How One Trip Turned Into Four!

Nothing makes a honeymoon in Cancun better than ending it with $2000 in flights!   

Our love and passion for travel started with our honeymoon In 2018. We booked our first trip together and took cheap flights to Cancun. As expected, it was amazing! We ate good food, soaked up the sun, and relaxed. To get to Cancun we booked nonstop flights out of Denver and separate flights from Salt Lake to Denver. Our go-to for that quick SLC-DEN has always been Frontier. The airline gets a lot of grief but is great for what they claim to be. Budget-friendly travel. With self-transfers, and often with Frontier, there are long layovers in Denver. This experience was no exception. Our return trip left us sitting in Denver for quite a few hours (the upper floor of concourse A has nice sofa chairs in the corners). As boarding time approached we were waiting by the gate to get on the airplane. Except there was no airplane, or agents, or anything! Eventually, the gate agents showed up and started doing their thing. Shortly after they appeared, however, they announced that there was an issue with the plane. They informed us that there had been a mechanical issue and they were waiting on a new aircraft. What we thought would be bad news actually turned into the best news we could have heard. The plane switch caused them to be overbooked 45 seats, and to fix the issue they needed people to give up their seats for a later flight. The next available flight ended up being the following morning causing a lot of resistance from people. To urge people to do this, they offered $800 vouchers to each willing passenger. We looked at each other with hesitation but ultimately decided to give it a shot. As we headed to the counter they raised the ante to $1000 per passenger so we kept walking. Thanks to our quick decision we ended up 4th in line with no issue of getting our vouchers. We ended up getting a rental car and driving home to avoid the overnight wait. So we took our $2000 and hit the road. It was a rough drive home and we didn’t get there until about 5 am, but hey, we ended our trip with $2000 in flights. We ended up using those vouchers over the next few months to fly to San Diego, Houston, and Washington D.C. This sparked our love for travel and we knew we needed to do everything we could to keep that feeling alive.  

Now, you may say that was luck, or that it’s rare and we just happened to be in the right place at the right time. That may be true, but we learned a few valuable lessons that night that have shaped how we now travel.    

First and foremost, it can happen to any flight! Regardless of a mechanical issue airlines often overbook flights expecting people won’t show up. We’ve been there a handful of times when they’ve offered deals for people to give up seats. Prepare yourself now to make that decision if the chance presents itself. 

Just do it! Book that flight, be spontaneous, and don’t overthink it. Deals and opportunities will always pop up throughout life and if you hesitate or overthink, you’ll miss out on experiences. Had we thought about all the reasons we shouldn’t have gone to the desk, we would’ve missed out on the chance to fly to 3 other places.    

Flexibility runs the world of travel! It’s the biggest key to cheaper travel and more travel. Whether it’s in planning for future trips or last-minute booking, flexibility allows for far more experiences and often far cheaper experiences. You have to be prepared to be flexible so that when random exciting things pop up, you’re not stuck in your ways and you’re not too set to do something unique.   

We don’t share this to boast of our possible luck, but instead to open your minds to unlimited possibilities that come from being flexible and just doing it. Never be afraid to have a good experience and never let excuses get in the way.