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Where To Find The Best Transportation Deals
If youre looking for budget transportation, these are the websites youll want to check. Cheap buses, trains, and rideshare apps can help keep your transportation costs low, giving you more time on the road. Here are my favorites:
- FlixBus A budget-friendly bus company routes all across Europe and parts of the USA.
- Megabus Another great budget bus company with routes throughout Europe, Canada, and the US.
- Eurrail Offers a variety of discounted train passes for both individual countries as well as entire regions of Europe, including passes for the entire continent.
- Rome2Rio A helpful resource for finding and comparing budget transportation options.
- BlaBlaCar A rideshare app that pairs travelers with local drivers who are looking to pick up passengers for a small fee.
- RVShare A sharing economy platform for renting RVs and camper vans directly from locals.
- Turo A car rental app that enables you to rent cars for short periods of time from locals.
- Japan Rail pass A budget-friendly train pass exclusively for Japan. Comes in 7, 14, and 21-day passes.
Dont Always Fly Direct
Not only does it help to be flexible with dates and destinations but being flexible with the route you take is another way to get a cheap flight. For example, sometimes its cheaper to fly to London and take a budget airline to Amsterdam than to fly direct to Amsterdam from your departure city.
I did precisely this when I was going to Paris. The flight from the US was $900 USD, but I could fly to Dublin for $600 and get a $60 flight to Paris. It meant more flying time, but the $240 USD I saved was worth it to me.
To use this method, find out how much it is to go directly to your destination. Then, open Google Flights and type in that destinations continent to look at prices to nearby airports. If the difference is more than $150 USD, I look to see how much it is to get from the second airport to my primary destination .
You can also do this for leaving too. It might be cheaper to fly out from a nearby airport. I often search other airports to see if its cheaper to fly/drive/train there and then fly to my final destination. For long international flights, it can be worth the added time!
If you do book separate segments, be sure to have at least three hours between connections. This will give you space in case there is a delay as your second flight wont wait for you .
Leaving a three-hour buffer will also cover you for an insurance claim since most insurance companies require you to have at least a 3-hour delay before you can make a claim.
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Where To Find The Best Cruise Deals
In my mind, there is only one cruise deal website worth following: CruiseSheet. This site consistently has some of the lowest rates out there, and their interface is beautiful.
If I dont find anything on CruiseSheet or want to double-check a price, I go to the second-best website, vacationstogo.com.
Fight Back Against Resort Fees
Call your hotel to confirm an online reservation especially if you booked at the last minute and check to see whether youre being charged additional fees. Hotels may be willing to waive fees, especially for frequent visitors or rewards-program members. Also, request a copy of your bill the night before you check out so that you have time to dispute any extra charges that got tacked on.
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Get The Best Hotel Deals
If youre looking for exclusive vacation deals, youre in the right place. Travelocity offers one-of-a-kind hotel deals and discounts that match every budget. Whether booking your accommodation for 1 night or 1 week, for a romantic getaway or a family fun trip, youll find a variety of discount hotels at your fingertips. Use the extra cash you saved on lodging to splurge on sightseeing: view local landmarks, taste authentic cuisine and experience the cultural sites now that youve saved big on your hotel.
Look To Airline And Hotel Package Deals
Sometimes, airlines and hotel brands offer package deals that combine different aspects of a vacation for fewer points or miles than you’d need to book them separately.
For example, through the , you can get a seven-night stay at a category 1-4 hotel plus 55,000 United MileagePlus miles for 255,000 Marriott points. Category 4 Marriott hotel stays can cost up to 30,000 points per night, or 210,000 points for a seven-night stay. You’re essentially trading the remaining 45,000 points for 55,000 United miles, which is typically enough to book at least one round trip flight. The hotel chain offers similar deals with dozens of other airlines.
Marriott points are worth 1.05 cents apiece on average, according to The Balanceâs valuation, while United miles are worth 1.98 cents each. Trading your Marriott points 1-for-1 with United points through Marriottâs vacation packages provides your points with a significant value boost.
Some airlines that offer vacation packages you can book with rewards points or miles include American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and JetBlue Airways.
As you research your options, take a little extra time to find out what the trip would cost in rewards and cash if you were to book the flight and hotel separately. Also, make sure you read the fine print to understand if there are any limitations or exclusions that could affect your trip plans.
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Sail Into Big Savings With A Repositioning Cruise
Ships need to take these one-way voyages in order to relocate for the season. For example, ships that cruise near Alaska in the summer head south once fall arrives. And cruise lines invite passengers aboard for the ride at deeply discounted rates. Look to Cruisecritic.com for current information on repositioning cruises.
Stay In Hotels Off Season
Going off season is a particularly savvy strategy if you select a destination thats designed for large peak-season crowds. When desperate to fill rooms, hotels will slash rates or throw in perks, such as spa credits. For example, consider business or convention hotels after the suits have departed for the weekend and beach resorts in the late spring or fall.
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How To Book An Amazing Cheap Vacation Package
Disclaimer: This site contains affiliate links from which we receive a compensation . But they do not affect the opinions and recommendations of the authors.
Wise Bread is an independent, award-winning consumer publication established in 2006. Our finance columns have been reprinted on MSN, Yahoo Finance, US News, Business Insider, Money Magazine, and Time Magazine.
Like many news outlets our publication is supported by ad revenue from companies whose products appear on our site. This revenue may affect the location and order in which products appear. But revenue considerations do not impact the objectivity of our content. While our team has dedicated thousands of hours to research, we aren’t able to cover every product in the marketplace.
For example, Wise Bread has partnerships with brands including, but not limited to, American Express, Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Discover, and Amazon.
Sometimes planning a vacation is as fun as taking the vacation. But sometimes you want someone else to do all the work for you and just book a vacation package. Because, let’s face it, sorting through hotels, itineraries, and flights can be a daunting task when you just want to get away. Plus, you can often find better deals when you book a package.
Perhaps the best deal of all the vacation packages I’ve purchased was a round-trip ticket to Hurghada, Egypt plus a week in a 3-star resort, with two meals a day for $330.
On The Hunt For That Best Vacation Deal Check These Sites First
It’s easy to find the best vacation deals, but it’s even easier if you know which travel sites are offering the best discounts and perks.
Getting the best vacation deal can be achieved through research, comparison, and timing. Booking a packaged vacation inclusive of flight, accommodations, and land transportation can be time-saving and sometimes cheaper but it isn’t always the case. The best approach is to identify your options and browse through them to compare different vacation deal combinations, and you will be surprised.
Sometimes, it is better to book your flight separately or your car rentals separately as some are cheaper that way. If you plan to have a vacation and are on the hunt for the best deals, below are some of the sites you can check out first.
Many websites are available on the market that allow people to book the best vacation deals, including their flights, accommodations, and car rentals. This list was updated to include other websites worth using when looking for the best vacation deal. Those include Orbitz and Travelzoo.
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We All Dream Of Taking That Perfect Solo Or Family Vacation But Planning On A Budget Can Be Hard
Many Americans are hitting the road this year but planning a dream vacation on a budget can be hard. Airfares and vacation rental prices could surge this summer due to demand.
Don’t give up hope just yet on saving a few bucks. There are still ways to get good deals on all of your travel plans. Here are 22 tips and strategies for getting the best prices with the least hassle on airfares, cruises, hotels and vacation packages.
What Exactly Are Vacation Packages
So, what exactly is a vacation package? Think of it as a bunch of vacation stuff bundled into one payment. The term I think can be misleading because you may automatically think that a vacation package encompasses your whole trip. That’s not necessarily true.
A vacation package can be for your whole trip, for a weekend, or even for a day. It can also just refer to bundling payments regarding flights, hotels, and car rentals. There are also vacation packages that involve only booking activities while you’re at your destination. Some include just a tour guide and some major sites to see.
Basically, a vacation package is when you purchase more than one thing together for your vacation. It can be any combination of things meant to help you plan your trip and save money.
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Tips For Finding The Best Travel Deals
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Savvy travelers know that successful vacation-planning should involve things like comparison shopping online and traveling in the off-season. So we asked travel experts to share with us some of the lesser-known ways to score the best travel deals. Here are 10 ideas to get the best deal on your next vacation or travel adventure.
1. Take a repositioning cruise
Cruise lines move their ships from region to region depending on the season: Summer in Alaska, winter in the Caribbean and so on. Rather than move those ships across the Atlantic, the Pacific or the Panama Canal empty, they offer discounted one-way repositioning cruises. These cruises cost significantly less than high-season cruises. You have all the standard features of the shipthe food, entertainment, it all goes with the ship to the new placebut its much cheaper and less crowded, says travel writer Wayne Dunlap, author of Plan Your Escape, Secrets of Traveling the World for Less Than the Cost of Living at Home. Dunlap recommends checking out VacationsToGo.com for lists of repositioning cruises. He also suggests that rather than fly to Europe, you could take a repositioning cruise there. Sure, it will take longer, but its such a relaxing way to travel, says Dunlap. The cost of a repositioning two-week cruise on sale can be about the cost of flight to your destination and there is no jet lag.
2. Score online bounce-back deals
3. Use specialized websites
4. Think home, not hotel
Book At The Right Time
Rumors abound that when you book your flight matters, and theres some evidence that this is true. For instance, an Expedia survey reveals Tuesday is technically the least expensive day to purchase tickets when booked more than three weeks in advance.
But dont go setting a calendar appointment just yet. The study found that Tuesday wins by a very slim margin: only 5%. If youre going to book a last-minute vacation, aim for booking on Sunday, which the study suggests is likely the best option. Remember that youll just be booking your tickets on a Sunday ideally not traveling on Sunday.
The time of the week matters, but so does the amount of time before you intend to travel. CheapAir.com analyzed 1.5 billion airfares for just shy of 5 million domestic trips over the course of 2014 and recorded the lowest fare for each trip every day from 320 days in advance up until one day before flight time.
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Use Rewards Credit Cards
Many credit card companies trickle deals and discounts to their customers – often in the form of redeemable points to be used on various vacation rentals, hotels, airline websites, and more. Therefore, it’s worth researching credit card and rewards card providers well in advance and choosing one that transforms spending, points, and loyalty into vacation perks and discounts.
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I was aware of a few of these sites, but by no means all of them. Thanks for such a list!
Disclaimer: This site contains affiliate links from which we receive a compensation . But they do not affect the opinions and recommendations of the authors.
Wise Bread is an independent, award-winning consumer publication established in 2006. Our finance columns have been reprinted on MSN, Yahoo Finance, US News, Business Insider, Money Magazine, and Time Magazine.
Like many news outlets our publication is supported by ad revenue from companies whose products appear on our site. This revenue may affect the location and order in which products appear. But revenue considerations do not impact the objectivity of our content. While our team has dedicated thousands of hours to research, we aren’t able to cover every product in the marketplace.
For example, Wise Bread has partnerships with brands including, but not limited to, American Express, Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Discover, and Amazon.
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Find Your Cheap Flights Today
I start all my searches with Skyscanner because they search all major AND budget airlines, non-English websites, English websites, and everything in between. Even if you arent sure your plans, its best to start searching for flights today. People who wait to book are people who end up spending the most.
Use this widget to plan your next trip!
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Fly When No One Else Wants To
Fares rise and fall with air traffic so says the law of supply and demand. In general, plan to fly on a Tuesday or Wednesday or in the afternoon on Saturday to bag a cheaper domestic flight.
- Early mornings and late nights are also less popular and more affordable times to fly, as are Thanksgiving and the eves and days of Christmas and New Years. If you want to find the best month to take your trip, plug your home airport and getaway location into or Kayak Explore to see the cheapest times to fly. Besides saving money, avoiding peak travel days will often mean youll travel on slightly less-crowded flights and go through shorter airport security lines.
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Plan Far In Advance Or Book Last Minute
The best vacation deals I’ve found have always been last-minute trips. However, my trip to Vienna was planned about nine months in advance. You are best off planning more than three months in advance or less than two weeks. Planning a trip in only two weeks may sound scary but you can block off the dates now and choose the destination later!