How to Save money on Vacation

If you are wondering how to budget your travel and save some money on your vacations without being frugal minded, you are at the right place. Everyone normally pays a lot of attention on choosing the right air fare/hotel rates by comparing different travel sites hoping to get some good deals. But saving can be done when on vacations too and here are a few tips on how to save money on vacations.

Beginners Guide to saving money on Trips and Vacations

Check websites for deals

Normally the prices for tickets on websites of the venue are lot cheaper than buying them at the venue. Websites also list special deals/combo offers/Coupons/promo codes which are not usually offered at kiosks. You also save time by skipping the long lines for tickets.

Groupon and RetailMeNot have deals/coupons regularly on their sites with considerable savings for popular attractions. Also its good to subscribe to Twitter and Facebook feeds of the attractions you are planning to visit a few months earlier, to catch some good promos and offers which are provided on short term basis. 

Tourist Brochures/Flyers

Most of the hotel front-desks have a stand full of local attractions tourist brochures. These flyers have anywhere between 10 to 15% off on tickets and some really good combo deals.  

Membership Benefits 

Warehouse clubs like Costco, Sams Club and most of Banks and Insurers have partnerships with rental car agencies with which their members get exclusive discounts on rental car booking and other perks like waiver of additional driver fee. Explore your bank/credit unions membership benefits page to find out more about the deals and offers they have. 

Rental Car Insurance

You can skip paying Rental Car Insurance by doing either of the below, The only setback with both ways below is that in case of any damage to rental car, you will be expected to pay upfront and have to follow up with the Bank/Insurance provider for claims which can take up to three months. 

• Paying for the Rental car with a Credit Card. All Credit cards come with some sort of basic rental car coverage, Validate this by going through your card benefits or calling your bank. 
• Your regular auto insurance should cover rental cars too, Inquire this by calling your Auto Insurance provider. 

Book Hotels with Amenities

Spend a few minutes reading the amenities offered with your room by the hotel on the booking website and always book hotels with Free Breakfast, Parking & Wifi. If you have a choice, Opt for rooms with these amenities if you have to pay a little extra, as paying for them individually later will be a lot more. Remember parking in cities like SFO and New York is about 25+ dollars for the whole day.  

Some chain hotels offer free breakfast if you sign up for their free rewards program, signing up should not take more than few minutes and you can save a ton of money on breakfast for the whole family. If you end up booking a hotel with no breakfast, Skip eating in hotel restaurants as it is expensive. 

CityPass

If you are visiting a Metropolitan city like New York, Boston or Houston, take advantage of creating a custom travel package with a aggregator website like CityPass and save some real money. CityPass covers all well known attractions and you can skip some long lines too. 

Early Bird Offers

Some attractions price tickets lesser on non peak hours compared to peak hours. You get to enjoy the place  all by yourself without much crowds and chaos. Same case with peak and non peak seasons, try to plan you vacation in non peak seasons to save a ton of money on airfare and hotel prices.

MuseumsOnUs

 Museums On Us  is a wonderful initiative by Bank of America for their customers. If you have a Debit or a Credit Card with BOA, through this program you get one free entry to some of the reputed museums all over US for free on the first weekend of every month. With some of the Museums charging entry fees up-to 30 bucks, this is a very good deal to save some hard earned cash on vacation. 

Pack light

With low cost Carriers like Spirit, Frontier becoming mainstream, You will have to purchase your seats and baggage seperately. Why pay more for checked luggage when you can easily roll 10 days worth of clothes in a standard cabin baggage. Youtube has numerous videos showing how to pack light from which you can pick one or two skills and save some money on the way too.

The tips above are for saving money on vacation. Please check our other posts on how to save money while booking hotel or flight tickets. Happy Travelling.