Disclaimer: I am not a professional travel agent. I am a teacher, who LOVES to travel and who, over the past 8-10 years or so, has learned how to travel on a budget, without making sacrifices in quality. While I do moonlight as a travel agent, I do not claim to be a professional and please note that I am also child-less; traveling is alot easier and more frequent with us now than it will be when we have kiddos :)
I've had several requests for help with travel planning lately. Everyone is working on booking their vacays, and of course, no one wants to drop big bucks while doing so! I have posted about hotels and such before, but in an effort to help everyone out, I thought I'd make a big ol' list of my go-to places that allow me to travel for cheap! It's long, but this is how I do it and what sites and such I use.
1. As stated previously, I LOVE Hotwire. I mean love, love, love, Hotwire. I use it regularly for both hotels AND car rentals. In fact, I've only booked a car on one other occasion (because it was NYE in Disney and it happened to be cheaper than Hotwire last minute), directly from a rental company. I've NEVER been disappointed with my car, and I've never paid more than $25 a day for a car. Most times I get a rate of $10-15 a day and its always with a reputable car rental company, i.e. Hertz, National, Budget etc. Now, I've never booked a van or SUV with them simply because I haven't needed one, but their rates for those, just as they are with cars, are way less than you will pay by booking through the company alone.
When booking hotels its also my go-to site, to see a detailed post about that read here.
2. Priceline is another discount hotel site. I have used it a few times, and while I don't love it as much as I do Hotwire, it has helped me score a deal or two on hotels. What I don't like about it is that you don't get to see the prices before you book; you simply throw out a number you want to pay for a particular hotel class, give your credit card number and then you wait to see if a hotel accepts your bid. With Hotwire, the prices and locations are spilled out for you before you enter you enter any form of payment, which I like better. Furthermore, I have noticed that the star rating (hotel class) seems to be a tad "off" on Priceline. While Hotwire may consider a Hampton Inn a 2.5 star hotel, Priceline may consider it a 3 star. I always tell people to only bid on high star categories when booking with Priceline or else you may end up staying in a not so nice hotel. With Hotwire, I've always ended up in nice places. i.e. The W Hoboken in NYC for $100 a night over Christmas. Our room was a $350 room if booked through hotel!! You will still get great places with Priceline, you just have to be more cautious about picking your hotel star rating if you want to insure you're in a nice place. Example. We used Priceline last year for Cincy and ended up at the Millenium in downtown. While the hotel isn't nasty, it shouldn't have been considered a 3 star. For the same price we paid for the Millennium on Priceline ($55), and for the same star rating, we stayed at a Mariott in SC when booking with Hotiwre. Make sense?!
3. For all-inclusive travel, I have used the following two companies personally and have found that I got a great deal with both. All-inclusive Outlet, and CheapCaribbean.com. I used AI when going to Jamaica several years ago for a friends' wedding and we used CC to book our trip to Playa Del Carmen last year. We spent $800 each for our 7 nights in Mexico which included flight, the upgraded rooms at our hotel and the resort was all inclusive(meals, drinks, everything was included). Yes, all of that for only $800 a person! Amazing!!!
A site I have not personally used, but know several people who have used and found great deals is applevacations.com. They run some amazing last minute deals that my former co-worker swears by! He's retired and travels frequently to the Caribbean with his wife.
4. For cruise travel read HERE I wrote this back when I started the blog, and I feel like it explains it pretty well :)
5. For beach travel, I always tell people to look at VRBO and VacationRentals before thinking about a hotel. I've used both before and had great results with finding condos and beach houses. You can stay for way less than a hotel room, plus by being in a condo or beach house, you have a lot more space than you would in a hotel. You are also in direct contact with the owners so you can sometimes negotiate deals, especially when booking last minute.
6. For airfare, I do several things. I look at sites such as Orbitz, Travelocity, etc and then I also go and look at the actual airline site. Sometimes the better deals are with the booking companies and other times you score better deals by booking directly through the airline. For our trip to NYC and our honeymoon, we found the best deals were by booking with Orbitz, so just search around. I literally will spend a 2-3 hours online when booking a flight, just to make sure I have found the best option. However, It's definitely worth your time to check every option!
Be advised that Southwest does NOT show up on search options with the booking companies, so you always have to look at their site directly to book! They fly a lot of places, but not all, but you can score some awesome deals with them, plus luggage is free!
For travel to FL I always check my favorite "Ghetto Air" Allegiant, because they are almost always the cheapest. Sadly, they only fly to FL from KY after April. They were flying to Vegas, but that's stopping soon. I joke and call them Ghetto Air for the mere fact that they are SO stinkin' cheap, and for the fact that they sell tickets to Blue Man Group on board, but in all seriousness, every plane is big and I've had no problem with using them, other than dealing with a long delay in Orlando last year. The best part is: all flights to FL are DIRECT!!! I have terrible luck when layovers are involved, so direct flights are my absolute favorite :)
Another option for FL and Puerto Rico from KY is Air Tran. I love them; in fact, we are flying them to PR for the first part of our honeymoon, for less than $250 each. They have great rates, great customer service, and all of their planes are big. I'm not a fan of little planes. Not one bit.
7. Join travel sites! I am a member (all free to join) of several sites that provide great deals! Travelzoo is an awesome one, that sends you weekly emails about tons of companies offering vacation deals. Sniqueaway is also another great site that offers deeply discounted rates off of high class hotels. It, like Travelzoo, emails you the deals for the week! You have to have a "member invite" to join Sniqueaway ( I guess they're trying to sound all posh. Whatever), so here's a link to join: Sniqueaway Membership
8. Lastly, I always say to ASK for what you want/need. My undergrad degree is in Public Relations, and I took some even planning courses in college. One of my favorite professors used to tell us to always ask for things such as upgrades, amenities, late check-outs etc. She always said, "The worse they can say is 'No,' so just do ask." Ever since then, I always ask. I always request late check-out and have never once been denied. I also always ask for rooms with the best views, and/or rooms away from elevators, etc. and again, am almost always granted my requests. For a freinds' bachelorette party in Indy last year, we were in a regular room (booked via Hotwire) and upon check-in, I simply asked the man working if there were any upgraded/larger rooms available. He said, "Actually we do!" And we were upgraded to a suite, no questions asked. In the age of TripAdvisor and such, hotels want to do their best to keep everyone happy because they know there's a good chance their hotel will be reviewed by someone staying there. They want good reviews, so they do whatever they can to keep their guests happy :)
I hope this helped/will help y'all save some money!
Happy Traveling :)
Ash
It's summer vacation planning time and several of you have asked me to provide you with some great websites to use to find those uh-mazing travel steals and deals! I'm sure there are lots out there, but here are some that I subscribe to and/or have used personally and have found to be overall great sites:
1. http://www.travelzoo.com/ : This site provides you with weekly emails with links to other sites offering great travel steals as well as great discount tickets for events near you. You get the email each Wednesday and its always worth taking a look at the weekly bargins. Some of the deals offered will really blow your mind. Ex: Up-scale hotels in Miami and Chicago for $80 a night, airlines having huge flight sales, etc.2. http://www.applevacations.com/ : Helps you book your entire vacay! Most resorts are all-inclusive and you can find some super steals in the 'specials' section. This section provides deals for up to 2/3 months out. Put in your departure city and it shows you whats available. Example: 7-nights all-inclusive to Punta Cana from Cincinnati for $899 a person. One of my favorite old co-workers scored one of these deals in September. He and his wife went to Punta Cana and he said the resort was top notch! $899 for EVERYTHING for one week is such an insane deal; especially a week in the Caribbean :)
3. http://www.vrbo.com/ : We used this site this summer when booking our family vacay to NC. It's a site where everyday people, who own property, place their homes/condos to be rented out. It's great because it provies you with direct contact with the homeowner as well as reviews from others who have stayed at the property. Many times, you can even negoiate a better price for a vacation rental; especially when waiting last minute :) These people want their properties booked and will often work with you on price to make that happen! Furthermore, you arent just limited to looking at places in the US! Check out the deals for St. Lucia and other hot spots in the Caribbean. AMAZING deals for goregous properties!!!
4. http://www.allinclusiveoutlet.com/ : I used this site a few years ago when going to Jamaica for my best friend's wedding. It, like Apple, plans your entire vacay from flight to resort. They are just a great company, that happens to be based right here in Lex! They set me up at a top-notch resort for an excellent price :)5. http://www.cheapcaribbean.com/ : I have never booked anything through this site, but I receive their weekly emails. They are always offering some pretty awesome deals to all of those warm, fantastic, destinations many of us wish we were currently enjoying.
Of course, I always recommend my go-to sites http://www.hotwire.com/ and http://www.priceline.com/ for great hotel and car rental deals! I know some of you (who shall remain nameless ;) are still "nervous" about what you will get, but I promise, I've never been let down!! We scored a great little room right outside of Disney's gates for $57 a night (including tax) over New Year. Crazy, right?! I tried to add a picture, but miss un-tech savvy here cant figure it out. Just check out my fb album to see the room :)
XOXO
Ash
3 months later and I FINALLY update the blog. Once again, I'm sorry. I really thought I'd be a super, wonderful, I update everyday type blogger, but I've proven myself otherwise. Case in point, the date of the previous blog and the fact that my blog is still oh so basic with its design... I really am going to try to do better...promise.
Hotwire.com is my bff for hotels. If you've never experienced Hotwire, I advise you to. now.
I have booked 4 different hotels over the past few months and the money I have saved by doing so is fantastic. If you are unfamiliar with the site, it is where you can book several different forms of travel (hotels, cars, cruises, flights, etc) at discount prices. The only catch is that with hotels, you do not know the name or the exact address of the hotel until AFTER you book.
However, you ARE able to pick the location (ex. Disney World area, downtown Louisville, Ashley River area in Charleston, etc). Secondly, you are told the star rating for the hotel and provided a guide for what hotel chains typically fall under each star rating. I typically stay at a 3 star or above hotel just because I am kind of picky about being in nice hotels, but I did do a 2-star once and ended up at a very nice LaQuinta Inn. The BEST thing about this site is the crazy, fantastic, prices you get. In August, we stayed in a $160 dollar a night, 4.5 star hotel room for less than $100. Over New Year's, we will be staying in a 3-star hotel at Disney World for only $57 a night! Fabulous, I know.
I personally feel that you cannot go wrong by using Hotwire. I seriously cannot tell you the last time I paid over $100 for a hotel room and the thought of that is pure bliss to my mind. Using this site makes quick weekend trips oh so affordable as well as week-long vacays... 3-star hotels for less than $60 a night?! Yes, please. Every weekend :)
XOXO
Ash
P.S. Hotwire is also great for car rentals, but I will hit on that in another post :)
Cruising is fun, but it can be expensive, IF you don't know how to do it cheap...However, if you play your cards right, you can cruise at amazingly cheap prices!
The first key to doing this is to cruise during off-season...The months of October, early November, late January and February are your best bets to getting some amazing deals. You can and will cruise for at almost half if not more during these times than you will do during the rest of the year...Most school districts in KY have gone to a full week fall break in October, which allows us teachers to take advantage of the crazy deals. I have yet to cruise during the summer months, simply because I refuse to pay the double price of what I pay during October! Unless you can only go during the summer, don't....you're bank account will thank you :)
The second key to cruising cheap is to shop around and look and wait for deals....There are several sites that I use, and have used in the past to book cruises. Those are: http://www.cruiseonly.com/ http://www.vacationstogo.com/ and http://www.cruisecheap.com/ When beginning my cruise search, I start here, see what I can find then compare those rates with those from the actual cruise line's site. This year, for example, we found our best deal by booking directly through Carnival's website. However, in years past, we've saved around $100, per cruise, by using an alternate site.
The third key is to sign up for the website emails...This is good for any travel, but especially great when cruising because you get alerts of sales, on board credits, room upgrades, etc. I received an email in November about Norwegian offering a 7 nigh cruise for $425 a person during spring break! Crazy, huh?! Cruise only also sends out a magazine every few months with offers and deals.
The fourth thing to remember is to know which cruise lines to sail on. Carnival is usually the cheapest, Disney is the most expensive. When it really comes down to it, most ships are the same and offer similar amenities on board. When you sail on Disney, for example, you are paying for the name and it runs about 40% higher than most cruise lines. I've personally, only sailed on Carnival, and I have zero complaints about it! I've been on older ships to one that is almost brand new, and each time I've had a blast. The food is always amazing, and the service you receive on-board is second to none. You are treated like royalty from the moment you walk on until the moment you leave. Carnival, as I'm sure other ships do, offer past guests discounts on future cruises. Ever since cruise #1, I've received a discount for being a past guest. You just have to make sure to tell them when booking so that you receive the discount!
And finally, once you are on your cruise DO NOT BOOK SHORE EXCURSIONS DIRECTLY THROUGH YOUR SHIP. I did not know this on my first cruise and forked out $30 to hit up a beach that I could've done for free had we simply hopped a taxi and went their on our own. Many local companies offer excellent things to do on the island for half the price. These excursions are not only much cheaper, but usually better, longer, and full of more local flavor! I first start by using the cruiseexcursions.com as my starting point. For example, when going to the Bahamas you simply type in http://www.bahamascruiseexcursions.com/ and it provides a list of whats offered. Mom and I used this site to book a jet skiing, Sting Ray City excursions in Grand Cayman and it was amazing! We paid half of what Carnival was asking, our excursions lasted double the time, and we had a blast!
You can also google the island you are going to and shore excursions and find other sites listed that offer fun things to do while there. It's amazing how much money you will save and you really will get more of a local feel for things!
Here is one final site that is a great resource for cruising overall. It provides message boards where you can post questions and receive answers, reviews of every cruise line and every ship, pictures, etc. When hitting up a new cruise port that I'm unfamiliar with, I visit this site to get the scoop and advice for what to do, where to go, etc. Its fantastic!!! http://www.cruisecritic.com/
If you've never cruised before, I highly recommend it! Once on board, your only expense is alcohol, soda, and shopping. Meals, lodging, and entertainment are included so you really could get on board and not spend a dime if you didn't want to! I mean, how else can you spend $475 for 5 days and 3 Caribbean islands? You simply cant....So, as Justin Timberlake and Andy Samberg say...."Get your flippie floppies and Get On A Boat!" ;)
Much Love,
Ash
