Secrets to Cheap Travel from NYT’s Frugal Traveler

Summary

Podcast Summary: Secrets to Cheap Travel from NYT’s Frugal Traveler

The Wirecutter Show – The New York Times
Hosts: Christine Cyr Clisset, Kyra Blackwell, Rosie Guerin
Guest: Elaine Glusack, "Frugal Traveler" columnist (NYT)
Date: October 8, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode of The Wirecutter Show dives into the art of budget travel, guided by special guest Elaine Glusack, the New York Times’ expert "Frugal Traveler" columnist. Elaine shares her best practices for scoring deals on flights and accommodations, navigating Black Friday travel sales, and maximizing your travel dollar, all while exploring themes of sustainability, flexibility, and getting closer to authentic experiences. The hosts go deep on practical advice, notable trends, and hot tips that travelers of all styles can use.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Introduction to the Frugal Traveler (05:35 - 07:29)

• Elaine’s Background:
  • Elaine has written about travel for over 25 years, inspired by the broad nature of “travel”—which includes food, adventure, art, culture, and nature. She began the Frugal Traveler column at the start of the pandemic, making her advice especially timely (05:58).
  • “I just basically followed my bliss, as the adage goes, and I really couldn’t find a topic I liked that… made me more happy and eager to get to work in the morning.” – Elaine Glusack (05:58)
  • Her work often blends solo "work" trips and family travel—with an emphasis on maximizing both time and budget.

2. The Philosophy of Frugal Travel (07:41 - 08:53)

• Budget Travel as Enrichment:
  • Elaine’s approach is to show that “being mindful of your money does not diminish your experience in any way. I would argue that it inherently enhances it.” (07:50)
  • Budget travel fosters closer connection with locals and unique, meaningful experiences away from the tourism bubble—illustrated by stories like vineyard-hopping via public transport or taking inexpensive cruises.

3. Sustainability and Changing Habits (08:53 - 09:35)

• Sustainable Travel:
  • Elaine is “much more mindful of sustainability now,” flying less and combining trips for efficiency (08:55).
  • She advocates for “slow travel”—on foot, by bike, or train—both for environmental and experiential reasons.

4. Flight Deal Strategies (09:35 - 16:07)

The Art of Timing:

• “Spontaneity is for road trips, but flights are like, you need six to eight weeks for domestic.” (09:54)
  • For major holidays, start monitoring airfare in August and be ready to book come September/October (10:37).
  • For popular international destinations (e.g., NYC↔London), deals may appear closer to departure.

Technical Tools & Tactics:

• Google Flights: To benchmark what a good deal looks like.
• Kayak: Their monitoring feature can advise when to book or wait.
• Going.com (formerly Scott’s Cheap Flights): “It’s great at finding deals from your favorite airport.” (13:25)
• Set up deal alerts, play with date flexibility, and monitor for price drops to potentially use credits.

Deal Myths Debunked:

• No current magic day to book, but “flying Tuesday, returning Saturday… Those are the lowest load days.” (14:27)

Base Fares vs. True Costs:

• Don’t just buy the cheapest ticket—consider checked bag and seat assignment fees, and beware “basic economy.” Flexibility is worth paying a bit more (15:34).
• “If you have to cancel, you’re out the entire fare. So I always book a ticket where I can at least get a credit back if I have to cancel.” (15:34)

Credit Card Perks:

• Airline-branded cards can offset costs for seat and bag fees and are often worth it if you fly an airline frequently (16:07).

Budget Airlines:

• Use them only if you can abide by strict limits (e.g., personal item only)—factor in service frequency, as getting stuck can be a real problem (17:00–17:33).
• International recommendations included Volaris for Mexico (18:19).

5. Lodging on a Budget (19:10 - 21:26)

• Luxury & Boutique Hotel Deals:

  • “Hotels are really worth booking early…most have unrestrictive cancellation policies.” (19:10)
  • Sign up for hotel newsletters for secret deals; search calendars for rate dips; book midweek/off-season whenever possible.

• Airbnb/VRBO Tips:

  • Book early—inventory is essentially “one of one.”
  • Stays longer than a week may result in discounts.
  • Booking directly with hosts (outside platforms) often leads to savings; returning renters should negotiate directly.
  • “You can negotiate that way.” (20:22)

• Host’s Perspective:

  • Kyra notes that as a host, she is “always happy to have repeat customers… when people ask me to negotiate price, I’m happy to do it because I’d rather have some money than no money.” (21:26)

6. Trends: Domestic vs. International, Exchange Rates (24:27 - 26:35)

• Domestic Travel Deals:

  • With international tourism down, Americans may find better domestic deals and greater availability, e.g., at Alaska lodges (24:52).

• Currency Tips:

  • Travel where the dollar is strong (Canada, Mexico), multiplying your power.
  • Use exchange rate blogs from sites like Currency Exchange International or financial writers at NerdWallet to find value destinations (25:47–26:18).
  • “US$1 gets you $1.38 Canadian. That’s almost like a 40% gain.” (25:47)

7. When to Use a Travel Agent (27:02 - 28:31)

• Travel agents excel at specialist/high-end trips and especially cruises, offering upgrades and credits more than discounts.
• For cruises, compare agencies, direct bookings, and member clubs such as Costco for the best perks.

8. Membership Clubs & Car Rentals (28:31 - 29:22)

• Costco Travel:
  • “I use Costco all the time for car rental. I don’t know, I just have not found better ways.” (29:04)
  • Works internationally; less consistent for hotels or packages but excellent for car deals.

9. Black Friday for Travel (29:37–31:39)

• Black Friday sales often target “shoulder season,” off-peak, or special inventory—best for flexible planners.
• “It’s kind of like the sales bin of misfit toys… There are some gems.” (30:02)
• Example: Elaine landed a Croatian yacht trip $400 off, trading warm weather for quiet beauty.

10. Refunds, Insurance, and Flight Protections (31:48–33:38)

• Getting Refunds:

  • If airlines cancel, you’re owed a refund, but you must proactively decline rebooking (31:59).
  • Significant delay rules are currently vague post-regulation changes.

• Travel Insurance:

  • Elaine skips airline-offered policies, relying on credit card protections instead (33:01).
  • “A lot of credit cards… have a lot of consumer protections built in.” (33:01)

11. Lightning Round: Travel Tactics (33:38–34:34)

• Error fares: Green light – “Go sweet!” (34:03)
• Subscription deal services: Yellow – Try the free tier first.
• Buying canceled trips from others: Greenish – Possible if you’re flexible, but hard to line up dates.

12. Parting Wisdom & Luggage Preferences (34:34–35:53)

• Best Travel Advice:
  • “Don’t expect everything to go smoothly. And when it doesn’t, remember the worst trips make the best stories.” (34:43)
• Packing:
  • Carries on to avoid “psychic baggage”; soft-sided backpack for carry-on, hard-sided wheelies for checking.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On authentic travel:
  “When you’re traveling on a budget, you’re not cocooned in a luxury resort… which to me is the whole point of cross cultural exchange.” – Elaine Glusack (07:50)
• On planning ahead:
  “Spontaneity is for road trips, but flights… you need six to eight weeks for domestic.” – Elaine Glusack (09:54)
• On flight flexibility:
  “I will never buy a flight I can’t change… If you have to cancel, you’re out the entire fare.” – Elaine Glusack (15:34)
• On Black Friday deals:
  “It’s like the sales bin of misfit toys… But every once in a while you’ll find like a cashmere at TJ Maxx.” – Elaine (30:02, 31:39)
• On adversity in travel:
  “Don’t expect everything to go smoothly. And when it doesn’t, remember the worst trips make the best stories.” – Elaine (34:43)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Introduction to Elaine & Her Philosophy: 05:35 – 08:53
• Flight Deals Strategy: 09:35 – 16:07
• Accommodation Advice: 19:10 – 21:26
• Currency & Domestic Travel Trends: 24:27 – 26:35
• Cruises & Membership Clubs: 27:02 – 29:22
• Black Friday for Travel: 29:37 – 31:39
• Refunds and Insurance: 31:48 – 33:38
• Lightning Round: 33:38 – 34:34
• Closing Insights: 34:34 – 35:53

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Overall Tone and Takeaways

The episode is lively, practical, and reassuring, mixing admiration for adventure with a clear-eyed look at frugality and the realities of travel planning. Elaine’s generous, friendly tone offers listeners both permission to save money and encouragement to seek more authentic, rewarding travel experiences by doing so.

Top Actionable Tips

• Start tracking flights 6–12 weeks ahead; book early for holidays
• Use Google Flights, Kayak, and going.com for flexible deal hunting
• Book hotels/Airbnbs early, negotiate directly with hosts for savings
• Use travel-branded credit cards for baked-in airline perks
• Look for the strong dollar abroad, and check currency-focused travel blogs
• Reserve rental cars through membership clubs (Costco highly recommended)
• Shop Black Friday for travel only if you’re flexible and looking for off-peak deals

Final Wisdom:
Don’t just chase rock-bottom prices—chase the memorable, meaningful trips where being frugal supports discovery, creativity, and true adventure.

Transcript

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[Christine Cyrclassette]

I haven't found Costco travel to be great for the other types of travel that you can book through them, but the cars are pretty sweet.

[Elaine Glusack]

Yeah, that's true. I know people that have booked their honeymoons for, you know, if all you want is like fly and flop, it's great for that. I like that.

[Rosie Guerin]

That's all I ever want should be my life.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

I'm Christine Cyrclassette.

[Kyra Blackwell]

I'm Kyra Blackwell.

[Rosie Guerin]

I'm Rosie Guerin and you're listening to the Wirecutter Show. Hey, pals.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

Hey there.

[Rosie Guerin]

Can I start off with a compliment? One of the things I like best about you guys is the extent to which you have inspired me to travel more.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Aw.

[Rosie Guerin]

It's true. Really, That's a compliment that comes from the heart, but also from the fact that you guys, I feel like, are out and about. You're seeing the world and it's really cool.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

Well, I wasn't able to see the world for a long time. I have kids and they were little and then the pandemic happened and it's expensive to travel, but lately I feel like I've been getting to go places at some.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Yeah, I'm kind of the opposite. I have no responsibilities and I love to hop on a plane.

[Elaine Glusack]

It's great.

[Rosie Guerin]

It's a privilege. And it also is a means, I think, of personal growth. We're focusing on travel a bit this week on the Wirecutter show, and our guest today fits perfectly into that, I would say.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

That's right. And you know, Wirecutter, we cover a lot of travel gear. You can find all sorts of reviews for travel bags and gear that put in your bags, all of that. But what we don't cover is the actual sort of nuts and bolts of how to shop for travel, for your flights, for your hotel rooms. And these are often the most expensive things when you're traveling. So today we're going to talk with Elaine Glusack, who is the Frugal Traveler columnist at the New York Times and she is really a specialist in traveling well for less. And I have to tell you, I love Elaine's column. I read it all the time. I'm always kind of like following her from afar to see where is she going and how much is she spending.

[Kyra Blackwell]

On this trip, living vicariously through her. We're going to chat with Elaine about how to get the best deals on airfare, lodging and what you should know about travel deals during Black Friday. We'll be back in a bit.

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[Elaine Glusack]

Chapter one oh no, no no no no. Part one Perfect. The mountains are impressive.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Oh, I wish you were here to see them.

[Elaine Glusack]

Dear Diary, Meet my new writing companion, the Meisterstuck.

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[Rosie Guerin]

Welcome back. Our guest today is Elaine Glusack, a longtime travel journalist who currently writes the New York Times column the Frugal Traveler. As the name implies, the column focuses on budget travel, international and domestic travel by car, by train, camping, cruises, hotels, hostels, rentals and much more. Well, I wish we could talk with Elaine for 27 hours and extract every nugget of wisdom you have, Elaine. Today we're gonna focus on your very best tips for scoring great travel deals this fall and winter. So welcome to the Wirecutter show.

[Elaine Glusack]

Oh, my gosh. Thanks so much for having me.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

Well, it's so awesome to have you here, Elaine. I have to say, I'm a little jealous of your job, honestly. You just travel around the world and you get to write about it. So you write the Frugal Traveler column. You've done that since 2020. This column has been around for though. I'm curious, how long have you been writing about travel? And how did you end up with this gig as the Frugal Traveler?

[Elaine Glusack]

Yeah, I'm so grateful for it. I've been writing about travel for at least 25 years, or really most of my career. I just basically followed my bliss, as the adage goes, and I really couldn't find a topic I liked that, you know, made me more happy and eager to get to work in the morning. Partly that's the case because travel is this huge umbrella for so many interests. You could be writing about food or adventure or art or culture or nature. All of those things interest me. All fall under the travel umbrella. And I got the gig right on the verge of the pandemic in 2020. So the timing was very interesting, but it ended up being a rather important time to be reporting on travel. The industry was so battered, but people very clearly wanted to get out and go, which they've been like gangbusters.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

It's been pretty wild the last few years. Elaine, when you are writing columns for the Frugal Traveler, are you mostly traveling by yourself? Are you traveling with family members, a partner? How does that work for you?

[Elaine Glusack]

Yeah, I mostly travel solo when I'm traveling for work, but I also travel a lot with my family. So trips can often be sort of a business leisure, leisure blend, if you will. When I'm working exclusively, I'm trying to be really mindful of the balance between time and budget. So I'm usually running around like crazy to get everything in, to see everything, to eat, everything, to do it all on budget, you know, So I only invite my most energetic friends on my work only trips.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

I feel like I want to become your friend, so. But we'll talk about that offline.

[Wayfair/advertisement voice]

Yeah.

[Rosie Guerin]

I want to know, when you first began writing the column, what was your approach to writing about budget travel specifically?

[Elaine Glusack]

You know, there are things I want to do and things I have to do. The column covers both service and more experiential travel. So we definitely want to give advice on the best credit cards and how to score deals and the ins and outs of bidding and upgrades. But in the experiential stories where I'm traveling, I want to show people that being mindful of your money does not diminish your experience in any way. I would argue that it inherently enhances it. I feel that you get closer to real people when you're traveling in a budget. You're not cocooned in a luxury resort like the White Lotus and the only locals you meet are the staff, which to me is the whole point of cross cultural exchange. And I also really wanted to test drive a lot of different ways of traveling and that doing it on a budget can be like so much more interesting. So, for example, what's it like when you exclusively use public transportation to go vineyard hopping? Or what's it like to take a $300 cruise to the Bahamas? Or you know, what's gained or lost if you go to less popular places, you know, in popular destinations like Costa Rica.

[Rosie Guerin]

How has that changed over the years?

[Elaine Glusack]

I'm much more mindful of sustainability now and the contribution that conscious travelers can have in promoting it. I think if you're careful about how and where you go, which is very much tied up with your budget, I think you do a better job of leaving no trace or at least reducing your footprint. I also fly a lot less and when I do, I try to stack up assignments. So I'm not just flying to England for one trip, but travel around the UK and report three stories. I'm very interested in slow and sustainable forms of travel, including human powered trips like walking, cycling and paddling. And slower means like tr.

[Kyra Blackwell]

The thing that will usually cost you the most when you're traveling is flights and lodging. So can you break down your best advice for getting better deals on flights? Because I am a last minute buyer, unfortunately, Elaine, I usually buy my tickets maybe two days before I have to leave. That's not very frugal of me.

[Elaine Glusack]

Unfortunately. It's not great for the spontaneous traveler. I mean, I feel like spontaneity is for road trips, but flights are like, you need six to eight weeks for domestic. Six to eight weeks? Yeah, it's like it kind of kills it, doesn't it?

[Rosie Guerin]

I know, and that's just, that's for domestic, right?

[Elaine Glusack]

And it could be 12, you know, for international. But I will say there are some exceptions with international, like the big destinations like New York, London, you can probably go a lot closer because there's so much service.

[Kyra Blackwell]

What is the closest you would do on a spontaneous trip?

[Elaine Glusack]

On a spontaneous trip? A month.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Okay.

[Elaine Glusack]

I feel like that's not spontaneous, though.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Do you think the same rules apply for holiday travel when you know it's going to be a really high traffic time?

[Elaine Glusack]

Oh, my gosh. Holidays are so much worse. You're gonna hate this answer. Cause, like, for Thanksgiving, you have to start monitoring flights in August. In August, yes. And you have to be ready to book in September or early October. Well, that's when prices bottom out, and then they'll start to rise really, really quickly. And then it's like the same sort of huge margin that you need around Christmas travel. And one little piece of advice, my favorite little trick here is when we're thinking about the holidays, I love the period between Thanksgiving and for doing the personal trip, it's a really low. Like, everyone's traveling at Thanksgiving, everyone's traveling at Christmas. It really tends to be quiet the first two weeks after Thanksgiving. I always book a trip.

[Kyra Blackwell]

That's a hot tip.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

Yeah, that is a great tip.

[Rosie Guerin]

Where have you gone in the past during that period?

[Elaine Glusack]

Well, I went to France and did the Christmas markets on the Rhine. That's so amazing.

[Rosie Guerin]

I was gonna guess Heidelberg.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

Christmas markets during that time. I am definitely the opposite of Kyra when it comes to travel. I just booked my husband's birthday trip, which is in March. I'm wondering, did I book too early? I was like, oh, maybe I will be shooting myself in the foot by buying so early, like seven months in advance.

[Elaine Glusack]

Oh, I don't know if it's a refundable ticket or not even refundable, but you can get a credit back. You could keep monitoring that flight and, like, see if it drops and then cancel it and then use that credit to rebook.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

That is a good tip. That is a totally good tip. I will continue to monitor. I'm curious, when you are, you know, you want to go to a specific place, what's your strategy at a technical level? Are you putting in a Google alert on Google flights? Are there other places that you're looking? You know, what are the tools that help you find the best deals for flights?

[Elaine Glusack]

Yes. And I'm not very techy, so I just want to say if I can do it, everybody can do this. But Google Flights is great because I always start there because a search will tell you if you're getting a good deal, a worst deal, or an average price. So you kind of want to go there and find out what you should be looking for what a deal looks like. And then I'll go to Kayak, which is another travel search engine, and they have a little advice monitor that will tell you to buy or to wait. And then I'll set up notifications with both Google and Kayak and they'll tell you what's happening. Is it going up or down the flight price, that is. And then I spend a lot of time playing with my itinerary. Can I go a day later or a day earlier? You know, is it better to spare myself the expense of an extra hotel night and take a late flight home? I also sign up for free notifications from a website called going.com, which is great at finding deals from your favorite airport. So I just booked a deal round trip to Toronto in first class for $300, which is a retail.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

Oh, Elaine, that's awesome.

[Rosie Guerin]

Send me the link.

[Wayfair/advertisement voice]

I know I will.

[Rosie Guerin]

Did Going used to be Scott's cheap flight?

[Christine Cyrclassette]

Yes, it did.

[Elaine Glusack]

Yes.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

And it really. I found I've used this site too. It's super cool. But I also have found, like, I think it works best for people who are super flexible, right. Who can go on the dates that it pinpoints as having good flights.

[Kyra Blackwell]

And can you pinpoint where you'd like to go? It just gives you every possible deal there is at that airport.

[Elaine Glusack]

Yeah, they just kind of look at your airport, so you might not be interested in Honduras, whatever, just delete that email. But yeah, every once in a while it'll just come up with, hey, Toronto's on sale.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Wow. Is there a best day to buy flights? I've heard that Tuesday nights, like at midnight is a really good time. I don't know why. Or like flying on a Wednesday is cheaper. Is any of that true?

[Elaine Glusack]

Some of it is true. Like airfare pricing has changed so much in recent years and it's way more dynamic and sophisticated than it used to be. So there's really no magic day to making your booking. But there was a thing about Tuesdays.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Really?

[Elaine Glusack]

Yes. It used to be that was the day when one person, like an actual person went in and updated flights. And now it's all computer driven, you know, so they can change hour to hour. But I am a huge fan of flying Tuesday. Like going out on Tuesday, returning Saturday, or flying Saturday and returning Tuesday or Wednesday. Those are the lowest load days. So not only are prices better, of course, but you get a better experience at the airport and in the air.

[Rosie Guerin]

So in the vein of talking about flights, buying airfare these days can Be really complicated. Even on premium airlines like United or Delta, if you go for the cheap, cheapest option, you often have to pay extra for things like choosing seats or checking bags, which seems egregious to me. Same deal with budget carriers like Frontier, Spirit and now Southwest. So for you, do you tend to go for the cheapest option or do you pay more for things like refundable flights, free cancellation? I want to know because I want to know if paying less ends up costing you more in the end.

[Elaine Glusack]

I think it definitely can. And it may be different for every traveler. I will never buy a flight. I can't change basic economy tickets. Okay, they might save you $50, but if you have to cancel, I mean, life happens. If you have to cancel, you're out the entire fare. So I always book a ticket where I can at least get a credit back if I have to cancel. I just have to have that flexibility. I don't know, maybe my life happens more dramatically. I don't know.

[Rosie Guerin]

I've run into that. I have little kids and things come up and life happens. And so, oh my God, yes, I've gotten credits that I use for the next thing.

[Elaine Glusack]

Yes, I mean, they keep your money, but at least they are allowing you to use it within a year or two. But I wanted to say when it comes to seats and bags, that I play the credit card game and I get those perks by paying with the airline's branded credit card. It's kind of a no brainer for me because I'm based in a city that has a hub for like two major airlines, actually three. And within a trip or two, I'll have paid off that $95 annual fee through free seat assignments or checked bag fees. And like everyone else, I hate budget carriers for their nickel and diming. But if you abide by their rules, you really can save again for work. I once did a $100 round trip to Vegas, which only allowed me to bring a personal item. Of course, this was Spirit Airlines. So basically I took like a little backpack with some running clothes and a toothbrush and I had this great budget trip. And it was cheap. But yes, if you're going to check a bag or you want a decent seat, you need to add those fees in when you're comparing fares with other airlines. I have another red flag about budget carriers and that's their frequency of service. So, for example, they might have this great fare to Key West, Florida, but, you know, maybe they only fly it once a day or maybe twice a week. So if something Happens and you get bumped, it could be days or weeks before they can get you home because their flights are so infrequent.

[Rosie Guerin]

It's a good thing to keep an eye out for. And actually we're gonna have a lot more to say about the points game. We're gonna talk to Brian Kelly as well about how to manage that and figure that out. If that's your bag. I'm curious. Do you buy flights directly from the airline or do you buy flights from Expedia or Travelocity or third party vendors?

[Elaine Glusack]

I usually buy them directly mostly because I want more control over my booking. And I'm always worried about cancellations and getting my money back. And I just feel like that's much more seamless if you go direct.

[Rosie Guerin]

Are there any budget airlines that fly internationally that you've used before or you think are worth considering?

[Elaine Glusack]

Yes, definitely. I just took Volaris, which is a Mexican low cost carrier. I took them to Mexico City and I had a great experience. It was super cheap. It was under $300 round trip to Mexico City. I mean, it was more like 200. It was crazy. The seats were fairly intimate, restrictive, and I don't even think they were giving out free water.

[Wayfair/advertisement voice]

Oh, no.

[Rosie Guerin]

BYO water.

[Elaine Glusack]

I know, but the service was professional and they dominate the route, so there's like a ton of options. You won't get st.

[Rosie Guerin]

I want to pivot to lodging. What is your best advice for finding a good deal at a luxury hotel, a boutique hotel, an all inclusive. Is that possible to do on a budget?

[Elaine Glusack]

I feel like hotels are really worth booking early so that like March trip you're doing, you should get your hotels because that's when rates are lowest and most have unrestrictive cancellation policies. So you, you know, you can make these early reservations without risking anything, you know, because as hotels book up, the prices go up. And if you need to change it, you can usually do that without a penalty 24 to 48 hours in advance. I don't do a lot of luxury hotels, as you might imagine, but I would say if you have a particular hotel in mind, that you should sign up for their newsletter or their emails.

[Rosie Guerin]

Ooh.

[Elaine Glusack]

They often will include special offers for their subscribers or mailing list. And with many hotels, you can kind of scour their availability calendars and find the dates with the cheapest rates and like maybe work your trip around them. And then of course, always try to book in the off season or, you know, on the quieter days of the week, which is midweek, if you can.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

When I Travel with my husband. Just my husband will stay at a hotel, but I am way too cheap to do this with my kids. I need to have a kitchen that we can cook some food in. I usually rent Airbnbs or VRBOs or whatever. I'm wondering if you have any advice on how to find the best deals on that type of lodging.

[Elaine Glusack]

Searching early is important. It's basically one of one inventory, right? If the one you love, you know, is sold out, it's sold out. Also, you could consider staying longer. Airbnb and VRBO both offer not always, but often discounts for stays of a week or more. You can try to book directly with a host and you'll usually get a better rate. This takes a little bit of sleuthing, and I did an entire column on this. But you can get around rental platforms by, like, scouring their sites, like, looking at the pictures on their site. And a lot of people that run their own booking, apart from, say, an Airbnb might have, like, a framed photograph on the counter that says welcome to Home in the woods or something like that. Something that you can then go to Google with, say, like, Home in the woods in Ely, Minnesota, and, like, maybe their website comes up. You know, if you go somewhere frequently, like, let's say you go visit your parents every year, I would go to that host and say, look, I'm coming back. You know, would you deal with me directly? And if so, can I get a 10 to 20% discount so you can negotiate that way?

[Kyra Blackwell]

Yeah. I'm a current Airbnb host and I will say that I'm always happy to have repeat customers and people who will hit me up, like, the upcoming weekend. And I still don't have a booking. And when people ask me to negotiate price, I'm happy to do it because I'd rather have some money than no money. So I would say definitely. In my experience, it's better to go directly to a small actual host than, like, you know, management companies now manage these Airbnbs, and it's a whole thing. Talking to the people in my experience has always been much better.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

Oh, that's smart. So I'm going to look up your Instagram for your house, and I'm going to reach out directly after this.

[Rosie Guerin]

Our guest is Elaine Glusack. She is the frugal travel columnist for the New York Times. We're going to take a quick break, and on the other side, we'll get into more travel tips and hacks. Stick around.

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You to use life's quiet moments to pause, reflect and put pen to paper.

[Elaine Glusack]

Chapter one oh no, no no, no. Part one mmm, Perfect. The mountains are impressive.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Oh, I wish you were here to see them.

[Elaine Glusack]

Dear Diary, meet my new writing companion, the Meisterstuck.

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For every journey, the perfect companion awaits. Mont Blanc. Let's write. Visit montblanc.com for exquisitely crafted writing instruments, leather goods and more.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Welcome back. Elaine Glusack is in the studio with us today. She writes the Frugal Traveler column for the New York Times and has been generously sharing her most sought after tips and tricks for traveling on a budget.

[Rosie Guerin]

That's right. I want to briefly zoom out and talk about big picture trends you're seeing in travel. Elaine Tourism is down significantly in the us. More specifically, people who live abroad are not visiting here. So I'm gonna skip past the question and explanation of why and instead ask you, is this a financially good time for Americans to travel domestically?

[Elaine Glusack]

Yes. The decline of visitors from Canada in particular has really registered in a lot of places from Vermont to Florida. And of course, travelers, you know, from Europe and other parts of the world are staying away, you know, which means there's more availability. This summer, for example, I saw a series of lodges in Alaska near Denali that went on sale in the Summer. And I have just never seen that in my experience. And I have to believe it was related to tour groups canceling.

[Rosie Guerin]

That's actually really interesting. We talk these days a lot about inflation and tariffs. It's in the news. Many people are financially strapped right now with an uncertain economy. I want to throw one other financial term into the mix and ask you about exchange rates and foreign currency as they relate to travel. What should the average person know and look for when they're considering traveling abroad and hoping to maximize the US Dollar?

[Elaine Glusack]

Yeah, you want to look for a currency where the dollar is strong. So for example, if you go to Canada, US$1 gets you $1.38 Canadian. That's almost like a 40% chance gain. And I can tell you from recent experience, because I drove across Canada in August, that the prices in Canada are not 40% higher. So you're getting that bonus. And it's the same in Mexico. You get about 18 pesos to the dollar, which goes a long way unless you're going to like Los Cabos, which has gotten really expensive.

[Rosie Guerin]

And how do you research that? How can people find out?

[Elaine Glusack]

I like the currency exchange websites that have blogs that identify these countries that have great exchange rate value for travelers. I'm thinking of currency exchange international, but also like personal finance websites like nerdwallet are a good place to look for that stuff too.

[Rosie Guerin]

So, Elaine, so far we've focused on ways of searching for researching and booking travel independently. But I wonder about passing that time since time is money off to someone else, someone who can maybe do it faster and more efficiently, like a travel agent. Are you ever going to actually save money using an agent or an agency? Or are those really a thing of the past?

[Elaine Glusack]

No, I think there are occasions when you can save. I am a DIY person and I kind of enjoy all the planning and research. But travel agents are especially good at high end trips and focusing on specialist trips like if you want to go on safari or if you want to do Disney. Right. And I will say that they own the cruise market. If you are going to book a cruise, you'd be better off going with a travel agent and having them do that booking because they have access to special perks. So you might not get a better rate, but you might get an upgrade or you might get like shipboard credits. And I think they really prove their value there.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

So if you were thinking about specifically for a cruise for your family, are you saying you maybe want a comparison shop with a travel agency or a couple of them versus what you could get on Expedia or. I know that I look at, like, Costco Travel sometimes. Like, I'm a member of Costco.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Costco, That's a thing.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

Oh, boy. Yeah, that's the. Yes. We should talk about that.

[Rosie Guerin]

Yeah, we should talk about that.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

But just to finish this question, how would you go about shopping in a savvy way?

[Elaine Glusack]

Yeah, I always think it's having more sources of information is better. Of course. Like, there is sort of this time is money thing where you're like, I don't really want to look at five different travel agents. So, you know, maybe you look at Expedia. That's easy. And then maybe call a travel agent that someone told you about or the cruise line recommended because they have these close relationships with a lot of agen and, you know, maybe get a couple points of reference and then decide or look at Costco Travel.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

Well, speaking of Costco, let's get back to that. So my aunt and uncle actually are travel agents and they now almost exclusively deal in cruises. But they gave me this very hot tip that when they travel, they. It was actually their daughter gave this tip to me. She only books her cars through Costco Travel because she gets the best deal on them. And since then, that's how I've booked my travel. And I usually get a better deal through Costco Travel. Have you found that. Are there other membership clubs that you'd recommend, sort of looking at the travel perks through those membership clubs?

[Elaine Glusack]

Oh, I use Costco all the time for car rental. I don't know. I just have not found better ways.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Does that work internationally too?

[Elaine Glusack]

I think so. I think I rented in Canada and it was better.

[Rosie Guerin]

I've never heard this.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

I haven't found Costco Travel to be great for the other types of travel that you can book through them. I'm not sure, but the cars are pretty sweet.

[Elaine Glusack]

Yeah, that's true. I know people that have booked their honeymoons for, you know, if all you want is like fly and flop, it's great for that. I like that.

[Rosie Guerin]

That's all I ever want. Should be my life.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

We want to talk about Black Friday. Black Friday is kind of wirecutters, Super Bowl. We are on the hunt for deals. We're trying to find deals for our readers. But this can also be a time to look for travel deals. And you've written about this. But if somebody knows that they want to buy airfare or maybe lodging or a cruise, do you advise that people wait until Black Friday to look for deals?

[Elaine Glusack]

Yeah, I Think the whole Black Friday season in travel is kind of like the sales bin of misfit toys. Like, you know, cruises in the shoulder season rather than when the weather's reliable. You know, there's a lot of first quarter trips. I approach it as, what can I get out of this that I know I need to plan? So, like, do I have a wedding in March in San Francisco? Oh, this might be a good time to look for a hotel sale. It's a bin. So, like, you have to do some digging and there are some gems. A lot of national park lodges never cut their rates, but they'll do like a one time sale at Black Friday so that, you know, again, if you're thinking about your year ahead, like, what do I want to do next year? Peruse the deals and see if one works for you. I gave it a shot. I gave it a trial. I bought a yacht trip in Croatia just to see what it would be like on a Black Friday sale. So I saved $400, which is significant, but I had to go in April, which is relatively chilly in the Adriatic. But I have to say that it was a great experience and I'm pretty sure that I would not trade it for high season in the sense that we had the islands to ourselves. It was super unpressured, the weather was great, and we even did like a polar bear swim.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

So this sounds like my kind of trip. I would always take less people over great weather. So if I am just to that point of like, what you're looking for at Black Friday, let's say I'm looking for a spring break trip for my family. Do you think this is a good time to kind of like see what they've got and then if they don't have what you want, then you can buy full price later?

[Elaine Glusack]

Yeah, totally. You're just like browsing the racks. That's the way I look at it.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Right?

[Christine Cyrclassette]

It's like the TJ Maxx of travel.

[Elaine Glusack]

Window shopping at TJ Maxx and every once in a while you'll find like a cashmere at TJ Maxx and you're like, o.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

What advice do you have for people around getting refunds on flights? If somebody is running into trouble with a cancellation, do you have any hot tips for them?

[Elaine Glusack]

This is such a topical question because things are changing as we speak. You know when a flight is canceled, airlines are required to give you a refund, and they're pretty good about that. The cancellation has to be on their end and then you can decide you have to tell them Pretty quickly, oh, I want my refund. Cause otherwise they'll. They'll rebook you, so you have to decline the rebooking. The problem is with delays. The Biden administration defined what a significant delay was, meaning three hours for domestic flights and six hours for international flights, but it was just rescinded. And the Department of Transportation website specifically says that significant delays are undefined. So consumers, sadly, are on their own with airlines once again when it comes to compensation for very late flights.

[Rosie Guerin]

Do you toggle the button to pay for travel insurance when you're buying through an airline's website? Because I usually don't. And I'm curious what the pros and cons of that are.

[Elaine Glusack]

No, I don't. I don't ever buy that. You know, and they are such savvy marketers. Like, are you sure you don't want to buy it? No, because I find that a lot of credit cards, assuming you're paying with a credit card, have a lot of consumer protections built into them when it comes to flight delays. Compensation for meals or hotels that you might have to book in the event of an emergency. So the things that you might get from travel insurance, you're already kind of getting, assuming you're paying with a credit card.

[Rosie Guerin]

Okay, Elaine, while we have you, we thought it would be fun to do a quick lightning round. We'll play green light, red light, yellow light. So I'm going to toss you some travel strategies, and you let us know your thoughts. Pursue, keep away, or proceed with caution. Ready?

[Elaine Glusack]

Sure.

[Rosie Guerin]

Okay. First one is error fares. So these flights that pop up for cheap, maybe as a result of human error or a software glitches.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

Yes.

[Elaine Glusack]

Green light, Go sweet.

[Rosie Guerin]

Paying for subscription services that comb for deals.

[Elaine Glusack]

Oh, okay. I have to give this a yellow because sometimes they offer this free level of membership, and that might be enough for you or it might convince you of its worth.

[Rosie Guerin]

How about purchasing or bidding on trips people have had to cancel? I've seen this recently. Platforms like Rumor or plans change.

[Elaine Glusack]

I guess I give that greenish. I think it's a really hard needle to thread. You have to be so flexible to line up your dates and destinations.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

Okay, Elaine, we are nearing the end of this interview, and I'm curious, what is your best piece of travel advice that you've ever gotten?

[Elaine Glusack]

Don't expect everything to go smoothly. And when it doesn't, remember the worst trips, make the best stories.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Okay, well, before we wrap, we usually ask all of our guests one final question, which is, what's the last thing you bought that you've really loved. But today we're going to switch it up and we're going to ask you two final questions that are hotly debated, debated here at Wirecutter. The first is do you check a bag or a carry on? And the second is are you a hard sided person or a soft sided luggage person?

[Elaine Glusack]

Oh my God. This answer is going to be way longer than you guys want. But honestly, I carry on mostly because I don't want a lot of baggage, like psychic baggage. I don't want to worry about stuff when I'm somewhere trying to have this great experience. I do make exception and check like if I'm not moving around or I need fancy clothes like a destination wedding or specific gear like skiing. And then soft sided backpack for carry on. But I have hard sided wheelies in sizes for both carry on and checking. I get all the wire cutter recommendations and buy those things. Yes.

[Rosie Guerin]

Well, Elaine, thank you so much. Elaine Glusack, AKA the Frugal Traveler. We really, really appreciate getting to chat with you. Thank you for the advice.

[Elaine Glusack]

Oh, you guys, thank you so much for having me.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Wow, Elaine was so sweet and so.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

Knowledgeable and I'm still like very jealous of her job.

[Rosie Guerin]

Yeah, totally jealous. Also, I feel like I had 16,000 questions I could have asked her. Yeah, what are you taking away from this?

[Kyra Blackwell]

So I'm going to be realistic. I still don't think that I'm going to be planning ahead whenever I'm booking flights or hotels. But I really did like her advice about flying on Tuesdays or Saturdays because it's like the lowest traffic you can get throughout the week. And if there's anything that I hate more than overpaying for a ticket, it's overpaying for a ticket and then coming to a really crowded airport. So love that.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

Yeah.

[Rosie Guerin]

My takeaway is book early in Kyra, you know, you know yourself. So you're gonna, you are who you are and we love you so much.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

Yeah. So before preparing for this episode, I had never really considered shopping for travel during Black Friday and I will be doing that this year. I'm going to look in the discount bin and see what I might find for spring break. And then I am also going to stop booking non refundable flights, which I have a tendency to do.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Living on the edge.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

I like to live on the edge. And now I'm kind of seeing the error of my ways here and I probably should just pay a little bit extra for the refundable flight or for, you know, a free cancellation.

[Rosie Guerin]

Love that yeah. And the last takeaway. I feel like I have to shout from the rooftops. From Christine and Elaine rental cars through Costco.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Yeah.

[Rosie Guerin]

Game change.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Cool.

[Rosie Guerin]

That's it for us till next week. If you like the show, we'd love for you to subscribe. Wherever you listen to podcasts. We really appreciate it. Peace.

[Dell/advertisement voice]

Bye.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

The Wirecutter show is executive produced by Rosie Guerin and produced by Abigail Keel. Engineering support from Matty Mazziello and Nick Pittman. Today's episode was mixed by Katherine Anderson. Original music by Dan Powell, Marian Lozano, Alicia Ba? Itup, Rowan Nimisto, Catherine Anderson and Diane Wong. Cliff Levy is Wirecutter's deputy publisher and general manager. Ben Fruman is Wirecutter's editor in chief. I'm Christine Cyrclassette.

[Kyra Blackwell]

I'm Kyra Blackwell.

[Rosie Guerin]

And I'm Rosie Guerin.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

Thanks for listening. I once got into a fight with a flight attendant on American when they were not serving water on so that's my line in the sand.

[Dell/advertisement voice]

Introducing your new Dell PC with the Intel Core Ultra processor. It helps you handle a lot, even when your holiday to do list gets to be a lot like organizing your holiday shopping and searching for great holiday deals and customer questions and customers requesting custom things. Plus planning the perfect holiday dinner for vegans, vegetarians, pescatarians and Uncle Mike's carnivore diet. Luckily you can get a PC with all day battery life to help you get it all done. That's the power of a Dell PC with Intel inside backed by Dell's price match guarantee. Get yours today at dell. Com. Deals, terms and conditions apply. See dell. Com for details.