Get Paid to Shop and Travel 11.17.12

I am positive you think that I'm making this up and you can't possibly get paid to do either of these things, but it's totally true! If you haven't heard me talk about Ebates before, you'll want to know about it. If you have, perhaps you'll learn something new today. I never buy or book anything without first checking Ebates. So, what IS Ebates? It's a fantastic - and free! - site that offers you cash back for purchasing from online merchants. If you plan to make a purchase anyway, you might as well get something for being a loyal customer (or even a new customer). 

Here's how it works: Sign up is quick and easy, then you're ready to shop! When you have a hankering to buy something, say, at Sephora, go to Ebates, sign in, click on Sephora and it takes you straight to the main website. You must go through Ebates, so they can track your purchase. At checkout, make sure you use the same email address you used to sign up on Ebates and within a few days, your purchase will show up in your account. You can track your cash back total to see how much you saved and then every quarter, Ebates sends you a Big Fat Check (if you choose that method) or a Big Fat Payment via Paypal. You even get $5 just for signing up! Who else does that? If there are coupon codes available or special sales, Ebates will show them to you, helping you save even MORE!

 

 

I like to use my cash back as a travel savings supplement. Each time I make a purchase, I rack up cash and then it gets deposited right to my Paypal account. I use that money to purchase travel stuffs, like Groupons, clothing, tours and more! If I can get more cash back with it, even better! Of course, you can use it for whatever you want. 

 

Stores you can shop at: Ebates has, literally, hundreds of online merchants you can choose from, including a long list of travel merchants. Just a sampling of those include: TravelSmith, Holiday Inn, Avis, Alaska Airlines, Camping World, Orbitz, Air France, Delta Airlines, HomeAway and even SkyMall! Keep your eyes out for the Daily Double. Each day one awesome merchant offers double cash back on your purchases for the day.

If you're already a member of Ebates, do you love saving so much money?

How to Get Free Airfare 11.14.12

Win awesome travel prizes in the BEST OF THE BEST HOLIDAY TRAVEL GIVEAWAY!

Free and Travel are not often two words one can put together. It’s like the Holy Grail for vacationers, though almost none of us seem to know how to achieve such a thing – besides have a job that involves traveling that your company pays for, though that doesn’t usually involve actual “vacationing”. I came across an article the other day that was written by a frequent flyer that is lucky enough to have the funds to fly a couple of times a month just to rack up frequent flyer miles. While I surely can’t follow in his footsteps, and you probably can’t either, I learned a few things about how I do travel and what I can do in order to score some free airfare, hotel and dining vouchers. These can be used on your current trip to save you money now or on a future trip to save you money in the later. It involves a fairly simple technique, too.

Everyone has heard the term “bumped”. If you haven’t – or if you have and are not sure what it means – it is the term given to a person who has the misfortune to get to the airport too late (read: after almost all the other passengers) to check in for their overbooked flight and loses their seat. They are “bumped” from the flight. With the amount of overall flights being reduced, there are now more people who want to fly on those that are available most days. There are a certain number of no-shows or ticketed passengers that miss their flights each day. The airlines have always planned for this, but in these tough economic times they also want to fill their seats on the limited flights they have, so they overbook. (This was always a common thing on their most popular flights before the recession.) Sometimes everyone shows up and that leaves around 3-5 people without an actual seat. The airlines will rebook them on the next available flight, but will also always ask if others are willing to be bumped instead. This is how you get comped free travel/hotel/food.

Tip: Ask for a credit voucher instead of a free flight voucher. This works like a gift certificate for the airline and allows you more freedom when booking your flight with it (i.e. you can use it for international airfare if you wish or to buy more than one cheap ticket).

When you get to the gate, you will normally see on the monitor at the check-in desk if there is a list of passengers. These people are already on the “waiting” list. They may have checked in after everyone else or were able to be put on stand-by. If someone else doesn’t show up, or someone gives up their seat willingly, they get to board that flight. If you aren’t in a hurry to get to your destination, then maybe you wouldn’t mind volunteering to hang out until the next flight. The more people on the list, the more willing the airline will be to work with you in giving up your seat. Go up to the airline employee and ask if they need volunteers to be bumped. If so, ask what you will be compensated. Usually, because you have been helpful and friendly (this is certainly key in any customer/customer service conversation), they will give you a voucher for a free flight or credit to use at a later date. You’ll, of course, not have to pay extra for being rebooked on a new flight.

Depending on how long of a wait it will be until your next flight, you might also be able to negotiate a free hotel room and/or dining vouchers for the airport while you hang around and wait for the next flight to come in. While you end up with a free flight (and probably more), the airline doesn’t really lose any money by giving you these things in exchange for your seat. They will be flying that future flight anyway and your seat was already paid for by the passenger who will be filling your seat when they purposely oversold the flight. You get all the perks for just being nice (even if it was selfish) and you might have made someone’s day by letting them take your place. This is a great way to be able to stretch your dollars and be able to vacation more throughout the year. You’ll also get more frequent flyer miles added to your account (if you are compensated with a voucher for a dollar figure and not a free flight)!

Tip: If the airline pays for you to stay in a hotel overnight, they must also pay for your transportation to that accommodation.

Want to avoid getting bumped? Make sure you get to the airport early instead of the last minute. It just takes that one person to get there before you for the flight to be full. I always suggest getting to the airport at least one hour early for domestic and at least two hours early for international. Of course, I get excited for any travel I do and want to allow time for anything that might delay me (traffic, long security lines, etc.), so we tend to get to the airport two hours ahead of any flight. We use the extra time to browse shops, watch people and eat. It’s always nice to be able to sit down and have a decent meal, instead of grabbing fast food right before you get on the flight. It gives you time to relax if you stress right before you travel. It also boosts your energy and helps reduce jet lag. Make sure you drink lots of water, too. I always buy a big bottle of water after security to take with me on the flight, since I am often thirsty, flying dehydrates you and I don’t always want to wait 45 minutes to an hour before they bring around the drink cart.

Tip: Want to finally get into the fancy schmancy airline lounge? Ask for a pass to use it if you’re bumped and have to wait a few extra hours.

More tips on getting “bumped”:

• If you want to get bumped, it helps to get to the airport early as well. Get your name on the list of volunteers before anyone else.
• Book on a flight that is likely to be overbooked (holidays, afternoon flights, early evening flights, last flight of the day, red eye, etc.)
• Be polite. Don’t demand higher compensation than what they are offering you. If you know they are desperate, you can use it to your advantage, but negotiate in a polite manner.
• Know the flight schedule. This can be just as useful to you and your travel plans as it is to the airline employee rebooking you.
• Make sure you’re booking on an airline that does overbook flights. Some airlines do not. (Of course, this information is also helpful in not getting bumped.)
• Be willing to fly on a different airline or a different route. This makes it easier to rebook you as well.
• Pack light. While this doesn’t really help you to get booked, it does ensure that you keep all your belongings with you and the airline doesn’t have to figure out how to reroute your bags in addition to you (and your travel companions).
• Fly through busy airports when possible. Obviously, these airports have more passengers flying everyday and have more overbooked flights than smaller airports.

I never really thought about postponing my flight a few hours to “invest” in my future vacationing, but with all this talk about how I can do it and it seeming to be so easy, I might just start thinking about how a few hours won’t really effect my travel plans and offer to give up my seat from now on. If it can help me budget a trip for cheaper the next time I travel, then it’s totally worth it. What about you? Have you ever purposely volunteered to be “bumped” in order to receive free travel?

Visiting Anaheim GardenWalk 11.10.12

Win awesome travel prizes in the BEST OF THE BEST HOLIDAY TRAVEL GIVEAWAY!

I’ve always been a big fan of shopping malls, but when I moved to Portland where the climate isn’t a million degrees 98% of the year, I was able to full appreciate shopping outside. Collections of stores coming together without a roof overhead that aren’t outlet stores have become more and more popular in Oregon. Being able to appreciate the weather while getting to window shop or getting in a bit of retail therapy. Our vacation rental in Anaheim was right across the street Anaheim GardenWalk, which thrilled me to no end, because it had restaurants, shops and entertainment all in one spot. We found ourselves there on at least three occasions.

Even though we were just a short drive from Disneyland and it could have everything you want in terms of entertainment and food, the parks close at some point and you can’t find discounts to dining establishments there and you always feel compelled to be on the move. Since we travel during the shoulder season, attractions aren’t open as long as they are during the summer and holidays. Because of this, we found ourselves with a bit more downtime than we could have had. This gave us a chance to try out some new restaurants, browse in stores we don’t have at home and get in a movie or two.

Our first trip to GardenWalk found us having dinner at Bubba Gump. Even though it’s a chain, we never get a chance to eat there. The last time we dined at Bubba Gump, we were in Cancun celebrating getting engaged, so it has been a while. (Portland really needs some of those great chains like Hard Rock and Chili’s.) We grabbed a coupon for a free appetizer from our lobby and then ordered coconut shrimp – how can you NOT? – and a chipotle chicken salad. The free app turned out to be their signature dip and chips that was worth $10.50. Score!

The next time we headed over to GardenWalk, we were going expressly to see a movie, so we showed up a bit early to grab a bite to eat. We weren’t starving and we had decided to split an entrée somewhere. We chose Bar Louie, since it was close to the theaters, had a simple menu and, being a bar, seemed to have fairly fast service. We split a yummy turkey and brie sandwich with some fries and then went up to the third floor to the UltraLuxe Cinemas.

UltraLuxe movies don’t start until mid-afternoon, but go late into the night. It may not be in Hollywood, but they make you feel like a celebrity. When you purchase your tickets, you pick the seats you want to sit in, almost like going to a live production. You see what’s available and choose your seats on the touch screen. UltraLux theaters are also the only ones to have special theaters with seats that move! If you’ve gone to a theme park 4D production, like Captain EO, Shrek 4D or Star Tours, you’ve enjoyed these seats before. You don’t get things sprayed at you, but your seat moves in reaction to things happening on the screen. We went to see Hotel Transylvania, which was not in the moving seat theater, but I was able to test out the seats in the lobby with a preview of Frankenweenie. It was pretty awesome, though I’m not sure 2 hours of that would be all that fun after a while.

Our last night in Anaheim found us at GardenWalk again. We decided to live it up with a trip to Fire + Ice. If you’ve eaten at a Mongolian Grill, you know how it works. You choose the meat, veggies and other toppings, along with a sauce and the chefs cook it up for you on a giant round flat top while you watch and wait. It’s great, because you can choose everything that goes into your meal. The downside is that it takes quite a while to get your food and if you don’t step up the grill with your party, you may not end up eating together at all. I enjoyed a great salad and several plates of different combinations. (Yes, there’s no mystery as to where my extra weight came from on my vacation.)

Other cool stuff in Anaheim GardenWalk includes a gym, bowling alley, fountains and murals done by local artists. While we were there, there was also a haunted house (with it being Halloween time and all). Even if you buy nothing while you’re there, you can still browse at unique shops – Fresh Produce and Hello Tokyo – and your favorite brand shops – LUSH Cosmetics and Skechers.

If you visit the Anaheim area, GardenWalk can be a great way to spend some time and also save some money on dining over the theme parks.

What do you think would be the most beneficial part of having GardenWalk so close to the theme parks?