Ballin' on a budget interview thread

[DrDwayneJohnson]

So for those who are traveling between time zones (read: more expensive flights), how are you all mitigating costs? I'm currently using skiplagged and airbnb for places without hosts. Anyone else have other alternatives?

 

[Siromas]

Would also be interested in gathering some input on this!

 

[aaronrodgers]

Flying from CA to East coast soon.

No way around air travel so that's already $350 round trip
Staying with a student host for the night before interview to save hotel cost.
After interview, I am sleeping at the airport for my morning flight to save another hotel cost.
Only planning to eat 3 meals so ~30 dollars during the trip assuming med school provide adequate food for an NFL QB

 

[Kingsmen2018]

Using a mileage rewards credit card to pay for applications has helped a little bit

 

[SuaveCardigans]

Flying from CA to East coast soon.

No way around air travel so that's already $350 round trip
Staying with a student host for the night before interview to save hotel cost.
After interview, I am sleeping at the airport for my morning flight to save another hotel cost.
Only planning to eat 3 meals so ~30 dollars during the trip assuming med school provide adequate food for an NFL QB

Can you just borrow the team's jet?

 

[Traitor Kaepernick]

Flying from CA to East coast soon.

No way around air travel so that's already $350 round trip
Staying with a student host for the night before interview to save hotel cost.
After interview, I am sleeping at the airport for my morning flight to save another hotel cost.
Only planning to eat 3 meals so ~30 dollars during the trip assuming med school provide adequate food for an NFL QB

You should have got a credit card to mileage rewards.

$350 round trip from coast to coast isn't bad. Keep your ears open before boarding, overbooked flights pay well if you give up your seat. You could get a $500 voucher for waiting 3-5 hours for next flight. I'll take $100 per hour tax free.

 

[gonnif]

You should have got a credit card to mileage rewards.

$350 round trip from coast to coast isn't bad. Keep your ears open before boarding, overbooked flights pay well if you give up your seat. You could get a $500 voucher for waiting 3-5 hours for next flight. I'll take $100 per hour tax free.

Remember costs are time, money, resources, especially for those who are in busy undergrad schedules.
A few ideas
1) Look for alternate airports and public transport. For example, New York City has flights into Newark, Islip
2) the multitude of web booking sites including cheapflights and priceline
3) be careful of time of year for where you fly thru. Do you want to fly thru Chicago in the middle of winter?

 

[Master_of_Savage]

Flying from CA to East coast soon.

No way around air travel so that's already $350 round trip
Staying with a student host for the night before interview to save hotel cost.
After interview, I am sleeping at the airport for my morning flight to save another hotel cost.
Only planning to eat 3 meals so ~30 dollars during the trip assuming med school provide adequate food for an NFL QB

I've slept in more airports than I would like to admit and I 100% recommend investing in a neck pillow.

 

[calivianya]

I'm a huge fan of hotel cards... should I get any interviews this season, I have enough points for five free nights at tier 1 Hyatts right now... so at least I shouldn't have to pay for any of the hotels.

I can also convert those points to miles if I want, so we'll see how things go. Hopefully I won't have to pay for much.

 

[HughBlackfyre]

Check out google flights. It'll tell you every flight to an airport (sans Southwest) on the specific day and order them by their expense. You can also see cheaper flights on surrounding days if you can be more flexible with your travel plans.

 

[DrDwayneJohnson]

You should have got a credit card to mileage rewards.

$350 round trip from coast to coast isn't bad. Keep your ears open before boarding, overbooked flights pay well if you give up your seat. You could get a $500 voucher for waiting 3-5 hours for next flight. I'll take $100 per hour tax free.

Any recommendations for CCs with mileage rewards? I've tried to avoid CCs thus far in my life so I'm pretty ignorant about them. I'm thinking it might be a solid option now though.

 

[Siromas]

Any recommendations for CCs with mileage rewards? I've tried to avoid CCs thus far in my life so I'm pretty ignorant about them. I'm thinking it might be a solid option now though.

If you prefer to fly one airline in particular, I'd recommend going with their company credit card.

However, if you're a budget traveler who travels on whichever airline that offers the cheapest service, I'd go with a general travel card (e.g. Chase Sapphire).

Source: I have a lot of credit cards and travel frequently.

 

[HughBlackfyre]

Any recommendations for CCs with mileage rewards? I've tried to avoid CCs thus far in my life so I'm pretty ignorant about them. I'm thinking it might be a solid option now though.

I have an American Airlines Citi MasterCard which I got for secondaries last year. They give you 40k miles for spending $1000 within the first 3 months which is good for a cross country round trip. I think most airlines have a similar sort of deal, pick the one that you usually fly or find the best deals on.

 

[Gibbward]

Any recommendations for CCs with mileage rewards? I've tried to avoid CCs thus far in my life so I'm pretty ignorant about them. I'm thinking it might be a solid option now though.

I got the Bank of America Travel credit card last year. I got a $200 bonus for spending $1000 3 months after opening and 1.5 points per dollar for all purchases. It is not the best, but at least I'm not super tied down to a specific airline and there are no annual fees. Your CC options might be limited though on your credit score (especially since it sounds like you've never had a credit card before) so that's something to consider too.

 

[DrDwayneJohnson]

I got the Bank of America Travel credit card last year. I got a $200 bonus for spending $1000 3 months after opening and 1.5 points per dollar for all purchases. It is not the best, but at least I'm not super tied down to a specific airline and there are no annual fees. Your CC options might be limited though on your credit score (especially since it sounds like you've never had a credit card before) so that's something to consider too.

Very good point. I suppose I was just trying to get some options and then I'd apply/re-apply prn

 

[DV-T]

Budget ballin. 4 II attended---->$332 total cost

 

[DrDwayneJohnson]

Budget ballin. 4 II attended---->$332 total cost

Unfortunately for me, that's what two of my interviews (bundled together into one trip) cost lol. Turns out flying from MDT to EDT is more expensive than I bargained for.

 

[DV-T]

Here's a way you could create a credit history if you have never had one before. If one of your parents has a very good mileage/reward card and they trust you, ask them to make you an authorized user on their account. Their CC company will then issue a card to you with your name, but the account is theirs.

In essence you are piggybacking on your parents' good credit history, and as long as you give them the money for the interview expenses which ensures the balance is paid every month, you will be able to create your own good credit history as well as use the mileage/rewards that come with the card.

Also, don't apply to a whole bunch of cards because every time you do so, your credit score is dinged.

 

[Traitor Kaepernick]

Any recommendations for CCs with mileage rewards? I've tried to avoid CCs thus far in my life so I'm pretty ignorant about them. I'm thinking it might be a solid option now though.

Credit cards are a wonderful thing. Pay them off every month and there is nothing bad about them. My credit card interest rate is 9.9% so even if I can't pay everything, that rate is still lower than what some people pay to buy a car. The stigma related to them is the stupidity and lack of responsibility that much of America displays. I bet all airlines have partnered with a credit card company, just pick one. Compare several of them, sometimes you get get 40k or more bonus miles just for signing up. You get little perks like first free checked bag and priority boarding with some.

I always have the money on hand to pay off the credit card, I just use my credit card first to get the miles.

 

[DrDwayneJohnson]

.

 

[kopftonmd]

Credit cards are a wonderful thing. Pay them off every month and there is nothing bad about them. My credit card interest rate is 9.9% so even if I can't pay everything, that rate is still lower than what some people pay to buy a car. The stigma related to them is the stupidity and lack of responsibility that much of America displays. I bet all airlines have partnered with a credit card company, just pick one. Compare several of them, sometimes you get get 40k or more bonus miles just for signing up. You get little perks like first free checked bag and priority boarding with some.

I always have the money on hand to pay off the credit card, I just use my credit card first to get the miles.

Also! Lots of credit cards have these wonderful things - 0.00% APR intro rates. Use them, love them, be sad when they leave.

 

[WildWing]

SDN created a tool to help students create a budget for their Med School Applications:
SDN – Medical School Application Cost Calculator - SDN Cost Calculator

It will give you an idea of the costs for applying to Medical School and identify your most expensive areas.