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Travel Savings Tips:
Air Travel
Book in advance to secure better pricing and seat selection. Special airfares are offered 7-21 days prior, typically at lower prices.
Don't travel if less than 7 days away. Try to reschedule for 7 days or more in advance. If possible, use teleconferencing, webinars, or video conferences.
Be more flexible with departure times. Use the two-hour (+/-2) or more window when searching for flights.
Cancellations – Remember to cancel flight reservations at least two hours before departure time, or else the value of the ticket will be lost.
Changes (airfare exchanges, date change cancellations are very costly). Make sure your trip is definite; verify the dates before submitting for approval & ticketing.
Same-Day Change & Standby Rules: 24 hours before the new departure flight, try same-day confirmed for $75.00 via the airline website or app if unavailable, you can try standby at the airport for free.
Consider alternate airports for savings that can be substantially lower. Find Alternate Airport
Knowledge of all travels https://thepointsguy.com/ points, miles, and for savings.
Frequent flyer status can help with free upgrades and preferred seat selection... sign up directly on the airline app or website.
Try combining Frequent Flyer (airline), Frequent Guest (hotel), and rental car memberships for more amenities.
Travel Products https://www.minimus.biz/ (over 2500+ travel size products all your travel/carry-on needs to get past TSA)
Food https://airadvisor.com/en/blog/food-you-can-bring-through-tsa (Food you can bring through TSA) less expensive than purchasing on the plane.
Security http://www.tsa.gov/tsa-precheck & https://www.clearme.com/ (TSA pre-check & Clear Get Through Airport Security Faster)
Baggage & Seat Assignment Purchases
No, to Advance Purchasing Baggage & Seating assignments, they are NON-REFUNDABLE. To avoid this additional cost to NFI
Purchase online. If you must check a bag, do so online 24 hours before your flight departure; online purchase is less expensive.
Airline Website Use the airline's websites 24 hours before departure to check in and modify seating; you can almost always improve your economy seat for free.
If Staying less than 5 days, carry-on luggage to avoid additional cost for checked baggage ( travel-packing-tips)
Pack Smarter Never Pay for Overweight Baggage Again. Roll and Layer: Take your soft items (t-shirts, PJs, etc.) and roll them up. Then, take skirts, pants, shirts, and dresses, layer them on each other, and leave the sleeves out. Put the rolled, soft items in the center of the suitcase. Layer the sleeves, bottom of dresses, etc., to create space on the edges of the bag so you can put accessories there.
Manage Wasted Space Every inch of the suitcase counts! Shoes take up the most space. Put socks inside of the shoes. Undo belts and layer them on the edge of the suitcase.
3 to 1 For every pair of pants or skirts, pack three tops.
Accessorize You can change the outfits entirely just by changing the accessories; it saves space in packing, especially if you put your accessories inside of your shoes or along the edges.
Colors Keep the same color theme throughout so you can pack fewer clothes and change out items to make different outfit combos.
Double It Up Keep duplicates in a separate bag, ready to go.
Rental Cars
Sharing with co-worker
Uber/Lyft or Taxi versus rental cars whenever possible
Mid-size rental is the company standard/preferred. When renting for business travel, be sure to decline all insurance
No to GPS Use your cell/smartphone or personal GPS to save on costs $11.95-$13.95 daily.
No to Prepaid Gas This is more expensive and you've paid for a full tank that may have yet to be used. It is less expensive to purchase gas elsewhere.
Negotiated Rates Book NFI Preferred hotels first; these rates are loaded in Concur and are marked as preferred.
AAA/AARP Use or sign up for AAA & AARP; they offer a discounted rate at most hotels
Frequent Guest Sign up for a Frequent Guest/Stay account on the hotel websites; they offer lower rates when making reservations.
Free WiFi & Breakfast Reserve hotels that offer free WiFi & Breakfast for savings.