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Andrea Woroch is a nationally-recognized consumer and money-saving expert featured on “Good Morning America,” NBC’s “Today” and “The Dr. OZ Show.” She analyzes the effects that sequestration will have on the Federal Aviation Administration cuts. In turn, these cuts will reshape the ways people travel. She also shares her tips for cheaper and more efficient travel.

Andrea understands how quickly everyday costs add up and that life can get expensive. Her goal is to teach consumers how to live on less without radically changing their lifestyles. From smart spending tips to personal finance and savings advice, Andrea transforms everyday consumers into savvy shoppers.

Andrea has traveled the country as a broadcast and print media source, working with NBC Today Show, Good Morning America, FOX & Friends, New York Times, Kiplinger Personal Finance, Smart Money, CNNMoney and many more.

With a finger on the pulse of American consumerism, Andrea dissects savings trends for the media, encompassing everything from travel and electronics to groceries and coupons.

When not analyzing consumer behavior, Andrea enjoys skiing, travel, outdoor adventure and shopping for shoes. A New York native, Andrea now splits her time between Colorado and California.

Audio Transcript

ANNOUNCER: Welcome to the JetSetter Show, where we explore lifestyle-friendly destinations worldwide. Enjoy and learn from a variety of experts on topics ranging from upscale travel at wholesale prices, to retiring overseas, to global real estate and business opportunities, to tax havens and expatriate opportunities. You’ll get great ideas on unique cultures, causes, and cruise vacations. Whether you’re wealthy or just want to live a wealthy lifestyle, the JetSetter Show is for you. Here’s your host, Jason Hartman.

JASON HARTMAN: Welcome to the JetSetter Show! This is Jason Hartman, your host, where we explore lifestyle-friendly destinations worldwide. I think you’ll enjoy the interview we have for you today, and we will be back with that, in less than 60 seconds, here on the JetSetter Show.

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ANNOUNCER: What’s great about the shows you’ll find on www.jasonhartman.com is that, if you want to learn about investing in and managing income properties for college students, there’s a show for that! If you want to learn how to get noticed online and in social media, there’s a show for that! If you want to know how to save on life’s largest expense, there’s a show for that! And if you’d like to know about America’s crime of the century, there’s even a show for that. Yep! There’s a show for just about anything. Only from www.jasonhartman.com. Or type in Jason Hartman in the iTunes store.

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JASON HARTMAN: It’s my pleasure to welcome Andrea Woroch to the show! She is a nationally recognized consumer and money saving expert. She’s been featured on Good Morning America, NBC’s Today Show, the Dr. Oz Show, and several other media outlets. And today I wanted to talk about her expertise in saving money on travel, and then also we’ll talk about saving money in general, and just how we can all be smarter consumers as well. But first, let’s dive into the travel subject. Andrea, welcome. How are you?

ANDREA WOROCH: I’m good, how are you doing.

JASON HARTMAN: Well, good. Fantastic to have you on the show today. And, you talk about saving money, and just being a better consumer in general. But, since sequestration is in the news nowadays, I just wanted to have you touch on—you know, is there anything that the FAA is doing because of the sequestration issue, that is affecting travelers? Maybe longer lines at TSA, or anything else?

ANDREA WOROCH: Well, I think one of the biggest speculations was that since there were going to be budget cuts that affected the National Air Traffic Control Association—or, excuse me, the Federal Aviation Administration—that meant that there might be fewer employees, so there needs to be less airplanes actually in the air, and less people on the ground to navigate those planes in their landing. So that means fewer flights, more demand, and that could mean an increase in flight costs over time. Yeah, and of course, how things run at the airport, maybe longer lines, you need to get there sooner. So there is a ton of different ways that it is going to affect consumers. But I would say flight prices are the ones that are going to hit you the hardest.

JASON HARTMAN: Well, you know, I can tell you one effect, and I’m not sure this was actually due to sequestration, but I was coming back from Central America recently on a trip, and we landed in—gosh, what was it, Houston or Dallas. I believe it was Dallas. And landed in Dallas, had to go through customs. And having been to 64 countries, many of them many times, and having a lot of experience traveling, that was the longest customs line I ever waited on. They had a whole bunch of booths, but only three of them were open. There were only three customs agents there. And upon complaining about it, they said it was because of the budget cuts. But I don’t know if that’s exactly true or not.

ANDREA WOROCH: Well, that is something that you may experience, unfortunately, with budget cuts means fewer employees. So, and you know they’re not going to really let up on the security, so it just means you have to wait longer.

JASON HARTMAN: Yeah, really amazing. Let’s talk about some ways that people can reduce the cost of airfare. You have kind of 11 tips, and I don’t know if we should share them all, but just kind of go through them.

ANDREA WOROCH: Yeah, I can combine some of the tips. Yeah. So, the first, when we’re talking about looking for airfare, it really comes down to being flexible. As you probably know as a frequent traveler, the day that you actually fly out, usually mid week is going to offer you much less expensive airfare. So, when you’re planning your vacation, instead of leaving on a Friday night, try to head out on a Tuesday or a Wednesday. You’ll definitely find cheaper airfare that way. And then come back on a Sunday, or come back the following Tuesday or Wednesday. Also, waking up early might get you cheaper airfare. No one wants to get up at 4AM to catch that 6AM flight, but usually those first flights out are going to be the least expensive. And also you’ll find that flights during dinnertime or lunchtime are generally a little bit lower than the other peak travel times of the day.

JASON HARTMAN: Yeah, I’ve definitely found that. I hate those early flights, they stress me out too much. But you know, when you’re going from the west coast back east, it’s really the only way to go. Because by the time you lose three hours, it’s evening by the time you get there no matter what. What about booking, though? I’ve heard that there are tricks to booking. Like booking on Tuesdays, that’s the best time to buy a ticket online. Is that true?

ANDREA WOROCH: So, according to farecompare.com, they did a ton of surveys and analyses, and they found that booking—that 3PM specifically, Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday afternoons, is your best chance to find the cheapest airfare. Now, I don’t necessarily say you always have to wait for that specific time. I generally find that Tuesday, Wednesday, and sometimes even Thursday, you have that same pool of low-cost flights. So, I recommend shopping and booking during the mid week. Often times what’s happened to me is that I’ll see prices jump over the weekend, and then they’ll go back down afterwards. So, if you’re worried about missing out on a flight, it selling out, or that it’s gonna increase even further, if you book it then you may want to track it on yapta.com, and they will alert you if that specific itinerary that they see that same flight, at the same time and everything, drop in price, then you’ll be able to go back to the airline and request a credit.

JASON HARTMAN: Well, we actually had—I believe it was the founder of Yapta on the show before. And that’s a really interesting website, Yapta. What they do is, if the fare reduces, they’ll get you the difference back. But you know, I can’t imagine, as—because of the way time works, you know, you book on a certain date, and then you move only closer to the flight—doesn’t it really always get more expensive? I mean—

ANDREA WOROCH: Yeah, interestingly not always does that happen. Actually I just booked tickets for my honeymoon coming up this September to South Africa, and it’s what—

JASON HARTMAN: That’s a long flight. I’ve done that one. That is the longest flight on the planet, I think.

ANDREA WOROCH: I’m a little bit scared. But no, when I was researching flights I found pretty reasonable prices, and I was waiting and waiting to get everything confirmed, and booked, and make sure I had the vacation time planned, and whatnot. And the longer I waited, the prices weren’t fluctuating, and then all of a sudden they started creeping up 10, 20, 30 dollars, so I started to worry, and it was a Saturday, and I finally booked it. The flight that I wanted to book through African Airlines was no longer available as the cheapest one available. And then I started to track it on Yapta. Anyway, I booked through United at a higher price, then got an email from Yapta saying that the original flight I want