Does "Cheap" Travel Even Exist Anymore?
The Husband and I are taking a lot of trips this year.
First, there was the trip to Cabo in April. Then there is my trip to Rome in a few weeks. Then there is the likelihood that I will take a trip to NYC some time this summer. And of course we have to do Canadian Thanksgiving in Canada with his parents. And American Thanksgiving will be with my family in Arizona. Christmas will be in San Francisco, a stop-over before we head to Melbourne Christmas afternoon. Oh, and The Husband went to Florida back in March to hang out with his parents at their time-share.
So, the airlines are making a lot of money off the two of us... Not counting the business traveling we have each done this year.
In fact, the airlines will have made about $15,700 off of us this year.
I really feel we should be entitled to the following, as a result of helping out the airline industry during a shit year:
Which airlines are the only ones I'll fly? I won't say. I don't want to bias anyone else. But if I'm going to end up paying for every little thing for my flight, it's going to be an expensive trip no matter what. So I will now be doing the following moving forward:
First, there was the trip to Cabo in April. Then there is my trip to Rome in a few weeks. Then there is the likelihood that I will take a trip to NYC some time this summer. And of course we have to do Canadian Thanksgiving in Canada with his parents. And American Thanksgiving will be with my family in Arizona. Christmas will be in San Francisco, a stop-over before we head to Melbourne Christmas afternoon. Oh, and The Husband went to Florida back in March to hang out with his parents at their time-share.
So, the airlines are making a lot of money off the two of us... Not counting the business traveling we have each done this year.
In fact, the airlines will have made about $15,700 off of us this year.
I really feel we should be entitled to the following, as a result of helping out the airline industry during a shit year:
- Free peanuts
- Exit row seating on any flight we have
- Free alcohol on any international flights (I only drink red wine... So it's fairly cheap for them. And The Husband doesn't drink at all.)
- Better movies (Seriously, the last three international flights I took both showed National Treasure: Book of Secrets." It was very painful.)
- No delays on the tarmac (Sitting for 45 minutes on the tarmac in Dallas right before Christmas, for no reason, totally blew.)
- No more pulling The Husband aside and doing extra security screenings on him (I swear, you call a check-in attendant a "bitch" once, and they hold it against you for life! And it was me that called them a "bitch," not The Husband.)
Which airlines are the only ones I'll fly? I won't say. I don't want to bias anyone else. But if I'm going to end up paying for every little thing for my flight, it's going to be an expensive trip no matter what. So I will now be doing the following moving forward:
- Search for cheap airline tickets across a broad range of vendors to find the best prices for the airlines I like
- Fly business and first class as often as possible (If the upgrade fee is less than $300, I'll do it)
- Register for one of those credit cards that gives you free miles AND sign up for the airline rewards programs specific to my chosen airlines
Comments
I feel like dealing with the airlines is more of a pain than it needs to be, but if you love to travel, it is a necessary evil.