vacation packages

1. Be flexible. Alternate either the airport/city or the time/date you plan to travel. A rigid travel schedule is going to make it hard to save money on travel.

2. Ask for discounts or upgrades. Don’t accept the hotel rate as written in stone. Often all that is required is simply to ask for a discount or ask to be upgraded to a better room. Same goes for the airplane, ask for an upgrade. If you don’t ask you’ll never know what you might have been able to get.

3. Remember your AAA card and always ask if there is a discount.

4. Plan your vacation in the off season. For example, if you want to go on a ski trip, plan one for the summer. You will find the resorts charging quite a bit less, and it will be less crowded.

5. When purchasing your airline tickets, don’t only look for round-trip tickets but also check the one-way fares. Even if you have to travel on different airlines, use whatever means possible to get the best deal.

6. If you are going to a theme park and planning to be there for more than a few days, opt for an annual pass as it usually only costs about the equivalent of two days’ worth of tickets. This will allow you to not only save cash but also to relax and not feel that you need to spend all day at the park to get your money’s worth.

7. Take a shuttle from the airport to your hotel if possible. It may take a bit longer to get to your hotel and you’ll be sharing with other travelers, but it’s kind of fun and you may make a friend of two. It’s also much cheaper than a taxi.

8. When traveling on the interstate and looking for a place to stay overnight, steer clear of the new franchise hotels if you want to save. Instead, try the mom-and-pop hotels on the old highways near the interstate that the interstate replaced years ago, or even a bed and breakfast.

9. If visiting a water park, check on their “twilight” pricing. Usually if you go later in the day you save a substantial amount off the entrance fee.

10. Consider vacation packages. All-inclusive deals that bundle air, hotel, and entertainment are often cheaper than buying everything separately. These are sometimes outstanding values for the money.

11. Sign up for email alerts from the online travel agencies. These will let you know when airfare falls below a certain point so you can quickly jump on the deal and secure your tickets.

12. Book early or book late. If you aren’t able to book your airfare tickets well in advance, you might score a great deal by waiting till the very last minute. Since airlines want to fill all their seats, they will oftentimes discount heavily at the last minute just to get those seats filled.

13. Have a “staycation.” Stay home and save money on hotel, airfare, and car rental, and enjoy the touristy places in your area that you never have time to explore normally. You’ll be surprised what’s in your own backyard.