Tips to Save Money on Travel

"Getting money is like digging with a needle;
spending it is like water soaking into sand."

Japanese Proverb

Budget Travel Tips

American Automobile Association and Entertainment Book Discounts

Nines times out of ten, I've found better deals on hotel rooms and rental cars with the AAA rates over other discount programs. With AAA, they also have travel books by state that are available at no extra cost to members. The books have ratings most of the hotels in any given area, so you can call ahead and compare rates versus ratings to see where you can get the best deal for your money.

When making plane reservations, book ahead as early as possible. Airlines like to be able to schedule flights as far in advance as they can, so as an incentive to book early they offer cheaper fares. With some exceptions for last minute bargains, seat prices generally go up as the departure day gets closer.

You can also get some great deals on hotels with Entertainment Books. Several years ago, we stayed at a very nice hotel on Maui for two weeks, for half the price of the normal room rate with our Entertainment discount. We paid $120 a night for two week for a room that normally would have been $240. So for the price of a $35 Entertainment book, we saved $1,680 off our hotel room.

Shop Around: Get Prices by Phone and from the Web and Compare

As with other purchases, in travel it always pays to shop around. For a recent trip to Lake Tahoe, I checked to rates online for several 4 star hotels. Then I called on the phone to see what rates they were giving out to phone callers. In one case the rates given to me by phone were $190 less for three nights than the rates posted on the hotel's web site. Interestingly, the rates were also less expensive at the four star luxury hotel than they were for many of the two and three star hotel in the same area with less amenities.

Be careful when you use online travel booking services for hotel reservations. Some charge the full amount of the cost of your stay as soon as you book the room. Personally, I don't care for this tactic and refuse to use these types of services unless it for a really exceptional savings amount.

It's a good idea to check the cancellation policies for hotels ahead of time to. Sometimes you can get great rates over the Internet, but check to see if you charge card is billed for the full amount of your stay in advance and what the cancellation policy is. You can lose a lot of money on a "great deal" if you have to pay for the full amount of the stay upon booking and you have to give 30 days cancellation notice. If you have kids, one ear infection is all it takes for you have to cancel your trip and perhaps forfeit your entire hotel payment.

I've found that the larger hotel chains usually have the most favorable guest cancellation policies, followed by smaller hotels and resorts. Private condo and home rentals usually have most restrictive policies. Even in popular vacation places during the busy season, I try to look for no more than a three day cancellation policy. Then if I do have to cancel I am only forfeiting one night's stay, and not the entire stay.

Before you start your trip, check the Chamber of Commerce web site and any other travel sites for your destination city. Sometimes you can find coupons or special passes to buy ahead of time. For example, tourists headed to San Francisco can buy City Passes, which as of this writing would get you over half of a number of the city's major tourist attractions.

For vacation package deals, I've found the best rates through Expedia and Costco. The difference in price for a trip for four to Hawaii, including air fare, hotel and a rental car, varied by almost $2,000 between the least expensive travel sites and the most expensive one. For a major purchase like a vacation with air fare, it really pays to call around to a lot of places and compare quotes. One extra phone call could literally be thousands less than your first package deal quote.

It is interesting to note that sometimes package deals can be as cheap as airfare alone, especially if you are not booking very far in advance. For our last trip to Hawaii, the package price for air, hotel and rental car from Costco was the same as the best price I could find online for air travel alone.