In 2021 when I went through IVF to have our second child, we had one more embryo left from the treatments. We elected to keep our embryo in storage with our IVF clinic at Cornell.
We always knew we’d come back for this embryo, and as I was pushing 40 years old, I knew that it had to be done in 2024. Well, I did procrastinate a bit. By the time I finally found a clinic in southern California who was in-network with my insurance I learned the following:
– Cornell charges $500 to release the embryo
– I’d have to fly the embryo via cryotransport to California, estimated to be $300+
– the California clinic would require a “minimum payment” of $1,200 to use their facilities regardless of insurance coverage. Then it was up to our luck whether this could get reimbursed 🤷♀️
– The California facility would also charge a $1,500 embryo acceptance fee because I didn’t use them to make this embryo 🤦♀️
So we were looking at $3,500 of out of pocket expenses out the door… so being the Save My Cents, we wanted to see if we could do this for less.
Per background, my husband and I had full coverage for IVF through both my work back in 2021, and his current work sponsored healthcare plan. I know this is rare. So we really wanted to avoid paying out of pocket.
And so we decided very last minute for me to fly to NYC to do IVF, because at the very least we knew all of the medical costs would then be covered under his insurance and we don’t have to fly the embryo and work with a new clinic who wasn’t familiar with my health record.
However, it would require three trips
1) A trip in November to re-establish myself with my reproductive endocrinologist and set up appointments for the next cycle. During this trip I also learned that the Cornell embryology lab shut by December 20 for the holidays so my cycle better be on time
2) Two trips in December. Once for a very important mapping ultrasound. And once to transfer the embryo.
2) Two trips in December. Once for a very important mapping ultrasound. And once to transfer the embryo.
I would go on and do another 4 visits to a lab for bloodwork, and an additional visit to my local OBGYN office, for an ultrasound. These visits would be covered by insurance.
So this is how we hacked my trips:
Establish business purpose
On all three trips I met with coaching clients, potential clients, and followers every day, which would make the costs of the trips also business costs, which meant it could be deductible.
On all three trips I met with coaching clients, potential clients, and followers every day, which would make the costs of the trips also business costs, which meant it could be deductible.
Flights:
First set of flights: I was already in Las Vegas for a conference, so I don’t count my flight to Vegas. To re-route me from Vegas to NYC, We used $155 in flight credit + $43 to get to NYC. Then 14,000 Jet blue flights + $5.60 to get back. Hubby and I had banked JetBlue points via a credit card signup probably back in 2017 or 2018, and didn’t really end up using it as we didn’t fly JetBlue for years
Second set of flights: 18,800 + $5.60 to fly out + 15,200 points + $5.60 booking fee to fly back
Third set of flights: $131 flight credit + $228 payment to fly out (we learned in the second trip that my IVF transfer date was moved up by day), 21,100 JetBlue points + $5.60 booking fee
Total flights =
$285 flight credit
$271 paid out of pocket (what I count towards the cash total)
$271 paid out of pocket (what I count towards the cash total)
$65 booking fees
69,100 Jetblue points
Lodging:
I crashed on couches at three different friends’ places. THANK YOU. I did treat the one friend who hosted me the most, to a dinner.
Ground transportation
First trip: I was nervous to take the MTA late at night and I had a lot of stuff so I didn’t. 2 Uber trips, a 1 week MTA pass, 1 Airtrain, added up to $223.
Second trip: Hubby drove me to LAX. I did exclusively MTA in NYC this time with another 7-day MTA pass, and took two Air-Trains. Then an Uber home from LAX with a stop at a mommy group gathering. $136 for the Ubers. $43.50 for MTA.
Third trip: I flew out of Long Beach. I landed at LaGuardia and got a ride to JFK from a friend. I landed back in LAX and took an Uber home for $97. $35 for MTA.
Total ground transportation = $535
Food and fun
I enjoyed this part quite well, as this was my first time back in NYC after so many years away.
First trip: I had dinner at a friend’s house. Otherwise, a coffee at Maman ($8), hosting gift ($20), a CVS run ($10), lunch at Yakitori Totto ($30), added up to $68.
Second trip: I went all out and dined fancy for dinners, as I had three evenings in town, both at Atoboy ($85) and at Yingtao ($128), and I had casual meals at Dos Toros ($12), Laut ($41), Le District ($15), and some pastry somewhere for $4. $284 total for this trip.
Third trip: I treated the friends who hosted me the most to a dinner. $17 for airport food, $10 for a plane snack, $22 at Kuu Ramen for lunch after my IVF transfer, $38 at Trader Joe’s for a hosting gift, $15 at Grace Street Dessert, $145 for dinner at Baazi to treat the friends who hosted me the most, $14 for a takeaway dinner, and $11 for cookies at Levain for my husband, and $17 for a lunch at food court. $289 all in.
Total food and fun: $641
Babysitter coverage:
To help my husband in the mornings I hired a babysitter to help with breakfast and packing my kids’ stuff. $280
All in cash spend: $1,727
I estimated I could get about $600 back in taxes as I had business purpose for all three trips. So net of taxes, the trip cost me $1,127 out of pocket, instead of $3,500.
