The Cheapest Way To Travel Between Boston, NYC, and DC -- While Maintaining Some Standards ... And Other Thoughts On Saving Money

You really learn how to cut corners when you're a graduate student and funds are tight. Well, I've always been quite cheap when it comes to the way I travel, but I've really taken it to a new level this summer.

I recently took a trip from Boston-DC and found myself booking a week before I would travel. At that point, you're not privy to any airfare specials (typically requiring purchase 21 days in advance), and Amtrak - with the exception of some overpriced business class seats - is often sold out (the NE Corridor is especially busy). A flight would've been over $300 and I couldn't even find a way back to Boston on Amtrak until Monday afternoon (not a possibility with my work schedule).

And with the price of gas and considerable tolls between Boston and DC, even a weekend rental car special (f.e., the 50% off rates at Enterprise) is somewhat meaningless. It's 442 miles from Boston-DC and figure on some local driving bringing the roundtrip to 900 miles ... even if your car is getting 30 mpg, that's 30 gallons of gas times $4.20 equaling $126 on gas for a weekend trip. Even if your tab falls under $150 for the car, insurance (often as expensive as the car) & taxes over 3 days, that's still $276 ... plus all the tolls. You'd have to be insane to do that.

So what's a boy to do?

I took Greyhound for perhaps the 3rd time in my life. Except I didn't book it the normal way with a Boston-DC round trip which would cost $140. I instead booked it as a Boston-NYC roundtrip and a NYC-DC roundtrip, taking advantage of Greyhound specials along those routes. Total cost? $87 ($45 for Boston-NYC, $42 for NYC-DC). Yes, I do know about the Fung Wah and Lucky Star services, which I have utilized in the past -- I guess I prefer to not be set on fire.

A sign of the times: I see that Greyhound has just raised the price for these specials. It is now $49 for Boston-NYC roundtrip and $46 for NYC-DC roundtrip.

I like Amtrak a bit more than any bus, partly because there's a slim chance that you'll have two seats to yourself (which never happens on a bus), there's a cafe car, and it's generally easier to get work done (you at least have a food tray that you can place your laptop on). The bathrooms, while typically as disgusting as the bus, do offer some room to maneuver & are stocked with hand soap.

The key with Amtrak along the NE routes is booking in advance & using promotional codes. Membership with AAA (mine expired in 2002, but I still use my card to get discounts at zoos, aquariums, theme parks -- and on Amtrak ... no one checks to see if your AAA card is still valid) ensures 10% off. I was about to book a July 25-July 27 fare between Boston and NYC which checked in at $124 and then $111.60 after the AAA code was entered. But you can do even better than that. Use the V856 code. This is not an online code. You have to call up Amtrak (1-800-872-7245) and give the code to a representative. Using the 20% off V856 code (which cannot be combined with AAA unfortunately), I walked away with a $99.20 round trip for Boston-NYC. From what I read, it's valid on all purchases through December 10, 2008.

Random Thoughts

An online search for coupon codes is always worth it. I often print 11x14s or 16x20s through Shutterfly and there are tons of Shutterfly coupon codes out there. Not all of them work ... it just requires a lot of patience. I've brought $55 Shutterfly orders down to $33 or so after 10 minutes of coupon hunting.

For flights, I use a bunch of different sites -- Airfarewatchdog, Cheapflights, etc. Kayak was an interesting place during its beta phase, but it almost never lists the best fare these days. And forget about Orbitz, Expedia, Travelocity ... you will never get the best fare through those engines.

If it doesn't matter what time you arrive/depart -- just the day that you travel being determined -- Priceline's bidding service is still the way to go. I wound up with a mid-March Boston-LA flight around $243 (taxes and fees included) through the bidding service. My Boston-Paris flight in early May, while not appearing to be a significant discount vs. the rates listed by other services, was $594 ... still $34 cheaper than the lowest rate on Kayak.

To date, the most I've ever paid for a domestic flight was $390 (NYC-Seattle last August). The most I've paid for an international flight was $801 from NYC-Quito (during Xmas season). I made it to Peru in December for the grand total of $645 -- $238 for Boston-Miami and then $407 for Miami-Lima.

My worst habit at the moment is paying my cell phone bill after the deadline. That costs me $5 every time I do it. If you do that with an electric company like ComEd, they add a very small percentage to the bill (typically under 3%). With Verizon, I am flushing $5 down the toilet every time. And it's not for a lack of money to pay the bill ... it's just sheer laziness in not paying it on time.

I notice the subtle changes that companies make in their pricing or offerings. With Verizon, I used to alternate between the 450 anytime minute ($39.99 a month) and 900 anytime minute ($59.99) plans based on how much I was using my phone each month. If it was a very busy month of calls during peak hours and I was going to be 100 minutes over (100 x .45 cents a minute = $45), I would just switch from the 450 to the 900 minute plan and apply it from the start of the billing period. Better to pay $20 extra than $45, right? As soon as that month ended, I'd switch back to the 450 minute plan ($39.99) and stay with it as long as I wasn't about to go over. Well, now I notice that Verizon doesn't offer 900 anytime minutes at $59.99. That plan has been eliminated. I don't think you receive 900 anytime minutes until you sign up for some bogus $79.99 plan. My contract with Verizon expires on June 25, 2009, and I really can't wait to leave them. The lack of rollover minutes is the biggest minus with them, and their customer service is atrocious.