Buy Those Tickets Early
When you self fund your travel, you start to pick up on things that you just don't notice much when "the company" is paying. For instance:
- Eating dinner at a restaurant is expensive, especially if you order any alcohol
- The "big two" car rental companies are not cheap
- You save a lot by staying in hotels that offer free btreakfast and have laundry facilities
- The biggest one is this: make those flight reservations in advance
I didn't get around to arranging my flights at the beginning of my holiday break, and when I did get back to it, oof - the direct flights to Dallas that I prefer had skyrocketed until I got three weeks out. So - the next two weeks I have the joy of making connecting flights. After that, I have flights planned for a bit, and I have nice, direct - and inexpensive - flights laid out.
It's a whole different world when it's your own nickel :)
Comments
Re: Buy Those Tickets Early
[W^L+] January 10, 2011 23:23:25.720
Also, if you're working long hours, you want a hotel with a mini-fridge and a microwave; preferably one that is pretty close to inexpensive eateries. What I generally do is bring half my meal "home" and stick it in the fridge. I can have it the next day, which allows me a little more work time.
If you have the choice, wired Internet connections are generally faster (talking about internal to the hotel) than wireless. But if you're one of fifty people sharing 1 Mbps down, you'll still suffer agonizingly slow connections.
Finally, when you check in the first time, consider calling the network support number to ask about blocked ports and protocols (SSH, torrents, Skype, FTP, VPN). Hotel staffers don't know, and you can waste hours fighting against an undisclosed filter.
Re: Buy Those Tickets Early
[Dave] January 10, 2011 23:39:17.100
I've BTDT also,
Some other tips:
Priceline/Hotwire for hotels and cars.
If it's very long term consider renting an apartment.
I drove my personal car to the site to use during the week and rented a car when home, it saved me one round trip and reduced the cost of the rental cars.
When there were times when the airline cost was excessive, I used airmiles for those tickets, or booked a trip like you did with a stop and a different airline.
Check with your accountant, if the job/contract is longer than one year and you are W2 you can not write off the expenses.
The joys of travel