Travel on a Budget

With all the worry about finances and jobs these days, we find many people are cutting back on luxuries and non-necessary items. Many times, this includes the family vacation, and this isn't necessarily a good thing. Vacations offer a respite from everyday life, and are good for the heart and soul. To take this essential 'down time' away from yourself may not be healthy, and can in fact be detrimental.



With this in mind, following are a few tips on taking affordable trips, so you can ensure you get enough balance and time away to handle your work stresses well.

• Make a list of what's important to you in a vacation and why. You may find that you can achieve the essence of your ideal holiday with a lot less travel and expense - maybe just for this year. For instance, if you're dreaming of Caribbean beaches and lounging in the sun, perhaps you can grab a cheap flight (or even choose to drive) to Miami and down into the Florida Keys, staying at a B&B and enjoying the many very private and beautiful beaches along the way. The Keys tourism industry, in fact, has been hit hard by these economic times, and on our last trip just under a year ago we found the local merchants and hoteliers practically begging for business. They'll be super-happy to see you, and you can enjoy turquoise waters and palm trees that just might fulfill your craving - for now.
• Use websites such as Priceline and Hotwire to find affordable options. These consolidators (click here for more information on how these work) offer deep discounts on everything from hotels to car rentals to airfare, and in conjunction with some great reviews to help you avoid places you may not enjoy, you should be able to put together the perfect vacation for much less than retail.
• Share rooms and/or look for hotel alternatives. In many instances, you can get fabulous deals at villas and rental suites instead of standard hotels. Many people own villas and suites in popular destinations, and in these times such owners are even more willing to be flexible on rental fees than usual. Try sites such as VRBO (vacation rentals by owner) and the 'vacation rentals' section of craigslist.com for local listings in many cities and holiday destinations.

Save Money on Four- and Five-Star Hotels

As we all know, travel can get expensive...even more so these days with higher fuel and operating costs being passed on to consumers.

For those of you who are always looking at 'retail' search sites for deals, there are other options.

One such alternative is Priceline.com. Priceline is a website based on a bidding process, and they have a unique proposition for you: if you have a set date and destination in mind, and know which type of hotel* you'd like to stay in, they can get you a deal. Priceline customers need to be flexible about the exact hotel desired, and be able to travel with relatively short notice.

*While we will focus today on hotel room bidding, you can also use Priceline to get deals on flights and rental cars.

Background

Many hotels, once they have sold all the rooms they feel they can within a given time period, offer their 'extra' unsold rooms to sites such as Priceline to sell. For this reason, almost all hotel deals at Priceline are found last minute; a day to within a few days of your expected travel. The deals are well worth the effort - they can often be at least 50% off regular hotel room rates.

Priceline offers hotel rooms on a bidding system, which works as follows:

• You decide on the dates and destination


• You decide the minimum level of hotel quality you'd like to stay at (3*, 5*, etc.)


• You bid on a hotel TYPE based on your preferences, and then are informed of the hotel you've been appointed.

With a system like this, you MUST know what you are willing to settle for, and accept what you get once a bid has been filled. Because you won't know WHICH hotel you are getting until you pay for your bid, you must be careful in your bidding, and you must accept what you get. For instance, if you enjoy staying only at 5* hotels, be sure and bid accordingly. If you are willing to be more flexible with your star level or location, your options open up further.

Some of the successful bids I have made in the last year serve as examples:

4* Hyatt in Downtown Miami - Rack rate $179 paid $60
4* Monte Carlo on the strip in Las Vegas - Rack rate $249 paid $69
3* Holiday Inn Airport Miami - Rack rate $129 - paid $50
4* Hilton Airport Chicago - Rack rate $279 paid $60

An alternative to priceline is Hotwire.com. In this sister site's system, you put in your criteria and a bid amount, and then the search engine will return with an offer or several offers. You WON'T know which hotel/s are bidding for your dollars until you accept an offer. Based on location and star ratings, you can usually have a fairly good idea which hotels are involved. I often use Hotwire and Expedia as testing gorounds to see what the going rates are, and then place my bid/s through Priceline.

IMPORTANT TIP: DON'T PAY TOO MUCH! Be sure and visit the forum site www.BiddingForTravel.com for further instructions and advice on using Priceline and Hotwire. You will find useful strategies discussed, as well as recent successful bid details, which can help you determine how much to bid.

Bon Voyage!

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