In the very hot weather we have been having this summer I am often glued to the a/c in a Home Owner’s place when looking after the pets. Sometimes I think I need a break from the pets and to save the Home Owner’s electricity. I seek out the library and take a good book. This worked well in Cadiz where the university library was nearby. Spacious, quiet and cool with good lighting and no pets!
Great for decompressing! It was 3 mins from the home. The Home Owner had never used it, but knew where it was.
This would also work well for a warm up in winter sits! The opening hours were 9.00 am till 9.00 pm Mon to Fri.
No cost tip!
No disturbances and no one trying to move one on!
No matter where in the world I am, I ask if there are senior discounts. Yes, you have to ask!
Anywhere from clothing stores, grocery stores, trains, museums, any event —just ask! And senior age requirements are different everywhere.
In NJ/NYC the train ticket is half price!
Adding a couple more:
— Not for the time-pressed or faint-of-heart, but I play the airline-points game on a middling-level. It takes a certain time investment to get going, but I’m a bit spoiled & like to travel business-class when possible, so well worth it to me. (If you do go this route, I’ve found Seats.Aero great for identifying reward availability. They have both free & paid/premium plans.)
— Creating a Wise account for convenient & extremely economical foreign currency exchanges & transactions. Fantastic service.
I have never heard of SKIPLAGGED, had a look just now and it only gives prices in DOLLARS, how do I change it to any other currency?.
@RedLassie AI generated answer:
I don’t want to be a wet blanket here, but I recently read an article about how the (bigger- they mentioned the German national carrier…) airlines are cracking down on skiplagging and even banning fliers for life if they suspect them of doing it…just saying.
Read this as well, although I’m sure the industry isn’t above producing a few well-distributed press releases to try to quell the practice. Ultimately though, if they really start doing this in a concerted way I think it will bite them - esp in combination with their attempts to implement AI-driven “dynamic pricing.” It’s ludicrous to charge extra for more direct routes, particularly via arbitrary fuel surcharges.
Just my opinion, but I think people are a bit fed up with their attempts to gouge customers & then play victim.
I so agree MerryPuppins.
To quote the White Lotus…" I just don’t think, at this age, I’m meant to live an uncomfortable life. I don’t have the will."
I am a huge fan of airline loyalty programs as they can literally be worth their weight in gold. When I used to fly a lot for work, a higher level in the airlines’ loyalty program often mitigated problems before they even started…which meant savings in lost fares and/or rebooking costs.
@MerryPuppins I love; ‘Not for the time-pressed or faint-of-heart, but I play the airline-points game on a middling-level.’
Wishing you many joyful experiences 
One travel tip that may help some people.
My partner Gerard uses a Revolut card when we travel. He is extremely careful with money and hates paying unnecessary bank or exchange fees - he walks away from any ATM when he has to spend too much money on taking OUR money 
from the bank - so if he chooses something, there is usually a good reason.
Compared with many traditional bank cards, Revolut often offers exchange rates that are much closer to the interbank rate and, depending on your plan, you can exchange currencies without additional fees up to a monthly limit. That can make a noticeable difference if you’re travelling for several weeks or months and paying in different currencies.
Another feature we have found useful is the travel eSIM. Instead of buying a local SIM card every time we arrive somewhere, Gerard simply buys a data package through the app. For example, we recently bought 5 GB for about €16, which has been enough for our needs. The eSIM is data-only, but that is fine for us because we make our calls through WhatsApp with Wifi indoors.
(Most people know that almost every restaurant or coffee place has WiFi nowadays)
The app also lets you see every transaction instantly and freeze or unfreeze the card if needed, which is reassuring when you’re travelling.
I’m not affiliated with Revolut in any way, and there are certainly other good travel cards available. I just thought I’d mention it because it has worked well for us during long-term travel and housesits and especially here in Costa Rica when we arrived at the airport and there is no simcard seller.
One final thing: I believe Revolut has a referral programme where both the existing customer and the new customer can sometimes receive a benefit. I’m not completely sure how it works or whether there is a promotion running at the moment, but if you’re thinking of signing up anyway, feel free to contact me first. If there’s a referral available, it may give you an advantage compared with signing up directly.
@august Thanks!
These are the countries for which you can currently receive flight-deal alerts from Fly4free:
Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
You can select individual countries or choose ‘All countries’. Fly4free will then send you a notification whenever it publishes a new offer for the selected countries.
Can you list some of your favorite loyalty programs?