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Park Cities Travel Hacks with Jenni Scoggins · The Bubble Lounge (Highland Park & University Park Texas)

• 0:00
  Martha Jackson: Hey Park Cities families.
• 0:01
  Martha Jackson: We all feel that pinch of rising home insurance, don't we?
• 0:03
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• 0:11
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• 0:15
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• 0:26
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• 0:32
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• 0:35
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• 0:37
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• 0:39
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• 0:43
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• 0:52
  Martha Jackson: With Kathy L Wall on your side, you'll have an agent you can trust and help secure your family's future.
• 1:11
  Martha Jackson: Calling all Park Cities jet setters.
• 1:12
  Martha Jackson: Today's guest is a human Travelocity guru our neighborhood didn't know it needed.
• 1:14
  Martha Jackson: Jenni Scoggins is a lifelong Highland Park grad, a beloved admin of Park Cities Chatter, the former heartbeat of Highland Park High School alumni office and the current maestro running operations for Highland Park Dance.
• 1:27
  Martha Jackson: Yet somehow, between alum events, facebook threads and dance rehearsals.
• 1:32
  Martha Jackson: She's racking up flight credits faster than most of us rack up target runs.
• 1:36
  Martha Jackson: Her upcoming end-of-the month getaway might be her closest brush with last minute, but trust me, the deal she lands would make coupon clippers retire their scissors.
• 1:46
  Martha Jackson: Grab your notepad and maybe your passport.
• 1:49
  Martha Jackson: You're about to learn how to travel smarter, spend less and finally turn those daydreams into boarding passes.
• 1:55
  Martha Jackson: Jenny, welcome to the show.
• 1:57
  Jennif Scoggins: Thank you so excited to be here today.
• 1:59
  Martha Jackson: Well, you've been on the show before.
• 2:00
  Martha Jackson: It was many years ago.
• 2:01
  Martha Jackson: It was actually during COVID, so it was remote.
• 2:03
  Martha Jackson: This is your first time to be here in person, though, so super exciting.
• 2:07
  Martha Jackson: Thank you for braving this beautiful summer day.
• 2:09
  Martha Jackson: It's lovely outside.
• 2:10
  Martha Jackson: We're actually recording this a week before it airs, and it's on one of those really gross rainy days, gloomy and depressing outside.
• 2:18
  Jennif Scoggins: Great day to get out of Dallas and travel, definitely.
• 2:21
  Martha Jackson: Well.
• 2:21
  Martha Jackson: There's so many things that you and I could talk about, but today we are going to focus on travel, because you are the queen of affordable travel and I can't wait for you to share all of your tips.
• 2:31
  Martha Jackson: Rumor has it that you can spot an airline deal a mile away.
• 2:36
  Martha Jackson: Tell us how you became such an expert in affordable travel.
• 2:40
  Jennif Scoggins: My travel experiences started young with my dad.
• 2:44
  Jennif Scoggins: We would travel with my dad all the time and, um, when my brother and I were young, my dad always had a um, uh in his closet, a whole bunch of of coins that he'd pile up, and he'd always have my brother and I go sit down and count all the coins and see how many coins we had, and once we got to whatever the magic number he was looking for for the day, he would say, okay, we have enough, let's go plan a trip.
• 3:04
  Jennif Scoggins: Oh, my gosh.
• 3:05
  Jennif Scoggins: So that was kind of the concept to us of saving up to get to plan a trip.
• 3:09
  Jennif Scoggins: And we would travel with him all the time, go to all these different places.
• 3:12
  Jennif Scoggins: And we were big, big, big people in believing in travels.
• 3:19
  Jennif Scoggins: Where you make your memories and I've always thought about that with my kids as well is that you can hand them an iPad or give them a piece of technology for Christmas.
• 3:27
  Jennif Scoggins: But I'd much rather travel, because that's where you get all the memories that happen.
• 3:30
  Jennif Scoggins: So that's the beginning of when the coins that's such a cute story.
• 3:34
  Martha Jackson: Well, so tell us one of your best, one of the best trips that you've ever had, as far as just like feeling really good, like wow, I got such a great deal on that trip.
• 3:53
  Jennif Scoggins: You know, as far as best trips, I mean, of course, when we were able to travel during COVID, those flights were really inexpensive, so I took big advantage of that.
• 4:00
  Jennif Scoggins: I would travel, I like.
• 4:02
  Jennif Scoggins: I have a friend in Hawaii, so I would go to Hawaii.
• 4:04
  Jennif Scoggins: That was a great place to travel Inexpensively.
• 4:11
  Jennif Scoggins: The airfare was really cheap.
• 4:12
  Jennif Scoggins: I think traveling when you have the opportunity to stay with someone is always nice because you know, of course, that saves a little bit of money.
• 4:16
  Jennif Scoggins: But you know, another great place that I tend to travel a lot is New York.
• 4:20
  Jennif Scoggins: I go a lot the President's Day weekend.
• 4:24
  Jennif Scoggins: It's just a time I enjoy going.
• 4:26
  Jennif Scoggins: It's still cold there, which I like doing New York when it's cold, but yet it's also not the holiday time, which is a great time to go, but very crowded and expensive time to go.
• 4:36
  Jennif Scoggins: So my best deals normally come during that time.
• 4:40
  Jennif Scoggins: When I go to New York that President's Day weekend, oh, okay, okay.
• 4:43
  Martha Jackson: Well, walk us through your kind of the workflow of spotting an airline deal.
• 4:50
  Martha Jackson: I used to get the American Airlines weekly airfares and somehow I got off the list and I need to get back on there.
• 4:56
  Martha Jackson: But just walk us through how you go about finding good deals on flights.
• 5:00
  Jennif Scoggins: Okay, well, the best time to book a flight is normally on a Tuesday, wednesday or Thursday.
• 5:06
  Jennif Scoggins: Those are usually when you have your best pricing on flights and those pop up for me millions of different ways.
• 5:15
  Jennif Scoggins: I mean, you know I can go to Google Flights, I use Kayak sometimes.
• 5:19
  Jennif Scoggins: A lot of times I'll, you know, dig around on the different airfares.
• 5:21
  Jennif Scoggins: When I actually go to book the flight, I go actually to that airline site and that's usually where I can get the best price.
• 5:28
  Jennif Scoggins: But there's a variety of different sites you can use.
• 5:33
  Jennif Scoggins: I mean, I get a lot of information from TikTok and it'll point me in different directions.
• 5:38
  Jennif Scoggins: I think it just kind of has.
• 5:40
  Jennif Scoggins: If you give yourself the time and patience to dig around a lot, there's so many different opportunities you can find at airfare.
• 5:49
  Martha Jackson: So are you like purposely saying okay, I'm going to New York or DC, or does the flight deal kind of dictate where you might want to go?
• 5:58
  Martha Jackson: A little bit of both A little bit of both.
• 6:01
  Jennif Scoggins: My upcoming trip I have at the end of this month is I'm going to Maine and I knew I'm going to Maine and I knew I was going to Maine, and so then I just started really digging okay, what's the good price?
• 6:10
  Jennif Scoggins: What days are the good days?
• 6:11
  Jennif Scoggins: I had a week window when I knew I could go.
• 6:15
  Jennif Scoggins: It didn't really matter if I went on a Sunday through Wednesday or Tuesday through Friday.
• 6:20
  Jennif Scoggins: So I just kind of dug around and looked at those different options.
• 6:23
  Jennif Scoggins: I personally enjoy.
• 6:26
  Jennif Scoggins: I just I don't know what to say I feel safer but it feels more comfortable to me to fly on Southwest or American or Delta.
• 6:34
  Jennif Scoggins: You can always get really good deals if you're willing to do Spirit and Frontier.
• 6:38
  Jennif Scoggins: I almost did Spirit about a month ago and we actually booked a flight to Vegas on Spirit.
• 6:44
  Jennif Scoggins: We were so excited.
• 6:45
  Jennif Scoggins: We're like we're going to do it, you know.
• 6:45
  Jennif Scoggins: And we actually booked a flight to Vegas on Spirit.
• 6:45
  Jennif Scoggins: We were so excited.
• 6:45
  Jennif Scoggins: We're like we're going to do it.
• 6:46
  Jennif Scoggins: You know, all we need is a backpack.
• 6:47
  Jennif Scoggins: We're going to fly Spirit and unfortunately they ended up changing our flight like six hours, and it was.
• 6:52
  Jennif Scoggins: We were going to end up missing.
• 6:54
  Jennif Scoggins: You know the event we were going for, so it didn't make sense to do that.
• 6:58
  Jennif Scoggins: Another good way for flights for Christmas this year I bought my son the it's called the Frontier Go Wild Pass.
• 7:05
  Jennif Scoggins: I think at that time around that Christmas time it was $300.
• 7:10
  Jennif Scoggins: And so you buy this pass and then you can fly Frontier anywhere they go.
• 7:16
  Jennif Scoggins: You make your reservation, I think it's like 24 hours in advance and it's, I want to say, maybe $15 a leg for the flight.
• 7:24
  Jennif Scoggins: It's crazy but you have to have the patience and understanding to know that and I might be a little off on that price.
• 7:31
  Jennif Scoggins: But $15 to $25, something like that, and you just have to know that.
• 7:35
  Jennif Scoggins: You know I'm going to wake up this morning and oh good, I can go to Orlando and go to Disney for the day, and so I haven't done that.
• 7:42
  Jennif Scoggins: But I know my son would.
• 7:43
  Jennif Scoggins: That's totally something he likes to do Wake up in the morning and where am I going.
• 7:46
  Jennif Scoggins: And so I was like that's a perfect gift for him.
• 7:48
  Martha Jackson: Oh my gosh, I can't even imagine.
• 7:49
  Martha Jackson: But there actually is a mom in our neighborhood that's constantly posting.
• 7:52
  Martha Jackson: You know who I'm talking about.
• 7:53
  Martha Jackson: She and her son jet off like that and go to Disney for the day and she's.
• 7:57
  Martha Jackson: It just looks like she is living the ever.
• 8:00
  Martha Jackson: I think she usually is doing spirit, which, I have to be honest, kind of scares me.
• 8:06
  Jennif Scoggins: She was the one that got me going with that Frontier Go Wild Pass, so I know she's the one that kind of motivated me.
• 8:12
  Jennif Scoggins: She goes I like it, just try it.
• 8:14
  Jennif Scoggins: And I was like, okay, that's a good I mean for the pass.
• 8:16
  Jennif Scoggins: It costs less than what most people pay for a round trip for one ticket.
• 8:20
  Jennif Scoggins: So I'm like, yeah, let's try it and see how it works for us.
• 8:22
  Martha Jackson: My gosh.
• 8:23
  Martha Jackson: Yeah, I'm going to want to report back and hear how that goes for them.
• 8:27
  Martha Jackson: That sounds really cool, especially if you have the flexibility.
• 8:30
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• 8:35
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• 8:43
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• 8:45
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• 8:50
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• 8:53
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• 8:55
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• 8:58
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• 9:03
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• 9:10
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• 9:16
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• 9:24
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• 9:28
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• 9:31
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• 9:35
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• 9:38
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• 9:40
  Martha Jackson: Due dates or airports how flexible do you need to be with that?
• 9:45
  Martha Jackson: Because sometimes when I've priced out some flights, it does say you know, if you are flexible on dates, here's some deals that we have.
• 9:53
  Jennif Scoggins: Yes, if you can be flexible, it definitely helps with the pricing.
• 9:57
  Jennif Scoggins: So many times when we're traveling, it's it's most people I know and even myself.
• 10:03
  Jennif Scoggins: We're pretty specific as to the days we need to go.
• 10:05
  Jennif Scoggins: These are the days I have off, or it needs to include this weekend that you know also has another day on either side.
• 10:11
  Jennif Scoggins: I think our summer travels often are a little more flexible, especially when you're including kids in that mix just because of you know their school and you know when they could or might not need to miss school.
• 10:24
  Martha Jackson: Well, that's actually one thing that I'm looking forward to as an empty nester because you know I have to try to find some positives because it's coming up in a couple of years is not being locked into that school schedule, you know, and being able to travel on the off times where you probably can get a better deal, as opposed to your summers and your holidays and when kids have school off and when everyone else is traveling.
• 10:45
  Martha Jackson: Yes, yes, okay.
• 10:46
  Martha Jackson: Well, let's move on to lodging.
• 10:48
  Martha Jackson: You mentioned that it's always a good idea if you can stay with somebody, but that's not always an option everywhere we travel, and I understand that you have been successful in navigating some Airbnbs and things like that.
• 11:00
  Jennif Scoggins: Yes, yes.
• 11:00
  Jennif Scoggins: So Airbnb for me.
• 11:03
  Jennif Scoggins: Normally I tend to do those when I'm with a group or even when you're just traveling for one other person.
• 11:10
  Jennif Scoggins: They're often the least expensive way to travel because you're not, you know, when you do it with a hotel, you're in such a tight space and you're so you know worried about who's in.
• 11:24
  Jennif Scoggins: Where are you going to put your suitcase and all this.
• 11:25
  Jennif Scoggins: And Airbnb I can get a place that's half the price and two bedrooms and we can all spread out and have as much room as we want.
• 11:31
  Martha Jackson: Have your own room.
• 11:32
  Jennif Scoggins: I'm a big Airbnb, vrbo, you know type person.
• 11:37
  Jennif Scoggins: On the flip side, you know, I also use hotelcom a lot.
• 11:41
  Jennif Scoggins: That's where I get my hotels and I play hotel games where I'll make a reservation with this one and then also make a reservation with that one and then I go back a few weeks later and see if the pricing has changed.
• 11:53
  Jennif Scoggins: Sometimes my pricing is better on hotelscom, sometimes my pricing is better directly with the hotel, but often I'll go back in and check the prices and see if anything's changed and then rebook it and saves money on that Right.
• 12:09
  Martha Jackson: I mean, for example, I go to Austin some to see my daughter at UT and, oh my gosh, the hotel rates are awful, because I only go on like a game day or a parents weekend when everyone else is going.
• 12:20
  Martha Jackson: And is there any opportunity to actually negotiate directly with a hotel?
• 12:25
  Jennif Scoggins: Well, what I have found as far as negotiating with the pricing with the hotel, I haven't.
• 12:31
  Jennif Scoggins: I personally haven't had as much luck with that.
• 12:33
  Jennif Scoggins: On the flip side, I have been lucky as far as upgrades.
• 12:37
  Jennif Scoggins: Oh, okay, being simple and kind at the front desk when you check in and you know, be happy and positive and you know appreciative and you know talk about who you have.
• 12:47
  Jennif Scoggins: You know appreciative and you know talk about who you have traveling with you and is this their first time or they?
• 12:51
  Jennif Scoggins: You know, and sometimes they'll let you have those things that you know.
• 12:53
  Jennif Scoggins: Oh, we'll move you up to the concierge floor, we'll do that.
• 12:56
  Jennif Scoggins: And so I've usually been pretty lucky with that.
• 12:59
  Jennif Scoggins: Thinking about you going to Austin and those high prices I have found for situations like that, which I've already done for a trip up to Oklahoma in the fall, as soon as that parents weekend is set or as soon as that football schedule is set, boom, I made like, if you make those reservations right, then you usually can get them pretty quick if you get that, but if you wait a couple weeks they're going to start skyrocketing.
• 13:25
  Jennif Scoggins: And the good thing is, I would say, at least 90% of the time with hotels, if not more.
• 13:30
  Jennif Scoggins: You can always cancel it.
• 13:31
  Jennif Scoggins: So you know I always make hotel reservations and then you know oh, you need to know by such and such date if you're actually coming.
• 13:38
  Jennif Scoggins: If you can't go, then you just cancel it.
• 13:40
  Jennif Scoggins: Yeah, that makes perfect sense.
• 13:42
  Jennif Scoggins: At least it's done and you've got a good price on it.
• 13:45
  Martha Jackson: There is nothing that can ruin your day faster and destroy the value of her home than a plumbing problem.
• 13:51
  Martha Jackson: So before that tiny drip turns into a flood, just call mother.
• 13:55
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• 14:05
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• 14:12
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• 14:15
  Martha Jackson: That's why I'm proud to recommend Mother Modern Plumbing to you.
• 14:19
  Martha Jackson: So remember, if there's even a hint of a leak, call Mother at callmothercom and let them know.
• 14:26
  Martha Jackson: Martha from the bubble lounge sent you.
• 14:27
  Martha Jackson: What about points?
• 14:29
  Martha Jackson: Are you a points person?
• 14:31
  Martha Jackson: Do you redeem your points?
• 14:32
  Martha Jackson: Do you save up your points?
• 14:34
  Jennif Scoggins: I for some reason am not redeeming my points.
• 14:37
  Jennif Scoggins: I wish I would.
• 14:40
  Jennif Scoggins: I have a lot of rapid rewards points.
• 14:42
  Jennif Scoggins: I have tons of American Airlines miles.
• 14:45
  Jennif Scoggins: Unfortunately, when my father passed away 25 years ago, he had lots of points and my brother and I were able to.
• 14:52
  Jennif Scoggins: They, you know, would send them, pass them on to us, so I ended up with a lot of his miles.
• 14:57
  Jennif Scoggins: I also have credits.
• 14:59
  Jennif Scoggins: I think that I get through Hotelscom that I'm really not good at using you, just start using mine.
• 15:05
  Jennif Scoggins: That I'm really not good at using you, just start using mine.
• 15:07
  Jennif Scoggins: I know a lot of people, of course, use their credit cards and for various things that they can get points or cash back on that.
• 15:17
  Martha Jackson: And so that's another options.
• 15:18
  Martha Jackson: Right, that's a whole nother conversation.
• 15:19
  Martha Jackson: There's so many credit cards out there.
• 15:19
  Martha Jackson: It would be fun to do a side-by-side comparison and just see you know which ones offer what value.
• 15:24
  Martha Jackson: Okay, well, let's talk about cars, because sometimes, if we go somewhere that is drivable, we need a car.
• 15:32
  Martha Jackson: If we're there for an extended amount of time, it just makes sense to rent a car versus taking.
• 15:36
  Martha Jackson: You know, ride share everywhere.
• 15:39
  Martha Jackson: How do we get good deals on the cars?
• 15:42
  Jennif Scoggins: Okay, Well, same thing with car rentals.
• 15:44
  Jennif Scoggins: I kind of play with them like I play with hotels.
• 15:47
  Jennif Scoggins: I'll with hotels Right now.
• 15:48
  Jennif Scoggins: For my trip at the end of this month, I have two cars reserved because one seemed like it was a better deal.
• 15:54
  Jennif Scoggins: But I need to go back and kind of really look at that.
• 15:57
  Jennif Scoggins: But beyond using just your basic, going directly to Alamo or Enterprise or Dollar or whatever you use, I use Turo, Turo, Turo, T-U-R-O.
• 16:07
  Jennif Scoggins: It is, I call it, the Airbnb of car rentals.
• 16:10
  Jennif Scoggins: That's interesting and it's often just regular people renting cars or renting secondary cars that they have in their house.
• 16:17
  Jennif Scoggins: Sometimes Turo will bring the car to the airport and you pick it up there.
• 16:21
  Jennif Scoggins: Sometimes you actually have to land at your airport and then you know, take an Uber or Lyft to where the car is.
• 16:26
  Jennif Scoggins: I would say at least 90% of the time those prices are cheaper than the regular car rental places.
• 16:35
  Jennif Scoggins: Okay, this is fascinating.
• 16:37
  Jennif Scoggins: I've never heard of this.
• 16:38
  Jennif Scoggins: Oh, it's amazing.
• 16:39
  Jennif Scoggins: And the best thing about it is, you know, often when I get places and you're like you've landed and you've waited for your suitcase if you chose to check it, and then you've got to go into the place and wait for the car rental and you're in the long line and you know all that.
• 16:51
  Jennif Scoggins: With Turo it's just like and you get your car and you're done.
• 16:53
  Martha Jackson: And you're off.
• 16:54
  Martha Jackson: I love the whole idea of somebody bringing the car to you.
• 16:57
  Martha Jackson: You said that that happens quite often.
• 16:58
  Jennif Scoggins: I have to say airport.
• 17:00
  Jennif Scoggins: So you get there and they say, go to level three and spot four and there's your car.
• 17:04
  Martha Jackson: I mean, that sounds heavenly, because that is so stressful getting your luggage and then loading it up on that bus, and there's the time it takes.
• 17:12
  Martha Jackson: And then there's almost always something wrong with your reservation and you're sitting there for the longest time while they figure out what car to connect you with.
• 17:20
  Jennif Scoggins: And it's just, it's a real hassle Well, and you know the exact car you're getting.
• 17:25
  Jennif Scoggins: So it's not even a question of, oh, we're going to give you this size, da, da, da or this size da, da, da, like you are renting this exact car.
• 17:32
  Jennif Scoggins: To the extent that I have been to Colorado a couple of times and rented the exact car, like I was like, oh, I'm going to rent from them again and that this is so exciting, like this is so new.
• 17:45
  Martha Jackson: I'm so, so happy to learn about this.
• 17:47
  Martha Jackson: Watching your mom care tirelessly for your dad can be both heartwarming and heartbreaking.
• 17:53
  Martha Jackson: You see the love, but you also see the exhaustion, and too often they're the last ones to ask for help.
• 17:59
  Martha Jackson: If that sounds like your family, I want you to meet Adam Lampert, ceo of Cambridge Caregivers.
• 18:05
  Martha Jackson: Adam, how does Cambridge step in to support families when one parent is clearly overwhelmed caring for the other?
• 18:11
  Speaker 3: Martha, we see this all the time and every time.
• 18:15
  Speaker 3: It's a delicate balance.
• 18:16
  Speaker 3: At Cambridge, we gently step in to support the caregiving spouse so that they can focus on being a partner, not just the nurse.
• 18:23
  Speaker 3: Our caregivers are trained professionals who help with everything from daily routines to companionship, and we do it in a way that preserves dignity, respect and the deep bond between the spouses.
• 18:34
  Martha Jackson: I think that's what makes Cambridge so special.
• 18:36
  Martha Jackson: You recognize that caregiving is an act of love.
• 18:39
  Martha Jackson: But even the most devoted spouse needs help, and getting that help doesn't mean they're failing.
• 18:44
  Martha Jackson: It means they're taking care of themselves too.
• 18:46
  Martha Jackson: If someone in your family is caring too much on their own, it's time to step in.
• 18:53
  Martha Jackson: Visit CambridgeCaregiverscom or call 214-649-9922.
• 18:57
  Martha Jackson: That's 214-649-9922.
• 19:02
  Martha Jackson: Cambridge Caregivers Care for your whole family when it matters most.
• 19:06
  Martha Jackson: Well, you know you go to New York quite a bit and last week we had a Highland Park grad that is a Broadway performer, and I asked her if she had any tips or tricks to score Broadway tickets at the last minute.
• 19:19
  Martha Jackson: And I know that you're really good at getting tickets Broadway, vegas, all the things.
• 19:23
  Martha Jackson: How do you do it?
• 19:24
  Jennif Scoggins: Yes, well, the Broadway one.
• 19:26
  Jennif Scoggins: Everyone tells people to go to TKTX and that's the you know what they half price ticket booth, or whatever they call it in the middle of Times Square.
• 19:34
  Jennif Scoggins: Right, it is great.
• 19:35
  Jennif Scoggins: Of course, there's always a long line so you can get the exact same tickets from the exact same company and go about.
• 19:42
  Jennif Scoggins: I think it's maybe a mile and a half or two north up to Lincoln Center and there's another TKTX booth and so it's completely worth just, you know running up there getting in line.
• 19:52
  Jennif Scoggins: There's never a line, there's like maybe four or five people, whereas if you go to the one down in Times Square, you could wait in line for 30 minutes but you're getting the exact same tickets.
• 20:00
  Jennif Scoggins: So that is where I get my Broadway tickets most of the time.
• 20:04
  Jennif Scoggins: You know you can always go up to the ticket box the day of and see what's there.
• 20:09
  Jennif Scoggins: That you know.
• 20:09
  Jennif Scoggins: People always like, oh, they've been sold out for years and I'm like, well, yeah, but sometimes people turn in their tickets and they can't go and it just pops up so another option.
• 20:17
  Martha Jackson: What about Vegas?
• 20:18
  Martha Jackson: Any tips for Vegas?
• 20:20
  Jennif Scoggins: Vegas.
• 20:20
  Jennif Scoggins: I tend, when I go to Vegas, that's another place, kind of.
• 20:24
  Jennif Scoggins: You know, there's a variety of things I like when I take people to Vegas.
• 20:33
  Jennif Scoggins: We go on the jump on what is it called Hop on, hop off bus that takes you around, Not something I normally do to the sign and you know, if you want to once again, you know, hop off, stay where you are for an hour and get on the next one, you can do that.
• 20:57
  Jennif Scoggins: I kind of like that.
• 20:58
  Jennif Scoggins: As far as seeing everything, as far as seeing shows in Vegas, often I'll go with one specific show to see or one thing to do, but then once I get there, I'll wait around and kind of feel out what other people are saying, ideas and suggestions, and you did recently go to the Sphere, didn't you?
• 21:14
  Martha Jackson: I did.
• 21:15
  Jennif Scoggins: Tell us all about that.
• 21:16
  Jennif Scoggins: Yes, we went and saw the eagles I had been here.
• 21:20
  Jennif Scoggins: It was great.
• 21:20
  Jennif Scoggins: I went with a friend of mine from a long time ago and she's actually getting ready to go back again with her fiance and they're going to see the show again.
• 21:29
  Jennif Scoggins: It was so good.
• 21:30
  Jennif Scoggins: But I had actually been to the Sphere the year before because I had gone to Vegas with my brother to see Garth Brooks and the Sphere had just recently opened and we saw just the little show.
• 21:40
  Jennif Scoggins: That does the kind of get to know you of the Sphere and I was like, yeah, I need to come back here and see a real show.
• 21:45
  Jennif Scoggins: So, yeah, it was great.
• 21:47
  Jennif Scoggins: It was great.
• 21:48
  Jennif Scoggins: I loved that opportunity.
• 21:49
  Jennif Scoggins: It's super close and you know when I am looking for places to stay, you know when you're in Vegas, I don't know, I don't spend a lot of time in my hotel room or spending time there.
• 22:03
  Jennif Scoggins: So for me it's all about the good location and not the fancy hotel.
• 22:07
  Jennif Scoggins: So we chose the hotel.
• 22:10
  Jennif Scoggins: I think it was the Link which is smack in the middle.
• 22:13
  Jennif Scoggins: It's, you know, across from Caesars, you know, not far from Bellagio, near the Venetian, but it was walking distance to the Sphere.
• 22:20
  Jennif Scoggins: But it's not your fancy hotel.
• 22:22
  Jennif Scoggins: But I don't go to Vegas to go to a fancy hotel because I'm not in my hotel room much, you know.
• 22:28
  Jennif Scoggins: I need a place to shower, I need a place to sleep, I need a place that's safe and convenient, and so, for me, I didn't need a fancy place when I was in Vegas and we were there 24 hours for both of those trips, both my one with my brother and then the one with my friends.
• 22:42
  Martha Jackson: That's a really good tip, because the thing about Vegas and being on this trip is it's very deceptive.
• 22:47
  Martha Jackson: It looks like it's a walkable and all that, and then it ends up being treacherous.
• 22:54
  Martha Jackson: You're going and going way longer than you expected, yes, yes.
• 22:59
  Martha Jackson: So yeah, that one sounds like it's in a great location.
• 23:01
  Martha Jackson: Well, you definitely have the benefit of having older kids not being locked into the school schedule, but do you have any tips for people that are traveling with younger kids just as far as on flight?
• 23:14
  Martha Jackson: Sometimes it's hard to get all the seats together when you have a big family, things like that.
• 23:19
  Jennif Scoggins: Well, for me when I traveled with my kids you know, I know obviously this is getting ready to change, but of course with Southwest you just choose your seat, so that was never a big deal we never sat together.
• 23:30
  Jennif Scoggins: You know, I had two boys, they just sat wherever they wanted, I sat wherever.
• 23:34
  Jennif Scoggins: We were all good and fine with that.
• 23:35
  Jennif Scoggins: And I realized for some people that doesn't work and they need to sit together.
• 23:38
  Jennif Scoggins: Sure, you know, maybe two of you sit in one section, two of you sit in someone else.
• 23:43
  Jennif Scoggins: You know you're going to be with them the whole trip.
• 23:47
  Jennif Scoggins: It's really okay if not every single piece of your family's together.
• 23:51
  Jennif Scoggins: And you know, if you need to spread out a little bit, you're all within, you know about, you know 20 yards of each other inside that plane.
• 23:58
  Jennif Scoggins: So if you need something you can find them.
• 23:59
  Jennif Scoggins: But you know I'm more about kind of spreading out and not staying with my family or friends.
• 24:05
  Martha Jackson: Yeah, you're going to be with them the whole time.
• 24:07
  Martha Jackson: It might be kind of nice to decompress before it all starts right.
• 24:11
  Martha Jackson: Well, so packing is a big thing before it all starts, right.
• 24:17
  Martha Jackson: Well, so packing is a big thing.
• 24:18
  Martha Jackson: I have tried for years to be a light packer.
• 24:20
  Jennif Scoggins: I can't do it.
• 24:21
  Jennif Scoggins: I bet you're really good at it.
• 24:21
  Jennif Scoggins: Well, I try really hard too.
• 24:22
  Jennif Scoggins: One thing that I do make sure I do is I am packed and ready to go for the most part when it comes to clothes.
• 24:30
  Jennif Scoggins: That I do tend to do the last minute.
• 24:33
  Jennif Scoggins: But I have all my toiletries already packed, all my makeup already packed, all the cords for the phones and the iPads and the computer, and I always take an extension cord with me and there's an umbrella.
• 24:44
  Jennif Scoggins: So all of that is already packed and prepared.
• 24:48
  Jennif Scoggins: Okay, so that's easy.
• 24:50
  Jennif Scoggins: So that part's done.
• 24:54
  Jennif Scoggins: But I overpack and I really really try to, you know, try to keep it to the carry-on.
• 25:01
  Jennif Scoggins: You know, the carry-on and the backpack.
• 25:02
  Jennif Scoggins: That's a little harder in the winter times because your clothes are heavier, but in the summertime I can usually keep it to the carry-on and the backpack and still end up overpacking because there's like lots of options.
• 25:16
  Jennif Scoggins: I'm not exactly sure what the weather's going to be like when I get there.
• 25:18
  Jennif Scoggins: It says it's going to be one way or you know.
• 25:20
  Jennif Scoggins: So, yeah, I don't know, I'm not really good.
• 25:23
  Jennif Scoggins: I'm not really good at that, yeah.
• 25:25
  Martha Jackson: We're going to have to have somebody come in and teach us how to pack light, because I can't get to the carry-on, like we have a little scale thingy that hooks hips on.
• 25:35
  Martha Jackson: I think that's really important to have that, because if you go over 50 pounds you're going to get charged, and mine it does not matter if I'm going overnight for the week and for a week it's always right at 50.
• 25:47
  Martha Jackson: I can't seem to get it any lower than that.
• 25:50
  Jennif Scoggins: Yes, and I try real hard not to pack too many shoes and I tend to wear half of what I take, but I use these options.
• 25:59
  Jennif Scoggins: I just think I.
• 26:00
  Martha Jackson: You never know what your mood is going to be like, right?
• 26:03
  Martha Jackson: I mean, I think it's important to wear your heaviest shoes on the plane so they're not weighing down your suitcase.
• 26:08
  Martha Jackson: But we're girls, you know.
• 26:11
  Martha Jackson: We like options.
• 26:12
  Martha Jackson: We want to.
• 26:13
  Martha Jackson: You know, whatever mood we're in at the time, we want to have options to tie in with that.
• 26:17
  Martha Jackson: Well, so we're really fortunate that we live here in Dallas, because we're right in the hub of two really awesome airports Love Field and DFW.
• 26:25
  Martha Jackson: Do you have any tips on navigating?
• 26:28
  Martha Jackson: Do you have a favorite one?
• 26:30
  Martha Jackson: I think we're so lucky to have Love Field just right here in our backyard.
• 26:36
  Jennif Scoggins: So for airport stuff with me, it often, you know, being so close to Love Field, you know my neighbors are always like oh, let me take you, let me take you it's, you know.
• 26:45
  Jennif Scoggins: I mean you know I'm like, oh, no, really I can Uber.
• 26:47
  Jennif Scoggins: It's like $6.
• 26:48
  Jennif Scoggins: I'll take you.
• 26:49
  Jennif Scoggins: It's super close.
• 26:50
  Jennif Scoggins: So I love that convenience of Love Field.
• 26:55
  Jennif Scoggins: How easy that is.
• 26:56
  Jennif Scoggins: On top of that, I am TSA pre-check.
• 27:00
  Jennif Scoggins: I don't use Clear, I know some people do that, but I am TSA pre-checked.
• 27:05
  Jennif Scoggins: I have never had any problems.
• 27:08
  Jennif Scoggins: I'm never in line more.
• 27:09
  Jennif Scoggins: I mean, I don't think I've ever been in line more than six or seven minutes, even when it's really long.
• 27:14
  Martha Jackson: Oh, wow.
• 27:14
  Jennif Scoggins: Okay, so you know, as far as a you know airport, you know situation, I'm a big fan of that.
• 27:23
  Jennif Scoggins: I know when you get I think when you get global entry, it comes with TSA pre-check or something like that.
• 27:28
  Jennif Scoggins: So that's just been super easy for me, and kind of get irritated when I go with friends that aren't and I'm like, okay, well, you go ahead and get to the airport earlier, I'll meet you there and I promise we'll both be on the airplane when it takes off at the same time.
• 27:40
  Jennif Scoggins: So, and I do have some friends, that that's the way we travel.
• 27:43
  Jennif Scoggins: We can still live like around the corner from each other, but we get there differently because I don't need to be at the airport two hours before the flight, you know, I'm like, as long as I'm there when they're boarding the plane, I'm good.
• 27:54
  Jennif Scoggins: Another airport hack that I like.
• 27:57
  Jennif Scoggins: As far as saving money, because I just don't like the idea of spending, you know, three or four dollars for a bottle of water oh my gosh, and you can get a whole case for that amount is you can take, you know, your Stanley or whatever.
• 28:10
  Jennif Scoggins: You can fill it up with ice.
• 28:11
  Jennif Scoggins: You can go through TSA with ice.
• 28:13
  Jennif Scoggins: Oh, interesting, and I often put my Stanley right before I leave my house.
• 28:18
  Jennif Scoggins: I fill it up with ice, even put a little flavor packet in, and then go through TSA and when you're on the other side you go to the water fountain and fill it up with water and then you've got your peach tea with ice and it costs you nothing.
• 28:39
  Jennif Scoggins: And so I also and I on top of that I also travel usually with like a little lunch bag of some food.
• 28:41
  Jennif Scoggins: Often, when you travel, I either.
• 28:42
  Jennif Scoggins: I feel like the airports they're trying, they're really trying to get better with their food and their options.
• 28:45
  Jennif Scoggins: But it's just nice for me to always know that I have.
• 28:49
  Jennif Scoggins: You know, especially when I get places, that I have a.
• 28:52
  Jennif Scoggins: You know I have some protein in the morning.
• 28:54
  Jennif Scoggins: If I don't have time to eat a breakfast, at least you know I can wake up and have something to quickly eat.
• 29:00
  Jennif Scoggins: So I travel with hard-boiled eggs oh my gosh honey.
• 29:04
  Jennif Scoggins: Well, when I get to where I'm going, at least I can throw that in the little.
• 29:08
  Jennif Scoggins: I always have a mini fridge somewhere.
• 29:09
  Jennif Scoggins: At least I can start the morning with it.
• 29:11
  Jennif Scoggins: The other thing I get that I travel with food-wise, as soon as I get my rental car, I go somewhere and get a case of water because I always want water with me and you know, when you go to return your car or return your Turo, that's something that you're always like oh, here's.
• 29:27
  Jennif Scoggins: They're all excited they get to have all this water.
• 29:28
  Jennif Scoggins: If I don't finish it all, you know, but still, once again, a case of water is like $4 rather than just buying a single bottle of water.
• 29:36
  Jennif Scoggins: If you go into a convenience store, it costs about $0.
• 29:38
  Martha Jackson: Yeah, that is such a good tip.
• 29:40
  Martha Jackson: I like that a lot.
• 29:41
  Martha Jackson: Well, at Love Field there's a lot of talk on chatter about the whole rideshare pickup and they had changed how they do it.
• 29:49
  Martha Jackson: I think I read recently that they redid it.
• 29:52
  Martha Jackson: What can you tell us about that?
• 29:54
  Jennif Scoggins: Yes, I did not like, like everyone else, I did not like when they moved it way to the back of that, whatever that not terminal, whatever that parking garage was it was.
• 30:06
  Jennif Scoggins: I mean that was crazy having to walk that far, because first if you checked a bag you'd have to get off the elevator and go all the way to your right and wait for and and then you'd have to go all the way back and that took forever.
• 30:16
  Jennif Scoggins: They have moved it a little bit closer.
• 30:18
  Jennif Scoggins: It is now located where Valet is, which is kind of near where you would the check-in counters.
• 30:26
  Jennif Scoggins: Right inside the airport there's check-in counters and so they're right next to that now.
• 30:32
  Jennif Scoggins: Definitely much easier, still not as good as when it was right next to where you got your luggage.
• 30:41
  Jennif Scoggins: But definitely much better, a lot better.
• 30:42
  Jennif Scoggins: So I appreciate that they at least listened after, I think, quite a lot of complaining.
• 30:45
  Martha Jackson: I would imagine.
• 30:46
  Martha Jackson: So I mean, people were going crazy in our neighborhood on chatter about it, so I would imagine everyone else felt the same way.
• 30:52
  Martha Jackson: Okay, so we all have funny stories, horror stories from travel.
• 30:55
  Martha Jackson: Tell us anything that has happened with your travels.
• 30:59
  Jennif Scoggins: Well, I don't know if I have horror stories that I can really think of.
• 31:03
  Jennif Scoggins: Things normally tend to work out.
• 31:04
  Jennif Scoggins: I will tell you one of the most favorite things I have done on my travel.
• 31:07
  Jennif Scoggins: Out of everything, and even though I spend so much time trying to make sure that things are a good price and, you know, getting a good deal my favorite thing I think I've ever done with my boys is we went to Jackson Hole, wyoming, and we went dog sledding.
• 31:23
  Jennif Scoggins: Oh my gosh, I love dog sledding.
• 31:26
  Jennif Scoggins: It just made me so happy and it's just.
• 31:28
  Jennif Scoggins: It was such a, you know, a refreshing feeling to get on the sled and I was all worried about these dogs and they're barking and barking, and barking and barking and then they start them and then they just take off and you're just like dead silent and they're so happy and they're running and they're lifting their leg to do their business and they're running and they love it and they're so happy and it's such a good feeling.
• 31:48
  Jennif Scoggins: That was probably one of my most favorite things I've ever done on a trip.
• 31:52
  Martha Jackson: Oh my gosh, that sounds so special.
• 31:54
  Martha Jackson: We went on a cruise one time to Alaska, and we had reservations to do that.
• 32:00
  Martha Jackson: But that trip we just kind of had one thing after another, after another due to weather, and so there was— you needed to make that happen.
• 32:07
  Martha Jackson: There was bad weather and we didn't get to do it, and I mean, that was like such a bucket list thing for our whole family.
• 32:13
  Martha Jackson: We were so devastated that that didn't happen.
• 32:15
  Martha Jackson: Well, let's do.
• 32:16
  Martha Jackson: We've started doing this rapid fire thing with our guests.
• 32:21
  Martha Jackson: Let's give this a try.
• 32:22
  Martha Jackson: Window or aisle seat.
• 32:23
  Jennif Scoggins: I'm an aisle seat 99% of the time.
• 32:25
  Jennif Scoggins: I'm an aisle seat, Window only if I need to take a little nap or something.
• 32:30
  Jennif Scoggins: But aisle seat, oh my gosh Like more leg room.
• 32:32
  Martha Jackson: It gives me so much anxiety to be in the middle or the window because I drink a ton of water.
• 32:38
  Jennif Scoggins: Yes, yes.
• 32:38
  Jennif Scoggins: So yeah, you can get up easily on the aisle and you're more leg room if you need it.
• 32:45
  Martha Jackson: Absolutely Well.
• 32:46
  Martha Jackson: What about a suitcase tracker Like oh my God, what are they called?
• 32:50
  Martha Jackson: Sean the thingy, the tag?
• 32:55
  Martha Jackson: Yeah, okay, let me start.
• 32:58
  Martha Jackson: Okay, what about air tags in your suitcase?
• 33:01
  Jennif Scoggins: yes, I, I like air tags.
• 33:03
  Jennif Scoggins: My suitcase I've never you know, it's always been exactly where it's it's supposed to be.
• 33:07
  Jennif Scoggins: But I do like tracking it.
• 33:08
  Jennif Scoggins: I do like to see oh look, now it's on the plane with us.
• 33:10
  Jennif Scoggins: Oh look, it's already made it to.
• 33:11
  Jennif Scoggins: So I, I do enjoy having them there.
• 33:14
  Martha Jackson: I haven't done it yet, but I think it's a a brilliant idea.
• 33:16
  Martha Jackson: I think that that's so important.
• 33:17
  Martha Jackson: My son's lacrosse gear got lost on a flight last summer and literally it would have been helpful to have that on there, but he got it just in the nick of time before his tournament started, so that was good.
• 33:28
  Martha Jackson: What is a personal travel splurge you'll never give up on?
• 33:35
  Jennif Scoggins: Well, okay, so I do have one, I think, and that kind of goes.
• 33:39
  Jennif Scoggins: I don't you know.
• 33:40
  Jennif Scoggins: For me it's a splurge, for most people it's just a given.
• 33:42
  Jennif Scoggins: I always make sure when I rent a car that I have midsize SUV is the car that I have to get.
• 33:49
  Jennif Scoggins: I'm not going to get a little bitty, tiny, compact car because I want to be up, I want to be when I'm in a car and I'm driving and 99% of the time I'm the driver and even if I'm not, I'm usually sitting in the front seat navigating I want to be able to see where I'm going and what I'm doing and what's happening, and you know so often when you're traveling to places that you don't know you're in.
• 34:10
  Jennif Scoggins: I don't know if, necessarily, if it's a splurge, but for me that's.
• 34:14
  Jennif Scoggins: You know, no matter what that price is, I'm definitely going to get a car that I'm sitting upright.
• 34:17
  Martha Jackson: Yeah, that makes perfect sense.
• 34:19
  Martha Jackson: You lose your vantage point when you're down low, so I like that tip.
• 34:22
  Martha Jackson: Well, jenny, you have shared so many wonderful things today.
• 34:25
  Martha Jackson: I think you're going to help so many people out there with their summer travel and their future travel.
• 34:29
  Martha Jackson: Thank you so much for taking the time.
• 34:31
  Jennif Scoggins: Absolutely Loved every minute of it.
• 34:33
  Martha Jackson: That's been another episode of the Bubble Lounge.
• 34:35
  Martha Jackson: I'm Martha Jackson and I'll see you next time.