Follow These Simple Rules for a Ticket to Adventure on a Budget 
Have you been putting off taking a vacation because you think you can’t afford it? Frustrated with advertised specials touting super low priced deals, only to discover much higher prices apply to the airport near you or that there are tons of restrictions in the fine print? Tired of those travel comparison sites with their multiple pop-up windows? How about creating your own travel deal on your own terms? There are hundreds of hidden, unadvertised travel deals, accessible every day, just waiting to be discovered! I’m going to share the techniques, using real examples, that will help you unearth them!
For the purposes of this post, I will be using the website LowFareKing.com. I can’t guarantee that all of these techniques will work with your favorite travel website, but I know they work on LowFareKing. So let’s get started!
Travel Where the Dollar is Strong
The first thing you should do to secure a good deal, is to travel to places where your dollar will buy you more. These are usually countries where the US dollar is strong against the local currency and runaway inflation is non-existent. I will create focused entries on many of these destinations in the future, but for now I’ll give you a list of some places to consider along with their respective exchange rates against the US dollar as of March 2010.
Here’s is how much of the local currency $1 USD will buy in:
Argentina: 3.86 Argentine Pesos
Canada: 1.02 Canadian Dollars
Costa Rica: 528.33 Costa Rican Colons
Czech Republic: 18.69 Czech Korunas
Dominican Republic: 36.29 Dominican Pesos
Honduras: 15.54 Honduran Lempira
Hong Kong: 7.76 Hong Kong Dollars
Indonesia: 9191.18 Indonesian Rupiahs
Mexico: 12.55 Mexican Pesos
Morocco: 8.12 Moroccan Dirhams
Panama: .9822 Panamanian Balboas
Philippines: 45.61 Philippine Pesos
Thailand: 32.43 Thai Bahts
Turkey: 1526550 Turkish Liras
Vietnam: 18603 Vietnamese Dongs
Tango Dancers on Caminito Avenue, La Boca District, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Photographic Print
Westmoreland,…
Buy at AllPosters.com
Pretty cool right? Note that even though some of the exchange rates are almost 1 for 1 (such as with Canada and Panama), there are still pretty sweet affordable deals for those destinations. One thing you’ll notice if you’re looking for cheap hotels on LowFareKing, is that sometimes it will show prices in the local currency. This is absolutely no problem because there’s a handy currency converter on the site, which you can keep open. The currency converter is located under “Travel Tools” which is on the blue banner near the top of any page on the site. Speaking of that banner; there’s something else located there which will help you get a good deal. Clicking on “Vacation Packages” brings me to my next cheap travel tip:
Book a Package
If you’re going to fly there, and you’re not going to stay with friends or relatives, then a package deal will most likely make the most economical sense. Let’s look at some examples.
Starting on the home page, click on “Vacation Packages” located on the blue banner and fill in the required fields. Hit “search” and a list of travel packages from which to choose will come up. On March 23rd 2010, I could book a 9 night vacation package for one, leaving on May 14 and returning May 23rd, from Orlando to Panama City, Panama for $822. My stay will be at the Las Olas Beach Resort, in a non-smoking ocean front room with a standard king-sized bed. The resort is located about a 45 minute plane ride from the Panama City airport, so I’ll have to book a round trip flight on Air Panama for $160, or I can book a 9 day intermediate sized car rental for $127. If I go with the extra flight on Air Panama, my total will be $982.
Coconut Palm Trees on Key in San Blas Islands, Panama
Photographic Print
Maiquez, Alfredo
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I need to take a small detour here to emphasize the importance of actually reading what is on the screen in front of you as opposed to just skimming it over. It will save you a world of heartache. I can’t tell you how frustrating it is to read negative reviews where people complain about one thing or the other, when they would have been saved a lot of trouble if they had just read all of the disclosures before booking. In my Panama example on LowFareKing, once I choose the Las Olas Beach Resort, it is clearly stated in a yellow box labeled “Some important information about your hotel” that the hotel is located in David City which will require a separate flight from Panama City. That’s why I suggest sticking with one website that you have found to have consistently low prices: it’s just too easy to get confused and to miss important information when you’re performing your search at ten different travel sites.
Okay. Back to Panama. Let’s see how much this vacation would cost if I booked separately. The cheapest flight is $318 and the hotel will cost me $60/night for a total of $610. When I add in the round trip flight between Panama City and David City for $160, the grand total comes to which includes taxes, making the grand total is $1088. So by booking a package, I’ve saved myself a little more than $100. What can an extra $100 do for me? Buy me some Panama attractions of course! It can buy me a four hour canal tour ($105), a three hour dinner and show ($60), or a three hour cultural heritage tour ($40).
Traveling to Panama for less than $110/night inclusive of air & and hotel is obviously a good deal, but can it get any better? I’m glad you asked, because you’ve lead us to my next budget saver:
Grab a Friend (or 2 or 3 or…) to Save on Costs
Of course you want to make sure the someone (or someones) is company you can live with for the duration of your trip, cause it would be a bummer to end up in a foreign prison cell 
All jokes aside though, traveling with company has its benefits. Besides saving on costs, you’ll have your pals to share activities and memories with, and of course there’s greater safety in numbers.
So let’s see what our Panama trip will cost with one buddy added in. Wow! The cost per person is now $554! Add in a $160 flight, and I’m up to $714. That will get me an ocean front non-smoking room with two queen sized beds, and I am loving it!
Can I get the price to be even lower? It’s worth a try. Let’s..
Try Different Departing and Arriving Airport
Since I live an equal distance between Orlando and Tampa I might as well see if the deal gets any better leaving from Tampa. A quick search shows the price remaining the same, but travel time increasing by an hour on the way down. A check to Panama’s other airport in Changuinola (CHX) from both Tampa and Orlando showed no packages available. So no luck this time, but it’s always worth a shot.
I believe I’ve squeezed out as much as I can for my Panama trip example, but this doesn’t mean I’m out of savings techniques. Let’s move right along to the next one, which is to—
Take Advantage of Deals When the Economy is Bad
Currently (2010) the global economy is in a slump, so there are deals all around. But it’s not always this way. Sometimes the economy where you live may be great, but there’s somewhere else in the country or the world that’s hurting, and can use an injection of fresh tourist dollars into it’s economy. Be on the lookout for such places.
Currently, in the US, there’s probably no better an example of a popular, highly desired destination that has suffered more than Las Vegas. A confluence of unfortunate factors (a more horrendous than average housing market, the public backlash against lavish business conventions by publicly held companies, a flurry of new hotel rooms flooding an already saturated market, and a general drop of in tourism) created the perfect storm which has caused Las Vegas’ hotel rates to fall through the floor. Bad for Las Vegas hotels, but great for you!
One thing you should know about Vegas is that it has really evolved to be a premier destination outside of gaming. In other words, if gambling is not your thing, you can find lots of other Las Vegas attractions (dining, live shows, day trips to nearby Red Rock Canyon or Lake Mead, shopping, spa trips, etc.) to occupy your time. And the value, especially for higher end hotels cannot be overstated. The downward pressure on hotel prices has been so great, that there really is no reason to stay in some grungy, flea-bag hotel. None at all. So using the techniques we have learned so far, let’s see just how good of a deal we can find!
Starting at LowFareKing.com’s homepage, click on “vacation packages” in the top banner. The rest is pretty much self explanatory. I’m choosing (on March 26th) to leave from Orlando on May 14 and return on May 17. I’ve changed the default number of adults from 2 to 1, and default number of airline stops to “0″ for a direct flight. Let’s hit the “Search” button below and see what pops up! Now I have a list of lots of options, but the default presentation is to sort them by Low Fare King’s picks. I’m going to change that by sorting the list by price (you can also sort by star rating, or alphabetically by hotel name). The cheapest thing that comes up is a package at the Palace Station Hotel and Casino, which has a decent rating for $330. When I click on that hotel, I see that there is a $14.99/night for wireless, airport shuttle, use of the workout room, yada, yada. So that makes my cost closer to $375. Not bad, but let’s see if I can do better.
How about if I leave from Tampa? I’ve clicked on “back to search results” under “Hotel Details” and now I’ve clicked on “change search” which is just above my flight details for this trip. I type “tampa” into the “from” box and hit search again. The Palace Station hotel is now $435, so I will abandon the idea of leaving from Tampa and I switch back to leaving from Orlando. What if a friend comes along? The price now drops to $279/pp (per person). And what of those high end hotels? By sorting the list by star ratings I come up with deals beginning as low as $317/pp for the four star Las Vegas Hilton to and $438/pp for the five star Venetian.
Other inexpensive destinations include Orlando, FL, Gatlinburg,TN, Vancouver, Canada, and San Diego, CA.
Book Early
I know you’ve heard this one before. It’s generally best to plan and book your trip as early as possible. A good example is my Las Vegas two person package deal at the Palace Station Hotel and Casino. On March 26th, the price is $279/pp. By March 28th, it costs $324. As you can see that’s a fair amount of upwards price creep (16%), and that’s with me booking almost seven weeks in advance.
One thing that can be a bummer about Vegas is the non-stop flight situation. Depending on what airport you’re leaving from, it may be the case that you will have to change planes either on the flight back in or going in and out. What may be a 2 hour flight going, can turn into an 11 hour flight coming back (hint airlines: maybe if you fixed this you’d get a lot more business? Just a thought). However, if you can get to the following airports you’re in luck, because the airlines run nonstop round trips to Vegas out of them: Chicago (ORD), Denver (DEN), Los Angeles (LAX), San Francisco (SFO), Phoenix (PHX), Houston (IAH), Salt Lake City (SLC) & Cleveland (CLE). There may be others, but these are the top feeder markets.
If you happen to find yourself needing to make vacation plans on short notice (4 weeks or less in advance) check out LowFareKing’s last minute deals. You can oftentimes find deals, including stays at discount hotels that cost less or not much more than the flight alone. This is especially true between offbeat destinations such as Detroit to Jackson, MS, etc., and for stays for seven days or less.
Get Easy Discounts on Your Meals in Advance
The basics that you need don’t change just because you are traveling. Unless you’re a nudist, your basic needs are food, shelter and clothing. For most travelers though, food is something that is only vaguely budgeted for. If you want to save yourself some money, you’ll take some time to bring this portion of your budget under control. I like to buy discount cards from Restaurant.com. The way it works is you buy a discount card for a specific restaurant in the United States which entitles you to say, $25 off a meal. The $25 is purchased at a discount price of $10 for example. Restaurant.com’s site allows you to search for restaurants by state, city, or zip code, and even allows you to focus in on a certain area/neighborhood in your selected city. After that, there are a myriad of ways you can search for your ideal restaurant such as based on cuisine, attire, atmosphere, price, available parking, etc. The site also lists menus online as well as photos of the restaurant, hours of operations, types of payment accepted, plus lots of other helpful information. You can make your reservations online and they have over 13,000 restaurants in their database, so finding a restaurant you like won’t be a problem at all.
You can use Restaurant.com to help control your budget by planning out all of your meals in advance, or maybe you’d like to control about half of your dining budget and just be adventurous on the rest. You could also use Restaurant.com to plan that very special night out to a high end restaurant that would have been otherwise unaffordable. Anyway you slice it, using Restaurant.com is an affordable way to enjoy dining discounts while you’re on the road or even in your home city.
Speaking of restaurants is making me hungry, and that reminds me to my next money saving topic…
Mmmm….Cookies (and Browsers
Have you ever finally settled on a vacation package after much research on a travel site only to have the deal disappear just as you were ready to book it? This may have happened after you clicked on your browser’s back button, or when performing the same search after being away from you computer for example. Although vacation package pricing is constantly changing–just as airfares continually change–if you feel the deal you just unearthed has just slipped away never to return again, don’t panic. There’s a way to find out if that deal has really run it’s course, or if the cookie monster’s just trying to throw you off.
Should you find yourself in the above described situation whilst trying to book a vacation package or secure a cheap hotel, simply try one or more of the following:
1. Clear the cookies in your browser and try your search again.
2. Minimize your browser, open up a new browser, and try your search again.
3. Try using a completely new browser. So for example, if you’re working in Firefox, try minimizing it and running your search in Internet Explorer, or Safari, etc.
4. If you have more than one computer, try your search on another computer.
Another tip: if you’re wanting to compare deals, do not open new tabs within a single browser. You’ll need to open completely new browser windows. Yes, it kind of sucks, but you’ll be happy when you’re able to press on and score a deal that someone else would not have found on account of not using the work-around.
So that’s it. If none of the methods succeed in getting your deal back, it’s no longer being offered. Which brings me to this: once you find a deal that you like and want, for goodness sakes, grab it!
Ditch the Flight and Rental Car When You Can
If you’re traveling to a destination with an excellent public transportation system such as New York City, Chicago, Toronto, etc. you may just want to save yourself some money and aggravation and use the available public transportation system. I mean, do you really want to pay good money for a rental car only to drive into Manhattan to find yourself then driving around a block umpteen times in search of a non-existent parking space? Or risk a ticket because you didn’t make it back on time to feed the meter? How about paying $35 or more per hour for a spot in a garage? Take it from me, if you can avoid driving in an over-crowded, high-priced city you’ll enjoy your visit so much more. Just grab a bus or subway map and follow the crowds. It’s possible you’ll get lost for a minute, but with all of the entertaining activity going on around you, you probably won’t even notice, you’re lost.
If you can drive to your destination in less or around the same time it takes to fly there, consider saving some money by taking a road trip. If you’re taking your own car, make sure having the car will be an asset rather than a burden when you get to your destination. When making hotel reservations, make sure there won’t be an extra daily charge for you to park your car at the hotel (this will be clearly stated as you read the details of the hotel you’re interested in). If you want to drive to destination where a car isn’t necessary once you get there, consider a budget car rental which you’ll drop off once you arrive. The best places for drop-offs are at the airport, because then you can usually catch a free shuttle to your hotel or just hop on public transportation. Just make sure you factor in your transportation needs when you’re making your hotel reservation.
So there you have it. My tips for finding an affordable vacation regardless of whether or not a sale or special is being offered. The key thing to do is to get really familiar with one travel site and really work that site. The person who is willing to invest some time and dig a little deeper will be the person who is rewarded with the best finds. If you are the sort of person who’ll get impatient and give up after 5 or 10 minutes on the computer, then the techniques I outlined probably aren’t for you. However, if you’re willing to fix yourself your favorite beverage and invest a couple of hours in the process (especially if you aren’t exactly sure where you want to go), your patience will be rewarded. And honestly, it can be lots of fun brainstorming and strategizing your next vacation, especially if you’re starting with a blank slate and you’re flexible. It can really be a mini adventure all by itself! 
And now I’d like to invite you to take the first step in creating your own travel adventure! Just make yourself comfortable and click here. Good luck!
