Traditional Ways for Saving Money in Seattle

The last time I wrote about using your smart phone to save money while visiting Seattle, but there are more ways than that to save some cash.

Eating Out

There are a lot of great restaurants in Seattle, but trying all of them can be very expensive. As a rule, eating out for lunch at a restaurant instead of dinner will get you the same quality and flavors at a lower price. Lunch menus tend to be slightly smaller and some specials may not be available, but going out to lunch instead of dinner is an easy way to save some cash.

If you miss lunch, you'll be thankful that Seattle is also a very happy hour friendly city. Many restaurants have a happy hour menu between 4pm and 6pm that offer sizable discounts on food and drink. Some restaurants may start these as early as 2pm and go as late as 7pm. Check the website of the restaurant you are interested for details, or browse through an incompletely (but sizable) list of happy hours provided by the Seattle Weekly for 2012. Some places may offer only drink or food specials, or may offer both. 

If you are traveling with kids, a very few restaurants offer a kids dine free or cheap option but these places are rare, generic, and usually found in the suburbs. Kid menus can be found, especially in the more casual restaurants, and these are decent deals for the people in your party with smaller apetites. 

Coupons, Discounts, and Deals

Entertainment Book

Visit their website
The coupon book that started it all is still kicking around does offer some good values. The idea is simple: You buy a book full of coupons, and hope that you'll be able to use enough coupons to break even and start saving money. If you are living in Seattle and like to eat out, you can easily get your money's worth. If you are a visitor, it can work in your favor if you plan on visiting places where they offer two for one coupons for expensive admission and you buy the book in the Goldilocks period between when they heavily discount this year's book to sell more of them and the end of the entertainment book year. Some of the coupons are also offered through the free mobile apps listed above, while a couple are unique. The sheer number of coupons is somewhat overwhelming and while there are a bunch of good to great coupons, there are also many businesses that are not worth visiting. Time and research is required to use this book as a visitor.


There's also a rather clunky app for your smart phone. 

Seattle CityPass

Visit their website 
A combination ticket for six of the most popular tourist attractions. It is the ultimate tourist ticket and with it you gain access to the Space Needle, the Seattle Aquarium, the Argosy Harbor Cruise, the Pacific Science Center, the EMP Museum, and your choice of either the Museum of Flight or Woodland Park Zoo. If you do all of those sights, you end up saving about $50 per adult and $35 per child.

Groupon/LivingSocial

Visit Groupon's Website
Visit LivingSocial's Website 
Both Groupon and Living Social share the core business model that you make your purchase ahead of time and then get a discount. Businesses are betting on you not using your coupons ("Breakage") in order to make this profitiable for them. The deals and coupons change frequently, but it is worth checking out and doing research into what is being offered. Some of the coupons are a good deal overall.

Restaurants.com

Visit their website
Restaurants.com also offers up similar buy-first discounts, but comes with greater restrictions when compared with Groupon or LivingSocial. Each restaurant has either a minimum amount you must spend to use the coupon or a mandatory 18% tip on the pre-discount bill. Other places apply the discount to food only or exclude happy hour and their busiest times. To use these coupons successfully, you have to read all the fine print and research the restaurants before hand. Some, like Moshi Moshi Sushi and That's Amore Italian Cafe are decent places to eat, but there are other restaurants like China First that are downright bad. In general, these coupons tend to benefit locals looking for a decent meal out, as opposed to a visitor looking for a fantastic dining experience (Although, sometimes one of those fantastic dining experiences do pop up).

Four Free Apps that Save You Money in Seattle

Let me start off by saying that absolutely nothing here is going to cost you a dime to get and absolutely nothing here involves any sort of questionable tricks. I'm about to share with you four free apps for your smart phone that you can download right now and use immediately that will save you money on your trip here in Seattle.

Pirq
What it is: Pirq is an application that cuts 20-50% off your bill at absolutely zero cost to you at select restaurants and times. The idea is that businesses offer larger coupons at their low hours and smaller coupons at the busy times, which helps keep their business steady throughout the day. For you, it means free coupons that can be redeemed instantly for 20%+ off your bill. Visit their website for the full story

How it works: I have no idea how their business model is viable, but so long as it is here it is dead simple: You click on the business you're about to visit and see what coupons are available. You select one and then when you get there, click redeem. You need to scan a code that is at the business (usually by the register), and then poof: 20-50% of your bill simply vanishes.

Pros/Cons: Good discount with almost no effort, but few participating businesses (especially Downtown)

A sampling of the best participating businesses: Taste Restaurant (at the Seattle Art Museum, 20-50% off), 8oz Burger Bar (20-50% off), Ten Mercer (20-50% off), Eva Restaurant (30%, late night), Pegasus Pizza and Pasta (Alki, 20-50%), Taco del Mar (Super cheap fast food Mexican, now an extra 20-50% off. Great for budget travel)

 


LevelUp
What it is: LevelUp is a form of payment accepted by some businesses in the area, but why you should be interested in it is that it offers both a bonus for signing up ($5 with promo code 91389 or by signing up using this link*) and most businesses have a first time credit that discounts your bill. For example, Pike Place Chowder uses it and offers a $2 credit. Add in the $5 from the promo code and that gets you a cup of the world famous, line-out-the-door clam chowder for a whopping $1.20 plus tip (including tax). Visit their website for the full story

How it works: Another dubious business model, but enjoy it while it is here! After you've set up the application, just open it up and let the person at the register scan the code on the screen. Your card is charged the amount of the bill minus your credit. As an added bonus, since LevelUp is a payment you can also team up any businesses like this with any coupons or special offers you have because it is not another "discount or offer" that would prohibit their use

Pros/Cons: Free money for you, no string. The only con is most initial credit offers are only $2 per business and you can only use it once.

A sampling of the best participating businesses: Pike Place Chowder ($2 free), Mr. D's Greek Deli ($2 free), Coastal Kitchen ($4 free), Paragon Restaurant ($4 free), Mioposto ($2 free), Cafe Allegro ($2 free).

Chinook Book
What it is: Chinook Book is a coupon book that operates on the Entertainment Book model, but their smart phone app comes loaded with a couple of very handy coupons that both local and visitor can enjoy. You have the option to buy access to all of the coupons for $10, but that is not necessary to enjoy some pretty nice savings. For example, coffee at Cafe Ladro (which while not on my top 15 is still decent) is buy one get one free. What makes them different is that the Chinook Book only offers coupons for local, sustainable businesses. Visit their Website

How it works: Download the application, then click "near me", then "filter", then "availability" and select "available" and then apply. This will show you all of the coupons you can use right now that are close to your position. To use them, click on a coupon and hit redeem and show the next screen to the cashier. They'll take off that amount.

Pros/Cons: There is a lot of good stuff in there that is free, but the majority of coupons require a $10 "coupon pack" purchase.

A sampling of the best participating businesses: Free coupons, no purchase required (Download and go): Duke's Chowder House ($10 off $30), Pacific Science Center (2 for 1 admission), Blue Moon Burgers ($2 off), Cupcake Royale (6 Cupcakes for the price of 3), Cafe Ladro (Buy 1, Get 1), Wooden Boat Center (One free hour of rowing in their historic boats), Bartell Drugs ($5 off $25).

Requires purchase of $10 "Coupon Pack": Museum of Flight (2 or 1 admission, worth $17), Argosy Cruises (20% off Tillicum Village), Seattle Aquarium ($2 off regular admission, up to four people), IMAX ($2 off up to two tickets), Cafe Vita (2 for 1), Fuel Coffee (2 for 1), Molly Moon's Ice Cream (2 for 1), Alki Kayak Tours (50% off second tour, when first purchased at full price).

ScoutMob
What it is: A free app with coupons for 50% off your bill, or better, up to a certain amount. Sometimes they even have coupons for free things on there.

How it works: Download and start the application, select a business, click redeem, show the screen and save. Visit their website for full details

Pros/Cons: 50% off, but limited selection of businesses in Seattle. They are from New York and there are more coupons there. Works in several cities.

A sampling of the best participating businesses (as of 6/14/12): Bluebird Ice Cream (50% off up to $5), Wallingford Pizza House (50% off up to $13), Pel'Meni Dumpling Tzar (50% off up to $7)

Flying to LA: Which airport to choose?

Everyone knows about LAX. It's the main international airport in the Los Angeles area and the safe bet for getting to LA. However, LAX isn't the only airport in LA and making smart choices about which airport you fly to can make your trip to Los Angeles easier.

What other airports are there?
In the Los Angeles area, there are five airports. Burbank (BUR), Long Beach (LGB), Ontario (ONT), and Orange County (SNA). Each of these has regular service on major carriers and in many cases can put you closer to where you need to be at about the same cost. Sometimes other airports like Long Beach are actually less expensive than LAX.

Where are they?
All of the airports are spaced through the area. Burbank is in the San Fernando valley (in the valley), just north of downtown LA. Long Beach to the south of downtown LA and is one of the closest airports to Disneyland. Orange County is closer still to Disneyland (the airport of choice for this destination) and farther still from downtown LA. Ontario to the east of downtown LA. You can see a map with all of them here.

Which one do I choose?
Where to go depends on where you need to go, the price of tickets, and how you plan to get around.  The LA/Ontario airport has a great little tool to help make that decision if you are driving. Just type in your address, and you can see driving time to all of the airports side-by-side. Metro also has a simplified map that shows what buses run to and from the airports to different destinations in LA. After the break, we'll have a quick overview of my take on the pros and cons of each of the airports.

From Seattle to Bainbridge Island by Ferry

Not all travel has to be around the world. Here in Seattle we have a plethora of options for getting out of the city for a change of scenery and one of my long time favorites is a quick trip over to Bainbridge Island via the Washington State Ferries. If you're visiting Seattle, this is an ideal and inexpensive day trip that gives you a unique perspective of the city (and the surrounding communities).

"The Boat", as the ferry is sometimes referred to locally, leaves from Pier 52 which is located next to the famous Ivar's Acre of Clams (a place that deserves a visit on its own) and is best experienced on foot. If you prefer to drive, you can take your car on the boat, but because it's not recommended since Bainbridge is so walkable and driving on is much more expensive. Once on board, it's only a 30 minute ride over to the island with some of the best views of Seattle.

After the break, we'll have a brief photo tour of my last trip over there.

Viva Vegas!

Las Vegas is a heckuva place. 
If you had asked me back when I first turned 21, I would have told you that I had no interest in going to Las Vegas. Gambling?! Waste of money. Buffets?! Gross. Glitz and themed hotels?! Cheesy. No thank you. Then somewhere on the way I started having a little more fun and you know what? Las Vegas is a heckuva place. It's still ridiculous, but it's a fun ridiculous and I didn't learn my lesson: After a good 6-8 hours in the casino, I was actually up $5. Time to start planning the next trip.

I can't really say that I saw the real Las Vegas. What I visited was more Las Vegas® and Old Vegas, which is the strip and downtown. Outside of these Disneylands, I'm sure that there is a far different side of Vegas, both good and bad. The next time I'm here, I'll have to spend more time off strip, where I suspect that there are some truly great local places, but for anyone headed to Vegas, here's my basic advice:

1. Forget that the monorail exists, and go public transit. The monorail is both not that useful because it drops about a quarter mile from the strip and not the best example of monorail technology. The bus, on the other hand, is a good deal. Be sure to pony up the $2 for the 24 pass for less stress.

2. From the airport, just take a cab. The shuttle buses are slightly less expensive ($6 per person), but a cab for two or more people is going to be less expensive.

3. On a related note, when you're getting ready to leave, don't forget that the airport is less than 10 minutes away. We made the mistake of allocating way too much time to get to the airport and ended up waiting around.

4. Bring cash with you. ATMs in the hotel will run you $5 per withdrawal and less expensive ATMs are hard to find (There's one here for $3, here (4th floor, and broken when I tried), and supposedly one here, just in case).

5. Do have fun. If you decide to play, don't feel shy about asking the waitresses for a drink (but do tip $1 a drink) and make sure you're comfortable losing whatever you put up. Set a limit and stick with it. Shows are good too, but shop around for the best price. Tix4Tonite managed tickets for us to Love! at about a 20% discount (but better deals may have been about). Whatever you like to do, do it.

After the break, more pictures from everywhere, including the Stratosphere and a couple of other restaurants! Keep reading!

Flight Report: Challenging Copenhagen Connection Complications

Flying back from Sweden gave me a chance to experience something new: A fully missed connection with no later flights to my final destination. In the past, a delay has meant a couple of extra hours and maybe a rebooking to a red eye, but this time around the flight I missed was the last one of the day and the flight that was delayed by three hours was the last one out of Copenhagen to the US. In other words, I’m not getting home today. Here's what happened...

The first plane of the day

The day started out well enough: One of my friends gave me a ride to the airport in exchange for a Starbucks mug with “Stockholm” on it, and the first flight of the day was a quick hop to Copenhagen: A true bread and butter flight on a trusty 737. It was a wet start from Stockholm and we were quickly on top of a steady blanket of clouds which would be the scenery for the flight. On the approach the cloud cover gave way and revealed a bit of the countryside of southern Sweden, and the landing itself was in some pretty gusty cross winds. Once on the ground and in the airport, this is where the fun started…

After the break, the full story, lessons learned, and another example of a Kosher meal in flight, this time on SAS.

How to: So, you want to plan a trip on the Trans-Siberian Railroad... [Part 1: Visas]

Thousands of miles of railroad? Check. Russia? Check. Your mind? You might have lost it somewhere on the way, but this series of posts will help you through the planning process of your own Trans-Siberian journey.

The Trans-Siberian Railroad runs from Moscow to Vladivostok and is over 5,700 miles long. To put that in terms that make sense for people living in the US, that's a little shy of driving from New York to Chicago via San Francisco and Seattle. In European terms, it's like driving from Stockholm to Syria via Lisbon and Valencia. It's a long ways and a lot of time to cover, plus you'll be dealing with Russia and parts of the bureaucracy is still trying to shake off the Soviet era. 

Here's what you need to travel to make your dream a reality. It is deceptively easy: A Russian visa, train tickets, and places to stay along the way. Getting those in order will be your big challenge and this is a guide of how I made my arrangements for the trip and how to save time by learning from my experiences. This is a step-by-step guide to getting your visas and tickets in order.

After the break, we'll get started with the basics of where the railway runs and the visa situation for the three countries you're likely to visit...

How to: So, you want to plan a trip on the Trans-Siberian Railroad... [Part 2: Buying Train Tickets in Russian on RZD.ru]

This is the second part of my Trans-Siberian Primer. In order to plan a trip across Russia, it's vital that you understand how the trains work and how to buy tickets. In this post you'll learn how to purchase tickets directly from RZD (The Russian Railways) without having to pay a premium for going through a travel agency. As it is today, the website is almost as easy to use as Expedia or any other travel website, except that it's all in Russian and presumes you know a thing or two about the trains already.

After the jump, we'll go step by step from start to end of purchasing a ticket on RZD, complete with pictures at every step.

Crisis Management with Miles: Why one-way awards exist.

In my last post, I mentioned that Iceland was making my life difficult (yet again). Last year, my flight to Shanghai was shanghaied by the volcanic ashcloud and this year another ashcloud is causing problems for one of my relatives who was supposed to be on a plane to Reykjavik (KEF). They've been rescheduled for tomorrow, but who knows if that's going to happen at this point.

The lava fields of Helka, another volcano in Iceland, which was once called the "Gateway to Hell".
This one hasn't erupted since 2000, so if I'm really lucky maybe it'll erupt in 2012 and ground one of my planes then too.

Travel disruptions like this are annoying, but this is a good chance to show off what miles and mileage are good for. While I'm still hoping that Icelandic Air will pull through and be able to put planes in the air tomorrow, just in case I've got a one-way ticket for if the cloud gets worse on hold. The total cost? $30 plus 27,000 miles (which I just about earn on a roundtrip back to Seattle from here with my indirect routings and elite bonus). Plus, with United you can hold award reservations without buying them for a little while, so if the planes fly this insurance policy will have cost about 20 minutes of my time and nothing more.

Overall, that's a great deal. If you were to buy a one way ticket right now, the same flights would run you at least $1,100.

Kindlefish - No Muss Translations for the Amazon Kindle

One of the best features of the Amazon Kindle is the ability to access the internet virtually anywhere for free. Since there is no touchscreen, the interface can be a bit difficult at times, but for simple errands like checking your email, reading up on something on wikipedia, or sending a text message with google voice it's great. For example, I step off the plane, switch on my Kindle and a few moments later I can send a SMS saying that I got there safely. It doesn't cost me a thing and it just works.

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Kindlefish is back with a whole new look! Please read more about it here.

However, one thing that hit me the other day is that I should be able to use Google Translate on the Kindle to help me out in situations where I need to communicate a message, but there's a language barrier. The standard Google Translate page doesn't work for the Kindle and the mobile Google Translate page returns text that is too small to be easily read, and a little clunky for use on the Kindle.

So I fixed it. I present to you: Kindlefish!

Details and a walkthrough after the break!

Coming Soon: Food Fridays

If you've seen my foodie photos, you'd know that I love to try new places and new foods. Food is a type of culture and one of the biggest perks of traveling. By going someone and sharing in their cuisine, you learn much more about the place you're visiting than all of the touristy sites you could possibly visit.

The type of spices used (and unused), plus the variety of vegetables, fruits, and meats that go into dishes tell a story of the landscape and environment they live in. The way it is prepared and served, in addition to the manner in which you eat, tells you about the social relations embedded in the food. Even the adaptations of non-local dishes tells you about the tastes and preferences of the society you visit. Lastly, where it is made, whether it is institutionalized in restaurants or dished up on the side of the street, tells you about the mode of life and the means of the people you are visiting. In short, food is living culture and is one of the few aspects of contemporary culture which is visceral and easily available to the visitor. To share a plate is to share a story and an experience.

In honor of this tradition, I'm going to start posting "Food Fridays" every other week to show off some of the places and foods I've experienced, along with the story behind them.

Eating right, in flight: Getting edible food on your flights

Everyone gets hungry but more and more airlines are taking out food service altogether or replacing it with expensive snack boxes that still leave you hungry. Even meals that are left on long distance flights instill a certain level of dread when they are being trotted out, usually with a choice between overly dry chicken or some soggy beef or pork. At best, they’re passable; at worst they leave you feeling nauseous either by sight, smell, or disagreements with your stomach. After some trial and error, I’ve come up with a few tips that make meals on planes better:

1. If there is no free food, then make food with what’s free. A cup of instant noodles (available in a mind boggling array at Uwajimaya’s in Seattle) can be made on board with hot water from the galley. It’s instant, hot, and actually feels like you've had a proper meal after you’re done. 
2. If you dislike the food roulette, then order something predictable ahead of time. The dietary needs meals are options which people often overlook, but they are free to you and limit the types of ingredients that can be included and generally limit the preparation style. Hindu meals, for example, are my current favorite: So far every meal has been a vegetarian curry (chickpeas, spinach) with saffron rice, the usual salad, bread, and some fresh fruit. Breakfast was a vegetarian box with fruit, cheese, and crackers. On my next few flights, I will be exploring more styles, but I could survive with hindu meals on all flights from here on out just fine. The best thing of all is that the food is actually good!

Hindu Meal on Continental

Vegetarian Hindu Meal on Continental

Kosher Meal on Continental

Another example of a Kosher meal on Continental can be found in my flight report here.

Seat Tactics: More than Two people flying together

United 777: No middle seats!

If you’re in a group that’s greater than two, it’s a good idea to think geometrically: Arranging your seats in a square keeps you just as close to your friends, if not closer, than sitting in a row and can avoid people getting stuck in the middle seat. In 2/4/2 configurations, a block of 2x2 on either side of the plane can be better than having people stuck in the center section and on 3/3 configurations, 2 rows of the A/C trick gives you plenty of seats to bargain with and even the chance that you’ll luck out and those middle seats will be vacant.

Even if you can’t sit together as a single group, odds are you weren’t going to have a running conversation for the entire flight. Pick seats which are most comfortable for you, even if they are apart: You’ll have plenty of time to talk when you get to your destination

Seat Tactics: Getting Better Seats (in Coach)

First real post!

Getting the wrong seat on a plane can be a nightmare, but happily it’s something you can prevent most of the time with a little bit of research.

The first stop when picking a seat should always be seatguru.com. Match the type of plane you’re on with what is available for your airline and you’ll be able to check out exactly you’ll be on. The site gives you a great overview of the best and the worst seats for your plane including warnings about window seats without windows and tips about which seats don’t recline at all, all of which sometimes don’t show up on the seat maps the airline provides. If there's one take away from the site though, it's that of all the seats, avoid the last row. These virtually always have no recline.

On of the biggest mistakes that people make is to assume that exit rows are automatically better than other seats. While it is true that they offer more leg room, they often come with the downside of either being narrower (when there's no seat in front of it, just a bulk head) or completely unable to recline (generally when there are two exit rows over the wing, the first row will not recline)! Double check to make sure that the seats recline, or you may end up sitting straight up the entire flight.

Whether you choose an aisle or window seat is up to personal preference: Window seats have the advantage of easier sleeping and views, but getting out to walk around is understandably difficult. You also avoid the risk of having an elbow knocked by the food cart or a foot trampled by people walking in the aisle. On the other hand, the aisle is better for people who like to get up a lot or need to get up a lot to stretch their legs. On longer flights, this can be a real advantage if you are unable to fall asleep.

Most planes are 3/3 configurations, meaning there are three seats on both sides, with two completely unwanted middle seats on both sides. For these the above rules apply, but on longer distance planes, you’ll also find 2/4/2 configurations. The two seats on the side are ideal for couples and better for the solo traveler as well.