Terri Domenigoni had a range of thoughts as she, her husband and two friends hurtled through the streets of Hanoi on the back of mopeds with local residents as their drivers.
“It was a little scary, but we were going to five restaurants that were favorites of locals and not frequented by tourists. They were wonderful. And, better yet, it was free.”
Domenigoni and her husband, Dan, who both retired from teaching, aren’t “cheap travelers,” she says. They love less traditional experiences and travel in a “thrifty way.” In this case, she booked with an affordable tour group that provided extras—like the unexpected evening Hanoi restaurant tour.
“If you are smart about it, you really can travel reasonably and have wonderful trips,” says Domenigoni, who has traveled domestically and abroad since the two retired. She says it takes research and planning--and sometimes flexibility. Here are some tips:
Quote byAnna Cicero
Do your homework and plan—early
Domenigoni researches prices and often books trips more than a year in advance for the best deals. She then checks to see if prices come down for airfare, cruises or tours. She uses travel or tour companies, but selects them very carefully and has found NEA Member Benefits offers some of the best deals.
“Be informed,” says Anna Cicero, a retired teacher and school counselor from Mesa, AZ. “Retirees often have the time to get tips from trustworthy sources and then they can visit places for less and without fear.”
Travel budget tracker apps and some airlines and travel businesses provide price alerts that will notify you of low prices, even if you have booked already. Investigate exchange rates and travel reward credit cards that don’t have foreign transaction fees.
Glenn Schmidt, a retired teacher from Sun Prairie, Wis., leads travel groups and does presentations for retired members. He recommends closely comparing planned travel groups with independent travel. He says going on your own can be cheaper and more customizable, while travel groups can keep you from doing what you want.
“You’re really paying for people to watch over you in a one-size-fits-all tour environment,” Schmidt said. “In other words, a kids’ field trip.”
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Go where others aren’t…
Geoff Morrison, a travel writer and author of the book Budget Travel for Dummies, says many less expensive spots are underappreciated. “Taiwan is one of my favorites. The food is varied, delicious, and wonderfully inexpensive,” he says. “The people are some of the friendliest and most welcoming of any place I’ve ever visited. Vibrant cities, gorgeous mountains, and parks. Just an absolute gem of a place.”
Travel expert Kristin Addis says travelers can find good deals and see unique sites in unexpected spots. “Your money can go way farther if you look at places like Southeast Asia or Central America,” she says. She also suggests visiting smaller towns near higher-priced cities.
…and go when others don’t.
Off-season or “shoulder seasons” near peak travel times often offer the same weather and lower prices, Addis says. “Alaska was great in the winter, and we saw the northern lights,” she says.
If you want a more temperate vacation, however, try Key West in October, when room rates may drop by 50 percent. Addis says the rule of thumb is to choose the month right before and right after peak season—or check rates for a variety of dates, and you’ll see a pattern.
Fly on Wednesday
Some research says for lower rates, the best day to book flights is Sunday and the best days to fly for lower rates are on Saturday or Wednesday.
“There are still deals, especially if you will put up with some inconveniences, like changing planes twice or a five-hour layover in Newark,” says Schmidt. He uses Google Flights or Skyscanner and changes search parameters several times to get different options.
“In Skyscanner I put in an airport in Belgium, but not a destination. Skyscanner found [a flight to] Plovdiv, Bulgaria, a lovely city, for $30. I did the same for a flight out of Plovdiv and came up with Bergamo, Italy, for another $30. The flight back to Charlerois [Airport, in Brussels] was about $33. So, for less than $100, I flew halfway around Europe.”
Lodging
Airbnb, VRBO, and similar platforms have changed how people stay during travel. Under certain circumstances rentals are cheaper than hotels, Schmidt says, “We rented a five-bedroom former parsonage outside of Bastogne, Belgium, for a month,” he recalls. “The cost per day for each bedroom amounted to a paltry $25. Plus, we had a huge, well-equipped kitchen, so we didn’t have to eat every meal at a restaurant.”
Morrison says hostels are often “clean, quiet, safe”, and may have private rooms that are far cheaper than hotels. You can find hostels online through sites like Hostels.com or HostelBookers.
“If you’re the outdoorsy type, you can really enjoy the U.S. as a budget traveler by camping and roughing it,” says Addis. Camping can put you in beautiful spots and at luxurious campgrounds. Recreational vehicles for all tastes are available to lease, including on Outdoorsy, where you connect with owners.
“If you really are shopping for bargain basement accommodations in Europe but don’t want to relive your counterculture days in hostels or campgrounds, consider monasteries and convents,” Schmidt says. “Many of them provide clean but spartan places for little money, especially if you help weed the garden or harvest the grapes.”
Moving around
Schmidt says that overnight trains are making a comeback in Europe after losing ridership to 185-mph high-speed trains that made them unnecessary.
“Nightjet serves locations throughout Europe. For less than $150 on the Munich to La Spezia, Italy train you can have a bed for the 15-hour journey. It replaces an expensive hotel room and provides comfortable transportation.”
He says leasing rather than renting a car is cheaper in many locations, but travelers should know that some companies won’t rent to people over a certain age. In countries such as France, you can get a good deal on a lease from the car rental agencies, he says, though there may be a minimum lease period.
Thinking of a river cruise? Schmidt says for the same or a lower price he rented a four-bedroom boat and floated along the canals of France. “It may not sound as luxurious as Viking, but it feels like you’re on your own personal yacht as you tie up to a pier in small-town France and head out in search of croissants.”
NEA Member Benefits
Member Benefits offers a number of travel deals—and an option to earn NEA Travel Dollars to pay for vacation packages, resorts or cruises. As an NEA member, you can take advantage of deals on car rentals, group tours, cruises, airfare, resorts, and hotels. Member Benefits also offers an NEA Discount Tickets Program with special rates on admissions to theme parks and other events while you travel.
“Our mission is to make members’ lives better and we know that means their whole lives,” says Priya T. Mahfooz, a senior marketing specialist at Member Benefits. “Nearly all our products have a price-match guarantee and members also receive NEA Travel Dollars, which are applied differently than other rewards programs from a credit card or independent travel companies, and that’s a real value.”
Members who register for a travel account receive $500 in Travel Dollars and earn more with each flight booked through the program. These can then be used for various NEA Travel services.
The NEA Travel website provides useful travel information. Members can also subscribe to the free monthly NEA Travel Newsletter (see link below).
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