Travel Tips: How to Save on your next vacation

Are you already planning a trip for next summer (I am!) I travel frequently but I don’t have a major, unlimited budget for travel (but that would be fun, wouldn’t it?) I previously spoke about how I’m seeing a lot of Southeast Asia while saving money here.  But how does one save money for a vacation from any location? Here are a few tips that will have you flying somewhere fun, while saving you money (which you can of course spend on vacation!):

One of my best travel deals was an airfare from NYC to Japan for about $500.  Seriously right?  It was a last minute deal from either American Airlines or United Airlines pre-bankruptcy days in 2005.  I was able to get vacation time for the next week and enjoyed a fabulous week in Tokyo and Osaka.  Most airlines have last minute deals so look around and sign up for deals in your area.  Track airfare through sites like Yapta that can track airfare changes.  If you are willing to plan ahead, research an area and check out the off peak times.You may also be able to negotiate a rate with the hotel or owner and even cash out an air travel reward if you are lucky!

1a. When you are planning, also research the best routes to get to  your destination – plane, train, etc.  Find the local and regional operators to get to your destination and compare prices.  See the section below on my favorite travel websites as well (Travelzoo has great last minute deals).

We took a last minute trip to Chiang Mai on a regional airline

2. Take part in, consolidate, and cash out travel rewards

I’ve had a Hilton Honors American Express card since I was 25 (I was traveling up to 100% then as a consultant and literally lived in hotels).  I’m not saying you should run out and immediately open up a new credit card account. But if you value travel and are good about paying your credit card in full, then why not direct your spendings towards a credit card that will earn you travel rewards?  I chose the Hilton Honors American Express card because I stayed at Hilton affiliated hotels and wanted to earn free hotel nights.  I am diligent about signing up for different travel loyalty programs and being aware if a hotel is part of a frequent traveler program.  I cashed out once for a 6 night stay in H’awaii and have enough points for a week in any Waldorf Astoria hotel!

Each major airline is also part of a frequent flyer alliance so choose to consolidate your flying in one alliance so that you can redeem rewards within that alliance (just remember to select only one airline when you choose to earn miles!)  Each airline also has tiers of status starting at 25,000 miles flown per year so you may get bonus miles and free upgrades for flying on an airline.

When you have accumulated points or miles through hotels, airlines and even third party programs (e.g. e-miles or MyPoints), cash out your reward and book the trip!

2a. Third party hotel booking sites like hotels.com and agoda.com offer points and rewards if you book hotels through their website.  The cool thing about this is that it enables you to choose from hotels in very different locations and across hotel loyalty programs.

We got a flash sale deal on our hotel in Phuket and even got an upgrade to a two bedroom suite!