6 Situations Where I (Surprisingly) Don’t Need Cash

6 Situations Where I (Surprisingly) Don’t Need Cash Photo by zbowling

While there are certainly still many places where cash comes in handy, I have been surprised recently at the number of unusual places where I have been able to use my credit card. It seems like you can’t escape the Visa or MasterCard logo these days — at least that was my experience during my Thanksgiving travels. So what places surprised me by accepting credit cards?

1. At The Vending Machine

For some reason, this surprised me last month when I saw it in a hotel — yes, just like this picture shows, some vending machines are now accepting credit cards. I wonder what the economics of it all are — if the convenience store next door has a $5.00 minimum charge, how come this vending machine is willing to charge a $2.00 Coca-Cola? All-in-all, I can’t really complain; when you’re thirsty, it stinks to have a dollar bill that the machine just will not accept. One more of life’s little frustrations eradicated!

2. Onboard The Airplane

Even at 30,000 feet, it is hard to escape the domain of the credit card. Many, if not most, major airlines now accept credit cards for in-flight purchases of things like snacks, drinks, and other items. In fact, some airlines are even going so far as to go completely cashless  – no credit card, no cocktail. Given that airlines are charging more and more money for more and more amenities (no free drink on US Airways? Really?), these credit card terminals are going to find quite a bit of use.

3. At The Drive Thru

Maybe it is just because I remember the “old days” when it used to take a little bit of time for a credit card authorization to go through, but it still seems strange to me that you can use your credit card in most fast food drive-thrus. Many are making it even easier by installing outside terminals where you can swipe your card yourself. 

4. In The Back Of A Cab

Am I the only who ever gets (irrationally) nervous in a cab ride that you might not have enough cash? There is just something about the variable factors that go into a cab ride which can make me nervous. What if you get stuck in traffic? What if you don’t really have a grasp of how far you are going? So the fact that more and more cabs are now accepting credit cards is a very welcome development in my book. The only problem, in my experience, is that some cabbies are still very much in opposition to the idea, so sometimes they will give you minor pushback at first. Small price to pay.

5. Buying Mass Transit Cards

I have been in a couple major cities in the last few weeks, and several of them had mass transit systems that allowed you to load almost any amount — no matter how small — on to a “pay as you go” transit card using your credit card. In Boston, for example, I found myself constantly charging $2.00 to add another ride on to my pass (since it was a short trip, why risk buying more than I need?). Of course, some cities like New York de-incentivize this by offering bonuses for putting on more money at one time (which seems like a fair system).

6. Opening A Bank Account

i just find this one funny. When I opened a checking account earlier this year, I was given the option of initially funding the account via credit card — up to $500 (free credit card rewards!). Now, I am extremely responsible with my credit cards, but does anyone else think that funding a bank account with a credit card might be a bad idea?

What Does It All Mean?

So credit card machines are everywhere now — that much seems apparent. I imagine it is a combination of decreased transaction costs coupled with a recognition that people simply spend more money when they use credit cards.

Is this a good thing? It certainly makes life more convenient. At the same time, it also adds to the temptation to spend more, which for some people is hard to resist (That $10 sandwich on US Airways or American seems a lot more acceptable when you pay via credit card).

One major concern of mine with all of this, though, is security and accountability. When you use a credit card in a store, you can be reasonably confidant of its legitimacy and you know where to come back to if there are any problems. With all of these mobile credit card machines, though, whether it be on a plane or a cab, it seems like it might be harder to maintain that accountability.

Furthermore, this proliferation of credit card machines just raises the stakes when it comes to fraud — take a look at these pictures of credit card skimmers that Redbox found. Now look at the vending machine in this post’s picture — one’s legit, and one isn’t, but it’s not easy to tell. I worry that with these credit card machines everywhere, people will become complacent and simply accept them, rather than remain vigilant for fraud.

Regardless, it’s pretty amazing where you can use credit cards these days. What unusual or surprising places have you used a credit card recently?

November 29, 2008 | Filed Under Everyday Strategies | Leave a Comment 

Amtrak: Woops, Missed My Train

Amtrak: Woops, Missed My Train Photo by jpmueller99

… and it was no big deal. What a refreshing experience.

I was supposed to take a morning train on Amtrak’s New England corridor (the one that runs up from DC through New York to Boston) for a quick trip last week. I’ll spare the sad details, but I was running very late last week, and ended up arriving at the train station just in time to see my train pull away.

If I were traveling on an airline, I would be in trouble. Changing an airline ticket these days can set you back upwards of $150 plus change in fare; missing a flight outright can lose the ticket’s entire value. Not exactly consumer friendly.

Amtrak, however, was an entirely different story. Since I had not yet picked up my ticket, I could refund the ticket entirely, despite the fact the train had already left; the only cost associated with getting on the next train was that I had to pay the difference in cost. Effectively, they refunded my ticket and bought me a new one on the next train.  A $20 difference.

Comfortable Options

Traveling on Amtrak’s New England Corridor really is a comfortable experience. Consider:

  • The trains on the New England corridor all have power outlets on the window, meaning you can simply plug your laptop in and remain charged. 
  • The seats also feel a bit more comfortable than your normal airplane seat
  • The food in the cafe train isn’t that bad.
  • No airport security, no hectic crowds, no assigned seating

Honestly, the only major advantage that air travel has is the speed. All-in-all, a pleasant trip.

November 25, 2008 | Filed Under Travel | Leave a Comment 

The Frugal Court #1: Netflix

The Frugal Court #1: Netflix Photo by Marit & Toomas Hinnosaar

Welcome to the first entry in my “Frugal Court” series, looking at the frugality of various products and services. Up this week is Netflix, the popular video-rental-by-mail service with the iconic red envelope. I have been a subscriber for the last year under the $8.99 plan, which offers unlimited one-at-a-time DVDs. Should I continue subscribing?

The Frugal Indictment 

The charge against Netflix is simple — that, for most people, unless you are watching large numbers of movies each month, it is simply not worth the monthly rental fee. Even if you watched every movie as soon as you received it, you can not hope to get much more than four movies a month. The best case scenario, then, brings about a per-movie cost of around $2.25.

I, however, have not come close to getting the most cost-effective return from my membership — it sometimes takes me quite a while to watch a movie. I am not going to embarrass myself by stating the longest amount of time I have held on to a Netflix DVD, but suffice it to say that I kept “Lost, Season 1, Disc 1″ for a while.

So that brings about the first question: How many movies am I watching under the Netflix plan? Does it justify the monthly cost? If i am only watching one movie a month, there are probably better options. In my personal case, I am watching maybe three movies a month, which puts Netflix in a very gray area. 

The second question, however, I think often gets overlooked — Am I watching more movies than I really otherwise would want? Just as how people with Costco or Sam’s Club memberships often buy more than they otherwise would, you can’t simply look at Netflix as a good deal if you end up watching more movies than you would if you didn’t have the Netflix membership. Are you falling victim to “Netflix-guilt” – the pressure to watch a disc quickly so you can get a new one sent out? I know I have.

The Frugal Alternatives

Of course, one of the most important considerations in The Frugal Court is where the service stands in relation to other alternatives. While it would be easy to say that movies are a luxury that can be done without, that doesn’t seem like a very fun option. What alternatives to Netflix exist? 

One possibility is Redbox, the human-less DVD kiosk service that allows you to rent DVDs for $1. It has a decent selection — largely popular newer titles –and it is hard to beat the $1 price. Unfortunately, there is not a convenient Redbox kiosk near my location. If there were, I might have to seriously consider Redbox. The best part about Redbox is that there are frequently coupon codes out there that will get you a free rental. 

Another possibility is the local library. While this varies by library, many now offer DVD rentals for free (or for a nominal charge). My local library, for example, charges a dollar or two and has an ever-growing collection of movies. This, too, is a pretty good option, and definitely worth checking out.

Finally, the internet provides a growing number of alternatives. Sites like Hulu have large amounts of television episodes, and some movies, online for free, while online stores like Amazon.com and Apple iTunes let you “virtually rent” movies for a few dollars. If you are only renting one or two movies a month, this might not be a bad alternative.

The Frugal Defense

I’ll be honest. For some reason, I have always loved Netflix, and can’t really imagine giving up my subscription, even if I am not making the most of it. Crazy, right? Their customer service is top-notch — no email or form responses; they immediately put you through to helpful and proactive customer service representatives. I have always been a satisfied customer, and it seems like that should count for something.

Furthermore, I think there is something to be said for how hassle-free Netflix makes watching movies. It is always easy to get a movie within a few days, no driving to the video store or kiosk required.

They also have a great recommendation system, which has done an amazing job suggesting new movies for me. The added surprise of new recommendations has made movie watching more fun (for more information on Netflix’s impressive recommendation system, check out this article from a recent New York Times magazine). 

One of the most exciting parts of Netflix recently, however, has to be the On-Demand feature, which allows you to watch selected television shows and movies on your computer streamed instantly under your membership. I was thoroughly unimpressed when it first came out, but the technology and selection have both improved dramatically. Netflix really seems to be pushing this, as they have recently announced partnerships with X-Box, TiVo, Starz, and more, to expand the reach and features of their on-demand service. 

My Personal Verdict

Last week, I was all set to cancel my Netflix subscription and try out alternative ways of getting movies for a while. But then I saw my first episode of the wickedly-funny television show 30 Rock; I was hooked instantly and wanted more. Guess what? Netflix’s On-Demand service had every episode that was out on DVD available for instant streaming. Thanks to Netflix, I was able to watch two seasons of 30 Rock without leaving home. 

Since then I have poked around the online features some more, and I am curious to see how it develops, as it seems like it has quite a bit of promise. So I have decided to stick around for a few more months and see if I make use of all of this. 

Any of you use Netflix? Have you found it worthwhile, or have you left for greener pastures?

November 23, 2008 | Filed Under frugal court | 17 Comments 

Bookmarked: Carnivals and Links – Nov 20

Only one more week until (American) Thanksgiving! I’m looking forward to returning home and enjoying time with family — and most importantly, taking time to take a break and relax a bit. Much overdo. 

Site Issues

If you tried to visit Student Scrooge on Tuesday or Wednesday this week, you may have noticed the site was either down or returning errors — unfortunately my web host was experiencing problems with their database server, which knocked my site offline intermittently for the past forty-eight hours. I’m hopeful that things have been resolved, but I’m not entirely positive of that. Nevertheless, I appreciate your patience!

Around The Blogosphere

Recent Carnivals

Bargain Briana presented the 114th Festival of Frugality — Election Day Edition, and I was honored to have my gift card expiration “crisis” chosen as an editor’s choice! Awesome.

The Sun’s Financial Diary hosted the 177th Carnival of Personal Finance, which included my post on tipping for take-out food.

MoneyNing hosted the 179th Carnival of Personal Finance – Smile Edition, which should perhaps be described as the happiest carnival in a while. My post “6 situations where I still need cash” was included. 

Finally, Financial Wellness Project put together the Festival of Frugality #152 – Affected By Recession Edition, which included my list of great websites for scoring cheap airfare.

Thanks to all the hosts for putting in the time!

November 20, 2008 | Filed Under Bookmarked | Leave a Comment 

So are gift cards a bad idea now?

So are gift cards a bad idea now? Photo by The Consumerist

Yikes. It has not been a good week to be a gift card. It seems like there are media reports and stories all over the place concerning the dangers of gift card usage. Should you avoid gift cards?

Revisiting the Sharper Image Gift Card Mess

Last spring, when the Sharper Image filed for bankruptcy, many of us got a rude awakening — Sharper Image stopped accepting their more than $40 million outstanding gift cards, making them essentially worthless. Eventually, after some bad press, Sharper Image adjusted their policy, but the episode was a red flag when it comes to gift cards — Sharper Image was really one of the first major retailers to go bust in the “modern gift card world” , and one of the first to threaten to nullify a large number of gift cards in bankruptcy.

Will Your Gift Card’s Company Still Be There?

All of these concerns came back to the forefront again when the ubiquitous Circuit City filed for bankruptcy recently (note: Circuit City announced that they will continue to accept gift cards while in bankruptcy reorganization). The news about Circuit City surprised me — even though I knew it had been doing struggling, to hear of such a major chain falling apart is a little disquieting. It seems like every day we are hearing news about more and more major American companies struggling to survive this economy (General Motors, anyone?)

If you get a retail store gift card, will the store still be there when you go to use the card? In this economy, many experts are saying it simply is not worth the risk.

The Chicago Tribune ran a story recently called “Gift cards tagged with doubt” that tackled this issue, noting that:

If you buy a gift card from a retailer that goes bankrupt, it’s uncertain when, or if, it can be redeemed, experts say… In the case of Circuit City, the company sought and received permission in bankruptcy court to honor its outstanding gift cards, a spokesman said. But such petitions are optional. If the retailer doesn’t ask or the judge rejects the request, gift-card holders have to file a claim in bankruptcy court and get in line behind all the other people the company owes.

Now, in my opinion, that article seems a bit alarmist — we’re hopefully not going to see many major retailers collapse. But at the same time, I can see that it is probably a good idea to avoid at-risk companies, such as the perpetually-plagued airlines.

More Risks

Of course, this is all on top of the traditional criticisms of gift cards — mainly that they are loaded with fees, expiration dates, limitations, etc that make them difficult to use. This is a reoccurring topic for consumer advocacy groups like Consumer Reports, so I will point to their work rather than rehash it here. Suffice it to say, this is definitely a win-win situation for retailers — that Consumer Reports article mentions a statistic that unused, lost, or expired gift cards amount to over $8 billion dollars in 2006. That is crazy!

And it will only get worse — that Tribune article mentioned that the National Retail Federation believes that shoppers plan on purchasing around four gift cards this holiday season, spending around $150 total. I had no idea gift cards had become that popular of a gift.

So What Do You Do?

If you are the gift-receiver, the answer seems easy: use your gift cards quickly. I am terrible at this, but I am beginning to appreciate the importance of burning rather than saving gift cards. I think I may make an effort next week to start keeping better track of the gift cards I currently have and make a better go at working through them.

If you are the gift-giver, on the other hand, setting aside the obvious suggestion that you actually buy personal gifts rather than generic gift cards, what should you do?

  • Retail gift cards carry risk. While they are going to have less fees and expiration dates, and may be easier to use, you run the risk that the company may go bankrupt or disappear.
  • Those Visa or MasterCard Gift Cards are even worse. I really dislike these cards. These things are annoying to use, have more fees, and are not covered by most state gift card laws.

And that seems to bring us back to an old gift option…

Cash




Image by AComment

Cash. Is cash really that bad of a gift? It is no less personal than a gift card, but gives you just as much (if not more) flexibility, does not expire, no fees, and is pretty darn safe. Seems like a good situation to me.

So what are you doing this holiday season?

November 19, 2008 | Filed Under Everyday Strategies | 3 Comments 

Ryanair: A Bird Strike, Refund Update, and A Rant

Ryanair: A Bird Strike, Refund Update, and A Rant Photo by Monika Szyma

Three quick follow-up points to my post a few days ago on Ryanair, Europe’s low-cost budget airline.

Bird Strike

My skittish friend who will be taking a Ryanair flight in December forwarded me this story about a Ryanair bird strike from the BBC News.

What happened? A Ryanair flight on approach to Rome’s Ciampino airport suffered substantial damage after birds were sucked into the engine. The picture of the plane in the article is scary to look at — those birds really caused quite a bit of damage. Thankfully, no one was seriously hurt.

Some of the comments on news articles about the incident wasted no time in mocking Ryanair — jokes like, “did they charge to use the emergency slide?”  But all things considered, Ryanair deserves credit for a safe handling of an emergency situation. If anything, I’d be worried about flying into that airport.

Refund Update

One of the first posts I made on this blog concerned my quest to get my (rightful) refund of the check-in fee from Ryanair. To summarize, to get the refund, Ryanair requests that you mail or fax the request in; they emailed me back asking for more information (copy of passport page), which I provided. The refund should then post to my credit card that I originally used.

Did I ever get the refund? No, it never came, and it is now too costly to continue to pursue. I mailed them the additional information in April, and have not heard from them since. Given that they don’t accept email messages, and given how much it costs to mail or fax to Dublin from the United States, if I tried contacting them again, it would end up costing me more in stamps than the refund would be worth (not to mention the fact that the refund is worth less given the changes in the Dollar/Pound since the spring).

It bothers me to no end, but I have given up.

A Rant

I’m going to be honest — this situation really bothers me. Most of the time, companies go out of their way to make things right (even if they are not truly at fault!); Ryanair, on the other hand, seems to go out of its way to avoid dealing with customers. With this check-in fee, Ryanair is specifically targeting non-European passport holders with a fee that is low enough to make it easily not worth it to pursue the refund. I played by their rules, but have no real recourse at this point. I’ll accept it and move on, but I will remember this experience with future Ryanair dealings.

Anyone else want to share their Ryanair experiences?

November 15, 2008 | Filed Under Travel | 1 Comment 

6 Situations Where I Still Need Cash

6 Situations Where I Still Need Cash Photo by Dplanet::

The time has finally come — for the first time in almost two months, tomorrow I will be visiting an ATM. My local ATM and I used to be much better friends, but it just does not serve the same role in my life which it once did. Using my credit card (responsibly) has enabled me to pay most of my expenses over the past few weeks without cash, with added budget tracking benefits. As part of my build-up to tomorrow’s ATM visit, however, I want to take a moment and reflect on some of the expenses that still keep me using cash every now and then.

1. Group Outings

This is probably one of the most important roles that cash will play going forward in my life — helping handle group expenses. I go out with a couple of my friends for a “cheap” dinner out once a week, and when I am at home I often am eating with a much larger group of people; cash is crucial to resolving these situations. While often times it is feasible to request separate checks at restaurants, sometimes you just can’t avoid a shared bill.

As a side note, I have managed to make this a “cash neutral” situation for me by often times collecting the group money and charging the total to my card if no one else minds. In addition to earning 5% back for restaurants on my Citi mtvU card, it gives me a fresh source of cash. Of course, that also means I am “cheating” a bit when I say that I have not been to an ATM in two months, but oh well.

2. The Vending Machine

I am well aware that the vending machine is not a very good deal — best case scenario you are only slightly being ripped off, and worst case, like at a movie theater I was at a few months ago, you’ll find yourself paying an outrageous $3.50 for a 20-ounce of Coke. Sometimes, however, a vending machine is just the best option for a quick fix, and its those kind of situations in which I am happy to have a few singles in my wallet.

3. Laundry

No, my laundry room is not coin operated. That would be a nightmare. It is, however, based on a card system that requires cash to load money on the card — accepting $5, $10, or $20 bills. Once every couple of weeks, then, I find myself feeding more money in to the machine. I can understand that it is likely not feasible to install credit-accepting machines in all of these laundry rooms, but it would be nice to have the option, at least, of adding value by credit.

4. Tipping

With the exception of restaurants, most tipping situations require cash — at the end of a cab ride, at a bar, at the airport skycap, bellhop at the hotel, etc. Even if you could charge a tip, the recipient will appreciate cash much more (they won’t lose any of their tip to credit card processing), so I always try to tip in cash if possible. I find traveling to be particularly tipping-heavy, so I carry a bunch of singles in my travel wallet for the inevitable tipping situations that require cash.

5. The Bar

This is a little bit of a different situation — most bars are more than happy to accept credit cards (although some, like the one I was at last night, do not). However, as much as I would love to take advantage of the 5% back my credit card offers at bars, I fully recognize that when I “open a tab,” despite my best efforts, I am far more likely to spend more than I had planned. Cash keeps me in a limited situation and helps me stay aware of how much I have spent. Now, I am not one to go crazy, but cash seems like the best bet in any sort of bar situation.

6. The Convenience Store Next Door

This one annoys me simply because it shouldn’t be a reason to carry cash — the convenience store next door has a minimum credit charge of $10.  They aren’t supposed to do this — the merchant agreements with both Visa and MasterCard say there shouldn’t be a minimum charge — but clearly they don’t care. I don’t often find myself spending more than $10 at a time (usually just grabbing something like orange juice), so cash is a must. 

Those are some of the places I find myself still using cash — where do you find yourself using cash?

November 13, 2008 | Filed Under Everyday Strategies | 7 Comments 

5 Great Websites For Scoring Cheap Airfare

Lifehacker recently discussed their five best travel sites for cheap tickets — highlighting Kayak, Yapta, Live Search Farecast, Priceline, and Sidestep. I was surprised when I saw the list — all are great search engines, but all do virtually the same thing, returning virtually the same results.

These search engines are useful tools, but they are only one of many types of resources on the internet to save money on airfare. Nine times out of ten, you’re likely to find the same itinerary return the same price at all of these sites. The key is to have the knowledge to know where and when to look, and these sites below are the ones that help me do just that:

Best For Specific Dates: ITA Software Search


ITA Software’s QPX Fare Shopping Engine (http://matrix.itasoftware.com/) is the ultimate airfare search tool for geeks (it even has its own manual!), offering unparalleled flexibility. This is a search engine, not a booking site – so once you find an itinerary, you cannot book it with them; you must go to another other travel site like Orbitz.

Why bother with ITA then? They’ll help your zero in on combinations you wouldn’t have otherwise found; once you know what you’re looking for, it is easy to find it on other sites. Consider the following features:

But, by far, the best reason is their powerful search options. They explain it all on their Route Language help page, but just to give you a taste:

  • Not sure which airport you want to leave from? Enter multiple airports separated by semicolons — For example, “BOS;PVD;BDL” tells it to search Boston, Providence, and Hartford. Three searches in one!
  • Not sure where you want to go? Try the same thing for your destination. For example, “LHR;DUB;BRU;CDG” will have it search London, Dublin, Brussels, and Paris — four searches in one!
  • Not a big fan of US Airways for your trip from Philadelphia? — “Philadelphia:: ~US” tells it to exclude all US Airways flights
  • Big fan of United or American? — “ORD::AA,UA” tells it to only search flights on American (AA) or United (UA) for your flight from Chicago.

ITA can be confusing at first — but once you get the hang of it, it can be great for finding the best and cheapest options.

Also Try: Kayak.com

Best For The Big Picture: FareCompare.com


Farecompare.com (http://www.farecompare.com/) – One of the keys to scoring great airfare is recognizing that airfare rules vary by airline and fares may only be valid on certain days of the week, for certain lengths of time, for certain airports, for certain flight numbers, with different advance purchase requirements, and more. Having this information can make it much easier to locate those cheap flights.

Farecompare.com has mastered the airfare analysis game — they make it easy to quickly get the “big picture” — information on what each airline is offering on any given route. Every day they analyze the raw fare updates from the airlines, often providing information hours before it is actually bookable (sign-up for email alerts to get automatic updates on chosen routes). Farecompare.com provides the knowledge necessary to find the cheapest flights out there, and is usually my first stop to try to get a feel for airfare options.

Their CEO Rick Seaney also runs a great blog on airfare and the airline industry that is worth checking out.

Best For Cheap Europe Flights: Skyscanner.net


Skyscanner.net (http://www.skyscanner.net/) – Love them or hate them, low cost carriers like Ryanair and Easyjet make it extremely affordable to hop around European cities. The challenge for me has always been (1) figuring out what low cost carriers fly a certain route and (2) which airline is cheapest. Skyscanner has both of these bases covered; simply give it a departure and arrival city, and travel dates, and it will return the prices of all the discount carriers on that route — as well as some nifty features like currency conversion. Skyscanner tops it all off with a clean and impressive website, making it a great tool for the budget-conscious Europe traveler.

Best For Last Minute Travel: LastMinute.com


LastMinute.com (http://www.lastminute.com/) – Looking for a weekend getaway? Buying airfare directly from the airline can get expensive close to departure — consider LastMinute.com for weekend getaways deals. The amazing thing is that LastMinute.com’s Flight+Hotel combination deals or Flight+Car combination deals often cost less than the flight otherwise would; there have been several times where I have bought a last minute package that included a hotel that I didn’t need simply because it was cheaper. With LastMinute.com, you also get to pick your departure and return days (Depart Wed-Sat, Return Sun-Wed) as well as your airline. Weekends become available for purchase on lastminute.com about two weeks in advance, but availability can be added or removed.

Also Try: The weekend deals of individual airlines — for most airlines these go up on Tuesdays. Note, however, that many airlines require a Fri/Sat departure and a Mon/Tue return.

Best for Students: StudentUniverse.com


StudentUniverse.com (http://www.studentuniverse.com/) – If you are a student, you are in luck, as you may have access to better deals through student-only ticket agencies; I recommend StudentUniverse.com, but there are certainly other agencies out there (like STA Travel). These can offer great deals — as I have talked about in the past. Buyer beware, however: the student airfare results are not always the cheapest option out there, so you should definitely check a traditional search engine first. A nice aspect about buying StudentUniverse tickets is that they have more lenient cancellation and change fees.

Travel Cheaply

Those are my top five websites for scoring cheap flights — what are yours?

Read more

November 9, 2008 | Filed Under Travel | 6 Comments 

Ho Ho Ho – Holiday Cashback Shopping Bonuses

Ho Ho Ho – Holiday Cashback Shopping Bonuses Photo by Graylight

For better or worse, the holiday season is once again upon us, and while there are certainly reasons to be apprehensive from a frugality standpoint, there are some nice promotions being run by many of the cash back sites out there. 

If you aren’t using a cash-back portal when shopping online, you’re potentially missing out on some nice (free) rebates. For participating merchants, access their website through one of these shopping portals and shop normally — simply by including those few extra mouse clicks, you may earn a nice one to four percent back on your purchase.

Even better — these sites are especially rewarding during the holiday season with some great promotions.

Ebates Holiday Promotion

Ebates — which offers a $5 signup bonus — has kicked things off with bonus cash back at a bunch of merchants including:

  • Barnes and Noble – 8% (from 4%)
  • Drugstore.com – 7% (from 6%)
  • Overstock.com – 6% (from 4%)
  • Borders – 8% (from 4%)
  • walmart – 2% (from 1%)

FatWallet Holiday Bonus

Cash-back site FatWallet.com has its own holiday bonus, with extended cash back at an incredible number of merchants. I can’t even begin to list them all, but to name a few:

  • Banana Republic and Gap – 5.3% (increase of 2.0%)
  • Orbitz – $4.00 (increase of $1.00)
  • Home Depot – 6% (increase of 3.0%)
  • Drugstore.com – 9.0% (increase of 2.0%)
  • Stubhub – 6.0% (increase of 2.0%)
  • TigerDirect – 4.0% (increase of 1.0%)

Airline Mileage Shopping Portals

The airlines, of course, offer their own shopping rewards portals that reward you with “miles-back” rather than cash-back. A few airline promotions this holiday season include:

Any others?

November 7, 2008 | Filed Under Spending Wisely | Leave a Comment 

Ryanair: flights across the atlantic for $13? Ehh…

Ryanair: flights across the atlantic for $13? Ehh… Photo by u07ch

There has been a lot of buzz in the travel community over the last week concerning European discount carrier Ryanair announcing that they plan to offer dirt-cheap transatlantic flights from London Stansted and Dublin to American cities like New York and Boston for as little as $13 each way before taxes. Sounds good, right? Well…

Meet Ryanair

Ryanair, of course, is the Dublin-based airline that has become the golden standard for the ultra low-cost carrier industry. The company, which offers short-haul point-to-point flights between a significant number of European cities, often makes the news for advertising (legitimate) dirt-cheap fares for one-way travel. How do they offer such low fares? A combination of:

  • Charging fees for *everything* – Want to check any bags? Want to check-in at the airport rather than online? Want to talk to someone on the phone? Want to have a drink onboard? Want to get on the plane before most people? All of it will cost you extra — and these fees are not cheap. 
  • Using remote airports — Landing at a big airport like London Heathrow costs serious money, so Ryanair makes use of nearby airports that often stretch the definition of a destination. This can prove problematic especially as many of these remote airports don’t enjoy the same public transportation that the more significant airports get.
  • Acting Smart — You have to give them credit — they know how to save a penny. Ryanair clearly does not consider themselves in the business of public relations and customer service — they are an airline, and they will work to get you from point-to-point. It might not be fun, and you might feel like you’re treated like cattle, but it will often be at only an incredibly low price.

Frustrated? You’re Playing Their Game

A lot of people have expressed their frustrations online about problems with Ryanair. These seem to fall in to two categories.

The first concerns Ryanair’s handling of things like cancellations — when things go right, it can be a great experience, but when things go wrong, expect them to go very wrong. A lot of this has to do with the fact that Ryanair runs full planes on routes that they may only run every other day. When a cancellation occurs, it may take a while (days, even) for them to get you to the destination. The fact that Ryanair customer representatives have a reputation for disappearing when cancellations occur doesn’t help.

The second has to do with frustrations concerning the way that Ryanair quickly becomes more expensive than people first anticipate. Many people don’t take the time — and it does take time, unfortunately — to figure out the rules and restrictions when flying Ryanair. Over at Less Than A Shoestring — which is a great resource for budget travel in Europe — their response to this complaint pretty much sums it up:

In many respects, dealing with low-cost carriers such as Ryanair is like playing a game. In order to play well, you need to know the rules (how much luggage you can carry on, each additional checked bag costs extra, you can’t check-in online if you’re not an EU citizen or you’ll be denied boarding, etc.). Most complaints about the airline come from people who don’t know the rules. So yes, you can be angry that RyanAir’s rules are different from everyone else’s, but you’re not going to get a whole lot of sympathy from me if you don’t know or follow the rules of the game. RyanAir makes a ton of money off of the folks who don’t know the rules.

Coming To America — Potential Reality

So what does this all mean for Ryanair coming to America? If it is possible to play their game in Europe, can the same rules be applied transatlantic?

Remember that the $13 offer is one-way and before taxes and fees — and those taxes and fees are likely to add up. The WalletPop blog has a great post on how a transatlantic flight on Ryanair could really start to add up, highlighting also that many of the the things that make Ryanair bearable in Europe won’t hold transatlantic.

For example, it is much easier to travel with a (very light) carry-on bag when you are flying between European cities than when you’re making a trip across at the Atlantic. Not only might you need to check a bag, but it might need to be a heavy bag, which will cost you even more, of course. It is also much easier to tolerate an unfriendly environment for an hour or two than for a much longer transatlantic flight. 

Also, when I heard the news, I immediately thought of the “American RyanAir experiment” — aka Skybus, the airline that tried and failed to import the Ryanair style to America. Skybus charged for everything and used (often very) remote airports to save on fees. It just didn’t click with American travelers.

Of course, things have changed quite a bit since Skybus went bankrupt — most of the airlines, for example, now charge to check bags. Does this make America more conducive to the Ryanair style? Perhaps. I’d like to think that customer service still means something, but I’m not kidding myself.

Safety Concerns?

Are you less safe on an airline that explicitly states its primary goal is to operate as cheaply as possible?  Ryanair would certainly tell you they are as safe or safer than any other airline — and their record isn’t bad. But it is hard to shake the idea that cost cutting can’t be good for safety.

It also is not comforting to hear about (via the great Upgrade: Travel Better blog) undercover investigations exposing disquieting Ryanair training practices. Ryanair, it should be noted, vehemently contested the expose, and even posted extensive back-and-forth between the airline and the news channel. Net result? I’ll let you make your own opinion.

Sit and Wait

Now we get to wait and see. As the Airfarewatchdog blog points out, Ryanair is still in the planning processes of both acquiring the necessary aircraft and dealing with the regulatory requirements, neither of which are quicksteps nor are they guaranteed successes — they are saying at least a year at the earliest. Ryanair also hasn’t had the best financial news lately, so a lot could happen in the next year and a half.

But if Ryanair does come to America, it could dramatically change the game. For those willing to play Ryanair’s game, cheap and accessible travel across the Atlantic Ocean may become a reality. We’ll just have to wait and see.

November 5, 2008 | Filed Under Travel | 3 Comments 

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