AIRBORNE

The most expensive (and least enjoyable) part of travel is getting there.  The internet is full of sites that will lead you to cheap tickets.  Here are a few other money-saving suggestions.

Travel Tuesdays or Wednesdays.  These are the slow days for the airlines: I always try to avoid Sundays, which are the busiest.  If we’re traveling Coach, we reserve the aisle and window, hoping that no one will want the middle seat.  I’ve sometimes thought of showing up in surgical masks to discourage anyone from sitting next to us, but I don’t have the guts.

Travel in the off-season.  Not only are flights cheaper, but so are hotels.  September and October are my favorite vacation times.  The weather is pleasant, the tour-buses are gone, and the grapes are being harvested.

Look for unexpected airline routes: Air India’s non-stop flight to Hamburg from Los Angeles is $400 cheaper than Lufthansa on certain days.  (This would be a good deal for some people. I, however, would expect someone to pay me to go Hamburg.)

Consult a travel agent.  They often have inside information not available to the general public.

There’s a famous “Seinfeld” episode where Elaine is stuck in coach next to an obnoxious gum-chewing lady.  I played that lady, and I know just how Elaine felt. Coach is hell, and I try to avoid it at all cost.  I find cheap flights, then use my mileage for upgrades.  This is easier said than done.  We were trying to get from L. A. to Rome on my American Airlines mileage.  The best they could offer was for us to fly coach to Chicago, wait four hours to connect to an upgraded flight, and then return home by way of Istanbul.  I don’t think so.