Advice from Confucious.
To those of you that travel looking for the lowest airline fare, hotel room cost and best train fare; do you carry balances on any of your credit cards ever? If so, you are defeating the purpose of always looking for the lowest prices.

We never carry a balance. But those who do shop for the lowest price are not defeating the purpose of looking for lowest prices--it's better to pay interest on a $500 airfare than on an $800 airfare.

I take it you were not a math whiz in school, xnyxny.

Using credit card carry over debt is very seductive. Some folks think "I can do this" because I am saving so much money on my trip.

They are always giving me these 0 % credit cards. I still haven't paid off a trip from a few years ago - though I do have the money and it's not like the bank is paying me much more than 0% interest, but somehow the discipline of making payments to a credit card works better than putting in the savings, which is what it amounts to. So when the time limit is up, I transfer the balance to a new 0% account and cancel the card. When they ask me why I'm canceling I'm very honest "Because I was just using you for your interest rate" I've done this for a couple of years now.

xnyxny--and maybe they can because of the money they are saving on air, hotel, etc.

Rufus, My thoughts exactly.

Keith

Just ask any money manager: Anytime anyone carries an unpaid balance on their credit card for travel is making a big mistake and they are only fooling and hurting themself.

They may be "hurting" themselves in the sense that they're going to pay interest but why are they necessarily "fooling" themselves as long as they realize they're paying interest and consider that along with their actual travel expenses?

Consider this....maybe using a credit card and paying off over time is the only way some people can travel.

Some of us would be fertilizer if we waited until we had every dollar before we traveled.

Money managers would tell you to save the money first and then travel. Are you saying that you have no discipline to save, and that you are willing to pay pay more to travel because you are unable to save?

Look, why not take financial advice from our President, the Spender-in-Chief. Spend what you want right now and run up your debt. Then, when you leave office (or die, or run away to another country) you can leave the payment of that debt for others to worry about.

It appears that saving is a "Quaint Concept".

I swear these "advice" questions always seem to cause more angst than any of us were meant to suffer...but when the board is "slow".......

I tried to resist, but just couldn't...

First, let's say you're going to put the trip on credit card anyway (one that is not 0% interest). So, you don't shop around for the best deal. Then, not only are you getting ripped on interest, but you are also paying more than necessary for travel expenses. Not smart. Lower cost for travel means less money on the credit card means less interest paid. This is not calculus.

Second, since when is it the President's job to save OUR money for someone else? I would like to have as much of my OWN money as possible. Too many people are too stupid to realize that that "surplus" of money that our government holds is OURS!!! I can save my money myself, thank you very much.

And, as a side note, I DO save for my trips.

RE: CAPO

Your example is a false choice. Our beloved President, the Spender-in-Chief is allowing the congress to run up a debt to assist the economy recover. Once it has, and it always does sooner or later, the government will collect more taxes in the stronger economy and the debt can be retired. When GWB leaves office in 2008, he will not be leaving a huge debt for Jeb to take on as the new Spender-in-Chief.

Yeah, Degas!! (Love your post name, too!)

Degas, dreams can be mysterious and laden with symbolism. Your dream is a very interesting one and I've asked a psychologist friend of mine if he can possibly interpret it.

Will it take a Clinton to get the budget deficit under control? Again.

Capo: Why bring Bush into this? Or were you responding to another comment that I missed?

I think to take xnyxny's comments another step: If you carry a balance on your credit card, perhaps you shouldn't travel until that balance is paid off (assuming the balance subject to the high interest rates typically charged by cards).