Booking Your Trip
I use Expedia to book almost everything – from airfare, hotel, and car rentals – to just hotels. The only downside I have found is that Southwest Airlines does not book through 3rd party sites. This was key when Spirit Airlines canceled our flights in Phoenix and the only airline flying home that evening was Southwest.
I love Expedia because I can easily price out airfares from each of the three major airports closest to me – Dulles, BWI, and Reagan National. Expedia keeps track of how much you’ve spent on travel, assigning you to a membership tier automatically where you can receive credits towards your next trip.
Flying
Airlines I love: Delta (warning- play close attention to Delta’s Economy Fare which is like flying standby and avoid it if you can for unnecessary stress), United, Allegiant (for Florida), and Southwest – in that order. Most of Delta’s planes now have built-in entertainment screens in the headrests where you can play games, watch free movies and television, or track your flight.
Airlines I don’t love: Spirit Airlines. I think they have the worst customer service. Don’t be fooled by all of the extra fees that make their low airfares not so low.
U.S. Airlines I haven’t tried yet: Jetblue, Alaska
We try to fly out of BWI Airport whenever we can because the parking is cheaper than Dulles Airport and Dulles has the tram inside terminals which seems to take longer to get to your gates. I also love Hagerstown Regional Airport which has no parking fees and the quickest security gate ever. Hagerstown Regional Airport only flies Allegiant Airlines and destinations are limited but Orlando/Sanford is a plus.
Affording Travel
According to Budget Your Trip, the average traveler on a budget spends $82 per day in the U.S. and $224 for mid-range budgets. Affording travel is likely the biggest obstacle to traveling as often as I would like to. We created a travel savings account and treat it like a bill on payday.
Since we aren’t campers, we often choose hotels that are not our first choice so that we can spend that money on experiences while we are there. When we are traveling with kids, I like hotels with free breakfasts and we look for hotels that have free or reduced parking wherever possible. In a large city, hotel parking fees can easily be budget busters.
Recommended Travel Resources
Almost every major destination in the U.S. has a travel group on Facebook. I learn so much before each trip by adding it to my newsfeed. I’ve also joined the National Park Service Fan Page, Travelers of the U.S. National Parks group, and See the USA via Road Trips. Facebook makes it easy to find your tribe of like-minded people with similar traveling interests.
If a National Park is on your itinerary, download the National Park Service App. The App is really helpful when visiting NPS to stay informed of road closures, capacity issues, and weather conditions. The Gypsy Guide App GPS narrated auto driving tour is also great for national parks because its like having a tour guide available, without actually having one. The app is free to download and each park’s tour for us so far has been around $15 to download.
Lucky Ladybug Travel Blog 