Go Dté Tú Slán to Ireland

I’ve been reading some of the great comments you’ve been posting on the book launch party on Facebook – which is still open until the end of the day if you want to join and enter to win a book copy – and I love the destinations readers are coming up with. Since I always want to show people how they can reach their travel goals, I have chosen Dublin to write about today. Those words in the title of this post are actually Gaelic for "May you go safely". Many people I’ve talked to have the desire to vacation in Ireland, and with it being so affordable to travel to, I’m surprised more people haven’t gone yet. Check out these ways to save getting there and sightseeing.

Get yourself a Dublin Pass. As always, I am recommending the city pass for those visiting Dublin. Not only is it a great deal if you plan to do a fair amount of sightseeing on the Emerald Isle, but it also it lets you skip the queues at the ticket booths. Your Dublin pass comes with an airport-city center transfer, entrance to over 30 top attractions, the Croke Park Experience (for those of you who are sports lovers), discounts on dining, shopping, etc. and even unlimited public transportation! Purchase online before you go to save 20% off. Your Dublin pass is valid for 12 months from purchase and “activates” upon your first use.

My Goodness My Guinness! Do you love Guinness like I do? How would you like a FREE pint? If you’re in Ireland, take a walk through the Guinness Factory and see how it’s made, enjoy a free pint at the end of your tour and take in all of Dublin from the 360 degree view in the Gravity Bar on top of the factory. Before you leave, make sure to stop into the visitor centre and museum to view old adverts and pick up some souvenirs. Here’s a good tip: purchase your entry ticket(s) online to bypass long queues and get 10% off (the not-so-cheap admission price of 14 Euros) or use a Dublin Pass that includes admission.

Do you prefer Jameson whiskey? You can take a distillery tour of their factory as well! Again, your tour ends with a good size “sample”. You can volunteer to do a taste-test, and if you are chosen it includes 3 Irish whiskeys, a Scotch whiskey and an American Whiskey and then a fancy diploma saying you took the taste test. Take a trip through the gift shop and buy a nice bottle for the rest of your trip or send some home for you, family or friends. The tour lasts about an hour and the distillery is open 7 days a week, but you can make reservations online and save 15% off the admission price of 13.5 Euros.

It might take a bit of luck to find a great deal on travel, but if you know what you’re doing – or you have me! – then it’s not so much luck as it is brains. Leprechauns are known to be crafty little guys, but you can outsmart them by turning the tables and not letting them find your pot of gold. In other words, don’t part with everything in your wallet trying to find them. Instead, find big savings with these great travel sales.

Sceptre Tours has Europe on sale. Tour packages generally include round-trip airfare, hotel and car. 

• Save $400 off a 4-night Dublin getaway from New York. Book by November 30 for winter travel starting at $559 per person. More departure cities available. Add the Ultimate Dublin Experience for $99 more per person which includes a 3-day Dublin Pass, 1-day Hop-on Hop-off Dublin Bus Pass and Dublin Literary Pub Crawl. 
• Explore the Ireland countryside for $799 per person. Stay 1 night at the Ritz-Carlton, 4 nights at a B&B, 1 night at the Academy Plaza hotel, a weekly rental car, round-trip airfare, a Glimpse of Ireland discount book and a tour of the Waterford Crystal factory.
• Save $900 off a 5-star 6-night vacation. Spend 2 nights in each of 3 hotels (including the Ashford Castle) in each Wicklow, Clare and Ashford. Drive yourself to each amazing destination in your rental car and enjoy the diversity of Ireland.

Groupon wants to you stay in Ireland for cheap! Groupon Travel offers one or three night stay for two from £19 at choice of UK or mainland European hotels with Holiday Plus. You have your choice of over 1,600 3- to 5-star hotels.

Be a Travel Winner 11.16.11

While everyone is making plans for Thanksgiving and stressing out over making dinner and spending time with family, I thought it would be fun to bring you some great giveaways you can enter and dream about getting away from it all. The best budget travel is free budget travel, so buy a couple of bottles of wine to get through Thanksgiving and cross your fingers that you win one of these awesome vacations.

I can’t do a giveaway post without listing my own giveaway here first. Do you want to win a copy of my fabulous budget travel book and also a $100 credit for BookIt.com? Well, why wouldn’t you? Join my online book launch party on Facebook and comment on the event. The topic: Where have you always wanted to travel, but haven’t made it to yet?  I love hearing about everyone’s travel dreams. Saturday will be the last day to “enter” and then a winner will be chosen from those who’ve commented, using Random.org. Make sure to share with your friends to help me get my book info out to a wider circle.

Win a trip to Australia to watch the Australian Open of Surfing, sponsored by Hurley and Billabong. It takes place on Manly Beach in Sydney February 11-19, 2012. Winner will receive a trip for two to Sydney, including round-trip airfare, accommodations, VIP passes to the Australian Open, $500 Hurley shopping spree and $1,000 in spending cash.

Air New Zealand would like to spread the word of their new LA to London route, by giving away a trip to London from Los Angeles. If you win, you’ll get round-trip airfare for two and two 3-day London Passes. It does not include accommodations, but you get access to over 55 attractions with your London Pass, so you’ll save a ton by having airfare and activities paid for.

Enter to win a 4 day, 3 night trip to Walt Disney World, where you will stay in a Downtown Disney Resort Area Hotel, get breakfast each morning and transportation to all Disney theme parks.

Tucan Travel wants you to join their Facebook page and win credit to take one of their tours. They offer hundreds of group tours, packages and even cruises that are luxury quality at affordable prices. When you win, you can choose your OWN vacation.

One of my favorite magazines, Travel + Leisure, really knows travel. Subscribe (or don’t) to enter for a chance to win a Spain and Venice dream vacation worth $25,000, sponsored by American Express. I do recommend T+L if you are on the fence about subscribing. It’s a fantastic travel resource. I find all the great places I want to vacation in and also find some fun places to splurge on for dining.

Every day you can enter to win a family cruise for four from Frigo Cheese. 5 entrants will win a 7-night cruise on Royal Caribbean departing from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Choose from sailing on Allure of the Seas, Oasis of the Seas, Liberty of the Seas or Freedom of the Seas ships in 2 double-occupancy staterooms.

MTV and Dove want you to party on the island of Ibiza, Spain for 5 awesome nights for you and 2 friends. Win 3 round-trip tickets to Ibiza, accommodations in a first-class hotel and $500 spending money.

Choose your own destination with the Chicago Tribune and Navy Pier’s Passport sweepstakes. You and a companion will win round-trip tickets to a destination American Airlines flies to which could be in Latin America, London, the continental United States, Beijing, Caribbean and more. You’ll be responsible for the rest of your expenses.

Upload an original photo that says “Hi to Taiwan” and win a trip to Taiwan worth $3,300. You photo will be available on the site for you to send your friends to and vote for you to win! Three teams will win this grand prize.

One Card to Make Travel Easier 11.12.11

Do you find that you have a million rewards numbers for all your stuff? Not just frequent flyer mile numbers, but car rental membership numbers, hotel programs and more. I think we all have that problem these days, with every company trying to get you to sign up for their program. They want to research how customers spend their money and they give you certain benefits to make it worth your while, too. Well, besides not being able to remember all those numbers, it’s also pretty much impossible to keep track of all your points and miles without help. One of my favorite sites to keep track of all my reward programs (including dining rewards, like OpenTable) is Award Wallet. You can store all your membership details, including log-in with them for free.

And now they offer something even cooler. It’s called the One Card. Upgrade your Award Wallet account to Plus (to keep track of more points, expirations and ways to show you how to keep your points from expiring) for $10 or more and get a credit for the OneCard. It has room for 30 rewards programs and membership numbers, plus, it is the size of a credit card, so it fits right in your wallet. Another plus? It has a magnetic strip with all your info, so you can also use it to check in super-fast at airport kiosks instead of using your credit card or needing to find your confirmation number.

Don't be these people with their huge bags to be checked.

You know what this means? It means if you are a smart packer and go carry-on only over the holidays, you can skip the long check-in lines, quickly print your boarding passes while everyone else waits to check their bags and have all your program info in the palm of your hand, in case unforeseen circumstances cause you to need to contact any of them to change your plans (all your account info – not your log-in – will be printed on the card).

Delayed or cancelled? No problem!

Award Wallet is the only website I know of that lets you choose your own price to upgrade your account. That’s right! They want you to pay what you believe the service is worth. Whether that’s $5 or $20 per 6 months. If you’ve already signed up with Award Wallet and have upgraded your account, pay another $10 for your One Card and your upgraded membership will extend an additional 6 months.

Award Wallet's ease will make you feel like this!

So, if you’re tired of trying to corral all your membership cards in one place when you travel (or plan your travel), join me on Award Wallet and learn when your points increase, decrease and are close to expiration. Also, if you can’t remember you log-in for those million programs, you can click right through Award Wallet and instantly get logged in. Convenient!

Don't forget to sign up for our giveaway: $75 gift card for Ebags that is sponsored by the awesome folks at Ebates. Enter by Sunday at midnight (EST).

Join me for my online book launch party! RSVP and comment on the event to enter to win a copy of Shereen Travels Cheap and a $100 credit to BookIt. Just tell us where you have always wanted to go, but haven't made it to yet. I love sharing travel dreams!