It’s Halloween and there is no better time to address some of the common fears about travel.  We asked our followers to tell us what keeps them from achieving their travel goals and have distilled it down to the top 5 reasons.  But we don’t think travel is scary at all, so we want to give you some suggestions on what you can do to tackle those fears and live your best life seeing the world one place at a time.  So grab your trick or treat bags because we have some goodies for you today.

Some links are affiliate links.  See our disclosure.

Top 5 Scary Things About Travel

1. Travel can be expensive but knowing how to look for cheap flights, discounted travel, & use "travel hacking" to your advantage can make travel way more affordable.

Going (formerly Scott's Cheap Flights) sends you cheap flight alerts for free with signup (there is a paid version but I encourage you to just start with the free cheap flight alerts.

We also just recently found out about Thrify Traveler, a similar service.  I signed up for the Free Version to see how I like the deals because who doesn't like Free Flight Alerts for Cheap Flights! There is also a Premium Version in order to get full access to the deals.

We use different cards for different things but getting the welcome bonuses is the best and fastest way to get points.  10X Travel has a great free starter course.

We have a Bonvoy American Express with a lower annual fee that more than covers the annual free night.  Using Marriott points to book your rooms gives you the 5th night free when you book through the Bonvoy site. We recently started leveraging both the welcome bonus and the 3x on all dining purchases on the Chase Sapphire Card - you can transfer the points to a variety of airlines and hotels depending on how you want to use it. 

HERE IS THE LIST of places to look for discounted travel deals and package deals:

Vip Traveler - for luxury travel deals, Travel Zoo, Vacations to Go, Great Value Vacations

For Cruises check:  Cruise Critic & Cruise Direct

We've also used Hopper for flights and hotel deals as well.

We also have been able to take advantage of Interval International Getaway Deals through our Sheraton/Westin Vacation Club Ownership (now a part of Marriott Vacation Club).

Recently we also learned about Status Matching your Hotel or Airline Status in order to get perks with another Brand.  We were able to status match our Marriott Bonvoy Titanium Status to the Caesar's Diamond Status when Scott was recently in Vegas.  Then with that, Atlantis Resort and Casino in the Bahamas offers free stays to those who hold status with another Casino (we've also heard of Caesar's and MGM doing this with other brands so it doesn't hurt to ask). In addition, Holland America also offers a free cruise in an inside stateroom to those holding status with a Casino Brand. So these types of Status Matches are definitely worth checking out. We just got back from Atlantis for our free stay so we will be doing a podcast episode soon and we go on the Holland America cruise after Thanksgiving.

2. Solo Travel - Hear Melissa's experience on traveling solo home and her flight getting cancelled on Episode 23 - How to Handle Travel Disruptions Episode

Tours can be a great way to see more when traveling solo (Melissa has used Viator to book several in Portugal when Scott was working - see them here) 

3. I'm un-familiar with the destination 

For more help with Trip Planning Listen to Episode 20 - How to Plan a Trip Step by Step

 4.  Travel Insurance, especially have medical coverage when traveling internationally could potentially save you so much money.  This year we took out a one year travel insurance policy that included travel medical coverage.  Check out World Nomads, Travelex, and Allianz as possible carriers. 

 5. Time off for Travel - Check out Take More Vacations for more ways to Maximize your Time Off for Travel

Read more about this and other travel destinations on our BLOG

Follow our travels on Facebook

Follow our travels on Instagram here and here 

Save our travel ideas on Pinterest

See our travel videos on You Tube

Music Credit

Music by OYStudio from Pixabay