How to Rent a Car on a Budget 2.25.12

Sometimes you just need a car to get around, like Orlando in the off-season. I don’t know if you’ve noticed or not, but a lot of times you try to book a car and find that the rates are astronomical. What’s that all about? Should you really have to pay the same per day from a normal rental company for several days as you do for a Zipcar for 4 hours? I think not. So, what do you do? You use Autoslash!

Honestly, if Jonathan Weinburg – the owner of Autoslash – hadn’t contacted me to tell me about his new page when it was just starting out, I probably still wouldn’t know about it, but I’m so glad I do. The concept is simple. You look for a suitable rental car for the dates at your destination. You choose a rental rate from the chart of available cars and rental companies. The price you see is the MOST you will pay for your rental. Of course, it may be a bit steep, because that is “rack rate”. You aren’t obligated to go through with your rental, as you never give your credit card info and can cancel at any time.

Autoslash is free and easy to use and they make planning a vacation THAT MUCH easier on you, because while you’re busy deciding the rest of your trip details, they are working hard behind the scenes trying to get you an even better deal. They search every day for discounts that can be applied to your rental, as well as lower rates on the same reservation. When they find one, they tell you, but they also rebook you at the lower rate. You don’t have to do a thing! They will work until the day of your booking to get you the best price. If the rate drops 10 times, they will change your booking 10 times. It’s true!

I booked a 4-day car rental with Dollar through Autoslash. The original price was $210. Ridiculous, right? The next day I checked my email and they had applied discount codes to my rental and it dropped to $145. The next day I received another email telling me that they found a rental with discounts that was just $135! I saved $75 in just two days. I still have two weeks to go before my trip, but even if my rate doesn’t change again, I am happy to know that Autoslash found a much lower rate for me than I could have found on my own, because the cheapest rental I could find – for an economy car – was $190. You don’t have time to keep checking car rental rates and neither do I. Let Autoslash help you out and then tell your traveling friends about the amazing discount you ended up with to spread the word of this awesome company. You can also find them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

Spring For a Budget Break 2.22.12

All the kids are counting down to it and so are you, but probably for very different reasons. Spring Break is almost here and that means you have a whole week to think of how to entertain your children (if you have them) or worry about your college student (if you have one) or figure out how to fit your travel plans into your budget (if you have one). Spring is a great time to travel; however, it can get a bit dicey during the month of March, because Spring Break varies across the country, making it impossible to know when you will have to share your space with a bajillion hard-partying college kids – and sometimes those well out of their college days – or have to pay twice as much for hotels and airfare. Luckily, with the economy still kinda sucky, deals are easier than ever to find. You just have to pick one, pay for it and go. But where?

Somehow, I feel that now that I’m an adult and I want to travel during Spring Break, because I’m not actually getting a forced vacation, like so many school kids and their parents, I shouldn’t have to pay “holiday” rates, because it doesn’t affect me. Too bad that’s now how it actually works: You don’t get Spring Break, so you don’t have to pay Spring Break prices…Until someone figures out how that works, we will have to continue to avoid the crowds and search for discounts. I suppose if anyone shouldn’t have to pay holiday prices, it’s the poor parents that have just come off of Christmas and already dreading planning how to keep their kids out of trouble and entertained for the three months of summer that’s right around the corner, but I digress.

Where to go that’s family-friendly – or at least less likely to get you crushed by drunken 20-somethings – for your free week? One of the best deals I’ve found is for last-minute cruises from Expedia. Last-minute includes next week, next month or two months from now. If you have the desire to cruise and want to visit the Caribbean or Mexico (despite the Spring Breakers), then this is a great time to book one. Rates start at just $219 per person for an inside cabin. Obviously, rates vary by cabin and length of cruise, but if you book by February 29, you are likely to snatch up great sailings, like a 7-night Western Caribbean cruise from Port Canaveral for just $449pp or an 8-night Eastern Caribbean Cruise from Miami for only $499pp. Got more time (and money) on your hands? Check out a 17-night transatlantic cruise from Fort Lauderdale for $799pp or a 21-night cruise from Fort Lauderdale to the Southern Caribbean (ports include Aruba, St. Thomas, Curacao and Half Moon Cay) from $1449pp.

What else is out there? Well, you can always do the old standby and plan a frugal trip to Vegas. I’ll be flying into Las Vegas for my next trip, though I’ll be driving to St. George, Utah to meet up with friends where we will go hiking, visit a ghost town, get pedicures and do family cookouts. I found a great deal on airfare and also a rental car for my trip and so can you. Southwest, JetBlue and many other airlines are offering deals to Sin City. If staying on the Strip, skip the car rental and book an airport shuttle instead. You could save $100+ on a week stay and can take the free tram from one end of the strip to the other instead. Your trip can be super budget if you need it to be. Here are some free and cheap Vegas activities to do while you’re there.

South America is always a great Spring Break destination, because not only is it not a destination college kids look at to par-tay, but it's also budget-friendly. If you are looking to spend about half the price for a vacation, then South America (and even Central America) is where you should look. You'll have a less traditional Spring Break, save some money and help a struggling economy. Brush up on your Spanish and pack your warm weather clothes!

Need a hotel or even a whole package? The CheapTickets Winter Hotel Sale is on through February 29. Save on your hotel or flight & hotel package with big discounts, free nights, resort credits and more. Enjoy some of the lowest rates of the season and also read up on tips that can help save you even more.

Are you traveling for Spring Break? Where are you going?

Affordable Things to Do Over Presidents' Day Weekend 2.18.11

So, I assume many of you are still at home as you read this, trying to think of ways to spend those precious free hours of your 3-day weekend, so as not to squander them on crazy things like housework, homework or yard work! You almost can’t get away from work, but even if you can’t find it in your budget to go on a holiday break, you can always do a staycation and order some take out (or go to some mildly fancy sit-down restaurant). Of course, I also mean you should get out of the house and celebrate our nation’s finest presidents – yes, I’m sure that’s up for debate – with some things you can find in your own neighborhood. Then, if you want to pitch your tent in the backyard and pretend you’re camping on the top of Mt. Everest, because it’s that cold still in some parts of the country.

If you haven’t come up with a better plan than ordering pizza and watching HGTV for the rest of the weekend, maybe some of these budget ideas will make you want to move your backside to do them. Remember, you can always DVR those DIY shows you’ve seen a dozen times. They’ll be there when you get back!

Hit up your local national park. There are so many across this great country, that it’s a shame if you don’t get out to explore and enjoy them. If the nearest park is too far away, look into your city’s Audubon Society or arboretum (that’s a fancy name for a place where they grow a variety of indigenous plants, mostly trees). Sometimes you can take your furry friends, but sometimes you can’t, so ask before you load them into the car and get them all excited for a hearty hike.

Enjoy complimentary admission to your favorite museum. Maybe. Many museums across the land will be offering free admission on Monday. Learn the history of your state as well as that of the United States and other parts of the world. Call the ticket office or check online to see if you can skip paying for tickets to get in. Spend that money in the café or gift shop!

Finally see what the Historical Society is all about. Nearly every big city has a historical society. Learn all about your city and state and its great leaders. They may or may not have become presidents, but if you’ve never been to your local society, now might be the time to check it out. Some run on donations, so drop a couple bucks in the jar to help preserve the history for future generations.

Order some apple or cherry pie. If you’re more ambitious than I am, you can also make your own pie, but the most effort I will put into pie-making is to go buy one and put it in the oven. I know this really has nothing to do with Presidents’ Day per se, but you can claim you are celebrating America or that you are honoring that whole chopping down the cherry tree incident.

Visit a historical monument or presidential landmark. Bonus points for you if that includes something like Mount Rushmore. If you live in a state that doesn’t have big presidential history, don’t worry. You can find all kinds of historical landmarks throughout it. Drive around, get out, read a plaque, takes a bunch of pictures and then make yourself an album entitled “The President Probably Stood in Some of These Places”…or something more appealing. If you live in the Washington, DC area, check out my previous blog post for things to do that are affordable.

Sit through Abraham Lincoln’s speech in the Hall of Presidents. Everyone has memories of the Hall of Presidents (now Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln) at Disney. If you have a trip planned to either Anaheim or Orlando, take half an hour to honor all our presidents and marvel at the creepy awesome animatronic technology. It might be the only way you will ever find yourself in the same room as President Obama…and you have to admit, it’s sort of hard to tell he isn’t real – as in the imagineers at Disney are fantastic, not that I think real-life Obama seems like a robot. (When you’re done with that, go see how real the Captain Jack Sparrow addition to Pirates looks!)

Watch a parade. Nowadays, there are parades for everything, so I’d be surprised if you couldn’t find one revolving around this national holiday. If not, pull one together in your neighborhood. You can easily find a George Washington wig at your local party store. Grab a can to use as a baton and have him (or her) head up the parade. Get the local kids to dress patriotic and march down the street after Washington. Toss some candy and copies of the Declaration of Independence and play the presidential anthem (or something “American” like Born in the USA) and have a good time. It doesn’t have to be a long parade either. Set up a lemonade stand and sell it up and down the block. You can use the proceeds to pay for your wigs and candy or donate it to your local historical society (see above). Make sure to take lots of pictures…and if you actually do this, I want links to the photos (or them posted to my Facebook page).

While you sit around trying to decide which of these sounds the most fun and plan your day out with your family, take a look at this trailer from what’s surely going to be a summer blockbuster, starring our 16th president: Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter. I mean, how can you not want to see it? I discovered its impending release through my most-frequented movie theater and decided I didn’t care who was in it or how bad it was, I was going to be there on opening weekend. It’s June 22nd for all of you who love a good (or bad) vampire flick and still have a little twinge of sadness every time you hear the name Buffy.

And if that doesn’t look fun enough for you, download the Presidents vs. Aliens game from iTunes. Test your presidential knowledge while defending the earth from aliens! Only $.99

Don’t forget:

• Take a moment to enter to win a pair of CityPASS passes to the city of your choice, courtesy of CityPASS.
• Downloadable packing lists will be available for download until the end of the month through newsletter subscriptions. If you haven’t yet, subscribe now. It’s easy and free!
• Learn how to get around your vacation destination for less with my guest post on CheapOAir, where I will be a regular subscriber from now on (hooray!).
• Coming soon: a guest post on green budget travel.