I had the opportunity to go home to Maine for Valentine’s Day weekend. I’m going to break down how I got all of my travel from Philadelphia to Maine for only $XXX.XX and the romantic spot I picked for Valentine’s Day dinner. 

On Friday afternoon after class I hopped right on the SEPTA regional rail from 30th street station to Philadelphia International Airport. I flew American Airlines to Boston, from Boston I took Amtrak Northeaster to Wells. All and all an easy and uneventful trip. The flight from PHL to BOS is 50 minutes of airtime and American Airlines finds a way to do a full drink and snack service (their cookies are my favorite!!). 

Travel total so far: $85.60

I spent the weekend hanging out with family, visiting my favorite Asian market, where we got boba tea kits, feeding the new batch of piglets and eating delicious food.  Saturday night we enjoyed a delicious meal at Café Mediterraneo in Portsmouth, NH. The baked salmon was incredible and came with several of their lobster ravioli that are to die for!!! The ladies at the hostess stand were so sweet and the bubbly wine was the perfect complement to my meal.  On the way home we stopped at Anthony’s in York for cannoli! Sunday I watched the Superbowl with my family, ate yummy snacks, laughed at the commercials, enjoyed the 90s throwback half-time show and rooted for the underdogs. 

On Monday morning I flew out of PWM, there was no line at TSA which never ever happens in Philadelphia! Even though I was the only one going through security my bag got pulled for a search… it turns out the giant foil wrapped Reese’s heart I got for valentines day was unidentifiable by the luggage x-ray. Thankfully they let me keep it! 

I flew from PWM to BWI on Southwest as I had been given a voucher from a family member who travels infrequently. My total for the flight was $20.84 in taxes and fees. After arriving in Baltimore I hopped on Amtrak, less than two hours later I was back in Philly! 

Travel hacking and cheap travel is often associated with credit card points and luxury travel. Don’t get me wrong I love using my credit card points to get amazing redemptions I wouldn’t have been able to afford otherwise, but today I wanted to share a trip I took for cheap without using points or miles.

PHL – BOS – Wells, ME

American Airlines $69.60 

2x miles using AAdvantage business card

Amtrak – $16 

1x miles using AAdvantage biz card 

1x miles through Amtrak account 

PWM – BWI – PHL 

Southwest PWM – BWI 

$103.98 

Voucher $83.14

AA Biz $20.84 

1x miles using AAdvantage business card

BWI- Philadelphia 30th street station 

Amtrak – $16 

1x miles using AAdvantage business card

1x miles through Amtrak account 

Total $122.44

*Bonus tip!* My favorite place to start is always Google.Flights.com

Happy Travels!!

– Hannah

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