Baby It's Cold Outside 2.17.11

So, I woke up this morning to snow. SNOW! Can you believe it? I live in Oregon and it’s halfway through February. So much for that groundhog predicting an early Spring, unless the weather does a 180 in the coming weeks. I’m ready to put away my boots, scarves and coats and break out the short sleeves. On my drive to work, seeing those big white flakes falling down, it got me thinking about how nice it would be if I were somewhere that was considerably warmer. It might have also been brought on by the toasty warmth of my car’s heater, but the point is, I’m ready for Winter to be over and I can bet that a lot of you are, too (unless you live in the Southern Hemisphere and your summer is coming to an end).

With Summer approaching and known for being the most expensive time to travel, you might instead look toward Spring travel. While you might have to pack a light jacket for early mornings or evening, the weather should still be perfect in a lot of destinations for the beach and other outdoor activities. It won’t be super hot, either, which can be optimal for those that love sunny weather, but hate the heat (like me!). It’s also a great time to go and save quite a lot on those locations that get a load of Summer foot traffic. Don’t be swept up in the crowds. Instead, take this less touristy time to enjoy your vacation and actually be able to relax. There’s nothing worse than getting away from the hoards of city people, just to go somewhere else where there are hoards of travelers.

Are you a Shereen Travels Cheap Subscriber yet? If not, please take a moment to do so by entering your email over on the right. (Please tell your friends where they can find me, too.)

Are you a social butterfly? If you belong to social networks like Facebook or Twitter, follow travel sites, like American Airlines, Hotwire and JetBlue. Often they will post exclusive savings or let their online friends know of them before they “officially” hit their main website. You can get special promo codes, travel news and great destination tips. Be ahead of the game by getting these posts and tweets sent right to your cell phone or set yourself up with a Nutshell Mail account, which will send you a customized-by-you newsletter with your social network posts and tweets as many times a day, week or month you’d like.  Social networking is only growing more popular, which means these kinds of travel sales are going to become more and more likely to pop up. Make sure you keep up, too.

Speaking of following your favorite sites on Facebook and Twitter, you can find Shereen Travels Cheap in both locations. Please join me for even more deals, suggestions, travel tips, etc.

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You’re all geared up to find some fantastic Spring hotel rates and airfare sales, now what? There are other ways to find deals than Facebook and Twitter.

First of all, sign up for those travel alerts. They are your best friend in travel (aside from your carry-on bag, good walking shoes and travel companion). It’s these that can get you out of the house and on your vacation! If you don’t care which airline you travel on, go ahead and sign up for email alerts for any airline that originates from your home airport…and don’t forget about the travel aggregators, like Hotwire, Orbitz, Travelocity, etc. If you have a certain destination in mind, plug that in and you’ll get the best deals they can find to that location. 

Look for airfare rates on Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday. New rates are published on these days and can result in a boatload of savings. A lot of people don’t take the time to research their vacations during the week, which is when the best sales come out. If you wait until Friday, it’s likely the best deals have been booked already. Saturday is a longshot, but every blue moon, if you check the deals bright and early; you’ll come across a big typo in the form of a rock-bottom price. If you do, snag it! It’s likely they will find their mistake quickly and change that price to something much higher. If you’ve already booked and paid, there’s nothing they can do about it besides congratulate you on a great find and welcome you aboard.

Try to avoid Spring Break week. Not only will most beach destinations be ultra-crowded (probably more so than any one day in Summer), but the prices will likely be very affordable, making it seem like a fantastic deal, which it is – to college students – but you’ll be kept awake all night by drunken partiers.

Want to take Shereen Travels Cheap everywhere you travel? You can! Join other subscribers on Amazon and read me on your Kindle? Don’t have a Kindle? That’s okay, too. Download the FREE Kindle Reading App for your web enabled device (i.e. iPhone, iPad, blackberry, android…) and get instant updates as soon as new posts are published. Easy!

Now, for some great deals that I found in my quest to bring you the best current warm-weather travel sales:

A cruise is one of the best ways to take advantage of warm weather, all-inclusive prices and amazing destinations. Save up to 75% off 3-7 day west coast originating cruises from Travelocity and top cruise lines. With exclusive discounts, upgrades and onboard credits, you can’t go wrong. There’s really something for everyone, but you have to book soon, since even the sale extension won’t last forever. Book by March 10.

American Airlines has you covered wherever you want to go in the world! With great everyday deals on national travel and then worldwide sales: a Latin American sale for flights to Central and South America, this deal covers quite a few destinations that have beaches and beautiful weather. Purchase your Latin American tickets by February 25th and fly from $200 each way to amazing destinations like Quito, Belize City and San Salvador between April 10th and July 10th. There is also a European fare sale that covers those wanting to fly farther. Fares as low as $212 each way to destinations like Madrid, Frankfurt and London. Purchase by March 3rd and travel by April 17th. (Remember, you won’t find AA fares on Expedia or Orbitz, so it’s always a good idea to check AA.com.)

Fly Air New Zealand round-trip to Polynesia and the Cook Islands from the super low price of $735 per person. Book by March 7th and travel between April 3rd and Nov 27th. If you love the quiet peace of the sand and ocean and want to get away from city life and high-rise buildings, this is the trip for you!

Watch a video of Larry the Travel Guy as he travels to the Cook Islands and snorkels in some of the most remote and interesting waters in the South Pacific. (video courtesy of Air New Zealand)

Visit tropical Panama City Beach, Florida and soak up some sun at a ridulously affordable rate. Stay at the 3-Diamond Boardwalk Beach Resort Central Condominiums from $79/night. It’s over 50% regular rates if you book by March 4^th. With a booking of 3+ nights, receive a $50 reward debit cards, two free welcome drinks, a dining card up to $150 in value and more.  Travel Spring thru early Fall. Save  triple on dining with your dining card, debit rewards card and kitchen facilities in every condo. Condos are located right on the beach, are family-friendly and have a restaurant and bar on-site. What more could you ask for?

This seems to be the month for travel giveaways and, since free travel is the ultimate budget-travel, you might as well enter and cross your fingers. Good luck!

Enter to win an incredibly romantic trip for two to Paris, and see this view in person! Good Luck!

Enter to win a 5-night trip to London for 2 with a stay in a 5-star hotel. This is an amazing once-in-a-lifetime trip. Enter before the end of March. Good luck!

Register to win one of the 21 vacations that American Airlines will be giving away over the next 3 weeks.

And, of course, don’t forget our Travelon/iGo giveaway on Facebook. We have reached our goal of 500 fans, but have extended the drawing until the end of February, so you have a little over a week to still join and get your friends to join Shereen Travels Cheap. It’s super easy, just click the “Like” button at the top of the page and you’re entered! Any friend you suggest who joins and wins will win YOU an iGo multi-charger just for referring them. The more friends you refer, the more chances you have to win. Don’t worry if you don’t win, though, since this will not be our last giveaway.

Don’t you wish you could take your GPS all over the world or that the world maps were better and didn’t cost a fortune? Now, Tom Tom has come out with the World Traveler GPS navigator that has built in world maps (not just U.S, Mexico and Canada) with lifetime map updates! You can use it everywhere Regular price is $299, so put it on your wish list!

This is the spot to look for new, cool stuff in the Shereen Travels Cheap world. In case you’ve missed the last couple of weeks, links to older guest posts have been moved to the sidebar on the right and there is also a nice list of links to my favorite sites that are super useful to travelers and money-savers. Makes it much easier to find what you may have read about in a previous blog post, but can’t quite remember the name. I hope this is more user-friendly for you.  

Next week, Ebates will be kicking off Travel Week and they asked me to help start it with a blog post on budget travel. Who am I to say “no” to such an attractive offer? Stay tuned for a link to my guest post and in the meantime, you can check out their other awesome money-saving suggestions on their blog.

THIS week, I was given the honor of working with Independent Traveler and sharing with their readers my tips on how to beat the a la carte fees that are now the norm when it comes to air travel. I’ve given my most handy tips on saving on baggage fees, airplane food and more! Independent Traveler is a super great resource for people who book all their travel on their own and can help you find excellent deals on all your trips.

If you have a travel or money-saving blog/website that you would like me to write a post for, I am always happy to do so. Contact me HERE with details.

Un-Belize-ably Affordable! 2.12.11

Can you believe it’s the middle of February already? Time is flying again by this year. You know what the means, don’t you? Precious travel minutes are ticking away.  I know most everyone is still recovering from the holidays, but if you’re looking ahead to vacation time already, that means planning is not far behind. In fact, in my last post, I gave you some great tips on saving on your Summer travel, which is very important when hotels and airfare can skyrocket and be double their normal prices. Don’t worry, though. If you start planning and booking now, you’ll still be able to take advantage of Winter and Spring rates before too many people start reserving their Summer journeys.

Today I’d like to start a new trend in talking about specific destinations that are travel- and budget-friendly, since there are many places that just aren’t on our radar when we think of vacationing. A reader has brought up Belize as one such destination and I totally agree that it should be on everyone’s “Must-Visit” list. The country is beautiful, affordable and depends heavily on tourism for their economy. In fact, one in seven people work in the tourism industry.

Are you a Shereen Travels Cheap Subscriber yet? If not, please take a moment to do so by entering your email over on the right. (Please tell your friends where they can find me, too.)

A majority of tourists only see one side of Belize, as they get off their cruise ship and shop in the port. I find new places fascinating and want to see as much of the country as I can. When we chose a cruise that docked in Belize City, I immediately went online to see what there was to do in the city and how we could make the most of our 9 hours on the mainland. It didn’t seem like we had much time, but we were able to find an amazing tour from a local business (http://belizecruiseexcursions.com) that was much more affordable than booking through the cruise company and also benefited the local economy, which is very important in developing nations like Belize. Our tour guide was awesome, since she was a native and knew the country inside and out. We took a tour through Belize City, where she pointed out historical buildings, explained about the economy, school and medical systems, racial populations and the history of the city. She asked us questions and answered every question we had, too. She then drove us to the Altun Ha ruins (one of the many ruins sites in the country), where she was our tour guide and a fountain of knowledge on the structures, the history, the people, the plants and daily life. We learned so much and had a great time. We were able to take our time wandering around the ruins and shops, had a provided lunch of delicious Belizean chicken and rice and had a whole different view of city on our way back through town.

Now, this was just one of the many tours that were offered. Belize has so much to choose from, including awesome diving and snorkeling off the Belize Barrier Reef (and other great diving spots), island hopping, tremendous fishing and boating opportunities, river rafting and kayaking, wildlife reserves, jungles, ziplining, cave tubing, rainforests, bird watching, hiking and more. There are so many things to do in Belize that it’s impossible to list them all, and with its compact geographical area, you’ll be able to reach things outside your “home base” within a couple hours, so you don’t have to waste your day just getting there.

Need some ideas on where to go on your Summer vacation or looking for more budget travel tips? Find me on Facebook and “like” Shereen Travels Cheap. Click HERE or on the bar at the top of this blog that says “join me”. We are super close to 500 page members and at the end February we'll be giving away two fantastic Travelon travel bags and if you referred one of the two winners, you’ll receive an iGo multi-charger! You don’t have to live in the U.S. to win, so please join and suggest Shereen Travels Cheap to all your Facebook friends, because the more friends you get to join, the more likely you will be to win one of our great travel prizes!

If you aren’t into outdoorsy activities, like those listed above, then consider these facts:

·    Lands are protected from deforestation and clear-cutting and for every tree lost, a new one must be planted elsewhere. All the lush greenery makes a wonderful backdrop for pictures.

·    Beautiful sandy beaches are everywhere along the coast for swimming and sunbathing.

·    The country has the lowest population per square mile in Central America, making it feel like you are the only tourist around at any point in time.

·    With both Latin and Caribbean influence, the food is spectacular and unlike dishes you will find elsewhere.

·    The Belizean people are welcoming and are eager to show you everything their country has to offer.

·    The bus system is easy to use, since for many residents it is their sole transportation. Gas is not cheap in Belize, so rent a car only if you have to.

·    There is a never-ending supply of handmade items, local wines, tropical fruit and fish you’ve never heard of.

·    In comparison to many other “touristy” countries, inexpensive shopping opportunities abound, so your dollar goes further.

With its tropical climate and landscape, you can totally pack shorts, short sleeves and a bathing suit for year-round visits. Spring does tend to get quite rainy, so plan your trip accordingly, or just do what we do and bring a rain jacket and continue to enjoy your vacation whenever you go.

Follow me on Twitter and get daily budget travel tweets that include travel tips, deals and travel news that you can use to travel more efficiently and affordably.

While in Belize, we encountered many Americans who packed up their lives and moved to Belize and we could see why from just our short visit. We don’t plan to move there anytime soon, but we immediately started to discuss a real vacation there in the near future and have told many of our friends since coming home how gorgeous the country is and how wonderful the people and culture was. And the cashew wine wasn’t bad either!

Other things to consider when planning a trip to Belize include the following:

• English is the official language, so you don’t need to learn a new language, brush up on your Spanish or feel totally out of your element there.
• You can use U.S. Dollars to shop here, as well as your major credit cards, without issue. Belize dollars and U.S. dollars have the same value.
• With the tropical climate, you’re going to encounter bugs. While we barely saw any, we did gather some bug bites. Protect yourself by bringing a good bug repellant. We had a nice one that smelled pretty good and kept the bugs away in Honduras, but then didn’t remember when we traveled in Belize.
• Affordable hotels are plentiful! In fact, AMAZING and convenient hotels can be booked for around $50 and high-end resorts for around $100/night. That’s totally unheard of in most vacation destinations. As is not having to pay to use the resort’s recreational equipment, like kayaks and canoes.

Want to take Shereen Travels Cheap everywhere you travel? You can! Join other subscribers on Amazon and read me on your Kindle? Don’t have a Kindle? That’s okay, too. Download the FREE Kindle Reading App for your web enabled device (i.e. iPhone, iPad, blackberry, android…) and get instant updates as soon as new posts are published. Easy!

With all the extras you’ll get with your accommodations and money saved on dining and shopping, you’ll be able to do so much more than you ever dreamed of in an incredible location with amazing people. For less than the cost of your average vacation, you can fly, stay, shop, eat and EXPERIENCE Belize and still come home with some money in your pocket.

When you return from your trip, you’ll feel like you did everything you could, helped boost the economy of Belize and had a once-in-a-lifetime vacation. Then, like me, you’ll tell all your friends and family what a great time you had and start planning to return.

For more information on tours, accommodations, attractions and Belize itself, check out TravelBelize.org. Start creating your own unique itinerary now!

Eric and I at Altun Ha

As you can see I've changed up my page a bit. Now you can find all my sites that I've written for on the sidebar to the right. You can click and go right to my article. I do ask that you take the time to check out the rest of the site while you're there, as they can be very useful for travelers and budgeters alike. There is now a list of my favorite links on the sidebar as well, and you can grab my button, too, if you would like to point others to my blog from your blog or website.

Soon, I will have a guest blog post on Independent Traveler, which is also a great resource for efficient and affordable travel. It should run on Wednesday, so I'll link you up when it's available. You might also be seeing me on the Minimus blog. Stay tuned for more info!

Do you have a travel site/blog that you’d like me to write a travel article for? Contact me here and give me details. I’d love to do it!

 

Taxation Representation 2.9.11

So, Tax Day is coming quickly. After you stop groaning, let’s talk about the plus side of tax season: Tax Refunds! Sure, you have to get all your paperwork together and either spend hours poring over those stupid forms that make hardly any sense or pay some nice person who has a degree and years of experience to do it for you. I choose the latter, as it takes very little of my time, energy and money and I get my refund much faster and there’s probably not going to be any mistakes, like there usually is when I do it, even with Turbo Tax for Dummies. One short meeting (or long, since I like my CPA and end up chatting) and a couple of signatures a few days later and I not only know what I should expect to get back, but when I should see it in my bank account, too! What do I do while I’m anxiously awaiting my new fortune? Make travel plans, of course!

            Are you a Shereen Travels Cheap Subscriber yet? If not, please take a moment to do so by entering your email over on the right. (Please tell your friends where they can find me, too.)

Tax refunds are like an unseen, and super easy, vacation savings fund. If you think about it, you pay taxes all year and you get all grouchy about it, but come tax time, you’ll be seeing it again! You didn’t actively have to set aside anything from each paycheck or do any work. It just shows up again as “free” money. Okay, we all know it was yours to begin with, but since you didn’t actually have access to it, you couldn’t spend it on other things (like shoes or new tires), but now that it’s in your hot little hands, you can spend it on something you want, like a vacation! Of course if you have pressing bills or house repairs, you should use it on those, but if you don’t, by all means, reward your hard work all year with a trip where you can relax and enjoy yourself. You deserve it.

Need other ideas how you can spend your tax rebate or looking for more budget travel tips? Find me on Facebook and “like” Shereen Travels Cheap. Click HERE or on the bar at the top of this blog that says “join me”. We are super close to 500 page members (so hurry to join) and then we’ll be giving away two fantastic Travelon travel bags and if you referred one of the two winners, you’ll receive an iGo multi-charger! You don’t have to live in the U.S. to win, so please join and suggest Shereen Travels Cheap to all your Facebook friends, because the more friends you get to join, the more likely you will be to win one of our great travel prizes!

I usually show you how to make your money stretch further, so let me also show you some great ways to spend your tax dollars and also get the most out of them:

Want someone to take care of everything for you? Why not check out a cruise or an all-inclusive resort? There are many Caribbean sales going on right now. If the sun and surf are calling you, you certainly have time to take advantage of what’s out there. Leave your wallet in your room be completely catered to on a cruise ship or do your own more-active thing in a resort setting.

CheapCaribbean has weekly all-inclusive sales that are super affordable and highly rated. They are all beachfront and offer great amenities and you can purchase as an entire package, so you get airfare and hotel (which includes meals, drinks and most entertainment) all in one place for a low price.

5-7 night cruises are on sale with Carnival Cruiselines from $239 per person. Book early (3-5 months out) and save 20% off. If you’re a past cruiser, you can also get upgrades, discounts, onboard credits and more!

Cruise on a brand new ship and get deep discounts! And I mean DEEP. $379 per person for a 7-night Mexican Riviera cruise just so you can test out the ship and all it has to offer. Expect some kinks, but otherwise it should be smooth (and highly affordable) sailing.

Follow me on Twitter and get daily budget travel tweets that include travel tips, deals and travel news that you can use to travel more efficiently and affordably.

Hotels.com would like to save you 30% off regular rates if you make a Valentine’s reservation at any of their participating hotels worldwide before February 15 and stay by February 21. 

If that is too soon for you, there is also a Mardi Gras sale with 30% off hotel rates into March. 

Say Aloha to Winter and hello to warm weather and pristine beaches with Travelocity and Marriott’s Hawaii sale. Save up to 50% off hotels and package deals, starting at less than $750 per person with 4-nights accommodation and round-trip airfare. This is a limited time deal, so book quickly. 

Looking to fly out of the country? There are some amazing deals right now, like the fare sale at Lufthansa where you can fly to Europe in March and April starting at less than $200 each way.  This is a great deal and let’s you miss a lot of tourist times and hot or cold weather, barring some freak snowstorm or volcano eruption.  This sale is good through February 15th, so book as soon as you can.

Exchange rates can be confusing. They change everyday and can end up being the difference between a few cents and a few dollars depending on when you change your money. If you can’t ever figure out how much something is in your own currency, having an exchange rate calculator is very important, because it can keep you from overspending. As much as I like the idea that foreign money isn’t real money, I don’t have the luxury to spend whatever I want and then face the consequences when I get home…and if I did, it would probably mean a month or two without heat, cable, phones and water. Those things are kind of important to normal people and since I don’t live in a tent in the wilderness, they are imperative for me to live. (Okay, not so much with the cable, but I’d rather not have to skip my weekly dose of Californication and How I Met Your Mother.) Here are a few websites that show up-to-the-minute exchange rates and also some that can be downloaded as an app to your smartphone, so you can figure out how many Krona are in a Euro and how many Pesos they turn out to be when you travel between countries.

·        www.exchangerate.com

·        www.oand.com  Not only do they offer updated exchange rates 24/7, they have a great (and free!) iPhone app that you can take with you everywhere. Discreetly convert any two currencies, so you always know what you’re paying. If you’re using your credit card, you even see the credit card rate of exchange that will be added to your purchase!

·        Worldmate.com offers a free currency converter app for your Blackberry.

·        Convert over 50 currencies with this free Android app.

Want to take Shereen Travels Cheap everywhere you travel? You can! Join other subscribers on Amazon and read me on your Kindle? Don’t have a Kindle? That’s okay, too. Download the FREE Kindle Reading App for your web enabled device (i.e. iPhone, iPad, blackberry, android…) and get instant updates as soon as new posts are published. Easy!

Use FareCompare’s Fare Map for finding the best time to travel anywhere around the world.

Not sure where you want to go, but looking for some ideas? Dohop Away can give you the latest airfare deals from your home airport.

In the coming weeks I’d like to answer some reader questions on budget travel, or just travel in general, as I find that there are many people out there that have similar questions and this could be helpful to a lot of you. If you have a question, please feel free to leave a comment below and I will work on getting them answered in the following blog posts. And, of course, you can always post questions on my Facebook page, which will be answered as quickly as possible.

As you can see I've changed up my page a bit. Now you can find all my sites that I've written for on the sidebar to the right. You can click and go right to my article. I do ask that you take the time to check out the rest of the site while you're there, as they can be very useful for travelers and budgeters alike. There is now a list of my favorite links on the sidebar as well, and you can grab my button, too, if you would like to point others to my blog from your blog or website.

Soon, I will have a guest blog post on Independent Traveler, which is also a great resource for efficient and affordable travel. You might also be seeing me on the Minimus blog. Stay tuned for more info!

Do you have a travel site/blog that you’d like me to write a travel article for? Contact me here and give me details. I’d love to do it!