Things I Do To Travel on the Cheap
I am a tightwad when it comes to money and I am proud of it. I listen to Clark Howard and Dave Ramsey all the time, you should too; Rice and Beans Beans and Rice FTW!! Anyway, I love to travel, which is why I love speaking at Code Camps and User Groups. I have not had much budget for real travel though, but have made a lot of events in the past few years. I have been asked how I manage to do this several times recently, so for the benefit of the .NET community I thought I would share my secrets.
Driving
I typically drive to every event I go to, lets face it flying is expensive if you are paying out of your pocket. That does limit my radius, but I have flown to some events, but I will cover that later. Currently I live in Raleigh, which is a 5 hour drive (for me) to Atlanta and 6-7 hours to NJ and Philly (depending on DC traffic). I have determined that it takes about 4-5 hours to fly to Atlanta and actually get to where I want to go. Plus most .NET community events are not on MARTA, so that means renting a car to get anywhere.
It takes 30-45 minutes to get to the airport in Raleigh, another 30 minutes to park, shuttle, security and wait for the flight. Parking is $5-12 a day (depending on how close I am cutting it). Airfare to Atlanta is super high for some reason. The flight is roughly 75 minutes. Then deplaning getting a bag, if I checked one, renting a car (ca ching) and driving to the hotel (another hour or 2 right there depending on their traffic).
So that was around 4 hours of travel right there. Remember it takes me 5 hours to be to the Atlanta Perimeter from my house. That includes stopping for gas in Florence and Augusta. It actually takes a tank and a half, but gas is super cheap in those cities. Also note, I did not drive through Greensboro and Charlotte, it takes 7 hours that way, but is only 7 miles shorter…ah hah…traffic my friend.
Financially I have spent around $30 to get there and of course another $30 to get home. The drive down is very calming too, absolutely NO TRAFFIC till Atlanta. I am there about an hour later than if I had flown. I just checked on Fare Cast for a weekend flight 4 weeks from now $169 (connecting in Charlotte before taxes, bag and airport fees BTW). Normally the fare is around $300. So I am already way ahead even after getting an oil change a week earlier than normal.
Now notice I stopped in Florence, SC and Augusta, GA for gas. It is just much cheaper there than home or Atlanta or even Columbia. North Carolina has a very punitive gas tax of $0.44 a gallon, it is about half that in SC and GA. I know where gas is cheap thanks to a great ASP.NET set of sites and their heat map, http://www.georgiagasprices.com/Price_By_County.aspx?state=GA&c=usa. I am in South Florida as I write this, gas is $0.50 cheaper in GA than here FWIW.
Going North on I-95 I stop at Virginia exit 104, there are about 4 large truck stops and several other gas stations there. So the competition keeps the prices very low. I also stop in Newark DE. New Jersey also has very cheap gas prices, but you can’t pump gas yourself, so it takes longer. Stopping in Newark is also a way I get around a toll book too thanks to a simple cut across to Elkton MD :).
Speaking of tolls, if you are in the North East or some other place with those annoying toll booths, get an EZ Pass or the equivalent. You will save a little money, but more importantly time. I hate having to slow down to 10 MPH on the interstate for anything, but it is so much better than stopping, rolling down the window and handing someone $2-4 in 20 degrees and windy or 95 and humid.
Also remember, you can get reimbursed for your mileage at $0.55 a mile if you are doing company travel. I am incorporated, so speaking is a company expense!
I have actually beat someone flying from RDU to the same place in NJ and I left 15 minutes after them! So keep that in mind when you plan your trip. Driving also gives you much more flexibility on when you leave on both ends. I like being in control of things as much as I can. Yes there are benefits to flying too, but you pay for them.
Food
This is easy, I make sandwiches when I leave the house and eat them in the car. I also take bottled water and Capri Suns with me too. I do like Micky Ds a bit much, but try to avoid fast food if possible.
I am waiting on a flight right now and I made two sandwiches for the trip and brought them with me in my computer bag. I have found this to be very important when flying. Making connections can provide a very short window to get to the next plane, restroom and stand in a very long line to get dinner or lunch. Having my own food saves me $$ and time. Plus I know they are not messy and something I like. Cookies, chips and crackers are also staples for my travel, just not today. Security rules mean you have to buy an overpriced drink in the terminal though, get that before you board is my suggestions.
Hotels
I have background here, I worked in a hotel in High School and my parents managed several back in the 80s and 90s. I have never stayed in a $100+ a night hotel that has ever impressed me. I have only really had one hotel that did not meet my expectations in the same are for less money. That was in Atlanta for TechEd a few years ago. The AC unit was broken and it was summer, you do the math.
When I need a hotel I use either HotWire.com or Expedia.com. I typically have two requirements, free WiFi and something for breakfast. I really like Holiday Inn Expresses with their breakfast, but you really pay for it. So when you are considering hotels hear each other and there is a $40 difference between hot breakfast and muffins, a $5 trip to Micky Ds is your friend. Now that I have a Sprint WiFi card I am going to worry about that less and less.
I go to HotWire.com when I do not see rates to my liking. Many times I can find a better deal there when I could not otherwise. I saved over $700 for a week last summer in DC when I taught a class there over what the client recommended. Yes I needed to drive an extra 10 minutes each morning, but well worth it. I also saved about $150 over the hotel everyone stayed at the first Code Stock in Knoxville and was actually in a nicer hotel than they were. I was just one exit down.
Something you have to be cautious is booking fees with several of the online sites. FareCast.com charges $6 for hotel booking. I have also seen up to $11 as well. A lot of online booking sites have dropped these fees, but I did get hit with one last month on FareCast.com so beware of those. This will hold true for air fare as well.
Flying
I love to fly, just not when I can drive for cheaper in the same time frame. I am waiting on a flight right now, but I would have about a 20 hour drive in front of me if I was not flying, so well worth it. Here is where FareCast.com just shines for me. The Price Predictor makes it stand head and shoulders above the rest IMO. They will tell you when to buy and when to wait and how sure they are. There is also a fare history to visualize how the fares change for that route.
The only complaint I have is Southwest is not included in their results and I fly Southwest a lot because it is very convenient for me. I also really enjoy the filtering features on Fare Cast, it is a very responsive site and Microsoft owned by the way. One of the best examples of AJAX UX done right.
Speaking of Southwest, one of the reasons I really like them is they are geek friendly. In all of their terminals they have either what I call geek stations with power and even USB hookups. Often they have nice chairs as well. The BWI airport just rocks for this. I am also odd because I like the general admission because it lets me get the seat I want, either the exit row or the last row. Why you ask? Well if the flight is not full then I get a seat with no one sitting next to me, which happens about 70% of the time.
In the terminals though I tend to stay away from paying for anything as much as possible. It is overpriced, no matter what it is. If you need souvenirs go to Wal Mart before you leave. You will save a lot of $$$ there too. For example I was in Maui and stopped by the K Mart on the way to the airport and got some stuff, it was 2.5 Xs the price in the airport or the tourist trap gifts shops on the islands.
Car Rental
I really do not have much to say here other than limit it as much as possible and don’t buy the insurance. Your credit card will typically cover it for you and it is free. If you can ride the subway or bus go for it. When I go to Redmond I ride the bus from the airport for $2.50. It has free WiFi and it is fast WiFi. A cab ride from the airport to Microsoft is around $65 from what I hear and only gets you there about 20 minutes faster. I think for about $10 you can get a pass for the entire week and go anywhere in King county you want. Other large cities have the same type of system in place. The Metro in DC is pretty good inside the Beltway and of course New York Citiy’s subway, etc. Heck I rode the train between Arlington (my parents) and the Dallas TechEd for a week back in 2003. So much money and timed saved by doing that!!
Summary
I hope this helps you out. I am sure I have more things I do that I forgot. Please feel free to share your ideas in the comments!!! Thanks for Chris Eargle for encouraging me to share this post. I know it is out of the norm, but sometimes you have to step outside your comfort zone.