5 Luxury travel hacks

1. Rent a lux house

Grab your mates, your extended family or multiple families and rent out a luxury house. The initial price may seem huge, but when you split it per person, it will often end up cheaper than staying in a cramped hotel.
Now you’ll feel like the rich and famous; you can all throw in to share food costs, which means you can go a little more deluxe with your food choices – don’t forget the champers and morning mimosas!
We stayed in a luxury house on the waterfront on the Gold Coast with 14 of my friends for my 40th.

2. Luxury for less

We recently shared a new search aggregator by Travelex that helps you find luxury holidays for less and breaks it down into flight, accommodation and currency costs according to your budget. You’ll be surprised by how far your money can go.

3. All-inclusive holidays

There are plenty of travel destinations or experiences (like cruises) that offer all-inclusive deals, which can be a great way get more for your money. You know how much to budget before you go, your food, accommodation, and sometimes alcohol and activities are all included.
All inclusive holidays are suited to those type of holidays where you don’t want to do too much but relax and spend time with those you love, rather than exploring, adventuring and tasting the local life.

4. Repositioning cruises

Cruise ships often have to relocate to start a new itinerary or season. Instead of sailing the ship empty, they sell discounted tickets – on average up to 50% off. Repositioning cruises travelling to and from Australia frequently stop in Tahiti or travel via Hawaiian ports such as Honolulu, Lahaina, Kailua, and Kona. Other repositioning itineraries that journey to and from Asia include ports such as Singapore, Bali, Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia, and Puerto Princessa and Manila in the Philippines.
If you’re planning on a one way trip to a destination, this could be a cheap way to get yourself there, making the journey part of the travel adventure. I considered it as an option to get to Hawaii on our America Unplugged road trip, but couldn’t find anything to suit.

5. Chauffeur driven transfers

Travelling business or first? Top tier airlines such as Qantas and Emirates offer complimentary chauffeur driven transfers to and from the airport on selected major flights.
If you have a big travelling party, it might even be worth you investigating the price of this in comparison to other forms of transport. Go lux for less when you can!

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6 Travel Hacks to save money on accommodation

1. Use your points

We stayed in Denver, Colorado recently using hotel reward points, saving us around $300 a night. It’s beneficial to sign up to hotel chains loyalty programs. Get on their email list as they often have special deals come out for their members such as double points and free upgrades.
It doesn’t always have to be direct with that hotel chain. American Express Membership Rewards have two Hotel Guest Partners. You can transfer your points into your preferred program and book directly with the partner.

2. Access Club Lounges

Some hotel chains, like Ritz-Carlton and Sheraton, have Club Lounges. You may get access to these depending on your program status, or you can purchase a pass with your points.
These club lounges have free food and drinks. We saved a lot of money eating out when we stayed at the Ritz in Denver as we could eat in the Club lounge!

3. Ask for upgrades and best price

Don’t be shy to ask for an upgrade when you check in. We often get upgrades without even asking. Hotel chains will often upgrade you if they have space as they want their customers to have incredible experiences.
Golden Rule – be kind, courteous and friendly. It’s just karma baby!
Ask the accommodation what is the best price they can do. They can often reduce the rate for you if you book directly with them. On our road trip around Australia, we often asked the caravan parks/hotels upon check-in if that was their best price. We’d often get the kids thrown in for free! If you don’t ask, you don’t get.

4. Use Airbnb

Airbnb is my favourite way to book cheap accommodation. Plus, you get to live like a local and have the facilities to cook your food and save more money.
Apartment rentals often come with free Wi-Fi, are in good locations, and other perks, like tea and coffee, use of kayaks and bikes, and a local’s guide to the area.
I stayed in an Airbnb in LA, and the host even offered transfer services to the airport which were on par with Uber prices. She was also a wealth of inside knowledge, and it was way cheaper than staying in a hotel – by at least $1000 in total.

5. Find the deals

Two for the price of one, discounted rates, kids stay for free – there are multiple ways to find cheap accommodation. Travelling outside of peak times will give you the biggest chance.
Stay connected to your favourite hotel chains and search engine providers via email or social media to quickly grab the deals as they come through.

6. Book your travels with points

As outlined in this post, I used the American Express Travel booking service on their website to book flights, accommodation, car rental and even tours. I found their deals very comparable to other sites, if not better – they had some great discounted deals on accommodation!
You can book using points, or a combination of points + pay.  If you use up all your points, and still have more to book, you can pay for whatever’s left with your American Express Card and collect more points for travel!
With American Express Travel Online there are no restrictions, no blackout dates, and no fees. Simple.
For some eligible American Express Cards offer a complimentary Travel Credit, which can be used to book eligible prepaid flights, hotels or car hire when booking with American Express Travel Online.


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13 Travel hacks to save money on flights

1. Clear your cache, enable private browsing

Airlines track your behaviour via cookies, which means if you return at a later date to grab that cheap flight you found in your flight search, they’ve noted your interest through the cookies previously and so will, this time, return a slightly higher price for your flight. #cheeky You can get around this by clearing your cache or enabling private browsing.

2. Use a VPN

Flights can be different prices depending on which country you book from. Use a VPN – a Virtual Private Network – which makes it look like you are in another country.
You can select a VPN from the US, UK, Germany, Japan, etc. to find the lowest price and book through that VPN. It may take time, but you could save a substantial amount on flights.

3. Use search engines

Use search engines like Skyscanner, Adioso, and Google Flights who will scan the airlines for you and bring you comparative rates. You can purchase the best deal directly from them. OR, after finding the best deal, go direct to the airline’s website to see if you can get a better deal.
You can then also check to see if you can reduce the price or get free upgrades with your frequent flyer or membership points. Check your favourite airline first. If the price is right, it’s always best to fly your favourites and stockpile those points each time you fly.

4. Use Frequent Flyer or Membership Points

I can’t tell you how many flights we’ve paid for using frequent flyer points. You can collect them each time you fly – as long as you’re a member of that frequent flyer program. Or, you can collect them using our first travel hack – use your credit card to pay for all expenses. You’ll be surprised how quickly they accumulate.
Craig just used his frequent flyer points to pay for his flight to South Australia. We get several flights per year, including international, due to our frequent flyer points.
American Express Membership Rewards program has over 10 Airline Partners you can transfer your points to. We usually try and consolidate our points to Qantas, but our current Card doesn’t have that option – but we can transfer to Velocity (Virgin), which we use frequently.
If there’s a seat available with Webjet, your points can pay for it, or a combination of points plus pay on your American Express Card.

5. Free flight with your credit card fee

When we pay our annual fee each year for our American Express Platinum Edge, we get a free domestic flight on Virgin. Our friend, Mel, has used her one before to visit us on the Goldie – yay!
I used mine the other day for my return flight to South Australia. If you’re paying fees, find ways to make them work in your favour.
Plus, when you create a new account with American Express you get a bonus 10,000 points. You can use those points in multiple ways as outlined in this post.

6. Find hidden airports

Some airlines don’t operate in the same alliance or have a codeshare agreement, which means they might not show up together on flight searches even though the option is available.
TripCombi uses an algorithm to search connections from nearby airports or between two airlines to track ‘hidden airports,’ as the team calls them. These flights can often offer better rates and connections.

7. Follow Sales Days

Some airlines have certain days of the week where they will release their sale fares. For example, Virgin Australia has its Thursday Happy Hour, which is an exclusive sale for discount flights that you can access only by signing up for their email alert and Jetstar has Friday Frenzy with great sales to domestic and international locations each week.
You can also do this through websites like Airfare Watchdog and CheapAir.com, which both offer fare-track alerts that let you know when prices drop.

8. Politely complain

Don’t go looking for things to complain about, but if something legitimately goes wrong on a flight, reach out to the airline to express your disappointment and explain the situation. Often you’ll receive credit.
I complained to Jetstar once about the rude staff, and I received a $100 credit. It wasn’t why I complained; I didn’t even know that would happen.

9. Get bumped

If you’ve got plenty of time up your sleeves, this is one of my favourite travel hacks.
Plenty of airlines overbook their plans with the hopes some people won’t show up. If they’re too full, they ask for bump volunteers. They’ll get you on the next possible flight as well as giving you perks like free flights, credit and accommodation vouchers if the next flight is not until the next day.

10. Set flight alerts

Search Kayak for the flight you want, and check the price predictor.  If the flight is more than 3-4 months away, set a fare alert, and watch the price.
When you find a price that works, try to book it on a Tuesday or Wednesday when prices are typically lower. To make the hack work even more in your favour, head over to American Express Travel and pay the flight with as many points as you have. If there’s a balance left over, use your American Express card to pay for it and collect more points!

11. Buy an upgrade with points

Some seats on each flight are kept aside for frequent flyers to effectively ‘buy’ using points. These can be seven times less than the Points plus pay seats which are available. These are best suited to solo and flexible travellers.
Qantas has the option to bid for your upgrade. The last remaining unsold biz class seats are put to auction with the highest bidder wins! Take your chances!

12. Work for an airline

Craig worked for Delta in North Carolina for two years. We had standby free flights including flights back to Australia. It was such a shame that they only had space remaining in business class!

13. Airline Lounge upgrades

Free food, drinks and Wi-Fi plus TV, desks and comfy chairs away from the chaos. I didn’t even notice my flight was delayed by almost three hours on my return from LAX. I was lapping up the luxury in the Qantas Business Lounge. Check your frequent flyer program status to see if lounge access is included.
American Express grants eligible Card Members two complimentary airport lounge visits each year to the Sydney International lounge.

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