Timing is everything.
It sounds obvious, but it’s true. You’ll save money if you travel to places outside of their peak travel season. Hotels, planes and rental car companies want to book as many people as they can. At the height of the area’s travel season the deals aren’t going to be available because they will be full or close to it. Travel during the slower seasons and you can find great deals. A quick online search will help you find the off-peak season in the area you want to visit.
Traveling outside of the peak travel season doesn’t mean traveling in bad weather, either.
I’ve found the best time to visit Orlando is late September and early October. The theme parks are dead-no lines on anything but the newest rides. Plus the weather is still warm enough to swim and visit the water parks.
Use Priceline for hotels and rental cars.
I can’t recall the last trip I booked for myself where I didn’t use Priceline’s name your own price service. If you visit their website you have to scroll about halfway down the page to get to the “name your own price” section. Otherwise it’s just like any other online booking website. Priceline can be scary if you haven’t used it before. I recommend visiting the website Bidding For Travel. At Bidding For Travel other Priceline users post their winning bids for hotels that can help you determine a starting bid price. You’ll also find tons of tricks and tips for getting the best deal.
One recommendation is to increase your star level when using Priceline, especially if you’re booking a trip overseas. If you’d be happy in a three star hotel, bid on a four star. That will help avoid any artificially inflated star ratings.
My recent successful bids on Priceline include a rental car in Orlando for $13 a day and a 3 star hotel for $33 a night. I also just got back from a vacation to Oahu where I booked a resort class hotel on Waikiki Beach for only $99 a night.
The downside to the “name your own price” bidding is that you are stuck with your winning bid if it’s accepted. Don’t bid on areas where you’re not willing to stay. (Unless it’s part of a researched bidding strategy because your preferred star level isn’t available in that area-Bidding For Travel can help you with this). Take your time with Priceline. Priceline will encourage you to add areas and increase your price if they reject your first bid. Just be patient and raise your bid slowly. Deals that aren’t available today might be available tomorrow.
Stalk your plane tickets.
When it comes to booking airline tickets, be a website stalker. I tend to visit Expedia, Orbitz and Travelocity when I begin to look for plane tickets. When I find a good deal I’ll go directly to that airline’s website to see what their price is for that same ticket-it will usually be around $5 less because you’re avoiding the service fee from the other websites. I also periodically delete my cookies when I’m looking for airline tickets. I have heard that some websites will recognize you when you’re looking for tickets and start to raise the prices to make you feel as though you need to book NOW. I don’t know if this is true, but deleting your cookies will take care of this if it is.
It sounds obvious, but it’s true. You’ll save money if you travel to places outside of their peak travel season. Hotels, planes and rental car companies want to book as many people as they can. At the height of the area’s travel season the deals aren’t going to be available because they will be full or close to it. Travel during the slower seasons and you can find great deals. A quick online search will help you find the off-peak season in the area you want to visit.
Traveling outside of the peak travel season doesn’t mean traveling in bad weather, either.
I’ve found the best time to visit Orlando is late September and early October. The theme parks are dead-no lines on anything but the newest rides. Plus the weather is still warm enough to swim and visit the water parks.
Use Priceline for hotels and rental cars.
I can’t recall the last trip I booked for myself where I didn’t use Priceline’s name your own price service. If you visit their website you have to scroll about halfway down the page to get to the “name your own price” section. Otherwise it’s just like any other online booking website. Priceline can be scary if you haven’t used it before. I recommend visiting the website Bidding For Travel. At Bidding For Travel other Priceline users post their winning bids for hotels that can help you determine a starting bid price. You’ll also find tons of tricks and tips for getting the best deal.
One recommendation is to increase your star level when using Priceline, especially if you’re booking a trip overseas. If you’d be happy in a three star hotel, bid on a four star. That will help avoid any artificially inflated star ratings.
My recent successful bids on Priceline include a rental car in Orlando for $13 a day and a 3 star hotel for $33 a night. I also just got back from a vacation to Oahu where I booked a resort class hotel on Waikiki Beach for only $99 a night.
The downside to the “name your own price” bidding is that you are stuck with your winning bid if it’s accepted. Don’t bid on areas where you’re not willing to stay. (Unless it’s part of a researched bidding strategy because your preferred star level isn’t available in that area-Bidding For Travel can help you with this). Take your time with Priceline. Priceline will encourage you to add areas and increase your price if they reject your first bid. Just be patient and raise your bid slowly. Deals that aren’t available today might be available tomorrow.
Stalk your plane tickets.
When it comes to booking airline tickets, be a website stalker. I tend to visit Expedia, Orbitz and Travelocity when I begin to look for plane tickets. When I find a good deal I’ll go directly to that airline’s website to see what their price is for that same ticket-it will usually be around $5 less because you’re avoiding the service fee from the other websites. I also periodically delete my cookies when I’m looking for airline tickets. I have heard that some websites will recognize you when you’re looking for tickets and start to raise the prices to make you feel as though you need to book NOW. I don’t know if this is true, but deleting your cookies will take care of this if it is.
What are your tips on getting a great vacation deal?
You are so wise! Your vacation edition was my absolute favorite! I only hope to find as good a deal when I visit Hawaii for the first time with my elderly mother this spring. Oh, and thanks for the tip on saving a nickel at target when using your own bag. Good one! Keep 'em coming!
ReplyDeleteWhooooo? wants to save?
ReplyDelete