Last February, I was sitting in a coffee shop in North Park, scrolling through flight prices to Seattle and nearly choking on my cold brew. $340 for a roundtrip? For a flight I’d taken dozens of times for half that price? That’s when I realized I’d accidentally been searching for flights during Presidents’ Day weekend…

So here’s the thing about Seattle to San Diego flights – I’ve flown this route probably 15 times in the past three years, and I’ve paid everywhere from $39 to $280 for basically the same flight. Wild, right? The difference wasn’t luck, though I’ll admit timing played a role. It was mostly about knowing when…

So here’s a fun story that’ll probably make you feel better about your own travel planning fails. Last February, I needed to get from San Diego back to Phoenix after a week of house-sitting in Ocean Beach. Simple enough, right? It’s the same route I’ve flown a dozen times, just in reverse. I waited until…

Look, I’m going to be honest with you – when I first started looking at flights from Phoenix to San Diego, I thought I was losing my mind. We’re talking about a route that’s literally 355 miles. I’ve driven longer distances to visit my parents in Texas. And yet, somehow, airlines were trying to charge…

I’m going to level with you right from the start – when someone first told me about Hotel Riviera Suites Miami Beach, I thought they were messing with me. A full suite on Miami Beach, with a kitchenette, for under $80 a night? During winter? That sounded like one of those too-good-to-be-true deals that ends…

Look, I’ll be honest with you – Miami wasn’t even on my radar until I stumbled across this booking glitch that basically made me rethink everything I thought I knew about luxury hotels in expensive cities. I was actually searching for cheap hostels in Fort Lauderdale (classic budget traveler move) when I accidentally typed “AC…

So here’s a story that’ll probably sound familiar. Three years ago, I booked a cruise out of Miami – my first ever cruise, actually, and I was super excited about it. But then I made this rookie mistake that cost me way more than it should have. I figured I’d just find a hotel near…

Okay, so I need to be honest with you right from the start. When I first told my friend Sarah I was heading to South Beach Miami on my usual shoestring budget, she literally laughed at me. Like, full-on snort-laughed. “Ava, that’s where celebrities go to be seen. You’re gonna sleep on the beach?” Well,…

So here’s a story I don’t tell often: I once paid $340 for a single night at a Miami hotel that had bedbugs. Yeah. That happened. After that disaster, I became kind of obsessive about finding Miami accommodations that actually deliver value without the sketchy surprises. Fast forward to this past October, and I found…

Look, I’m going to be honest with you right off the bat. When I first heard about YVE Hotel Miami, I was skeptical. South Beach and “budget-friendly” don’t usually show up in the same sentence unless someone’s trying to sell you a hostel bunk bed or a sketchy Airbnb that’s actually in Hialeah. But last…