Last-minute Ticket Savings/Best Food Cities/40K Amtrak Points
Nomadico issue #151
Airlines Where it Pays to Wait
Is it better to buy flight tickets way ahead of time or wait until the last minute? The answer sometimes depends on the airline, as this study on last-minute ticket prices in the USA lays out. The conventional wisdom that it’s best to plan ahead is true for JetBlue, Hawaiian, and United. On those you’d pay 16% to 30% more than if you booked ahead. On the other hand, you could score a deal by waiting until the last minute for Alaska, Southwest, Frontier, and Spirit. It only averaged 3.6% and 3.1% less for those last two though, so do it for convenience rather than savings unless your trip will be on Alaska Air (a 22.6% difference).
Best Food Cities in the World?
You’ll surely find plenty to quibble with in this Time Out rundown of the world’s best cities for food (Medellin ahead of Lima and Mexico City, Cairo but not NYC or Tokyo?) Turns out that affordability was one of the factors and they asked locals to chime it, so cities full of picky cynics apparently didn’t fare well. Having any city in Central America on a list like this is just plain wrong, but it’s still fun to look through and think about for future trips. Plans for Lagos anyone?
Expat Stories From Mexico
If you’re looking to escape to another country, Mexico has a lot going for it and has great air connections to get in and out. Many of the articles out there don’t dig very deep into what life is really like for expats through, so if you want the real deal, check out this book from resident Janet Blaser called Going Expat Mexico. It contains 24 in-depth stories from those who have made the move, including one chapter from yours truly. Get it here in paperback or for Kindle.
40,000 Amtrak Points
I’ve got an Amtrak trip from Montreal to Albany coming up in June after recently riding from Atlanta to Charlottesville to go visit my mom and sis. The economy class legroom is more than you get in domestic business class on a plane, there are no luggage fees, and the staffers on my last trip were quite helpful. We arrived on time even. If you love train travel and you’re an American in the market for a new credit card, through the end of April you can get 40,000 Amtrak points by getting this one. If I didn’t live in Mexico I’d be jumping on it pronto.
A weekly newsletter with four quick bites, edited by Tim Leffel, author of A Better Life for Half the Price and The World’s Cheapest Destinations. See past editions here, where your like-minded friends can subscribe and join you.
04/17/25
