Wow! How us po' folks can afford to travel
I used to sell on eBay and kept the earnings in a separate account to use toward travel or "special" dinners, etc. But, when the tax laws changed, I abandoned that idea and we just had to tighten our belts a little more if we wanted to continue traveling.
We bought the motor home so we could still travel during Covid when airlines, hotels and cruise ships were basically shut down. I sold my truck to make the down payment. Once Covid started dying down and travel started opening up, we sold the motor home. We also decided to get rid of the second car and are down to just the one right now. After a year, it has never been a problem and what we would have been paying for car/motor home payments, insurance and maintenance costs, gives us a little extra to travel. We've learned to stretch a dime into a dollar over the years and that provides us the opportunity to do something we love .... travel and eat! Ha!
We've been working hard to afford this Rome cruise and I dare anyone to try matching the price we've managed to work out.
Although it seemed impossible, we set up a budget limit to pull this off at $2000. We'll be gone a total of 17 days ... 1 full day of travel, 2 full days in Rome and 14 days on the cruise with stops in Italy, Spain and Portugal/Azores, then a trans-Atlantic crossing back to Ft. Lauderdale (I LOVE sea days).
We will use a tank of gas to get to the port and back, but gas here (with our discount card) is only $2.87/gallon. Lynn worked out free parking (normally $340 for the 17 days) at a hotel in Ft. Lauderdale, through a friend she knows in the business. We can also have free breakfast at the hotel, if we get there early enough. We will use the free hotel shuttle from the hotel to the airport, as well as from the port to the hotel upon our return. We used points accrued on our credit card to pay for the complete flight (Ft. Lauderdale to Rome, with a stop in Atlanta on the way). Once in Atlanta, we have free airport lounge access through our AmEx card, We will also get complimentary snacks, lunch and drinks/beverages in the lounge (w/free internet). From there, we'll connect with our flight to Rome. AmEx gives us $200/year to cover incidental flight expenses, so that covers luggage fees, taxes, upgrades, etc. on the flight. They have free internet on-board. So, once we arrive in Rome, we have (so far) only paid for a half tank of discounted gas out of pocket.
We have a friend whom we'd hoped could get us a room in Rome, but her hotel has no properties there, so we're on our own and it's probably our largest single expense other than the cruise itself. We ended up getting a very nice room in a resort hotel in Rome (City Center) at a discounted rate (15% off) through American Express, plus AmEx kicked in $200 extra cash that we could apply to the room cost because it's in their "Hotel Collection" promotion. They also gave us another $100 that we can spend within the resort itself (restaurants, drinks, etc) and we get a free upgraded room (if available) once we check in. AmEx gives us free Uber ($200/year) but we only have $50 available 'til the end of the year, so it won't get us very far if we need a ride somewhere.
Now, for the cruise, we really scored. We paid for a budget cabin, but AmEx worked with the cruise line and myself to get a free upgrade and they let me pick any cabin I wanted (in our category on decks 4, 7 or 8), so we have a nice cabin (deck 8) with a balcony and a 100% unobstructed view! To top it off, the cruise line gave us $100 for on-board spending because we've cruised with them previously (for drinks, specialty dining, internet, spa, etc. etc), PLUS an extra $100 to me as a veteran. AmEx kicked in an additional $200 that we can use for expenses, or convert to cash if we don't use it. We also have a Visa card that we use if we're someplace that does not accept AmEx and we had a $100 cruise credit on that. On top of all that, we caught a "flash sale" that offered free gratuities, so they gave us another $450 off for that! The bottom line is, we ended up getting the whole 14-day cruise with the upgrade for $1578.00 total. If we deduct the $400 bonus' they kicked in, we're now down to $1178.00! (Of course all food, entertainment, etc. is provided on the cruise.)
The only thing we haven't firmed up yet, is the transportation from the hotel in Rome, to the cruise port. I'm in a Facebook group made up of everyone on that particular cruise and we're discussing getting together to hire a van (or small bus), and split the cost. That's our only unknown so far, but it's not a major deal. So far, this whole package is running under budget! With our transportation and maybe even a couple of excursions while in port stops, we'll still meet our budget. Now THAT is a lesson on how to pinch pennies!
Projected Budget: $2000.00
Actual Expenses:
$40 - Gas, Home/Ft. Lauderdale/Lakeland
$340 - Parking
$50 - Uber to Airport
$78 - Delta lounge access
$200 - Fees, taxes, luggage charges, in-flight charges, etc)
$1911 - Flight Ft. Lauderdale/Atlanta/Rome
$78 - Delta lounge access (light lunch, bloody Mary's, etc)
$50 - Uber Rome airport/hotel
$527 - Hotel/Rome
$3488 - Cruise Rome to Ft. Lauderdale
$448 - Cruise gratuity
$50 - Uber Ft. Lauderdale port to hotel
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Total: $7060.00
Our Cost:
$40 - Gas, Home/Ft. Lauderdale/Lakeland
$0 - Parking (Lynn's friend at hotel)
$0 - Uber to Airport (free hotel shuttle)
$0 - Delta lounge access (credit from AmEx)
$0 - Fees, taxes, luggage charges, in-flight charges, etc) ($200/yr. AmEx credit)
$0 - Flight Ft. Lauderdale/Atlanta/Rome (points accrued on credit card)
$0 - Delta lounge access (lunch, bloody Mary's, etc)
$0 - Uber Rome airport/hotel (Uber credit AmEx)
$227 - Hotel/Rome ($300 credit from AmEx) plus free upgrade upon check-in
$1578 - Cruise Rome to Ft. Lauderdale (discount from multiple sales, discounts and incentives, etc)
$0 - Cruise gratuity (offered during cruise ship sale offer)
$0 - Uber Ft. Laud. port to hotel (free hotel shuttle)
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Sub-Total: $1845.00
Minus additional $200 ($200 "cash" credit from AmEx)
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Total: $1645.00
PLUS: The cruise line gave us an extra $200 on-board spending credit which can be used
for anything purchased on-board, specialty dining, drinks, excursions, shopping, etc.
The only thing I haven't figured in yet, is transportation from the hotel to the cruise port, but we'll still be well within our $2000 budget!.
