The Easy Hack To Stay On Budget While Vacationing, According To A Flight Attendant
We can always rely on flight attendant wisdom to help us travel smarter. From teaching us the best clothing tips to save luggage space with a carry-on to dispensing advice on how to handle a kid kicking your seat during a flight, flight attendants deserve major brownie points for making our journeys less hellish. But their expertise doesn't stop at packing tips and dealing with annoying passengers — they're also masters of budget travel. After all, these people practically live in the sky, so you can bet they know how to pinch pennies on a trip.
If sticking to a budget feels like a Herculean task (no judgment here), former flight attendant Beth Windsor has some excellent advice: use a prepaid debit card. The flight attendant-turned-world traveler told Business Insider that these cards are perfect for keeping your spending in check. As opposed to using a credit card and feeling like you have an unlimited budget, a prepaid card lets you set a firm limit on your spending. "When I was a flight attendant, I would always get a prepaid travel card, which I loaded with a set amount of money. It helped me stick to a tighter budget and allowed me to withdraw money in the local currency," she said. It's pretty simple, really. If you want to avoid coming home to a shocking credit card bill, prepaid travel cards are your best bet.
A prepaid travel card can help you stick to a limited budget
A prepaid travel card is basically like a traditional debit card you can use for both in-person and online purchases. The key difference? It's not tethered to your bank, and you generally can't reload it via an app. This is a win for security because, in the event that you get pickpocketed on a trip, you don't have to worry about your personal bank account being compromised. Sure, the thief can spend whatever is left on the card, but that's it. The rest of your money stays safe and sound.
While you can reload your balance at any time, it's not always convenient. You'd need to buy a "reload pack" or visit a place that allows reloads. When you're traveling, especially on a tight schedule, this isn't exactly a walk in the park. This limitation forces you to curb your spending and think carefully about how much money to load onto the card in the first place. Plus, some locations slap you with a reload fee.
Oh, and speaking of fees, some prepaid card issuers love to sneak in extra charges. You might face ATM withdrawal fees, balance inquiry fees, foreign transaction fees, and who knows what else. So, when choosing a prepaid card, make sure to pick one with minimal fees and the best fit for your needs. The last thing you want is to bleed money on unnecessary fees when you should be enjoying your vacation.
Staying in a hotel? Ask the concierge for deals
Now, curbing your spending with a prepaid card is one thing, but limiting your spending for excursions, activities, and meals during a trip is a whole other challenge. Everyone knows that experiences don't come cheap, but if you're staying in a hotel, you may have better chances of scoring on some of them. A flight attendant on the sub-Reddit r/flightattendants recommended asking the concierge if the hotel has tie-ups with other businesses and can get you deals on some of the things you want to do, see, or eat. "Ask the hotel about any deals they have with other businesses," they wrote. "I've found that they often have deals with restaurants and activities that you can get a discount if you show your key card."
In case there are none, it's almost certain the concierge can recommend inexpensive places to dine, free activities to try, or, at the very least, help you arrange cheaper transportation. In some cases, they may even be of help in scoring you extra perks. "I don't think people take advantage of their hotel concierge as much as they should," travel and money expert Chris Hutchins told HuffPost. "They're available to you as soon as you've booked your room, and they can be incredibly helpful at organizing just about anything you need ― planning activities, making restaurant reservations, organizing child care and anything else you might need during your stay."