These days, we’re all trying to save money and watch our spending habits, but sometimes you need a break from your everyday life. Seeing a new country or city and immersing yourself in the local life is often just what you need to recharge and get your energy back.
Luckily, this is the year of incredible travel deals. Thanks to the recession, there are lots of deep discounts available on everything from renting an RV to yachting in the South Pacific.
These 7 tips can help you save even more:
1. Take advantage of the strong dollar. Western Europe, which was out of the question last year, is a great bargain this summer, especially the UK, Turkey and Iceland. Sign up for newsletters and alerts from exchange rate sites to stay up to date on current rates.
2. Use your frequent flier miles. Anytime you fly on a new airline, sign up for their frequent flier program, and do it before booking your first flight. Often, you’ll get double miles or other perks the first time you fly. Sign up even if you think you’ll never fly on that particular airline again - they may be partners with another airline you fly more frequently, or you might be able to transfer the miles. The same goes for hotel “frequent guest” programs - don’t miss the chance to get points whenever you can. If you use a credit card at all, consider getting one that gives you miles or points for each dollar spent.
3. Rent a house or apartment rather than staying in a hotel. Not only will you in many cases end up paying less per night, you can save even more by eating at least one meal/day at home. The best deals can be found where there are many rental properties available; areas like Florida with lots of second homes for example. Also keep an eye out for last minute deals - this year especially, since the recession is forcing property owners and rental companies to lower their prices and offer special incentives.
4. Stay up to date with the latest deals and discounts. Sign up for newsletters from travel sites, airlines, home rental companies, chambers of commerce, travel magazines, online auction sites, etc. to make sure you hear about new deals as soon as they are announced. You don’t want to miss deals like JetBlue’s recent one-day sale where they offered tickets from San Francisco to New York for $14, or Last Minute Travel’s $1/night hotel rooms.
5. Auctions. If you don’t mind a bit of gambling, try auction sites to find great package deals. At Luxury Link, you can end up paying 50% or even up to a fifth of the cost for a luxury getaway with fabulous extras like massages, full staff and professional chefs. Some companies hold occasional auctions like Abercrombie & Kent’s limited “once in a lifetime trip” auction earlier this year (they currently have an ongoing one at their UK site).
6. Travel slightly off-season. You can save a lot by going just a little bit before or after the majority of people do. Try traveling mid-May to the end of June and the beginning of September to mid-December in the Caribbean, anywhere in Europe in the spring or fall, or to the larger cities, such as Paris, London or Madrid in August when the locals have fled the scene for some time at the beach. If you ski or at least don’t mind the cold, winter is a great time to find cheap flights to Europe. Stockholm is spectacular with a snow cover, and with the sun setting around 3 pm in December, candles are everywhere, giving the city a cozy, fairytale atmosphere.
7. Use Skype to call home for free. All you need is your laptop (or iPhone), a headset or USB phone, and an Internet connection. Download the free software, ask your friends and family to do the same and you’re ready to talk for free from anywhere in the world, even if the conversation goes on for hours. It’s only free when you call Skype to Skype though, so make sure everyone downloads the software.
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