What is the number one question I am asked about travel?  Despite my extensive experience with dealing with travel-related vomit and urination on World Heritage sites, it usually involves money.  Time and time again I’m asked this: With as much as you travel, how do you keep costs down?

And let me tell you a secret.  Sometimes it involves spending a little more.

A few months ago, I wrote a post about what to NEVER skimp on while traveling.  And I shared that the big one for me is a good hotel.  I want a centrally-located hotel with some amenities.  After all, if you end up with a cranky kid, you’ll likely be spending a lot of time in your room.  It’s just better if it doesn’t suck.  But I didn’t mention this:  If it’s in a big hotel chain, I want a room with executive club access.

Big American chains like to reward frequent business travelers.  And they usually do this with an executive club.  To the untrained eye, it may not seem like much.  The club is usually just a room with a big screen TV, some comfy couches, magazines and a bar.  But it can be a huge money-saver.

Good executive clubs usually offer a free Continental breakfast.  So instead of shelling out $25 a pop for the buffet downstairs, you can get your coffee and pastry fix just down the hall.  Furthermore, most executive clubs offer a daily happy hour with food.

I’ve stayed in several where this so-called happy hour provided enough food for you to call dinner – and there is usually something available that even the most finicky kid will eat.  But it doesn’t stop there.  Most executive clubs also stock some kind of snack foods.  It’s awesome.  Why pay for a bag of chips at the shop when you can just grab a bag for free?

But the best part?  Free drinks.  As many as you want.  And that includes alcoholic drinks.  When you are likely to be stuck in your room at 8:00pm once the kids are in bed, this is a great perk.  Sure as heck beats draining your kid’s college fund to raid the mini-bar.

With great hotel deals all around these days, upgrading to an executive access room is not that cost-prohibitive.  Take our recent trip to Helsinki.  We found a great deal on a hotel room at the Crowne Plaza.  And for $40 more per night, we could upgrade to a room with executive club access.  Between breakfasts, getting Chet snacks during the day,  one happy hour as dinner, and grabbing wine after lights-out, we figure we saved ourselves at least twice that per day – maybe even more.

In the same way that less is sometimes more, a little more can often offer you and your family a lot more while traveling.  So next time you are checking out hotel prices, see how much it might cost to upgrade to the executive level.  Spending a little bit extra to start may save you more in the long run.

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