I just planned your summer vacation (you're welcome)

plus Kafka stans + a thirsty lizard
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June 20, 2024 • Issue #243
Dollar Scholar

Hi y’all —

School's out, the AC is pumping, and I have weird tan lines: It’s summertime!

Summer is already in full swing for me. I flew to Cleveland to see outdoor Chappell Roan and Noah Kahan concerts over Memorial Day Weekend. The week after, I headed to the Jersey Shore to play pinball at a boardwalk arcade, and on Sunday I took the subway to Queens to cheer on the New York Mets (read: eat a ballpark hotdog).

There’s more on the calendar; I don’t intend to slow down anytime soon. But all of these activities cost a lot of money, and although inflation is abating, summer fun is far from cheap. A recent Washington State University survey found that a whopping 96% of Americans say that current (or rising) prices will impact their travel plans.

With that in mind, I’ve put together the Official Dollar Scholar Guide to Saving Money on Travel This Summer.

Here’s what you need to do:

  1. Figure out your priorities.

Lindsay Kowalski, the owner of LK Travel Group, a Virtuoso member as an affiliate of Jetset World Travel, says the first step should be to determine what you care about most.

Is the most important part of your trip staying in a nice hotel? It might not be financially feasible for you to spend every night of a two-week Europe trip in five-star accommodations, she says, but knowing your priorities in advance can help you plan accordingly. For instance, maybe you stick to budget hotels for most of the vacation and blow it out at a Four Seasons for the last three nights.

Or do you care more about scoring a super-cheap flight? Although many travelers want to “get out of the country and experience something completely new,” Laura Lindsay, global travel trends expert at Skyscanner, points out that domestic airfares are dropping from 2023. If inexpensive flights are your top concern, maybe skip the overseas jaunt this year and check out a U.S. beach town or national park to cut down on costs.

  1. Buck the trend.

It’s no secret that Europe is a (literally) hot destination for Americans in the summer. That’s especially true this year, which will see Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour hit major cities in England, Germany and Italy as well as the Summer Olympics, set to take over Paris from July 26 through Aug. 11.

“Where everyone else is going, the hotels and airlines are aware, and they will rate their pricing accordingly,” says Samantha Collum, director of operations at River Oaks Travel, another Virtuoso member agency.

To save money, do the opposite of what everyone else is doing. Some top ski resorts in the U.S., for example, offer lower prices during the summer because they’re not in their peak season (winter). And there’s no shortage of activities: The mountains are beautiful, the hiking is good, et cetera.

If your heart is set on a particular location, Kowalski recommends looking at alternative, under-the-radar countries and cities that are nearby. Last year, she spent time in Slovenia, which has a lot of Italian culture but is much less costly than, say, tourist-heavy Rome.

Lindsay says spots like Split, Croatia; Zurich, Switzerland; and Nassau, the Bahamas; have all seen price drops lately.

  1. Book ASAP.

I know I just gave you a bunch of new places to consider, but do it fast.

“It’s generally best to book sooner rather than later,” Lindsay tells me. “Especially if you’re looking to catch a flight during one of the many holiday weekends this summer, you should start planning now before you miss out on the best deals.”

Summer is expensive because I don’t know how to be outside without a $10 iced drink

In Issue #201, I learned about “Goldilocks Windows,” or booking periods that are both not too early and also not too late. These typically fall one to three months before a domestic trip and two to eight months before an international trip, though summer tends to bring such high demand that it's smart to lock in flights even earlier than that.

FYI: According to Skyscanner data and flight price history, Tuesday is the best day to book, given that most airlines launch discounts on Monday nights. You may be able to save somewhere between 15% and 25%.

  1. Be flexible with dates.

Speaking of dates, one of the best ways to save money on summer travel is to play with timing. Kowalski says that many hotels have peak rates Thursday through Sunday, so if you can aim for the middle of the week, you may find a bargain.

“If you have any sort of flexibility in travel dates, that can work wonders,” Collum adds.

There’s no consensus on which day, specifically, is the cheapest to fly. But if you’re looking for a starting place, Hopper has long claimed the most inexpensive day to fly out domestically is Wednesday, and the cheapest to return is Tuesday. In 2022, Google determined that, on average, flights that depart on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were 12% cheaper than weekend departures.

  1. Use your resources.

I went deep on travel advisors wayyyy back in Issue #5, and most of the advice I got still rings true. Kowalski, who acknowledges she’s biased, emphasizes that travel advisors aren’t just booking agents — armed with years of experience, “they're advising you on where to spend your money.” Another plus: Travel advisors often have partnerships with hotels that can unlock better rates and cool amenities like free breakfast or spa credits.

While you certainly can book trips on your own using research from TikTok, you might want to loop in a travel advisor to make sure you’re hitting the right spots and getting the most bang for your buck.

Collum says sometimes, folks to come to her after buying flights to places like Mykonos and Santorini in Greece in March… when many hotels and beaches are closed. If they’d consulted her first, she could have stopped them from wasting their money.

Tapping other resources is important, too. Airline and hotel loyalty programs can help you access upgrades or free drinks. Websites like Skyscanner and Hotwire can help you comparison-shop for rental car reservations. And don’t forget to check whether you get benefits through any clubs or memberships you have, like AAA.

“Your personal car insurance, credit card benefits or even college alumni association might be a sleeping giant of hidden savings,” Lindsay says.

The bottom line
(but please don't tell me you scrolled past all of my hard work)

Top tips for planning frugal summer travel include determining your priorities, leaning into flexibility and not following the crowd (both literally and figuratively).

Spring break beach
via Giphy

Smart MONEY MOVE
higher car insurance rates? in THIS economy?!

CarWith rates rising 20% over the last year, you could be paying wayyy too much for car insurance. Let us help you navigate the options and find coverage that can protect your family without draining your budget. Switching providers could potentially save you $$$ on your premium, after all — and in *this* economy, that’s more than welcome.

Check out Money’s list of best car insurance companies and see whether you can save.

ADVERTISEMENT

Receipt of the week
check out this wild celebrity purchase
Joey Graziadei
via Instagram

The most recent Bachelor, Joey Graziadei, confessed on a podcast last week that his credit score tanked when he was cast for the reality series. “I was at 730, and I went on the show, and I had a payment from a credit card that I didn’t answer for two and a half months,” he said. “I dropped, like, 80 points.” Similar to tattling on another contestant or sneaking back into the mansion after being eliminated, this is a major misstep. Forget roses — will you accept this late fee?

Internet gold
five things I'm loving online right now
1
Did you guys know that Franz Kafka — who, to be clear, died 100 years ago — is going viral? Young netizens apparently adore him, making TikToks that dissect his books and writing captions that boast “Kafka is my bare minimum and i won’t date a man until he is kafka.” Maybe the kids are all right, after all?
2
Speaking of youth trends, pigeons are back in style in England. “When you tell [people] you keep pigeons, they think of town pigeons — the rock pigeons you see in cities that people call, unfairly I think, ‘rats of the sky’,” one pigeoneer told The Guardian. “But if I have a bad day, I head into the aviary and Boris pets me and does a little dance, or I stroke one of my frillbacks, with their soft, curly down, and I feel really at peace.”
4
Money launched its annual Best Colleges package last week, and it’s amazing! For the second year in a row, we rated colleges on a scale instead of ranking them, highlighting schools like Harvey Mudd College and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alongside Ivies like Yale and Stanford. See the full list of the nation’s top 745 institutions here.

401(k)ITTY CONTRIBUTION
send me cute pictures of your pets, please
Celia
via Erica Stec
Meet Celia, an adorable cat who’s purry much looking forward to summer vacation.

See you next week.

P.S. Are you traveling this summer? What’s your best money-saving vacation tip? Would you keep a pigeon as a pet? Send feedback tjulia@money.com.

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