I’m writing a story for FOF on money-saving online travel tools and sites. For example, I am subscribed to the TravelZoo.com newsletter and use Kayak.com’s flexible date tool. What are your best tips?
I’m writing a story for FOF on money-saving online travel tools and sites. For example, I am subscribed to the TravelZoo.com newsletter and use Kayak.com’s flexible date tool. What are your best tips?
0 Answers
Sara Wald wrote on :
Thanks to everyone who helped out with my story! Here is the link: http://faboverfifty.com/wstyleblog.php/?p=16396
Jane NC wrote on :
Since one of your major expenses is housing, I’m going to try a house exchange this year. Homeexchange.com has some incredible homes listed!That also helps with the food costs, since you have a kitchen & usually more than just 2 people can stay. It would be great for families, but I think the best part would be getting to know the people in an area like a resident does. I haven’t tried then but airbnb.com & couchsurfing.com also look intriging, slough it would probably take a more adventurous type of person to do some of that. But I admit it could be fun too!
ACeeKayWa wrote on :
When I need a hotel in another country – for fun, let’s say the UK – I first do the usual lookups on Kayak, Travelocity, etc. Then when I find something promising, I find the “in-country” site for the particular hotel chain and check it. We have saved a bundle by not booking a European hotel via a US site. For instance, a few years ago when the US dollar was one-half the value of the British pound, we saved exactly half the nightly rate just by logging into the UK hotel site.
Sara Wald wrote on :
Great tip. Do you happen to remember the name, location and price of the hotel you got that deal for? Exactly how much did you save by using the UK site vs the US site?
ACeeKayWa wrote on :
I think it was the Travelodge chain and the location was near Kinross in Scotland. It was a few years ago, but it seems like the price on the US website was about 50 pounds per night and the price on the UK website was 25 pounds per night. We were looking for something clean, basic and centrally located. 50 pounds (about $100 at the time) was not bad, but 25 pounds ($50) was insane!
Sara Wald wrote on :
Thanks so much!
lucy@whereonearthtravel.com wrote on :
I love getting updates from the airlines I use a lot-Virgin America, Southwest Airlines, and also Alaska Airlines. They feature last minutes sales up and down the West Coast (where I am located) and are really helpful. Sign up for airline newsletters in areas where you travel a lot-for example, American out of Atlanta, US Airways out of Pennsylvania, and United out of Chicago. I check the back page of the travel section of the Los Angeles and New York Times weekly to see what the lowest fares are and which carriers are offering discounts.
Sara Wald wrote on :
Any great deal you snagged using these methods? Would love to hear some specifics. Thanks so much Lucy.
lucy@whereonearthtravel.com wrote on :
I have gotten great deals on US Airways business class to Europe from LAX through Pennsylvania. Fun! And a great resolution to over priced business class fares…………….
Sara Wald wrote on :
Oh fabulous Lucy. Are you from Pennsylvania? Or you found the fare by subscribing to the US Airways Pennsylvania newsletter?
May I ask how much the flight was and to where in Europe you flew?
Wendy VanHatten wrote on :
There are many great sites (hipmunk is one in addition to those listed) and they can get confusing if you are looking at all of them. Pick two or three, set your perimeters, sign up for alerts, and then look directly at the airline or hotel site. I have called hotels directly (not the 800 #) and asked if they have any better deals than listed online. Often they do.
If you have an idea of what you want to pay and find a ticket for that price, book it.
Be sure to check exact flight times, days, etc. when comparing. You want to compare apples to apples.
Sara Wald wrote on :
Calling the hotel directly — simple, but most people forget to do it. Can you tell me about a great specific hotel rate that you got when you called a hotel and asked them for a better deal than listed online?
jkbartist wrote on :
Another travel tip website is gogobot.com
Sara Wald wrote on :
Hi there — what do you like about gogobot?
jkbartist wrote on :
I just used it to plan a girls trip to New York City. You get advice and it does the searching. It’s best for restaurants. Trip Advisor is good you ask other travelers and I’ve found wonderful guides and drivers through TA. I also use Cruisecritic.com and avidcruiser.com. They both give great tips for a quick day touring a port city.
Sara Wald wrote on :
Thanks so much. Are these deal sites? Any specific deal you received from these sites you want to share?
sandra@luxurygiftsfromitaly.com wrote on :
Try farecaster.com, it gives information on current and future airfare pricing. Always check on airlines website, they sometimes have better deals.
Also tripadvisor is valuable for tips on all aspects of travel.
Sara Wald wrote on :
Great tip Sandra. Can you explain a little more about how FareCaster works?
sandra@luxurygiftsfromitaly.com wrote on :
So sorry, I was thinking of Farecompare.com; it gives you email alerts when prices go down, up to 6 hours before. Since fares are always changing depending on availability, you can get some really good last minute deals.
Sara Wald wrote on :
Thanks Sandra — Can you recall a specific deal or rate you got when you used Farecompare.com (i.e. You got a price alert for $77 dollar flights from NYC to West Palm Beach last month)
zipporahs wrote on :
Check blogs like ChampagneLiving.net, SmarterTravel.com, etc. I also look at bidding4travel.com to see what the going bids on Priceline are.
Sara Wald wrote on :
Wow thanks. Love the idea of bidding4travel!
Sara Wald wrote on :
Zipporahs- can you tell me about a specific travel deal you snagged from this site (i.e. “When I used bidding4travel I learned the going bid on Priceline for a three-star NYC hotel in August was $99/night, quite a price difference from what I was going to bid ($129/night)”
zipporahs wrote on :
Absolutely. I’m a travel writer and use the site quite often. For example. I’ve stayed in Providence, RI at the Renaissance twice using info that I learned from Bidding4Travel. The best rate via the hotel’s website: $209 per night, Priceline: $149 and after using Bidding4Travel I named my own price and paid $45 per night for the room.
jacquie whitt wrote on :
I book international trips for small groups, so I set up airfare “alerts” on farecompare/tripadvisor/kayak and when the price drops, I buy our tickets. It’s tricky, because you have to be ready.
For personal travel, my husband and I use our good credit ratings to get credit cards with sign-up bonuses. I’ve accumulated 165,000 FF miles in the last 6 months. My husband actually takes the time to make “mileage runs” and will fly to Hong Kong & back for 3 days when the airfare is the lowest, to take advantage of bonus mileage awards.
We read the travel blog of “Million Mile Secrets” which offers amazing tips on how to get cheap/free flights/hotels around the world.
Sara Wald wrote on :
Jacquie — I’m intrigued! Can you tell me about any specific deals you received using a credit card bonus, Million Mile Secrets or by setting up airfare alerts? (i.e. You set up a price alert for flights to Hawaii in August and the price dropped to $63/pp each way. Or, when you signed up for an AmEx you got 10,000 points which in turn paid for a flight to Aspen, etc.)
jacquie whitt wrote on :
Hi Sara,
I set up a deal alert to Lima, Peru about 1 month ago. The price has dropped from over $1000 pp to about $800 pp and today I will book airfare for 10 people.
Instead of booking us all the way to Cusco, Peru, it is cheaper to use the domestic airlines. I book the international flight to Lima, then book the domestic flight from Lima to Cusco.
I got 150,000 miles for signing up for 2 Citibank CC cards. The trick is to apply using two different browsers. Those offers are over now. The best one now is Chase Sapphire which offers 50,000 miles as sign-up bonus. Word of caution with getting CC. We use our CC for normal expenses and do not “splurge.” The CC companies all have a minimum spend, which varies from card to card, but we pay off the balance every month and only use the card for groceries, gas & routine payments. We benefit from managing our finances responsibly.
Sara Wald wrote on :
What great tips — thank you so much!
Alexis Marnel wrote on :
believe it or not..when i am in a bind I contact v my local AAA travel – they research for you, get you the best packages and deals and the discounts are incredible. also for airfare deals, I find it best to go directly to the airlien websites. Delta.com often has great hotel/airline packages. I alos subsecirbe to Fairmont Hotels because every month they have GREAT rates/great dates deals.
Sara Wald wrote on :
Thanks so much. Do you recall any specific deals you got from Fairmont or AAA so I can include in my story? (i.e. a 3-night stay at the Fairmont Boston for $63 a night, etc.)
Alexis Marnel wrote on :
Iam a fairmont club member – the best deal I ever got was 5 night stay in a junior suite at the their Farimont Willow Stream Spa and resort in Phoenix for 99.00 dollars a night and that included breakfast. The hugest bathroom you have ever seen witha jacuzzi tub, dressing room, and a walk in shower wtih seating. AMAZING! If you are member of Fairmont club you get a monthly deal email that gives amazing prices on trips. They also are very accomodating and will often give free upgrades. when I was in SEattle, I had a horrible fall and they sent out a concierge to get me bandages, etc and did not charge me and gave me a night free! AAA I use when I take my god daughters to Disney World. they have a deal with disney so they get the best rates on packages. two years ago we stayed for 7 days and for $4000.00 it included hotel, ALL meals, 2 snackes per person per day adn of course park admission and airfare.