So, it appears as if Fall may
be right around the corner, at least for the travel industry. Airfare is on its
way down to more reasonable rates come Monday and that means there will be
deals galore for September/October/early November travel. If you want some of
the best discounts, then make sure to follow me on Facebook or Twitter.
Today, we’re going to talk about what you can do to make your fall travel less
stressful and more affordable.
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| Photo Credit |
Pack
less,
even when your clothes are bigger. Yes, this is totally possible. I will always
tell you to plan to do laundry whenever you travel, but it’s even more
necessary when you are taking things bigger than tank tops and shorts, because
more items mean less valuable space for things that aren’t clothes. Look for
lightweight and warm layers, like a fleece pullover or waffle-knit hoodie. I
take one or two of these that will match with all my travel clothing and am set
to layer them over my t-shirts if they weather becomes chilly.
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| Women's Savvy Zippy from ExOfficio.com |
You will also want to look for
a good packable jacket. I have
several and prefer to bring one with a hood when traveling, as weather can be
uncertain and nothing sucks worse than getting rained on when it’s already
cold. You could also bring a hat, but I don’t like to bring more things than I
have to. This is also why I choose a hood over an umbrella, aside from the
obvious reason that umbrellas are cumbersome and only really good for one
thing. Everyone in your travel party is likely to bring a jacket, so everyone
is covered. (Pun intended.)
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Late September and Early
October are the cheapest times to fly
during the year. Kids are back in school and it’s not Labor Day or Halloween,
so there are no notable parties or holidays. This makes it the ideal time to
travel, if you can, and can save you huge dollars. Airfare can be as much as
50% less than the rest of the year and hotels slash prices in order to get
their rooms filled. Can’t beat that
with a stick!
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Pay
for your rental car up front. This is actually a trick that
works throughout the year, but when trying to cut costs somewhere while planning the basics, this is a brilliant way to do
it. I’ll use myself as an example. I’m traveling next month and was looking for
a car for 11 days. If I booked through the regular sites for car rentals that
let me pay when I picked up my car, then my rate was going to be somewhere in
the range of $432. That includes taxes, but come on! That’s over $40 per day.
I’ve been holding out for
something cheaper and caught a great email in my inbox saying I could find
rates as low as $9.95 per day. While I never find that rate when I see that
email (like once every two weeks), I did
click through and find one for $16.95 and was able to book my rental car with
Hertz through Hotwire for a total with taxes of $247. That’s almost $200 less!
I paid up front and it is non-refundable, but I’m fairly sure that is the best
deal I’m going to find and also will be making that trip. If my flight gets
delayed or cancelled, it says I’m covered, so I will revel in my rental car
hunting skillz. It pays to do your homework and compare multiple times before
booking. A week ago that rate was up to $303.
Head
to the beach when the weather cools down. Fall and winter
are not the times that people flock to places like Myrtle Beach or Santa
Monica, so it’s the perfect time to go and beat the crowds and the soaring
temps if you can go right before the weather turns. Next month is going to give
you great weather and cheap hotel and condo rates. If you have a big travel
party now is the time to book for a budget vacation for everyone.
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Plan a trip to Disney and other theme parks. Once
school is back in session, the crowds drop dramatically around the big theme
parks, so you can find huge deals on vacation packages to Anaheim and Orlando.
You’ll face way shorter lines and be able to do more, even when the parks are
open shorter hours. A lot of them have special events this time of year, too.
Eric and I will be taking part in our 3rd Disney Halloween party. If
you have little ones, this is like magic times two: Their favorite characters
who are dressed up in (different) costumes, they get to stay up late, see
special shows and fireworks and they
get to dress up and go trick-or-treating in the parks. What?! Uh, yes! Even big
kids like us have a blast on the trick-or-treat trail.
If you are into bigger thrills
than Tigger dressed as a pirate and meeting Maleficent for the first time ever,
then you might be more inclined to do Halloween Horror Nights at Universal
Studios. It’s truly terrifying, for those that like pee-in-your-pants-scary
fun. These parties cost their own admission fee, so you can skip the park
during the day to avoid paying double and then ride what’s open and see all the
cool stuff that’s not available to the regular public before the sun starts to
go down.
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These are just some of the ways
to save and create a unique vacation experience outside of Summer. I’ll be
using many of these tips myself and you’ll be bombarded with I-told-you-so
posts in the coming months, along with a review of GoCards from
SmartDestinations.com. They will save you a ton and should be super-easy to
use. I guess we’ll all find out!
Do you have some useful Fall
Travel Tips that have saved you big? Let us know what they
are!
