1. Airfordable 

I used Airfordable once when I went on my first international trip to St. Kitts & Nevis when I was a baby at traveling. Airfordable is a monthly payment plan that allows you to pay off plane tickets in installments. You find your plane ticket and add the details/screenshot, pay an upfront fee, then choose how many months you will pay for the rest of the 

2. Ibotta 

I’ve been using ibotta for years for shopping and it’s never let me down. Ibotta is a cash back app where you can use coupons or earn cash back from purchases. The app has hundreds of stores linked like Target, Grubhub, Ulta and more. Once you get to a certain threshold, you can either use a gift card with one of the linked stores or have the money sent to your PayPal or bank account. 

In terms of travel, Ibotta has stores like Orbitz, Booking.com, Expedia, Southwest Airlines, and Airbnb. Instead of purchasing airfare or hotels directly from websites, you can use Ibotta to save some coins by getting cash back or grabbing a gift card! 

3. Klarna 

Klarna is a payment plan shopping app where you can buy from hundreds of different retailers. Of course there’s a travel section with airlines like Southwest, United, Delta, and American and hotel choices like IHG Hotels & Resorts. Klarna starts you off with a purchase power and you have to pay it off in either 4 or 6 months time frame. 

4. Groupon 

Good ol’ Groupon! Groupon has been around for the longest and she’s never let any of us down. Groupon can be used for flight, hotel, tours, all inclusive packages. It can also be used to purchase events and excursions at your destination of choice. 

5. Hopper 

Hopper is a flight search app that helps you find low priced flights. If you want to find out which day is the cheapest to fly based off your location and destination, Hopper has a calendar with dates showing the best dates. I would highly recommend using this app first to choose the best days to travel then solidifying hotel and stay. 

6. Expedia & Orbitz 

As quiet as it’s kept, both are from the same company. Maybe it’s not that quiet, but yes. You can utilize these apps for both flight and hotels as well as find Airbnb style homes as another option. Like many other apps, these two are assorted by best pricing.

What travel apps do you like to utilize to save money?

UPDATED: April 2024 

 For my birthday this year, I decided to venture off to San Juan, Puerto Rico to celebrate this big milestone year. Although it’s still considered U.S. territory, I haven’t been out of the country since right when the pandemic started! I was itching to get back on somebody’s island since then and my prayer and dream came true. 

It being a life changing experience is an understatement. The island of Puerto Rico is full of wonder, adventure, and relaxation. Let’s get into the details of the journey. 

Flying: How To Get There 

Here are two cool travel hack ideas: 

1. Booking flights one way instead of round trip is a huge money saver. I flew Southwest to Miami as a “layover” stop. From there I ventured to San Juan via American Airlines instead of paying a whopping $300+ round trip from Chicago to San Juan. I ended up paying about $150 if I’m not mistaken. 1B. I love flying with Southwest because they’re fairly inexpensive especially when flying across the country. Plus you get two bags free, you can’t beat that! Southwest is always going to be my go-to company. 

2. With all that being said, when you’re traveling to the Caribbean, Mexico, Central or South America, utilize the first step and always make Miami your one way, inexpensive layover stop. Unless you already reside there or in Florida. It’s always the gateway to get to those countries. 2B. Use the app ibotta to purchase a gift card from Southwest and use it to purchase your ticket. You get cash back or you can use your balance too!

From Chicago to Miami, I had a layover in Nashville in between, then from Miami to San Juan, it took about 3 hours to get to my final dest8nation. Yeah, I was literally traveling from 4am CST until 10pm EST. 

Lodging: Where To Stay

I decided to try Airbnb for the first time because I’ve always seen so many people talking about it. There’s even an ongoing debate about the quality, accommodations, perks and more with Airbnb vs hotels. We’ll discuss that at a later time. The stay was in the Ocean Park neighborhood. It was a little rough around the edges chile, but I enjoyed it. I’m from Chicago I’m good in any hood anywhere. 

It was definitely a lot more inexpensive than staying at a hotel as the point was to not break the bank on the first out of the country it not really trip in 2 years. What I really liked about this place was the location being close to where the locals were. It’s right by a neighborhood called Loiza which is well known for their street vendors but also in a close proximity to tourist areas like Condado. Next time I come back I’ll be bounce and stay in a hotel. 

Unfortunately I didn’t take any photos of the interior or exterior because I got in late and was in and out.

Here are some great hotel choices in San Juan:

• Courtyard by Marriott San Juan 
• Hyatt Place San Juan
• Hotel El Colonial 
• CasaBlanca Hotel 
• Caribe Hilton
• Embassy Suites by Hilton San Juan Hotel & Casino
• San Juan Water and Beach Club Hotel 
• Sheraton Puerto Rico Resort & Casino
• Fairmont El San Juan Hotel 
• Residence Inn by Marriott San Juan Isla Verde
• Aloft San Juan 

Food: Where To Eat 

As you all know I’m vegan. A proud but non obnoxious vegan.  It makes me so happy that so many cities home and abroad are popping up with vegan restaurants and more vegan options on their menus at regular spots. San Juan is certainly a vegan friendly city. The first spot I went to wasn’t vegan but I did have some tasty mushroom tacos and a banging margarita. This was La Pachanga “Margaritas & Fiesta”. Great Mexican spot for a quick lunch.

For my birthday brunch I went to the Dreamcatcher Hotel, which is a hotel but it also has a restaurant there. While the portions are small, the food was everything. I had a fruit bowl, sprouted avocado toast, caramel cake and soursop juice. 

My birthday dinner was at Cafe Berlin in Old San Juan. The drinks were great but I honestly wasn’t too thrilled at the food. I had vegan mofongo and carrot cake. It’s a lovely place but the food was a bit overwhelming. You can definitely tell it’s watered down for the sake of tourists. 

I did have some late night food at a place I totally forgot the name of and some food I ordered from a delivery app. Overall the food was just okay. I wasn’t too impressed by anything except the brunch. When I return I would like to try other vegan spots I had in mind and experience some yummy street food. 

The real star of the show was definitely the drinks. Unlike here in the States, not nann drink in San Juan was watered down. One of the spots visited is Barrachina where the first pina colada was created in 1963. 

Sightseeing: What To Do In San Juan

San Juan is the oldest city in America (I mean it’s not America, but…yeah. Another topic for another time). As a huge history nerd and lover, I was so impressed and loving all of the colonial buildings everywhere. The history of the city is plentiful in Old San Juan, hence the name. OSJ is the main area the first Europeans colonized upon arriving to the shores of present day Puerto Rico in the 1500’s. While there’s a bloody history behind it, the island also celebrates the original history of the indigenous native Tainos who thoroughly inhabited the island before Spanish and English arrival. 

OSJ is definitely a place you want to visit for the historical experience. There are also plenty of cats everywhere and street art. Some dope spots I saw were Castillo San Felipe del Morro, Castillo San Cristobal, Santa María Magdalenade Pazzis Cemetery, and La Fortaleza. 

What’s also super dope is that I took a photo shoot for my birthday and a walking history tour of OSJ was included with taking pictures at each site. 

Happy spring, 2022, all that, everyone. It's been such a long time since our last (style) post. I've been traveling, rebranding, living, healing, loving, having fun, eating, planning and living life. Alas, we must get back into the swing of things. Let's talk fashion again. Wearing unorthodoxed looks is a specialty for me which is why I decided to rock this vintage 80's/90's sequined cocktail dress...during the day. Yes this Niteline dress is very much giving after 6pm, but we’re gonna rock it while the sun is still up. 

Classically, cocktail dresses are worn in evening settings at parties, dinners, formal events and such, but never during the day. A key tip in styling an evening dress for a daytime look is experimenting with different pieces of casual clothing.

Finding the Dress

Your first step is finding the perfect dress. I chose a short dress because it can work during the day or night and it's perfect for warm weather during the spring and summer seasons. You can definitely utilize a longer dress too and dress it down in your own way. 

Footwork It

Secondly, choosing the shoes. Instead of picking a of heels, try a trendy pair of boots, flats, sandals. This simplifies the outfit and helps create more of a casual day look. I chose a pair of chunky platform white sneakers from Discovery. A solid white color always works perfectly with any dress. 

Absolutely Accessorize 

As I always say, accessories are the cherry on top to your look. I wanted to add a touch of glamour despite this being a day look. When I first saw this dress, it screamed "pearls" at me for some reason despite it being a simmering sequined piece. I went a bit pearl crazy with not only a pair of gaudy dangle earrings, but also adorned my whole head with pearled hair clips. 

More great tips to rock evening dresses for a casual daytime look include: 

-wearing a blazer, vest or jacket 

-layering with a graphic tee under the dress (works like a charm for spaghetti strap dresses) 

-accessorizing with a baseball cap 

-rocking an oversized bag or tote 

What's your favorite way to style an evening dress for a daytime look?