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Tag: travel hacks

  • How To Plan A Trip with Friends

    The easy guide to getting your next trip out of the group chat

    We’ve all been there. Sending tiktoks to our friends of beautiful locations with the message “we have to go there”. Everyone reacts with enthusiasm, but the trip never happens. What people don’t tell you is that planning a trip with your friends can be an incredibly complicated process involving Olympic-level scheduling and some top-notch accounting to make everyone’s budget work. So how do you plan a trip with friends that actually makes it out of the group chat without losing your mind? Lucky for you, I’ve done it before and am here to share some tips. Here’s how to get your next trip out of the group chat.

    #1 Keep the Group Manageable

    Unless it’s an occasion that absolutely calls for a big crowd, such as a large family vacation or bachelor/bachelorette trip, we are capping the number of people at six. Why? Because it’s the right amount of people to keep planning simple, travel manageable, and conversations fresh so nobody gets tired of each other. Bonus points if you keep it an even number. Bigger groups aren’t impossible, but they require a lot more structure. I’ve traveled with a large group before and it’s hard to be spontaneous. Twelve people can’t just stop in a cute cafe you stumble upon for a coffee, but four people absolutely can.

    #2 The When is Harder to Figure Out Than the Where

    There are so many amazing places to visit, but the first thing to figure out is the timing of the trip. As we all get older, we get busier with more commitments and so the time periods where everyone is actually available becomes extremely limited. One of the easier ways to sort this out is to create a poll for the year. Have your friends tell you when they are free for the whole year, and see what the best time is for everyone. I used a Google Form for my recent girls trip to the Caribbean and it allowed me to figure out all the important details, including the timeframe. Once I had all the answers I needed, I could finally start putting the trip together. If you need some trip & tricks on how to start researching, check out my other post!

    #3 No Dancing Around the Budget

    Once you’ve finalized the time frame of the trip, it’s time to get serious and that means talking about everyone’s least favorite topic: the budget. This is going to be the moment where people either commit or back out. Everyone has different circumstances, and so it’s a key moment between the trip actually happening or not. 

    For this one, it really depends on your friend group and the people you want to go on this trip with. In my friend group we are pretty open about money, and so I had them select various price ranges on a Google Form. In other situations, I’ve provided options to show what is possible at various price ranges. People will either be willing to pay that much and agree to go, and others will not.

    WanderBea Tip: Click here to see an example of the Google Form I always use when planning group trips.

    #4 Transparency is Key

    Traveling is a situation where a lot of people are out of their comfort zones, and so there is always going to be a level of anxiety from someone in the group. That person has even been me some things, and so I’ve learned that as the planner, you’ve got to show the group what you are doing, especially if this trip is to a new place where nobody has been. 

    I create a spreadsheet with the first sheet containing all of the basic information (where, when, how much, etc), and the second sheet containing the more specific details, aka the itinerary as I’m forming it. Those who are more anxious and want to know exactly what we will be doing can, and those who just want to venmo me and get on the plane have that option as well. 

    What To Remember

    When it comes down to it, getting the trip out of the group chat isn’t magic. It’s actually a lot of work, but that work isn’t too bad when you have the right steps in place. And once you’ve done it, it becomes easier every time. So send the TikTok, drop the Google Form in the chat, make the spreadsheet, and watch how quickly the phrase “we should go” turns into “I can’t believe we actually made it.”

    -Happy Planning,

    Bea

  • How To Turn A $1500 Flight To Greece Into a $100 Steal with Points

    Why Summer Travel to Greece is So Pricey

    I am always looking for an excuse to travel, but when my cousin’s wedding invite for his destination wedding arrived in the mail, I have to admit I was a little annoyed. And that is solely because it was scheduled during the summer – everyone’s favorite (and most expensive) time to go to Europe. And what is one of the most popular countries to visit during that time? Greece, of course

    When I started looking at flight prices, cheap flights to Greece were not easy to find. I have a tried and true checklist of steps when I search for flights, read more about that here, and I was still struggling to find an option that worked for me. Prices were just as ridiculous as I thought they would be. On top of that, the Athens airport was surprisingly difficult and pricey to fly into. Can someone please explain that to me?!?!

    My TikTok Search Turned into a Travel Game Changer

    After hours of searching in incognito mode for the cheapest way to get my boyfriend and I to Athens for the wedding, I turned to where a Gen-Z-millienial-cusp girl goes for life hacks – TikTok. I typed “flight hacks” into the search bar, and began doom-scrolling. That’s when I stumbled upon a website that changed everything: PointsYeah.com. 

    How PointsYeah Helped Me Hack My Chase Points

    PointsYeah compares flight options across your travel rewards programs – in my case, Chase Ultimate Rewards. I’ve had the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card for over two years, at the time, I had racked up more than 100,000 Ultimate Rewards points. But until recently, I never really knew how to use those points in a way that felt like a smart deal. PointYeah changed that.

    By comparing flights to Greece through Chase’s various transfer partners, I found a flight on Air France for me and my boyfriend using Flying Blue miles – and it only cost us $100 total. How?! Because Chase and Flying Blue had a transfer bonus.

    What are Transfer Bonuses and Why Are They Helpful?

    Transfer bonuses are one of the easiest ways to get the most out of your credit card points. They let you receive extra miles when you move points from your credit card portal to an airline or hotel rewards program. At the time I booked, Chase was offering a 25% transfer bonus with Flying Blue. That meant if I transferred, for example, 100,000 Chase points I’d end up with 125,000 miles in my Flying Blue account. That’s free travel money in my eyes. This hack can save you hundreds of dollars, especially if you do the math right – and if you’re not a numbers person, no worries. PointsYeah does the math for you! Another reason why I love this site! 

    Example of a PointsYeah flight search result

    Final Thoughts: From Frustration to Flight Deal Victory

    In the end, what started out as an expensive travel dilemma turned into a major travel win. By using my Chase Ultimate Rewards points strategically and taking advantage of a transfer bonus, I turned a $1500+ flight into a $100 steal for two people. So if you’ve been sitting on unused travel points and dreaming of your next big vacation, take a little time and do some research – you might just find a deal that you can’t refuse.

    Happy travels and don’t sleep on the transfer bonuses.