There are hundreds of articles on how to make extra income and there are several that are actually realistic and doable but others, not so much.  In my opinion, the main way and most consistent would be to find a part-time job. The gig economy is on the rise, however so much has changed in the past couple of years.  If you talk to any of your Uber or Lyft drivers they’ll tell you that they are making less than they were seven years ago due to increasing fees and regulation.  Another example that I can speak of is Turo.  I’ve been recently informed that effective July 15th, I will not be allowed to use other platforms in addition to theirs.  I don’t but I definitely considered it because I wanted more customers that do not use Turo.  In addition, the 75% share I used to get is now 70% effective June 5th, based on the insurance plan I chose with them.  That is a 5% pay increase for them, not to mention the rider fee they add to the rental price, which in the end almost makes our split 50/50.  In a way, it is better than nothing but one of the reasons why I personally started using Turo was because it gave me the power to choose and when I decided to become a host I didn’t think I’d ever feel restricted.  In addition, they are overall less expensive than the traditional car rental companies.

All things considered their customer service has been great on both ends as a rider and host.  It’s definitely worth trying if you have a car sitting that you barely use.  It will more than likely pay for itself.

Does Uber and Lyft limit you to their platform alone?  I don’t think they do and I think it’s great that customers get to choose which service they want to use.  Everyone gets to make or save more money and no one feels restricted.  So…speaking of ways to make extra income, I think I found a great one…

What if I told you that you can save up to 50% or more on hotels by working in the hospitality industry, specifically for a hotel?  Yes, it’s definitely true.  Now although it may sound enticing it definitely isn’t for everybody.  You can do extremely well if you like to socialize, care about customer service and love meeting new people.  Having worked three years in a hotel in the past I didn’t realize how much it suited me because I love to travel and meet the criteria previously mentioned.  The job is called Night Audit.  You will be trained to run reports to balance and close the day’s revenues, but everything else the job entails has to do with customer service.  Night Audit is in the same department as Front Desk, however, they handle the latest shift and are privy to the hotel’s financials.  Here is what a typical night is for me:

11pm-midnight:  Check-in guests that have not yet arrived.  There may be several or none at all.

Midnight:  The bar closes so once all guests have checked in I run and review the first of my reports, before I actually run the final audit after 2am.

2-4am:  Run the final audit and deal with guests who typically come in after a night out or walk-ins seeking a room for the night.

4-7am:  Socialize with guests, straighten up and handle any guest requests, if any.

For the most part, the job is easy.  The biggest challenge I would say is dealing with unruly guests or being overwhelmed when the hotel is sold out and guest requests are pouring in.  Another struggle is staying awake after 4am.  This is where I get my exercise.  I walk around the lobby several times just to stay awake!

I am looking forward to utilizing my benefits from working at a hotel for my travel crave.  It doesn’t exactly mean I’ll use all the money I earn on travel but the mere fact that I can save more at hotels than I normally would was enticing enough for me to take on the job.  Here are a few pros and cons to working this position:

PROS:

Hotel discounts from over 4000 properties and 30 brands, if you work for the Marriott brand who acquired SPG two years ago.

You meet a lot of very interesting people.  I’ve met so many different people and from all over the world!

It’s a great way to add to your job experience and it may possibly open doors for you in the future.  For example, I’m glad that I’ll be able to apply for a night audit position in Hawaii if I needed extra cash.

CONS:

The graveyard shift can be tiring.  It can affect your sleep pattern especially if you have a full-time job during the week.

So much for a social life.  If you’re all about making and saving money this can be ideal but other than that you will be sacrificing your weekends.

One year of hotel experience may be required.  Fortunately for me, on my first night auditor job search the hotel had a hiring event and I was hired on the spot.  I didn’t have hotel experience but I did have a lot of accounting experience and that was enough for them to take me on… but I’m sure my personality was a seller too ; )

So, if you’re interested in making solid extra income, I’d suggest Turo or getting a part-time job.  If you have some great tried and true extra income ideas, please post comments below.  I’d love to hear from you!

Haze- Blue Crush Travel