Travel

Ways to Save in London Olympics – Infographic

April 23, 2012
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Ways to Save in London Olympics – Infographic

This is a tribute to UK readers. Thanks for sticking with OCAAT. I remember the day when International Olympic Committee decided on awarding 2012 Olympics games to London, I was in London that day. I witnessed the joy and euphoria among masses. If you are in UK, you may have planned to have a have a sneak peek at the Olympics events. These tips are for your Olympic trips to London. This is once in a lifetime opportunity to see the games. Why should you not be at the venues to watch? Your family and your children should have an Olympic experience, especially since its happening in your backyard. London is costly city compared to any of the US cities. During Olympics even a shred accommodation cost per night can easily beat NYC top hotel cost. I know its difficult to fathom, but this is the fact. Infographic Credit goes to Shakthi Himalaya (for some reason I don’t know)! At the end, not to scare you off, but visiting London from outside to watch Olympic events even for a single match means you have to allocate the full day due to heavy traffic, road blockages, security clearance and especially since you have to travel by car, train, special transport buses and walk

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10 Tips to Reduce International Travel Expenses

March 2, 2012
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10 Tips to Reduce International Travel Expenses

Once in a while, we travel to other parts of the world. It’s a great pleasure for us since, besides being able to get away from work and other responsibilities, we’re able to learn so many things about other people’s cultures, traditions, and lifestyle. But then again, traveling without money is completely futile and dangerous, right? It definitely pays to be wise. If you’re planning to travel abroad, you may want to remind yourself of the following tips: 1. Be absolutely prepared Sometimes it’s fun to be spontaneous, but do it if you already have a LOT of money in your bank account. Otherwise, you have to properly plan the trip. Here are some of the things you have to prepare for: • Accommodation • Cost of travel (including within the country, such as buses, trains, etc.) • Food • Destinations • Length of the trip • People going with you It is always advisable to create a travel plan, and make sure that you begin at least 6 months to a year. The earlier you book you flight, more discount you’ll receive. There are other ways to get cheap flight tickets. Do not lose your passport, visa, identity card

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The Best Travel Advice I Ever Received, Walk

February 10, 2012
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The Best Travel Advice I Ever Received, Walk

This is a guest post by Jeff at Sustainable Life Blog as part of the Yakezie Blog Swap. Jeff blogs about finances, sustainability and DIY over at Sustainable Life Blog. You can check out Jeff’s blog today for my post. There are obviously hundreds of travel tips around: Join loyalty programs, stay with relatives, replace meals with ice cream and caffeine and many, many more. A lot of those travel tips will be subjective of course and limited by what you’re willing to do and what type of trip you’re interested in having. If you’re on a trip mostly for culinary reasons, a trip about how to get into museums free wont interest you much. That being said, the best travel tip that I have is walk as much as possible if possible. If you’re in a larger area with great public transit take it if you like, but I’d prefer to walk. On my first trip to NYC with then-girlfriend (now fiancee) we walked everywhere. We were able to see some of the most awesome little stores and find amazing restaurants. We got a deep down feel for the city (though it didn’t matter for her, she used to live

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8 Tricks to Get Cheap Flight Tickets

January 23, 2012
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8 Tricks to Get Cheap Flight Tickets

I love great deals, especially if they are for flight tickets. Just imagine being able to travel to your destinations at the lowest possible cost. But, a bargain flight ticket is difficult to score. They seem to be very elusive, and usually, even if we think we already have a bargain, we realize that we do not because a much cheaper offer comes later on. Over the years, however, I learned to be more observant, practical, and strategic with my flight ticket approaches. They became some of my techniques in looking for cheap flights. If you want to get them at a bargain—you surely want to—take note of these tips: 1. Do not go for business or first class Even if I am doing business I do not fly on business or first class. Your business partners would not know that you are flying on economy anyway. If you do not like to look so haggard for your meeting, just give yourself at least a day or 6 hours after the plane has landed to sleep for a bit and freshen up. After all, these two types of seats are the most expensive. Even if they drop in prices, they

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How I Saved on Holiday Vacation Expenses

December 14, 2011
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How I Saved on Holiday Vacation Expenses

I just came from one of the most fantastic Thanksgiving holidays with a couple of my friends along with our family. We Drove to Smoky mountains from south Florida, where we enjoyed mountains; Getting away from the plains of Florida was a good change before we officially greet the holiday season with open arms. Of course, there was turkey and plenty of activities and laughter. But what made me happier is the fact that I was able to save a lot of money from the trip; yes, plenty of money. To give you an idea, my total expenses was around 50 percent off the amount I spent last year. The following are the secrets for lower holiday vacation expenses. We booked early Right after Thanksgiving 2010, I already told myself we’re going to spend it in somewhere where we could drive. I went to Boston last year. I had to book flight, rental car and hotel. This year we drove to Smokies; Three families booked a minivan and rented a three bedroom cottage on the Appalachian hill. We booked our cottage in the summer when there was lower demand for thanksgiving accommodation. One of us already stayed in that cottage

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When and How to Buy Holiday Airline Tickets to Save

September 23, 2011
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This is a guest post from Emily Guy Birken, a freelance writer, recovering English teacher, and stay-at-home-mom. She lives in Lafayette, Indiana, with her mechanical engineer husband and infant son. Her musings on life and parenting can be found at The SAHMnambulist.  She is a frequent contributor to PTMoney.com Even though you may have just put away the swimsuits and pool toys, now is actually the right time to start thinking about your holiday travel plans.  It used to be that you could wait until a few weeks before Thanksgiving or Christmas to buy your airline tickets, but those days are long gone.  If you know that you’re going to visit Grandma Lil or Uncle Morton for the holidays this year, these pointers will help you avoid paying through the nose: 1.  Don’t wait!  In the past, it was possible to take advantage of last-minute deals right before the holidays, but it’s a mistake to count on those deals this year.  Airfare prices have gone up several times already this year, and the longer you wait to buy your tickets, the more expensive they will be.  Also, if you find airfare in your price point, go ahead and pull the trigger.  You won’t gain anything by waiting. If your

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Enjoy Life, Save Money, Take Staycation

June 17, 2011
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Enjoy Life, Save Money, Take Staycation

Summer is here, but alas, for me there is no summer vacation. I do not have a child, my wife does not attend to school, summer vacation to us holds no extra excitement. It used to be one of the most cherished days during my school years. But that is 15 years back! During childhood, every summer vacation, I used to visit some distant relative’s place, or to some colder places to enjoy better climate for few days, along with my parents and elder brother. My home town was not exactly an ideal place to be in summer. Winter vacations were more fun-filled and full of activities, tours and rides. We used to go to hills, seas, Mountains and historical site seeing. We never really felt that money for vacation is a constraint, at least dad didn’t let us feel that way. We were never a big spender either, always stayed in budget hotels, and opted for cheaper meals, bought our stuffs after a lot of bargaining. My horizon has now expanded beyond my own family, I know there are people with a dozen of BMW’s and Mercedes’s, also there are people who has to take help of coupons to

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