Affordable Travel – 7 Ways To Save On Your Next Vacation
Staycations are all the rage these days, and while you certainly can find lots to do without traveling to the other side of the earth, sometimes you just need to get away and have a relaxing vacation far away from car pools, grocery shopping and home maintenance.
Luckily, this is the year of incredible travel deals. Thanks to the recession, there are lots of deep discounts available on everything from renting an RV to yachting in the South Pacific.
Here are 7 ways to get even more out of your travel budget:
1. Keep an eye on exchange rates and plan your travel accordingly. For Americans, Western Europe was not a very economical choice in the summer of 2008 - the summer of 2009 is another story. The dollar has gained 9% on the Euro just since the beginning of the year.
2. Put your frequent flier miles to work. If you haven't accumulated enough for a ticket yet, see if you can combine miles and cash. But before you book your award trip, make sure it's worth it. With all the deals around, you might be better off just buying this particular ticket and saving your miles for that dream trip to Australia or around the world.
3. Rent a villa or condo, especially if you travel with a group. It will cost less than a hotel room would, you'll have more spacious accommodations and the chance to live like a local for a short while. Save even more by eating a few meals at home - imagine having your morning coffee and hot croissants (from the local bakery) on your balcony overlooking the Paris skyline. Not bad. Look for last minute deals and special offers that will bring the price down even further.
4. Stay up to date with the latest deals and discounts. Sign up for newsletters from travel sites, airlines, home rental companies, chambers of commerce, travel magazines, online auction sites, etc. to make sure you hear about new deals as soon as they are announced. You don't want to miss deals like JetBlue's recent one-day sale where they offered tickets from San Francisco to New York for $14, or Last Minute Travel's $1/night hotel rooms.
5. Travel auctions are another great way to vacation for less. Sites such as Luxury Link list new offers all the time and with a bit of luck and smart bidding, you can save tons on stays in luxury villas and resorts with all kinds of amenities included (meals, staff, chef, massages, etc.). I recently read a review by an auction winner who ended up paying just over $2,000 for a week at a well-known luxury villa in the Caribbean with all staff and a private chef. The regular price for a week at that property is around $10,000, so that was quite a bargain.
6. Don't go to the French Riviera in July and August. Find out when it's shoulder season in your chosen destination and book your trip then (that would be September and October on the Riviera). The weather will still be nice, and rates on both lodging and dining usually go way down as soon as high season ends. As an added bonus, the crowds are gone so there's less standing in line for everything.
7. Call home for free. If you bring your laptop (or iPhone), make sure to download Skype and ask your friends and family to do the same. It is a free service (as long as you call Skype to Skype; a Skype to landline or cell phone call does come with a charge), and all you have to do is download the software, set it up, get a headset or USB phone, connect to the Internet, and you're good to go. You can talk to friends all over the globe this way - and it's totally free.
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