Save on Your Next Getaway with Ebates’ Travel Week

By now, you know I love Ebates, because it helps me save money on pretty much everything. I never buy or book anything without checking to see if the merchant is on Ebates first, because I can get cash back and a lot of times there are additional promo codes that I can use to save even more. Who wouldn’t want to save as much as possible?

Through Monday, thirteen of Ebates’ travel merchants are offering special deals, promos and double cash back (or more) for Travel week, so now’s the time to start booking your Spring and Summer getaways! Check out these great merchants:

Figure out where you want to go and what’s awesome to do there, plus have some fun reading material for the plane with Magazines.com. Find the best hotel for your budget and destination with ChoiceHotels, Holiday Inn, Hotels.com and Marriott. Find airfare, packages and more on Expedia, hotwire and Orbitz. Get a boss deal on a rental car at National. Do more (and eat better) for less with Groupon and LivingSocial. Need a new bag for your vacation? Then get a great one at a great price from eBags. And you can fill that new bag with new clothes and shoes with fab finds on Amazon.

Yup, they’ve covered everything, so you can save on every aspect of your trip. Haven’t used Ebates before? It’s easy and free! Pull up Ebates any time you want to make a purchase or travel booking, click through the link on Ebates and it will track your purchase to give you cash back. Four times a year, you receive a Big Fat Check or Paypal payment with your accrued cash back. Not only that, but you get a freebie just for joining and making your first purchase. There’s no downside. If you haven’t signed up yet, do it now and have a fabulous vacation.

Have you used Ebates to save on any of your past trips?

How Not to Kill Your Travel Partner

We travel as a couple and it's not always smooth sailing. Sometimes you get mad at each other. Sometimes you a crabby and snappy and sometimes things just don't go as planned. How can you be around each other 24/7 without wanting to murder each other on a one- or two-week vacation? It's not always easy, but with a little planning you can minimize ruffled feathers and maximize quality time on your trip.

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Eat! - My number one rule is to make sure you eat when you're hungry. If you don't and your partner is notorious for getting hangry (angry when hungry) as I am, then everyday is going to end up with snappish or yelled "conversations". Find somewhere to eat when one of you is hungry or pack snacks in your bag for those times between meals or when you have to wait a little longer than you want to eat. I can't even tell you how many mean things pour out of my mouth when I get too hungry and snacks will only last so long before a real meal is needed. Luckily, Eric knows it and will quickly steer me into a food place even if he's not hungry.

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Compromise your travel styles - No one is the same, which is good, because that would make the world a very boring place. Unfortunately, this probably means you and your spouse don't travel exactly the same. Understand your differences and understand what the other wants. Meet in the middle when things differ and you'll enjoy your trip a lot more if you're not butting heads at every turn.

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Take some alone time - I understand that you are on vacation together. I do, but if you don't take some time to just go off and do your own thing, you will start to stress out and hate the other person's face before long. This doesn't mean that you have to spend a whole day all alone. Maybe go do a little shopping or even just make time to have your own space. We often have a vacation rental and will just go into different rooms for a while each day or he'll go swimming while I just lay on the couch and watch the news or a cartoon. Even 30 minutes of privacy can be helpful.

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Do something you don't want to do - You aren't always going to want to do the same stuff. That's life. But this vacation is both of yours, so if you don't want to do all the same things, make a promise to do something the other wants and vice versa. You might find you have fun, but if nothing else, you'll know you made each other happy and that goes a long way, especially when you at least act like you are enjoying yourself. (If you don't, it really doesn't count as being nice.) Just remember, if your significant other refused to do the one thing you wanted to do most at your destination, you'd be pretty pissed, so keep that in mind when you're doing the thing they truly want to do.

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Get enough sleep - Sleep is important, and when you don't get enough of it, it's like operating on only partial power. This is going to make you moody, crabby and probably mean. Make sure you get enough winks in, so you aren't close to snapping at any moment. It's better to miss out on something than to not enjoy doing it because you didn't sleep enough and hate everything.

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Communicate - If you don't talk to each other, then it's inevitable that something will cause an unnecessary fight between you. If you have questions about something or aren't sure how to get somewhere, communicate it. If you aren't having a good time, let them know. Maybe just voicing it will make things just a little bit better. Also, you can't fix something if you don't know there's a problem.

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Be open to change - I can't even tell you how many times things didn't work out as planned on our trips. Nothing is going to go smoothly 100% of the time. Expect and accept things may change/go wrong/come up and be willing to adapt and roll with it. It'll all work out in the end.

If you can just learn to be a little flexible and selfless, then you can have much better vacations that are filled with fun and excitement instead of stress and crying. Not everyone is going to travel well together, but it can really test the limits of your relationship sometimes. If you can get through a whole trip without tears or sniping, I consider that a success, but it almost never happens over the course of two weeks, I'll take the little victories.

What are your best travel tips for not stabbing your significant other?

5 Essential Must-Dos to Saving Big Bucks on Homestays

As you know, I'm a big believer in saving money by staying in vacation rentals. I like having the extra room, because tripping over each other can be frustrating, being able to make my own meals and having a separate living space from my sleeping space. It's nice to have more to sit on in your room besides the bed and that one hard chair shoved in the corner, right? Even though many homestays can cost the same as a hotel, you're getting more, but we still like to get the best bang for our buck, so here are five things to do to get an even better deal on your rental.

Look at this amazing kitchen in London

1. Look for the extras

I'm all about the included amenities when I travel. Anything I may use and don't have to pay a fee for is awesome. WorldEscape may not include locations everywhere in the world you want to go, but it is constantly expanding and it allows you to search by destination and date and then focus on things you want in a rental. My searches always include WiFi, TV with DVD player (because I'm not always out sightseeing) and washing machine so I can pack light. Homestays enable you to feel like you're at home no matter where you are or how many people you travel with.

A washer is a definite must, like this one in a Philly apartment

2. Use the extras

This is really important. If you're paying for something to be included, then make sure you use it. There's no point in renting a home with a huge kitchen if you don't plan to make a meal or store your snacks. When I travel, I specifically look for a full kitchen, because I don't like to get up earlier and waste money on breakfast. I pack my own coffee and nibbles from home and stop at the grocery store right at the beginning of my trip to pick up bagels, fruit, eggs, bread, butter, cereal and milk. We always en up with a few leftover meals on our trips, so those get stored in the fridge and heated up or turned into something else before we leave.

I love this pretty little Paris apartment

3. Travel during the off- and shoulder-season

Just like with hotels, homestays usually offer better deals when your destination isn't expected to be crazy busy. You'll save more, have more time to relax in your rental and won't have to fight crowds all day every day to see the sights.

Such a great view from this Rome apartment

4.Get closer to the action

No matter what your plans on your vacation, there's probably a convenient location for you to stay at your destination. Homestays can be found in the middle of a city, on the outskirts or anywhere in between. Choose what works best for you. Maybe you want to skip a rental car and get close to all the good stuff. Maybe you want to stay a bit further out and enjoy a quieter, more laid back trip. If you stay a little off the beaten path, you can still skip the rental car by booking a place on a public transportation route. It's saves money and allows you to let someone else take care of the driving.

I could certainly call this Dhaka apartment home

5. Avoid booking fees

I hate these. I like to book my whole vacation myself. If I wanted to pay someone else to help me out, I'd just go through a travel agent. Travel merchants online shouldn't claim their giving me the best rate and then charging me a fee for their service. WorldEscape has done away with booking fees and credit card fees, so what you see is what you pay.

Make sure to ask any questions you have before booking. This is really important, because you want to know what you're getting, what you're not and learn how to make your trip even better. You'll also want to read reviews from other guests, because this is another way to learn what you're getting. With homestays, sometimes they can sound too good to be true. Of course, I've had experiences where I'm surprised by my stay...in the best ways possible. WorldEscape verifies all listed properties, so you know they'll be good and you get all their extras included in the home rate, which is pretty awesome.

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What's your biggest pet peeve when it comes to booking a hotel or a homestay online?

Disclaimer: This is a post sponsored by WorldEscape, but all opinions are 100% mine.