You know know you're in the right place as soon as you de-plane, BMW Ad, Munich Airport, Germany

European Car Delivery Programs to Travel on a Budget

Hey Trippers,

Because most of my trip to Europe in May was driving, I had to shop around for car rentals.  It’s not fun but shopping around will get you a better rate and save you some big money.  Many of the bargain websites on-line don’t connect to European Rental Car companies.  So, it takes diligence.   The rates for large size rental cars with enough room to hide your belongings/luggage out of site are ridiculously expensive!  And during peak season (another downfall of peak season) availability is limited, if not sold out.  I found a way to save money, increase car size, and maintain comfort.  Buy a car in Europe!

Background: Originally my trip was Seattle to London to Rome, and back.  I was going to drive south to Naples, Lecce, and Reggio di Calabria (the point of the boot shape of Italy).  From there I was going to ferry over to Sicily.  Then, back to Rome.

How the final itinerary ended up being a flight from London to Munich and driving to Salzburg, Trieste, Venice, Verona, and Innsbruck was because I decided to purchase a new BMW in Welt, Munich, Germany.  My old car had reached its 4^th year and the warranty was going to be up.  Mind you, this decision was made last minute in the car-ordering-world.

Typically, the process needs at least 60 days to happen and I was at 45 days.  But due to the economic conditions, there was a slot available at the BMW factory to build me a car to my specifications in that time.  My airline status enabled me to change my previously booked Mileage Award Ticket (last second in the Mileage Award world) without penalty.  The downside was choice of flights but I made it happen.

Here’s the pluses of ordering a car on the European Delivery Program:

• Minimum of 60 days is usually required.

• Savings of 7 – 10% over a purchase in your home country.

• Order, negotiate, and finance (if necessary) the deal at your local dealership before you go.

• Order the car to be built with the exact specifications you want.

• Car Registration and Insurance is included while you drive around Europe – most for up to a month.  You can extend it for a fee.

• You will save Rental Car Hire fees, which can be exorbitant.

• You’ll find a wide variety of drop-off points and not all are seaports.

• Free or reduced rate accommodation and/or airfare may be included in your manufacturer’s European Delivery Program.

Here’s the minuses of buying a car with the European Delivery Program:

• You have to plan your trip around pick up and drop off points.

• Drop off points may include an extra charge.

• Financing – The program only makes sense financially if you are going to pay cash for your car or get a finance interest rate lower than your savings interest rate (assuming you keep the cash for the car in savings or invested).

• Availability of free or reduced rate accommodation and airfare is tight and the reduced rates may still be more expensive than you can get on your own.

You can find more information from the following manufacturers.

Audi

BMW

Mercedes Benz

Porsche

Saab

Volvo

The only downside of our European Delivery Experience was the Drop-off.  More on that later . . . .  Next time I will be prepared for the drop off process and there WILL be a next time.  Here’s a few photos from the experience . . . .

BMW Headquarters, Welt, Munich, Germany

Bring your appetite for the buffet in the lounge, BMW Welt, European Delivery, Munich, Bavaria, Germany

The Tornado, Architect Wolf Prix, BMW Welt Munich Germany

Car Delivery Elevator delivers your car to the delivery platform BMW Welt Munich Germany

BMW Welt European Delivery Presentation Platform is in a spiral, Munich Germany

Classic Beamer, BMW Museum, Munich, Germany

Hydrogen Car, BMW Museum, Munich, Germany

Temporary Art Installation, BMW Museum, Munich, Germany

Happy Tripping,

Carter

Hey Trippers,

One travel tip I’ve learned over the years I can pass on is flexibility.  Especially, when it comes to accommodation.   I have never understood how anyone can book two weeks of accommodation in advance.  I can understand it if you go for a weekend – or maybe a week away – in a popular destination’s peak season.  (But I wouldn’t recommend that you go during that time anyway.)

Open to Whimsy from Your “Hub”

When I run through many of my travel memories that have stuck with me and felt like a real sense of adventure, they happened when I practiced flexibility.   All too often I find that I enjoy a place too much that I want to spend more time there – or rarely, less.  If I have a week of reservations ahead of me that can’t be broken, I can’t enjoy that place longer.  I tend to book accommodation in a destination and look at it as being a hub.  I use the “hub” as a base and go in each direction exploring, then move on to the next “hub”.

Visit a Tourist Office and Use the Web!

I know, you think you don’t want to waste time going from hotel to hotel after you arrive at your destination.  Most destinations have tourist offices that are more than happy to assist you.  On this trip, we made sure we booked accommodation with Internet, either in room or lobby.  We used www.booking.com,  www.lastminute.com, and our “reward points” websites.  There was plenty of availability.  This trip showed me the value of having an iPhone or an Internet connecting PDA.  You can literally book while you travel.  This freedom allows you to stop, explore, linger, and stay – or – move on if a destination doesn’t meet your expectations.

Two Must Nights to Pre-Book Accommodation

The one area I don’t allow any flexibility in my accommodation booking is the day I land and the night before I take off.   I book the first night or two and the last night – well before I leave.  The reserved accommodation will be near my first day destination and near the airport of my departure on the night before.  I make sure I’m booked the first night because I won’t be in any condition to book or search for a hotel when I land (given the time change and the length of air travel).

A Dangerous Landing

On this trip, I landed at Heathrow airport, rented a car, and drove two hours to my hotel that was pre-booked in Birmingham, Midlands.  I was traveling with someone who, thankfully, did the driving.  If I were alone there would have been serious problems.  I could not keep my eyes open.  I was exhausted from the long flights, not enough sleep, and the pre-departure preparations.  If I were alone, I would have stopped to nap in the car after leaving the airport.  It was that bad.  So, plan well.  Evaluate how you really are when you land on the first day of your trip.  Packing and negotiating airports and public transport is exhausting.

Ensure a Delightful Finish

The final night of my trip is booked because I do not take any chances with my getting to the airport on time.  I would not recommend being any further than one hour or less drive from the airport you’re departing from, especially, if you have a departure before noon.  What could happen?  Lots . . . . You could be ill after an exhaustive trip or exposure to a virus or bacteria.  You could be involved in or delayed by a car / public transport accident or delay.  You could have left a belonging / electronic / camera lens, passport along your trip and need to go back for it making you late for your flight.  At least if you have a room reserved, you could stop to rest and regroup for your departure flight.

Still Able to Maintain Budget

Booking a room at a hotel near the airport doesn’t have to be expensive.  Most accommodation caters to business travelers.  You will easily find a better rate on weekends.  There are less expensive hotels located a bit further from the hotel that often offer a free shuttle as an incentive for you to stay there.  (Book that shuttle in advance, if possible)  Rates on weekdays will be higher but usually a busy international airport will have a wide variety of nightly rates and amenities.

On this trip, I booked my final night at the Sheraton Frankfurt Hotel & Towers.  It is literally attached to the airport.  What a pleasure it was and a great way to finish my trip by waking, having a good breakfast, and walking over a skybridge into the airport terminal.  I booked a room using a Starwood Preferred Guest “Cash and Points” scheme.  I used 4000 Starpoints and paid US$60.00(€42.00) for the convenience.

Upgrade!!!

When, I arrived, I checked into the spacious room with modern amenities – and found it was dirty from the previous night!  I called down to the front desk.  They apologized and assigned me another room with a room upgrade.  I was now on the Executive Floor!  This gave me access to the Executive Lounge.  The lounge was spacious, included (at no extra charge) all the chef-prepared food, snacks, beverages (soft drinks, wine, beer, liquor), and a breakfast buffet in the morning.  What a way to finish a trip!

Happy Tripping,

Carter

Part 3 in a series of how I traveled to Europe and back for three weeks on a budget.

Hey Trippers,

Today I will focus on using hotel points, awards, how to acquire them, and when to redeem them.  Hotel costs regularly exceed airfare and transportation costs on any holiday.  This is an important way to reduce your trip overhead.

Disclaimer: I DO NOT ENDORSE ANY PRODUCT BELOW.  I am using them only as an example.

Join a Rewards Program and CHOOSE CAREFULLY – Choose a reward program and think it through.  Personally, I keep my hotel choices within hotel groupings that are in only two programs.  I do have memberships in a few other programs but focus on Hilton Honors and Starwood Preferred Guest.  For the most part, these two programs fulfill my needs domestically and internationally.  (I fill in the gaps with local hotels that are culturally significant at reasonable rates)  Both Award Programs have a spectrum of accommodation rates and property quality from BUDGET to LUXURY, which is what you want the programs you choose to have.

Hotel Reward Program Credit Cards – Sign up for a Hotel Rewards Credit Card (See programs below) for a group of hotels that have a broad spectrum of accommodation classes.  Personally, I have a Hilton Honors American Express and a Starwood Preferred Guest American Express.  Some of the credit cards charge yearly fees and some don’t.  Makes sure you confirm the one you use.  DO NOT do this if you cannot pay your credit card balance off in its entirety every month (interest rates approach loan shark rates) or if you are prone to be late paying bills (penalty fees are ridiculously high).

Point Acquisition – The programs will award you anywhere between 10 points and 1 point per dollar depending on what you spend your credit card on; the hotels themselves, gas stations, credit cards, on-line malls, or grocery stores.   You can usually acquire the most points for actually paying for a hotel stay and dining on the property.

Pay Low Redeem High - The trick is when it is on your dollar; you stay in one of their accommodations as cheaply as possible to earn points.  When you go away on personal business, visiting Grandma, or other non-holiday hotel stays, that’s when you stay in a modest accommodation within the hotel reward program.  Then, during the dream trip or holiday stay in the more expensive or popular hotels using points.  For instance, when on non-holiday accommodation stays; stay at a Hampton Inn or Hilton Garden Inn and when on your dream trip stay at the Hilton or Conrad using points.

On my trip, while in England and Austria, I paid to stay at Hilton Hotels (2 – 3 Star) at great rates (earning points and stays).  I found and booked the Hilton Hotels in England on-line and booked the Innsbruck Hilton last minute (most stays included breakfast).  The England Hilton stays ranged between £69.00 (US$113.00) in Bromsgrove, Midlands, £89.00 (US$146.00) in London, and Innsbruck, Austria, €89.00 (US$127.00) per night.  Both hotels included breakfast as part of the room rate.  In London, my Hilton Honors status enabled me to get a room upgrade and breakfast included.  I used Starwood Preferred Guest points to stay in a Venice 5 Star Hotel.  I redeemed points for my 5-night stay at The Europa and Regina Hotel on the Grande Canal.  The Premium Deluxe Room I stayed in was €380.00 (US$540.00) per night when booked on-line in advance.  The breakfast buffet was €52.00 (US$74.00) per person and I used points for that – only once!  Overeating is no way to start a busy day of exploring.

Double Dipping - This is a good way to acquire double points.  When staying at an accommodation, use the same Reward Program Credit Card to pay for your stay.  Many of the hotel chains also award a block of air miles for each stay (one or more nights consecutively).  Many Rental Car Companies also award hotel points.  Check before you book.

Advance Booking - Redeeming points for hotel stays has to be done WELL IN ADVANCE.  The programs are popular!  There are only so many rooms they set aside for point redemption.  Peak times at popular hotels have the fewest point redemption rooms available.

Optimizing Redemption – Starwood Preferred Guest is the only program offering “Free Night Awards”.  This aspect awards you a fifth night free with every four nights you book with award points.  There is limited availability, so book ASAP.

Remember to optimize the points you acquire when making large purchases; furniture, cars, electronics (including computers), home repairs, landscaping, etc.  Negotiate as a part or all of payment to be able to use a credit card.  When I purchased my last car, I negotiated as a part of the deal to charge $10,000.00 on my Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card.  That is a 5 night stay on many of their  properties.

Membership or Status Levels – Within a particular Reward Program, if you stay enough times and or acquire enough points (within a calendar year) your status within the program will get you additional perks.  Example: Hilton Honors has (lowest to highest) Blue, Silver VIP, Gold VIP, and Diamond VIP. Depending on property and availability, Gold VIP and Diamond VIP will get you an upgrade to the Executive Lounge Floor, which (depending on property) will afford you complimentary breakfast, snacks, and drinks throughout the day and evening.

Here’s a list of hotels and their programs;

Starwood Preferred Guest Program – Hotels include: Meridien, Four Points by Sheraton, Westin, W Hotels, St. Regis, Sheraton, aloft, and the Luxury Collection

Hilton Honors – Hilton, Conrad, DoubleTree, Embassy Suites, Hampton Inn, Hilton Garden Inn, Homewood Suites, The Waldorf Astoria Collection, and Home2 Suites

Priority Club Rewards – Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo, Staybridge Suites, and Candlewood Suites

Wyndham Rewards – Wyndham, Ramada, Days Inn, Super 8, Wingate, Baymont Ins & Suites, Howard Johnson, Travelodge, Knights Inn, Microtel, and Hawthorn.

Marriott Rewards – Marriott, JW Marriott, Renaissance, Courtyard, Residence Inn, SpringHill Suites, and Fairfield Inn.

Choice Privileges –    Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Clarion, Cambria Suites, Main Stay Suites, Suburban, EconoLodge, Rodeway Inn, and Ascend Collection

Best Western Rewards – (Earn Points or Air Miles) Good at over 4000 Best Western Hotels in 80 countries.

Hyatt Gold Passport – Hyatt, Hyatt Place, and Hyatt Summerfield Suites

This should be a good start for you.  I know it can be complicated at times.  But once you get the hang of it, it’ll make sense.  There is more Hotel Reward Programs listed in the KNOW YOUR BUDGET download on the KNOW YOUR TRIP HOME PAGE.

Happy Point Acquisition,

Carter