One tip I use to save money for travel plans is to continuously check my bookings prior to the travel date to see if the rate changes & rebook where possible. I have been able to save $200 per night on a hotel stay by taking a few moments to check hotel rates weeks leading up to the stay. 

Note: this only works for trips booked directly with the hotel/airline. 

Prior to COVID airlines charged a $200 change fee, plus the fare difference to make changes to non-refundable flight reservations. However, in 2020 airlines removed the $200 change fee and fingers crossed it stays removed. (Note: many airlines have stated they have permanently done away with the change fee, however, I personally raise an eyebrow in disbelief at the in perpetuity element).

For hotel cash rate, I normally search google.com/hotels. I will enter the hotel name and the dates of my stay and search to see if the published rate is lower than the booked rate. 

Google.com/hotels's lowest rate may not be the direct hotel rate (sometimes the lowest rate is if you book through third parties like TripAdvisor or Hotels.com). When this happens, where possible search on the hotel's website instead.

Some hotels offer a calendar showing the cash rate, where possible I will use this over Googling.

For hotel award rates, I normally search the hotel's website. Marriott and Hilton have an accurate calendar feature, while Hyatt's calendar feature is just an award estimate. A few times the Hyatt award rate reflected is less than the actual, so I tend not to rely on this too much.

Here's an example of Marriott's calendar for JW Marriott Miami for stays in June 2022.

I needed to book a two-night stay, using a 35k certificate (from my Marriott credit card) and points. When I originally booked, rates were 37,000 for the points night. Several weeks after booking, I logged into Marriott to check the points rate and noticed the night we booked was now 30,000. I went ahead and rebooked the stay (steps below) and received 7,000 points credited to my account. 

To rebook, you go to the "My Trips" tab in your Marriott account and select "View/Modify" for the reservation. Then select "Edit Room" which brings up "Your current booking" along with available rooms/rates. Once you find the room/rate you want, select "update" and then "confirm". The next screen will show you the amount (cash/points) to be refunded to your account.

Below are screenshots of our JW Marriott Miami reservation. You can see I saved 7,000 points simply by checking the hotel rates several weeks before our stay.

Some hotels do not allow rebooking reservations. Where rebooking is unavailable, I cancel the reservation 

 I book the new reservation at the lower rate. 

Also, Marriott (as well as other chains) has a 

Our Best Rate Guarantee states we will always have the lowest Rates through official Marriott Reservation Channels (Marriott Website, Marriott App, Customer Engagement Centers, or directly with a Hotel):

If you find a lower rate for the same room, let us know by submitting a 

If the lower rate qualifies, we'll match the lower rate and give you an additional 25% discount on the Room < (20% for Design Hotels branded properties) or 5,000 Marriott Bonvoy® Points

I've used this guarantee once when in Seattle and it was a HASSLE, at check-in, to get the front desk agent to honor the lower rate. I had printed the rate to show them and showed them the rate in the app & it was still a 15-minute exchange.

I have found it is easier, to check the hotels frequently before check-in and rebook when the rate drops than to argue a hotel's policy with a front desk agent.

For airline cash rates, I normally search google.com/flights. 

I've read that airlines use the search history to incrementally increase the prices of the needed flight. Have I confirmed this? Not really. However, I'd rather not discover the validity through my wallet. 

I will enter the airport/city to and from information along with the dates needed and then search to see if the published rate is lower than the booked rate. A similar process, if I find a lower rate for a booked reservation, I will then go to the airline website and rebook the flight.

Note: Southwest rates are not listed on Google.com/flights. Nevertheless, it is one of the easiest airlines to check if a flight price has changed. 

To check Southwest flights, log into and select "My Account" in the upper right-hand corner. Select "Change Flight" for the flight you wish to check; you can go through the process and exit prior to confirmation. Select the checkbox for the flight(s) under your reservation you wish to change. Then you can change the departing/arriving airport and dates (or not, if you want to maintain the reservation information) and click "Explore Options". A table will populate that will show +/- cost associated with the change.

Below is an example of the price table with the possible flight changes and their associated cost.

Hotel and flight prices fluctuate over time. Weeks leading up to your trip, check your flight and hotel reservations to see if the price has decreased, to try and save some money. Who knows, a quick 5-minute search might save you up to $100.

Book Once, Check Twice | How To Save Money Booking Flights and Hotels

We were flying into Los Angeles Airport (LAX) for Memorial Day weekend and needed a car. On March 31, after making the flight and hotel reservations, I looked to Hertz for a 4-day rental. I booked a cheapish car (Medium Sedan Group C) and kept my fingers crossed that my Hertz Five Star status would provide me a nice upgrade upon arrival.

In all honesty, I had forgotten about Hertz adding 

When we landed at LAX, we hopped on the Hertz shuttle bus and headed for the rental car center. Upon arrival, my name was on the board (as expected), however, I was listed as President's Circle (Hertz's highest tier), rather than my actual Five Star status. I walked up to the woman at the board, Karen, pointing to my name and asking for the President's Circle lot. Karen directed me to stalls to the right noting the "President Circle" signage overhead. 

I walked through the three rows of cars, looking for a hybrid vehicle. This was California, the land where gas prices were exceeding $7. Our plans had us driving 130 miles to our destination in the San Jacinto mountains, and a hybrid car would help us stretch every gas dollar. As I walked I noticed several rows of Tesla Model 3s and Model Ys, which jogged my memory of Hertz electrifying it's fleet. After not finding any hybrid vehicles on the lot, Kenny started searching for which car, in the three rows of "Presidential Circle" vehicles had the best gas mileage, while I walked back over to Karen for some help.

I approached Karen and asked if there were any hybrid cars on the lot, not in "President's Circle". She stated they had several yesterday and told me to walk with her while she tried to find us one. After walking the Five Star and Gold member rows, Karen sheepishly stated "there were so many yesterday, we were just giving them away". She started to walk back to the office to check the inventory when I asked "how much to rent the Tesla", to which she responded "$150". Karen did not append the statement with "per day" or "for your total rental period", so I knew more questions were necessary. 

When we arrived at the stand located outside the office, Karen asked Annie "she wants to know how much to rent a Tesla?" to which Annie responded "$40 a day". 

Karen followed up with "any model" to which Annie responded "for her, yes, any model". 

I quickly called Kenny who was still searching best gas mileage to see if he was ok with the upgrade. Kenny was onboard & we started the process. 

Karen started walking back to the Tesla stalls and I followed closely. She asked, "do you want a Model 3 or a Model Y"?

Karen stated "OK, get the Model Y, it has better range"

Karen inquired "what color do you want, red, blue, white?"

I responded "red" while whipping my hair to show my fire engine red tips.

Karen walked back to Annie and told her "she wants the Red Model Y in 222".

I gave Annie my driver's license and she started typing on the computer. Annie yelled for Karen, who had walked into the office, "check to make sure 222 is a Model Y". Karen emerged with two bottles of water, handed them to me saying "take these for the drive" and then walked off to check that stall 222 was indeed a red Model Y. Moments later she returned confirming that 222 was a red Model Y.

I started to pull out my credit card to hand to Annie for the charge. She scoffed and stated "don't need it, credit card information is in your account." Moments later I received a text alert from my credit card about the charge and laughed saying to Annie "ah, yup, the charge just came in."

By this point, I had texted Kenny to come over and he was standing behind me. After Annie handed me the reservation booklet, Karen walked us over to the car. 

 She helped us put our luggage in the trunk and asked "who's driving?"

I raised my hand, and she asked "have you ever driven a Tesla", and we both responded "no".

Karen ushered me into the driver's seat and then for the next 10 minutes, provided us a walkthrough of the vehicle. She walked through the steps on how to access the charge port and showed us where the charging cables were in the car and how to use them. She then went through the car functionality: how to change gears, how to unlock and lock the vehicle, how to control the car's AC output, how to adjust the sound volume, and the many screens available including navigation. I felt so confident after and was in amazement that she dedicated so much time to us to ensure we knew how to operate the vehicle. Before she bid us farewell, Karen told us that we only had to bring the car back at a 20% state of charge and then walked away.

When we drove off the lot, the car was at 89% state of charge. We drove to Smoke and Fire Social for lunch, before heading up the mountain. After the 130-mile journey, we arrived at the 

 with a 26% state of charge. Prior to arrival, I confirmed that the Lodge had a charge point charging station. After unpacking the car, we hooked it up to the charger and it noted a 14-hour 40 minute charge time. In the morning, 12 hours later, we checked and the car was at 88% state of charge. 

We drove the car around the mountain town for three days before returning it to LAX, not having to charge again. Upon return, the car was at 52% state of charge. 

I have been renting from Hertz for several years and this was by far the best experience to date. The staff was phenomenal and the upgrade was unheard of, for $75 a day we were able to rent a Red Tesla Model Y and we enjoyed every moment of it.

Renting a Tesla Model Y From Hertz

In the past my travel was determined by the lowest price on any airline as well as the cheapest 4 start hotel on Hotel.com. Over the years I have slowly started to see the benefit of travel "loyalty" which has led me to a few elite statuses.

Before the pandemic, I would travel for work and mainly flew American Airlines and stayed in Marriott hotels. In 2018 I attained Marriott silver through hotel stays before opening the SPG Credit Card from American Express Card/Marriott Amex Bonvoy credit card (no longer available). The card came with 15 elite nights, which coupled with my 12 stay in 2019, pushed me into Gold status (25 night stay requirement). 

When the pandemic began in March 2020, Marriott extended member's statuses until 2022, along with awarding them half the nights necessary to maintain the status they held in 2019. With my credit card's 15 elite night, along with the 13 promotional bonus nights, I met the requirement to maintain Gold for 2021 without having to spend 1 night in a hotel. Marriott has subsequently extended member statuses (again) to February 2023.

How did I do it? A bit of promotion double dipping of airline and hotel promotions. Here how's I earned Hyatt Globalist & AA Platinum Pro.

In 2020 I was interested in trying out Hyatt's "Work From Hyatt" program, which at their all inclusive Ziva/Zilara's came with an extensive list of extras for around $300 per room per night. Unbeknownst to me, our 18 night stay at the 

 would put me over halfway towards earning Hyatt Globalist in 2021 under the reduced 30 night stay requirement. 

Promotion 1: Hyatt reduced the requirement to earn status by 50% (30 nights for Globalist)

Promotion 2: Jan - Feb 28, 2021 Bonus Journeys resulting in double elite nights.

Feb 2021: 6 nights (counted as 12 nights)

By late February 2021, I was a Hyatt Globalist! With my new elite status, I started planning future 2021 Hyatt stays.

In August 2021, after linking my Hyatt and American Airlines account, an offer to fast track Platinum Pro (for Hyatt Globalists) was in my account. This 90 day promotion required 2k spend (EQD) & 40k miles (EQM). I started looking for transcontinental flights & booked two roundtrips flights to Miami (from LAX). Several other last minute flights pushed me over the threshold, 60 days into the 90 day challenge.

Excited to head into 2022 & see what other promotions await for elite status.

Blog

How I Earned Elite Status in 2021

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