How to turn 3 weekends into a true vacation

We love three lazy weekends at home like the next, but our job at TPG is to help you maximize the tools at your disposal (like points and miles) to travel wherever you want when you want.

One of the best tools for a quick getaway: a three-day weekend.

Those three-day weekends are essentially paid “free” time off that, when combined with your hard-earned PTO days, can help you take longer breaks throughout the year. whole year.

With the help of intrepid travelers in our Facebook group, TPG . waiting roomHere are six tips to maximize your weekend getaway for a longer vacation.

Do mathematics

Start by figuring out how much time you can extend your vacation by traveling for a three-day weekend. This number may be high enough for you to start searching for Memorial Day flights as soon as you finish reading this section.

Here are 11 recognized annual federal holidays:

• New Year’s Day (January 1st).
• Martin Luther King Jr Day (third Monday of January).
• President’s Day (third Monday of February).
• Memorial Day (last Monday in May).
• 16th National Day (June 19).
• Independence Day (July 4).
• Labor Day (first Monday of September).
• Columbus Day (second Monday in October).
• Veterans Day (November 11).
• Thanksgiving Day (fourth Thursday in November).
• Christmas Day (December 25).

Some of these, such as Independence Day and Christmas, don’t always fall before or after the weekend, but traveling during these days can still save you from having to use PTO days precious, so we’ll include them in the calculation.

The average American earns an average of 15.6 PTO days annually, according to American Travel Association. This can be a combination of vacation and sick leave, depending on how your employer defines a PTO.

Of those 15.6 days, the average American uses 7.2 days to travel.

By planning your vacation around three weekends, you can add a total of 11 “free” PTO days to your schedule. Based on the US average, that’s 26 PTO days you can use to travel around the world, 19 more PTO days than the average American spends traveling each year.

However, you can save money for long weekend travel by booking in advance. This is especially true for the traditionally busiest weekends.

For popular spring or summer long weekends — like Memorial Day and Fourth of July — you’ll find the best price three to four months before your travel date.

Related: 5 key tools and tips to find the cheapest airline tickets

One of the easiest ways to track flight prices for your trip is to set up a price tracker in Google Flights. You can track the overall route or individual flights and Google will send price change notifications directly to your inbox.

Google Flights can also be a good starting point to see which flights are active even if you plan to book with points and milesalthough you’ll eventually need to book directly with the airline if there’s a bonus.

If you don’t want to wait to see if the price drops before you book your flight, most major airlines don’t charge to change your flight after you’ve booked if the price drops or you find a similar flight on the same airline with a lower fare.

Some airlines require you to book in a certain fare class to avoid change fees, but booking in advance and periodically checking discounted prices will ensure you get the ticket you need no matter what happens to the fare. .

Beat the crowd

It’s no secret that the weekends can be a busy time to travel. However, there are several ways to beat the crowds at the airport And your destination to ensure your stay is quiet and relaxing.

It sounds counter-intuitive, but traveling on a holiday can actually be less hectic than traveling the day before or after the holiday.

For example, the busiest travel days during the 2022 winter break are Thursday, December 22 and Friday, December 30, according to the Transportation Security Administration. If your schedule allows, you may see shorter lines and fewer crowds than if you were traveling on an actual holiday, when most tourists have already reached their destination.

When choosing a destination, your best bet is to avoid the spots everyone else is going to. Instead of aiming for Disney World with others, use this time as an opportunity to visit a few known regional theme park.

If you enjoy visiting national parks, avoid the big ones like Yosemite and the Grand Canyon and head for one of the the national parks are less crowded (but equally beautiful).

If you want to go a little further, you can find hidden places in Italy, France, Africa and worldwide. Obviously, that’s probably not the best plan for a three-day weekend, but if you want to add a few days of PTO to the plan, the world opens up.

Working from the airport lounge

We’ll limit our talk about work, but traveling for a weekend can mean you need to get a few things done before you leave or clear your inbox before you get back to work. .

This can be especially true if you extend the weekend a bit at both ends to avoid crowds and peak prices.

Related: Best credit cards for airport lounge use

There is no better place to do those things than in airport lounge. You can do the things you need to do to get a fresh start on your first day back at work and enjoy drinks and food while you do it.

Which airport lounge(s) you can use depends on the airline you fly with, your elite status, and what credit cards are in your wallet.

If you have Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Cardyou can use Delta Sky Club lounges when traveling on a same-day, Delta-marketed or Delta-operated flight and American Express Centurion Lounges when traveling on Delta tickets purchased with a US-issued American Express card onion.

Do your homework before you travel to see what lounges are available to you at the airports you’ll be passing through.

Since the lounge can be far from your gate, it’s also a good idea to arrive at the airport early. This will ensure you have enough time to get everything done without feeling rushed, hopefully making time for a cocktail.

Guaranteed overtime at the hotel

When you need to make the most of every minute of a short stay, this is the perfect time to book your stay in such a way that you can check in early, stay late, and maybe even start your day with some room service.

The hotel’s elite status – especially on the higher tiers – can be good for a lot of that.

Even if you don’t have elite status, you can replicate many of those perks by being strategic in how you book. For example, the American Express Fine Hotels + Resorts Programopen to those who have Platinum Card® from American Expressoffers guaranteed late check-out at 4 p.m., gives you priority for early check-in, includes a full breakfast for two, and often includes another $100 credit to the property.

TPG . hotel booking partner war offers many of the same things at more upscale hotels, such as Ritz-Carlton, Turks and Caicosshown above, does not require a specific credit card.

No matter how you secure it, it’s important to make sure you get the most out of your time at your destination when the number of days there is limited.

Use an extra day as a ‘gentle return’

A member of TPG Lounge chooses the exact opposite of this to enjoy every last drop of joy on his holiday. TPG reader Rhonna likes to fly out on a Friday after work and come home on a Monday night. She got home on time for work on Tuesday and took an Uber from the airport to get there.

It’s not a bad strategy, but it may not work for everyone.

Instead of using your extra day off as an extra day to travel, you can use your “free” day off as a day to acclimate to the real world before going back to work.

If you’re traveling before a vacation where you’re off work, you can use the extra time off to unpack, do laundry, buy groceries for the week, and relax at home for a bit before fully settling in. with the real world.

Related: Best Stop on Route 66

Using the strategies above, you can easily extend those weekends into the vacation you’ve been dreaming ofeven if you have a limited amount of time off.