Hotels
When booking hotel rooms be sure to consider all of the possible discounts you could be eligible for.
First, the day of week and length of your stay will often save money right off the top. The Travel Insider says to “Choose your itinerary to get you to business hotels over weekends and leisure hotels on weekdays.” This will make sure you are getting a lower rate because the hotels do not expect to be full. If you can also plan to be there in the off-season you will benefit from great deals as well.
Picking your room and amenities wisely will also benefit you financially. If you plan to save money by have a few meals “at home”, be sure to get a room with a kitchenette (and ask what things are in the room: plates, utensils, cups, maybe nothing!). If you will need to be online during your trip, check to make sure the hotel offers free high-speed or wifi. Business hotels in particular, tend to charge for internet access. Likewise, most hotels offer great movies but charge $10 for a single night viewing. If you have a portable DVD player, bring along some A/V cables and the power cord. You can watch movies for free! This is a great way to unwind after a busy day sightseeing.
AAA members get good deals on hotel rooms and Hotels.com is has some good deals too. Check several different dates and options where you are headed and be sure to read the reviews! Other guests are the best source of information.
As with airline tickets, Priceline is a great way to get cheap hotels; just remember, if you bid, you won’t get to choose the hotel or the specific location in the city. If you do prefer to pick where you place your head, you might try luxurylink.com or skyauction.com. These sites allow you to bid, like priceline, but you get the advantage of seeing what exactly you are bidding on. There are great deals available at phenomenal prices.
- Tip: Before bidding, check the regular rates of the rooms of packages you are considering by going directly to the hotels website or searching hotels.com.
A great place worth checking before you make your final decision is GiftCards.com, they are authorized to resell gift cards from hundreds of merchants at a discount. The selection chandes daily but, most of the cards sell for 15% off the full balance. You might get lucky!
Food
Food is where we think you have the most control over your travel expenses. It’s fun to eat out, especially on vacation when the point is to escape the typical day to day responsibilities. To save money we find a local grocery store as soon as we arrive and get what we’ll need for breakfasts, beverages and snacks. We do include dining out in our travel budget but set some criteria.
- We limit our dining out to lunchtime. Lunch menus are less expensive and since we have small children, restaurants seem more family friendly (or forgiving!) in the afternoon. There are also more lunch specials and coupons than dinner.
- We pick special places that we don’t have at home. We try to pick a few restaurants in advance that feature local fare or a unique atmosphere we won’t find in our home town.
- We check the menu and prices before we arrive (or at least before we sit down to eat).
- We check our discount options again. AAA, Restaurants.com, Entertainment Guide, Entertainment.com, or Entertainment Card, any Attraction Cards (like the Go! cards we mentioned in Part II), and visitor guide books. Again, you may get lucky with giftcards.com, they have several dining cards available today…check there before you head out!
Read this article from The Kitchn, where they offer some great (UNIQUE) suggestions for saving money on food while traveling (and still eating very well!).
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