Traveling 101: Tickets

If you are new to travel, you need to master is purchasing tickets. This podcast will give you a heads-up about buying tickets by giving you an overview of the process.

You can learn from my experience and my tips to make reservations. 

The podcast is an overview for most transportation carriers, but I give you either Amtrak or flying points when needed.

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For more travel info on travel and Kev, visit my website.

Music is Hungaria by Latche Swing from the Free Music Archives. 

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:09

Welcome to the travels with Kev podcast, where we're here to get you on track with travel. Today's topic is going to be an overview of buying tickets for travel. Every new traveler needs to master booking their transportation. And no matter how you like to travel, there are similarities across the board. When it comes to booking tickets. If you are new to booking and adventure, there are a few things you might not know or not realize and could get a little overwhelmed. So this podcast is here to give you an overview of what's going on and tips to consider what is the best way for you to book your tickets and how figure out, how you wanna travel. Keep in mind that many parts of traveling are subjective. And I want you to consider things. First is looking for non-existent sets of rules. Every traveling seems to have their own set of rules that they follow in booking their trip, and eventually you'll get your own . There are three main ticket types. The first decision you're gonna have to make when booking a trip is what kind of ticket do you want? Do you want a one way , a round trip or a multi-city ticket? And this section we're gonna be going over the a S and disadvantages of each of those and what they are. One way . Tickets . These are pretty straightforward. You're buying a ticket to go from one place to another. These tickets allow you flexibility because you can go out on one carrier and come back on another. For example, if you're flying, you could fly out on Delta and come back on Southwest, or you could take the train out and fly back. The pros of these sort of tickets is, well , first off, you don't have to come back. It can break up the cost between a few pay days you could pay for going out one way, one day, and then in a few weeks pay for coming back. I've done that myself over the years, and sometimes it allows you to come up with trips that aren't normally offered. For example, if I wanted to go from Chicago to new Orleans, I might want to go through DC, not the trip that most people would wanna take, but when you're a real fan and you're trying to ride different trains, it's sometimes a great option. We'll go into another way. We can book that later. Another reason why you might wanna look at buying one way . Tickets is another airline might have a better D for coming back. It's easier to make changes. If you have two, one way tickets, because you can change the second ticket without an issue. It's easier to make changes. Once you start the trip, the cons of buying all one way tickets, first off, you might have to come back. Second. You have more tickets to deal with. When you break up your journey into segments with one way tickets, it could cost you more. And you're not guaranteed a connection. If you book a trip with two different carriers, such as two different airlines, where same day travel, because you found a great deal. And if something goes wrong, the second airline is not obligated to do something. If you miss the flight with Amtrak, if you book two one-way tickets and you do not have enough lay overtime, Amtrak doesn't know you're transferring first off and they're not obligated to do something. If there's a delay, because booking with one-way ticket does not guarantee a transfer. One thing you should know about and way tickets is there could be more than one segment. For example, if I bought a ticket to go from stud event to San Francisco, that ticket would have three segments. The first one would be the HWA between Urvan and Chicago. The second would be the California Zephyr between Chicago and Emeryville. And the third section would be a bus from em, bill to San Francisco. Another example is over the holidays. It flew out to my sisters on Southwest, and I flew from Milwaukee to Omaha at a transfer planes in St. Louis. So it is not uncommon for one way . Tickets to have multiple sections Round trip tickets, a round trip ticket means your reservation for you to go out and return. And you pay for both sections in one transaction, a significant advantage to a round trip is it can be cleaner. For example, the whole trip is on one piece of paper and one code works for your entire Amtrak trip. Airlines are a different case. One bar code may not work for the whole trip. Meaning you could have two or more boarding passes for each leg of your journey, depending on where and how you're going there. It's when you fly, make sure you have the right ticket. When you're born pros of round trip tickets. After your payment clears, you have all the tickets for you to go out and come back. It is easier for some people to maintain less and have less paperwork. It may be cheaper to buy round trip tickets, especially when traveling overseas, my sister's gonna be moving to Singapore. And when I've been looking at tickets, I often look at one ways first and I found out my return ticket often cost more than what a round trip ticket. Why? I don't know the cons of round trip . Tickets is it for some people. It's a more significant chunk of money I up front . So it's harder to spread the cost of the trip over a few pay periods. Sometimes it is harder to make changes on your own. Once the ticket gets scanned, if you need to move a return date, once you reach your destination, you may need to call or go into person or go in person to the airport or train station. One ticket type that I sometimes like that most people don't know about is the most play city ticket for Amtrak. This is only available. When you call going to stations or book from the website is at this time it was not available on the app, but these tickets are great for trips with multiple segments or when a Carrie does not offer the trip. You want back to the example of going from Chicago to new Orleans. Amtrak offered me the city of new Orleans, but I wanted to take Amtrak's Crescent train to do this. I needed to take the capital limited to DC and then catch the Crescent to the big, easy there's plenty of overlap to book the us . So a multi-city route can be the easiest way to do so. Or if you wanna break up a trip. For example, when my sister used to live in Charleston, South Carolina, what I could do is take the train to Philadelphia, spend a day or two, and then go down to Charleston. And that would all be on one ticket. A pros is sometimes you can save my, it is often cheaper for me to book a connecting train on one ticket. Even if there are a few days between another advantage is you have fewer tickets to worry about, and it gives you more flexibility. And often multi-city tickets do not need to be for same day transfers when booking a ticket like this Amtrak can see that you are transferring to a different train. So they might be able to do some thing. If a train gets delayed, but they're not obligated to get you a hotel or anything like that, cons , it is harder to change your ticket. Once you start, that's like with round trip tickets, if you're not too careful with this option, you could end up booking too tight of a connection and get left behind. And if this is a case, you are stuck with a cost , Depending on what transportation you're looking like. There are different classes and you need to figure out which one works best for you, your comfort, your style and your budget. Sometimes it's worth spending a little more to make your trip better. When my sister lived in Charleston and when I flew, I often used Delta comfort plus because I like the extra leg priority boarding and the complimentary drinks with Amtrak. I estimate how much money I would spend on food while on the train and see how much more it would cost me to get a room. Sometimes spending a few extra dollars is worth the ability to get your own room and sleep horizontally. Don't be too hard on yourself over this. If spending $30 or a little bit more makes your trip better, it may be worth cutting back somewhere else. Your adventure for comfort on your transportation Ticket tears . When you start booking, you may notice that Amtrak Greyhound and the airlines offer different levels of ticketing with each class. There is no way for me to tell you, which is best for you, cuz I don't you that well, hopefully we get to know each other a little bit better, but until then there are a few things I can say that can help you decide, but because each person is different, there's no set rules to these. The best advice I can give you is read each tier carefully and see what you feel works the best for you. One flying. The critical thing I I look at is the luggage allowance. Do I get to pick my own seat? I'm more picky about where I sit on a plane than I am on a train. Often you are paying extra for more flexibility and a higher refund rate. If you have to cancel your trip, where is the best place for you to buy tickets? I buy most of my tickets through the carrier's website or app. Occasionally I'll call up if I have a tricky booking, but following are some of the options you have. When you buy a ticket, you can buy your tickets in person for some people. This is a great option for me. It's not, I live about an I'll or away from the airport or a staffed Amtrak or a Greyhound station. So it could end up cost me more than I would save, but this could be an option for you. And if you have a lot of questions or you are new, this could be a good option for you over the phone, kind of the next best thing. If you're new, this could be a good option. And in some can is a necessary way to book your trip. For example, if you wanna book two room mats across from each other, in an Amtrak train or book, the bedroom suite, this could be your best option because you cannot do it online or in the app. Booking tickets online directly from the carrier is often easy and quick. You can use the app or the website. I usually use both depending on what I'm at booking. There are third party sites such as kayak, and they offer deals that you cannot find anywhere else. And sometimes better deals than what the carriers can offer you. Some people love and swear by these sites. For me, I do not because if something goes wrong, you might have to deal with a third party . Instead of being able to deal with an airline that's in front of you. And so it could take you longer to resolve any issues that you might have. Well, there's another option. Suppose you want someone to plan your ho trip for you . A travel agent could be the way for you to go. If you're going with a travel agent, ask 'em , what happens? If something goes wrong, can you deal directly with a carrier or do you need to go directly through them? While when I travel, I don't plan on things going wrong. I like to have a plan B and that's why I bring up some of those points. But to be honest with you, the best advice I have on what is the best way for you to buy tickets, whatever way is convenient and comfortable for you. How I put this all together? When I look at a trip, I often look at one ways first and then round trips from experience. I know that there are no price advantages for round trip tickets for Amtrak usually. And sometimes when you're flying domestically, they're not a price advantages for roundtrip tickets either, but I like to run the numbers through there just in case there. When I'm looking at scheduling a trip, I often have two or more windows open on my computer, one for each direction. And usually a site like Google flights doing so makes a process easier for me, especially when I have flexible time. Like I said, when I fly, I often use tools like Google flights. There are other sites available and often I run my dates through is one way and then round trips. That way I can see if using two different airlines is cheaper or booking. A round trip is more economical. Be aware that sites like Google flights often don't include some discount airlines and Southwest. Once you start traveling, you might look to your favorite carriers first, cuz you know what to expect and you can earn free travel faster. If the prices are at a point I'm willing to pay and the times are convenient, it can save me a lot of time by just booking and not having to shop around some times it is worth paying more for a direct flight. It can save you money on a layover. For example, meals can on average be $40 more at an airport. So it might be worth powering through for a direct flight, but you might be the type of person who likes to eat every couple of hours. So it might be worth having a layover. So you can get more to eat than just a bag of pretzels for lunch or whatever the inflight food might be. If you're flying domestically, usually meals are not served on planes. Sometimes it is worth paying more for a change of scenery. For example, like I said before, I used to go to San Francisco every year. And over the years that I went, I took all of Amtraks Western routes. I did it because it kept the trip fresh and it gave me some new experiences that I loved. Transportation is part of my trip. Sometimes I look forward to the transportation more than I look forward to the destination, especially when it comes to traveling by train, after you've booked your trip, it is worth looking to see if you can upgrade. Sometimes you can get a D you later on some carriers like Amtrak have a bid up process where you can put the maximum amount you're willing to spend on an upgrade. And if they do not take your bid, they don't charge you. But sometimes you can score a great deal. A few other tips I have before we go is if you're new to travel and you know, you wanna travel, but you have any dates or destination yet, or maybe you don't even have time off yet play around, make some practice trips, just pick a random destination, see how you can get there. That way you get used to the process before you have to start putting some money out. And I actually find it fun. Yes. I'm one of those people who will plan a trip, even though I'm not gonna take it after you book a ticket, most carriers give you 24 hours to decide if you wanna keep them. So if something comes up and you need to cancel, you can get your money back. Some carriers such as Amtrak can hold a room or an accommodation for you for a few days. If you wanna do this, you , you either have to call up Amtrak or go to a station to hold that reservation. Some airlines will do this too, but often they will charge. I hope this helps. As you can see, there are few things to consider when booking and it may take you a few trips before you find out what you like and what you don't like. And that's fine. It's taken me years to know what I , I know now, please do not get overwhelmed. I probably gave you more information than needed, but I wanted to provide you with a basic understanding of buying tickets and what goes into it and what options you might see. So, you know, what's going on and you can remember these tips when you start planning your trip. Thank you for being a part of the very first travels with Kev podcast. The goal is to have a new podcast out every other Wednesday. This podcast is part of travels with kev.com. So if you haven't visited the website, go over there and check out the articles that are available and waiting for you. I hope that you found value in today's podcast. And if you do, and you're interested in supporting travels with Kev , please go to travels with kev.com/support . Thanks again for listening and safe travels.