower Gardens and drop off books at some Little Free Library along the way.However, as we come out of this COVID situation, epidemic or conspiracy depending on your views I am traveling more and there are some things that haven’t returned to normal, and I miss them. First, everyone thinks hotel housekeeping would be missed, this is an easy target, but I don’t miss it. While I make the bed every morning at home, I don’t need some rando to do it when I’m traveling.I miss things like* Hotel Cookie Time - Cookie time was our TTB contest. TTB  - time to beat! Our goal was to make it to the hotel each evening while there were still cookies, hopefully warm, still available at the check-in desk. You can’t include the Double-Tree properties as they have warm and soft cookies available 24/7.* USA Today - in my opinion not the definition of hard-hitting news, but their lifestyle, money & sports sections will keep you up to date enough to have a conversation with almost anyone.* Managers Reception - Anyone on a daily per diem can appreciate these. Depending on the property you could have something as basic as pizza rolls and corn chips. Or possibly they’ll order Dominos pizza or hot fresh BBQ if the property really gets it. We used to stay at a Duluth, Georgia property where the staff would bring in home-cooked food Monday - Wednesday evenings. Soup, enchiladas, or homemade lasagna, all of which was delicious. That was until the local food inspectors came for a visit and let them know that their food license was only for breakfast, nothing after 10:00 AM…. as they say, all good things must come to an end. Normally there’s also wine beer and soda at these manager's receptions, so if you play your card right you can grab a double deuce of beer before check-in drink, then partake in the free booze and finally prepare a to-go plate for the room and watch YouTube as you consume your double deuce in the privacy of your hotel room.Onto tonight's topic, things to not cheap out on when traveling. I put travel into two distinctly different categories. There’s business travel and there’s leisure travel.With business travel, you are working while you are traveling, and you should have the same capabilities and resources to do your job on the road as if you were sitting in your regional office. While you still need to be a good steward with your company’s money, you can’t be penalized just because you aren’t physically in the office. Thankfully my company understands this.Then there’s leisure travel, that one, maybe twice a year trip you take to unwind, refocus and enjoy yourself. Side note if your job makes you that miserable that the only time you can unwind, refocus and enjoy yourself is during those 7 to 14 days each year you might need to evaluate some things in your life. Leisure travel often involves some sort of a budget or at a minimum a guideline of what you want to spend.If you are a road warrior, you do not cheap out on luggage. If you are a baby road warrior you might need some guidance.Years ago we had a team member that traveled with what could best be described as a soft-sided roller bag. To begin with, a soft-sided anything is a solid no-go for any sort of travel, converting into a roller bag makes things worse. The reason is that as soon as you put wheels underneaths it, which does make it easier for transport, everything suddenly moves to the bottom of the bag…. Thank you gravity. To make matters worse this individual threw his “roller” laptop bag on top of this disaster. Safe to say we stood up an internal go-fund-me page to get him some decent luggage.When it comes to luggage whatever you choose needs to stand up to the task. For me, I’m rough on stuff and I know it, but you have to be you.Do you want a roller bag? Yes, you need a roller bag. Do you want 2 or 4 wheels? Over the years I’ve become a 4-wheel convert. Can you easily replace the wheels? If not does their warranty cover it? How long is the warranty and what does it actually cover? Do yourself a favor and save all the paperwork that comes with your luggage.For close to 15 or 16 years I was a TravelPro devote. That was until I bought my last bag. Over the course of those 15 or 16 years, I had 3 pieces of TravelPro luggage. Quick math a $300.00 bag that lasts 5 years is $60.00 per year which translates to $5.00 per month. Less than 25 cents a day whether I was traveling or not.My last TravelPro bag made it less than three years before the wheels started coming apart and the handle began to disintegrate. I emailed them, no response, I b***h tweeted, no response so I replaced the TravelPro with a solid side 4-wheel spinner from Away, and I haven’t looked back since.I travel with a coworker that dropped north of $500.00 on a Victorinox bag and he will never ever check it.You don’t need to spend a small fortune on luggage but a decent piece will last the leisure traveler a good 10 or 15 years.How about a travel backpack, laptop, or messenger bag, call it what you want but we all use something to carry all of our stuff around. None of us grab our laptop or tablet, the power supply, a mouse, some USB drives a handful of writing pens, and head out the door. Look for something with plenty of pockets, reinforced stitching, sturdy zippers, and again a warranty. My choice over the past 3 or 4 years has been the Everki Atlas backpack. About 15 years ago another coworker bought a $700.00 Tumi roller bag, and we all laughed. I’m here to tell you that the Tumi bag, 15 years later looks brand new, and over time that bag has cost him less than $4.00 each month and that cost continues to decrease the longer he uses it.TSA Pre-Check  - If you spend any amount of time in airports, even if you fly once per year purchase TSA Pre-Check. It’s roughly $85.00 for 5 years. December 2021 the Chateau’ Relaxo crew took a trip to Washington, DC. One member decided to cheap out by not purchasing TSA Pre-Check. I choose not to wait, the CEO choose not to wait and somehow they managed to talk the entrepreneur into going through the slow line with them. I’ve spent my career flying out of two of the busiest airports in the United States, Atlanta, and Orlando, and even for leisure travel the $17.00 per year for TSA Pre-Check is a no-brainer. Many credit card companies offer TSA Pre-check or CLEAR for a reduced rate. For instance, the American Express green card with its $150.00 annual fee gives you a $100.00 credit toward CLEAR as well as a 100 Credit for Lounge Access through LoungeBuddy.Budget Airlines - You can check all the websites for airfare travel deals and more than likely all of their results will come back in the same ballpark. Especially, when it comes to the number of flights, the number of connections as well as the cost. Honestly, short of a credit card benefit, there are not a lot of deals when it comes to flying. You might find a cheaper price for a flight with a discount carrier, but once you start tacking on the additional fees you will be in the same financial ballpark as everyone else. Seriously do you think the discount airlines are buying fuel cheaper than the big boys? I’m guessing no.  Stick with booking directly with the carrier, and you can thank me when something goes sideways and you can talk to the airlines directly. Also, treat yourself while flying pay for the adult beverage of the Boingo inflight WiFi, most times it’s less than $10.00 and that’s not going to break you.Speaking of budget travel, I am here to tell you that none of the budget or discount travel websites offer any deals. That being said you will find cheaper prices, but it’s a roll of the dice because at 11:20 PM when you are looking to check-in, whether you have your family in tow, and that reservation isn’t there it’s not the responsibility of the hotel it’s the responsibility of the booking service. So plan on pulling out your cell phone and getting in a queue with everyone else whose reservation went sideways. Again book direct.Travel clothing- I live in Florida, which offers a completely different weather experience than North Jersey, Chicago, or Dallas, especially in winter. However, I do visit those places during winter. That 4-season bulky coat you bought at the discount store won’t hold up for long when you’re constantly having to shove it luggage or stowing it away under your plane seat. Find something that’s packable and double stitched.Travel accessories - Do yourself a favor and put together a travel accessory travel kit. Deodorant, toothbrush, toothpaste floss, and personal hygiene.If you need cologne get something in solid form so it gets through TSA. How about a travel sewing kit? Extra shoelaces? An umbrella? Nail clippers?For 20 plus years I’ve carried what I call a medicine bag, Benadryl, sinus medicine, stomach medicine, aspirin, and bandaids at a minimum. When you find yourself in Mobile, AL with hives and there’s no one you know less than 4 hours away, you need a medicine bag. I do have some travel rules and one of them is that if I run out of a specific toiletry at home, I don’t replace it with something out of my travel DOPP kit. Why? Because more than likely I’ll forget to replace it on my next trip to Publix.Don’t cheap out on hotels, and I also don’t believe in breaking the bank on one. When we travel our hotel room is normally the place that we end up back in the late afternoon or early evening. In all my years of travel, make that leisure travel I have never hung out around the hotel, just to hang out around the hotel.Stay at the major chains, Hilton, Marriott, and La Quinta, you get the point. A hotel where the bed squeaks or there’s no hot water can set the tone for your whole vacation. And those incidents can happen at the major chains, but most of the time they’re prepared to resolve them.You also want a hotel close to where you want to be. In 1983 I was dating a young lady and we decided to visit Disney World. Her aunt graciously offered us a place to stay…. In Ocala… 90 miles north of Disney World. We were in our early 20s’ and even at that young age, spending 3 hours in the car each day driving back and forth was less than desirable.When it comes to food maybe the whole “Don’t Cheap Out” phrase doesn’t come into play, but don’t miss out on new food experiences. Skip the chains and go with the local specialties or offerings.* Nashville, TN - Hot Chicken* Austin, TX - BBQ of course* Maryland - Crab cakes* Syracuse, New York you’ve got to try the salt potatoesUnsure of the local food favorite, try putting a Google on it or visit Yelp.Here’s a great food travel tip - As we all know there are some amazing restaurants tucked inside hotels - such as The Sunset Terrace at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville or Todd English's Blue Zoo at the Swan & Dolphin here in Orlando. Rooms at hotels like that are expensive, but you don’t have to stay there to eat there. So book reservations for dinner or drinks you’ll get the same food and service as if you were staying there. Probably not the same level of service if you had booked the Presidential Suite….. But pretty close.Finishing up with…. “Don’t cheap out on experiences.” This is the big one, and it’s one that can easily backfire on you in both directions. You can run the risk of paying for too little so that you don’t get the whole experience or you overpay and you’re left wondering “What did I just pay for?”.So you have to find a balance, and in this case, let's pick on Universal Studios.If you visit Universal Studios here in O-Town these are the top 5 rides.* Jurassic World VelociCoaster* Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey* Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure* Harry Potter and the Escape from who knows where or what, I’m not a Harry Potter fan.* Revenge of the MummyHere’s the average wait time for those 5 rides.* Jurassic World VelociCoaster 50 minutes* Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey 40 minutes* Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure 70 minutes* Harry Potter and the Escape from again, from who knows where or what 45 minutes* Revenge of the Mummy 22 minutesThat’s almost 4 hours of your day waiting in line for just those 5 rides, and that was the average wait time. If you come during what they call the “peak season” expect longer wait times.There are close to 15 major rides at Universal Studios not to mention the additional shows, and shops plus you have to take time to eat.In full disclosure, I am not a fan of theme parks. The thought of spending hours upon hours in lines waiting to ride a 3-minute ride isn’t for me. Spending $45.00 on lunch only to then do recon looking for a table where I can sit and enjoy my burger and chips, isn’t for me. Spending $25.00 to park each day…. Well, you get the point…. I’m not a fan of theme parks. In additional full disclosure, I rarely pay for theme park tickets. If you live in the O-Town area and are a Florida resident there are opportunities where you can volunteer and in turn be compensated for your time with theme park tickets.Back to Universal Studios if you want to visit the price schedule is a bit confusing with 2-Park - 1 Day tickets or 2-Park - 3-Day PLUS tickets. Figure at minimum out of state will cost you $110.00 per day for a single park.So if you don’t want to close to 4 hours of your day waiting line for just five rides enter the Universal Express Pass, which comes in two flavors.Universal Express Unlimited Pass: Universal Studios FloridaSkip the regular lines at the most popular rides and attractions as many times as you want. Separate theme park admission is required. $109.99OrUniversal Express Pass: Universal Studios FloridaSkip the regular lines at the most popular rides and attractions once per ride. Separate theme park admission is required. $79.99Disney, of course, used to offer what they called the “Fast Pass” now the “Genie” program, with very similar pricing.If Universal or Disney was a once-in-a-decade visit, and if I had children that fell into that Universal or Disney target market I would purchase the Express or Fast Pass tickets. Even if I had to delay the trip 6 or 12 months to afford it, those passes will create a memorable experience for the kids and you won’t have to listen to them complain as they wait in line after line.PICGrowing up I remember our trips to Yellowstone, our tours of Washington DC, and our hikes along the Appalachian Trail. But I can’t remember our first VCR, CD player, or microwave. Invest in experiences, not things.Now not all is lost on cost as there are some inexpensive items….. Not cheap that can make travel more enjoyable.* Foam earplugs - you’ll be sleeping in a new environment and you have no idea what ambient noises you’ll hear.* ZipLock bags, are better than cheap because you probably already have them. They have multiple uses from storing wet clothes to make-shift ice packs.* Believe it or not, if you have an AARP subscription or AAA membership they do offer so great travel deals at a discount.* Nalgene makes a great very inexpensive kit of travel bottles all of which are TSA compliant.* Packing cubes are still a great deal for under $25.00.* Finishing up the list with luggage tags. One of those things you don’t realize that you need until you actually need them.Here are two Travel Stories life lessons to sum this all up. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is…. Especially with travel. And one of my favorites, buy once cry once.That’s it for things not to cheap out on when traveling, next episode on the docket is the March Crazy Travel Roundup. If you want detailed show notes, links and pictures head over to podpage.com/travel-stories/Leave a message on Anchor, or shoot me an email at [email protected] I always say, travel safe, stay safe, and thanks for listening.Thanks for listening. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit travelstories.substack.com