Baby Boomer Travel (part 6 - Paper or Plastic?)

Travel involves a lot of each of these and while the choice is not as clear as in the grocery store, making the right decision is important in keeping travel costs down. The paper in question concerns tickets, cash and traveler’s checks. Plastic for our discussion ranges from credit cards to memberships or affiliations in various organizations.

Most airlines are charging for paper tickets. American instituted a $10 charge per person just a few years back but now it has jumped to between $25 and $50. Clearly, airlines save money by not issuing and mailing tickets to customers and if you use electronic tickets, the savings are passed along to you. The greatest advantage to e-tickets is that you can not lose them. All the information for your flight record is stored on the airline’s computer. The only real drawbacks come if that computer takes a short vacation while you are checking in, or if you need to be moved to another carrier because of some flight delay that warrants implementation of rule 120.20. In the latter case, a paper ticket must be issued and then you will be assigned to another carrier. Within alliances however, you will find most members will accept the other carrier’s e-ticket. To facilitate this “re-booking/re-assignment of passenger,” process, always record your “PNR,” which consists of a combination of six letters/numbers to give the rebooking agent. Many times, folks on e-tickets are asked to step out of line until those with paper tickets showing the record locator are assisted. If ever you are met with this situation, simply tell the agent your record locator and they can recover and issue you a paper ticket.

The next two “papers,” cash and travelers checks, can really be lumped into one. If you are traveling domestically, there is nothing wrong with traveler’s checks and if you get them free from your bank, credit union or AAA, then by all means use them. ATM cards usually incur some sort of fee so you can save a few dollars on your travel within the United States. International travel is an entirely different matter. Cash and traveler’s checks are both discounted during exchange to foreign currency as much as 10% or more. Wise use of ATM cards will keep this transaction cost to 3% or less. In the case of USAA Savings Bank, costs are zero as even the fee for using a second party’s ATM is rebated. While not everyone is eligible for membership in USAA, other institutions offer similar programs so shop wisely for an ATM card if you are traveling overseas.

At any given time, there are probably better than 50 travel offers tied directly to credit cards. A quick visit to the five major provider’s Internet sites will be very enlightening. These offers run the gamut from discounts on rental cars to hotel discounts to free airline companion tickets. Of all travel offers, these bear the closest scrutiny as their use may actually raise your overall cost. That is, if you are entitled to percentage savings from AAA or AARP, or other associations, these discounts may be much better than the percent off of the hotel or car rental company's highest rates the credit card usage will give you. This is especially true with rental car "discounts" or "free days." Just make sure to check all offers both ways and, if making reservations the old fashioned way, the phone, just tell them your association memberships and ask if there is a better deal. If there is, and they are truly helpful, they will tell you about it.

Okay, you say, you don't have a CitiBank AAdvantage VISA or a Hilton Optima card. All you have is an old fashioned MasterCard and the only affiliation it has is with your bank. Even that will get you some deals from time to time and, is the preferred card of travel sites like OneTravel.com. When you pay for your reservation at many hotels, you get a 50% bonus on points or a second night at half price. Rent your car and you get a third day free. Or, use it on many airlines and a companion flies for free. The way you find out about these deals is to first look at the literature in the monthly statement and then, go to the Credit Card site on-line. You will be amazed at what you find there.

A final thought and one I repeat often, if you don’t ask for discounts and special promotions, that you are entitled to, they will probably not offer them. Many restaurants and hotels will not ask if we are eligible for the senior discount simply because we don’t look old enough or, out of fear of embarrassment if we turn out to be 45 and just look hard ridden!

Please feel free to send your travel questions on any topic, not just "how to," to: Bob-Jones@BookingWiz.com