7 Ways to Save on Your Accommodations

There are plenty of things to consider when finding a place to stow your belongings and close your eyes at night. Price may be the biggest factor for you, but that doesn't mean the less you pay the worse your stay. There are plenty of budget and moderate hotels that offer wonderful service and surroundings if you know where and how to look. It's important to weigh all your options when deciding on where to sleep. Does it have a restaurant? Is it close to fun activities? Is it convenient to public transportation? Does it offer free breakfast? Free Wi-Fi? Is it on a busy street? Do the rooms offer kitchenettes? All these questions are important and if the answer is yes, you could save big. The more inclusive extras you can get on a vacation, the further your money goes.

Track Hotel Rates

Use Yapta to track hotel rates. Find a great deal? Search for the hotel(s) you are interested in and then track those specific ones. Even if you have reservations with them already, keep them on your list and keep waiting for prices to drop. Yapta will alert you to any prices that are lower than what you’ve already booked. If the price goes down, get on the phone with the establishment and see if you can change your reservation to reflect the lower rate.

Get Rewarded for your Loyalty

Sign up for Hotels.com’s Welcome Rewards and get free hotel nights. For every 10 nights you book through Hotels.com, you get one free night. You don't need to stay 10 nights in a row, in the same hotel or even in the same year. Your credits just accumulate until you've reached 10 nights and then you are eligible to receive your free night. The price will be based on the average of the price per night you stayed for each of your 10 paid nights. If you wish to stay at a hotel that costs more than that, you will just pay the difference. If you frequent the same hotel or hotel chain, get on their loyalty program and start racking up points with each stay. You can trade these in for free nights and upgrades when you need them.

Avoid the Weekend

Hotel rates are almost always cheaper on Sunday through Thursday nights. Most people travel on the weekend. They know this, just like the airlines, so they make prices for Friday and Saturday stays more expensive. In some cases, they can be twice as much as on weeknights.

Stay in Business-Minded Hotels on the Weekend

Unlike most hotels, those that cater to business travelers don’t get much action on the weekend, so rates drop to encourage visitors to stay. These hotels are also ones to book over holidays, because they can be fairly empty and prices plummet.

Stay in Brand New Hotels

Hotels that have been newly built or totally remodeled often have an introductory period right when they open that offers rock-bottom rates. HotelChatter is a website that not only shows reviews of hotels, but they also list the opening dates of new hotels and update them if they change. The list shows hotels worldwide, so you can search before you book your room.

Go All-Inclusive

I know you’re paying to stay at these places to be entertained and well-fed; most of them also offer free activities in the form of non-motorized watersports and even have nightly entertainment. That’s a freebie in my opinion, though you may feel differently. I suggest pricing out what you would expect to spend on your trip if you didn’t go all-inclusive and see if the savings are significant enough to go one way or the other.

Stay in a Vacation Rental

If you have a large family, this may be your perfect solution. Rentals are booked per night, not by guest counts, so whether you have three people or eight people in your travel party you pay the same price. The other plusses to a rental are: having more space to stretch out, having a kitchen to cook your own meals in (or at least store some snacks and leftovers), there aren’t 20 potential neighbors waking you up at all hours and many rentals have a washing machine.

Every little bit helps when you have to pinch your pennies, so get planning and find all the ways you can lower your bottom line. You might be surprised at how all those little discounts can turn into one big one. Stay tuned for part two on Wednesday.

Preview of Travelon Items For Summer Travel

Happy Friday! Summer is out in full force here in Portland. It's supposed to hit triple digits this weekend, which we are not prepared for. We're heading to the beach instead, where the temps will be much cooler. I know many of you are still planning a trip to ether escape the heat or get more of it, which means you might be looking for some products to help your travels go smoother. Well, as always, Travelon has anticipated this and come out with some new stuff that I'll be reviewing on my trip to Vegas next month, but in case you need something before then, I wanted to give you a little preview.

Whether you want to look cute when you're out to dinner, take only the necessities on your weekend getaway or keep your unmentionables away from prying eyes and from getting crushed, the new products run the gamut. 

Multi-Purpose Packing Cube

I know you all love a good packing cube. They can really keep all the goodness in your bag organized and allow you to just pull out what you need and leave the rest in your bag or in the dresser drawer. I have one totally devoted to swimsuits that holds a travel towel and waterproof pouch for my phone. Once we reach our destination, I toss a bottle of sunscreen in there and we have everything we need for a jaunt to the beach. This new cube from Travelon can keep all your undies, bras and other undergarments in one place, plus, it has a side that can be made rigid, so your fancy and expensive bras keep their shape. If you want to use it for other stuff, you can collapse that side and use it like a normal packing cube. It has a snap out zipper pocket and three mesh pockets on the inside top for keeping underwear or socks. I think this has now become my new favorite cube, since it has so many possibilities. I love that it comes in black, but three other bright colors for standing out in a black bag. With all it's configurations, $25 is a bargain.

Compact Hanging Toiletry Kit

Everyone loves a good toiletry kit. I have four or five in my arsenal, because different trips have different needs. I don't need to take as much on a weekend getaway as I do on a two-week international trip. I'll be in Vegas for a week, but it's going to be hot, hot, hot and I don't need my whole beauty regime, so I'm going to get my necessities in this lightweight little bag that won't take up much room in my bag and can hang right up in the bathroom for easy access. As you can see, it has room for three travel-size bottles and all the little extras you take to make you look pretty and put together. This is an especially great toiletry kit for the men out there. It comes in 5 eye-popping colors and is just $20.

Signature Embroidered Phone Clutch Wallet

I love a day bag, but when I'm going out to dinner or to see a show, I don't want to carry all my stuff with me. It's also nice to have a cute little wallet to throw in your travel bag, so you can keep all your important stuff in one place. Not only is this little clutch adorable, but it has RFID-blocking technology, so you know your credit card info is safe. There's room for change, because somehow on vacation you end up with a ton of coins, paper money, several cards and you can get your phone in there (even the big smartphones) with a lipstick and even a flat comb. If you are traveling with your passport, this is just big enough to hold it, too. All you need for getting out of the hotel room for a bit fits in here, plus you can clip the wrist loop to the little d-ring attached to the bag and keep the zipper securely closed (because thieves). It comes in three classic colors and runs just $25.

Stay tuned next month for my full-length reviews of these great items. In the meantime, good luck with your summer travel planning. 

Disclaimer: As always, I was provided with these Travelon products for the purposes of their reviews, but all opinions are 100% my own.

Dining On a Dime (Or At Least On a Budget)

When I travel, I’m almost always thinking about when and where we’re going to eat next. I want to eat my way through a city. It must be the combination of all the walking and the fresh air, or just the excitement of being in a completely new environment. I know it’s impractical. Not just because it’s unhealthy, but also because it’s totally unaffordable. If I did stop to eat a bunch during the day, I’d never get any sightseeing done either! If you’re like me and want to eat all day long, you’re going to need some tips on how to do it inexpensively, so at least you don’t go broke doing it. Here are just a few of the rules I follow to get the best bargains and keep my wallet from emptying out by the end of the first day.

Bring snacks

Trick your stomach by bringing snacks with you in your bag each day. This way, if you’re tempted to nibble on something, you know you have them on you and are less likely to spend money on food you don’t really need.

Eat where the locals eat

Just by avoiding touristy areas, you can save a lot on your meals. When you’re out, ask a few people where they recommend. They aren’t going to tell you they prefer a chain restaurant over their favorite local pub. The food is likely more authentic than those that you can find right near tourist attractions, making it cheaper, because it’s local and not shipped in from a different country.

Make lunch your main meal

If you really want to try one of the “hip” restaurants by a celebrity chef, make reservations for lunch. The food will be just as good, but it’s usually much cheaper at lunch than at dinner.

Hit up the food carts

Food carts can have a huge variety of different local and international foods, but can be half the price of (or less) than dining at a sit-down restaurant. With this kind of savings, you can try fare from several carts with no regrets.

Rent a vacation home or stay in a hotel with a kitchen(ette)

This is my favorite way to stretch my food budget, because there are so many options. Renting can be a great value over hotel stays if you’ll be visiting for a week or more, plus it gives you the chance to check out the local grocery store. I am not a big breakfast person, so instead of eating out for that meal, I shop for new cereals and pastries that I can’t get at home. There’s never a better time to try new foods! 

Stay at a hotel that offers free breakfast

You don’t realize how much dining out can cost until you go on vacation. A reasonable breakfast can cost between $8-15 per person. If you multiply that by the number of people you’re traveling with and the number of days you’ll be staying, that number can be huge. If you find a hotel in your price range that offers free breakfast, you’ve hit a jackpot of savings.

Sign up for Groupon (or other daily deal sites)

Groupon.com is an amazing little site that offers daily deals on a wide assortment of things, not least of which is dining. Each day a new offer goes up at a big discount off the regular price. Dining certificates can be purchased quite often and many times I have gotten a half-off gift certificate to a new local restaurant or one just trying to bring in new customers. It works! Sign up at Groupon for the destination of your next vacation (they cover many international locations as well as the United States) and eat for less!

Don’t order off the kids’ menu

If you travel with children, you’ll notice that all kids’ menus seem to have the same small rotation of foods. Obviously, little ones don’t just live on hot dogs, pizza, chicken nuggets and PB&J sandwiches. Not only do they charge an outrageous amount for these “staples” that cost hardly anything to make, but they offer hardly any nutritional value and your kids are likely to eat only half of it before declaring they’re full. Instead, order a meal that you both will eat and share. This saves you money and might get them to eat a vegetable or two.

This is just a small list of things you can do to help stretch your food budget on your future trips, but they can save you quite a bit, as they have me and my family on our travels. Remember, the more money you save on meals, the more money you can spend on doing something else!

How do you sasve money on dining out when you travel?