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A Lesson in Saving Money: Traveling in the Offseason

Sunset at the bay of San Juan del Sur in Nicaragua.

By NICOLE HOCKIN

If you’re like me then you dream of traveling the world visiting the small and obscure places, as well as large and illustrious destinations. And if you are also like me then the price tag on some of these spots can be quite prohibitive to fulfilling those dreams; unless you are flexible about when you see these wonderful locales.

Traveling in the offseason can be quite beneficial. First, there is the cost savings; from flights to hotels, car rentals and attractions – everything costs less when the peak season expires. For example, resorts in ski towns such as Aspen and Whistler (Canada) do huge business in the winter, but cut rates significantly during the summer. The second reason is that the crowds are a lot smaller, too. Imagine not waiting with your children hour after hour, shoulder to should with other exhausted families, for the chance to experience your favorite rides at Disney World. Tempting, right?

Warning: There are reasons that it is called the “off-season”. Weather can be adverse such as parts of Asia during monsoon season and certain restaurants and attractions could be closed or at the very least could have reduced hours. Non-peak months are also a time of renovation for many hotels and resorts. So if you can put up with the lobby remodel or an obstructed view, you may benefit from reduced rates and perhaps even a complimentary upgrade.

What Is a Shoulder Season?

A Shoulder Season is the period of time between the high and low seasons. For example, the Caribbean and Mexico have very nice weather in late April and May, but prices for flights and hotels go way down because Americans are in between Spring Break and summer vacations. The same is true for South America.

So when should you go where? Below is a brief rundown of popular destinations by their off/shoulder seasons.

SPRING

1. Denver (April-May)
2. Egypt
3. Hawaii (March – May)

SUMMER

1. Australia (their winter/early spring)
2. Brazil
3. Florida
4. Las Vegas (July and August)
5. Phoenix
6. Ski towns (Breckenridge, Vail, Aspen, Whistler)

FALL

1. Bahamas
2. Central America (September)
3. Hawaii (August – October)
4. Italy (late September – November)
5. New England (September until early October – before foliage season)
6. Orlando (October until mid-November)

WINTER

1. California
2. Greece
3. New York City
4. South Africa
5. South Padre Island (TX)
6. Wine Country (Napa Valley and Sonoma, CA)

Share Your Stories?

What’s been your experience traveling in an offseason? Post a comment, e-mail me, and let me know!

Nicole Hockin is an industry travel expert, TV/radio personality and Hotels.com spokesperson. At Travel Smart Blog, she provides readers with practical travel advice and recommendations.

How to Save Money on a Road Trip: A HomeAway Truckie’s Words of Wisdom

By Erica Johansson on in Budget Travel, Road Travel

By JOHN AND STEPH

Taking a road trip is fun, but it can also be quite expensive. The following tips are suggestions for how to make your wallet stop crying when the travel bug bites and you decide to hit the road:

Go the Speed Limit

It’s safer and a financially responsible decision to travel at the recommended speeds posted on the highway. Think less police encounters and greater fuel efficiency

Stay in a Vacation Rental

By using vacation rental websites, like HomeAway.com, you can often find great deals on any number of housing accommodations in the area you’d like to visit next. You can even RENT A WHOLE HOUSE FOR HALF THE COST OF A HOTEL! And I do mean a ‘ whole house’… John and I ALWAYS have our separate rooms (and often separate bathrooms too!) and there is usually a spacious living room and a kitchen that afford us the extra space we need to spread out after spending 5-9 hours in the Truckster together. Don’t take my word for it though – just peruse the 540,000+ rental listings within the HomeAway network to find the perfect fit for you and your family.

Buy Groceries

I’ve already mentioned the perks of having a kitchen just because of the space it provides in contrast to the car-cramped traveler. But there’s not need to be a fastfood-ridden traveler…having a kitchen also allows the money conscious family to make a grocery stop, so eating out all the time won’t be necessary. *Also a good idea for the healthy eater/traveler.

Always Know Where Your Next Cup Is Coming From…COFFEE!

If you’re a coffee drinker that just can’t go without the taste of caffeine early in the morning, you’ll want to ask you’re rental owner if they provide a coffee pot and grounds. Many of the rentals I’ve encountered this summer do have the coffee-lover’s basics in the kitchen for guests to enjoy. However, if not, you can still save a few bucks during your travels by purchasing some instant coffee like the Starbuck’s brand Via. It really isn’t that bad and you can always splurge with a gas station $0.99 cup every once in a while.

Do Laundry

Save money on baggage fees if your road trip starts or ends with a flight by packing light and doing laundry while on vacation. Many vacation rentals come with an in-house washer and dryer. I know that some might say “why would I want to ruin my vacation by doing laundry” but I can personally attest to the fact that it won’t put a damper on your vacation fun if you throw in a load before dinner or bedtime. Plus, your wallet will thank you since you won’t be throwing away money on needless fees, AND you’ll be able to de-stress without hosting anxiety about having to lug around a gargantuan suitcase.

Be Smart About Eating Out

If you are planning to eat out, I recommend the (more affordable) lunch menu, water as a beverage choice. Also, talk to your vacation rental owner, who is often a local expert, about community restaurants. These establishments tend to offer cheaper cuisine than your average chain restaurant. In addition, you’re likely to stumble upon fresh and delicious tastes that are characteristic to the area. Avoid the tourist traps!

MtRushmore John How to Save Money on a Road Trip: A HomeAway Truckie’s Words of Wisdom

John at Mt. Rushmore.

Pack A Water Bottle

John and I save so much money by filling-up our bottles each morning before we head out for the day or hit the road. It’s so tempting to wander into the gas station and buy a drink when you’re stretching your legs or refueling, but if you’ve got plenty of water with you, there’s no need. Stand outside and enjoy the fresh air instead!

Find Out What’s Happening Locally

Pick up the local newspaper and find out what events are going on during the course of your stay. Your homeowner may also have the inside scoop on activities as well. During our Truckster road trip, the Truckies have discovered a number of free attractions, summer concerts, and must-see stops that cost nothing.

Say Cheese

Skip the tacky souvenir in lieu of great photos by bringing a camera on your trip. There are all kinds of things you can do with the memories you capture with a camera or video recorder: make a movie or scrapbook or slide-show or decoupage your next coffee table with photos from your adventures. The possibilities are endless…

How’d I do? How do you save money while on the road? If you have any other tips that might be helpful on the Great American Road Trip, please let us know.

Learn more about John and Steph on the page of the HomeAway Truckie Team.

How to Prepare For a Money-Saving Travel Budget

By Erica Johansson on in Budget Travel

By NATIONAL PAYDAY

If you’re like most people, you may decide that the way to budget for a trip is to look up the best prices for tickets online. Then, you just pack your bags and go, without giving your budget a further thought. However, there are many ways you can prepare ahead of time to get a budget that saves you money by buying restaurant certificates, entertainment books, or scoping out deals through clubs and organizations in which you belong.

Restaurant Certificates

You can now go online and look up different restaurants in other cities and buy discounted gift certificates to that restaurant, before you even arrive at your destination. This not only helps you to figure out what restaurants might be worth visiting, but also saves you money too. You do have to abide by the terms of the certificate, which can place limits on the days you can redeem the certificate. You also might have a minimum order to meet. But, you can save anywhere from 50 to 80%, particularly on days when they have additional online promotions.

Entertainment Books

You can buy an entertainment book ahead of time and get discounted entries to popular attractions in various cities. If you are going to someplace like Busch Gardens, it’s definitely worth a look to see if you can get discounted tickets. You can even buy the entertainment books at a discount, if you hit an online promotion. Some credit card companies offer deep discounts for their members on these types of books.

Check Out Your Club Memberships

Triple A (AAA) and AARP are both organizations that provide travel perks to their membership. If you check with them first, you might find you can get not only deals on hotels, but restaurants and attractions too. Don’t forget that showing your membership card at various hotels will also give you benefits, but you have to know where to go.

How to Get Up to 10% Off Travel Costs!

By Erica Johansson on in Budget Travel

By KATHRYN VERE

Where are you going for your next adventure? Once you’ve decided on the direction, it’s time to get down to the nitty gritty of booking the flight, the hotels, sorting out what clothes you will need and… delving deeply into your purse to count how many pennies you’ve got to spend! Basking in the wonder of new horizons costs money however cheaply you go about it, so it’s always good to know about new ways of cutting the costs on the bits you’ve got to book and buy before you go so you can have more money to spend while you’re there.

Have you tried using a cashback shopping website like Give or Take? It’s a new way of buying flights, travel insurance, hotels, car rental, sports gear, beachwear etc. from all your favourite online stores like lastminute.com, expedia, opodo and Laterooms. You’ll pay exactly the same price for your travel buys that you would have done by booking direct, but simply by taking a few extra seconds to go to Give or Take first and click through to these stores by a slightly different route to buy you will earn up to 10% of what you spend in cashback which you won’t get if you go to stores’ websites direct!

Preview at http://www.giveortake.com/ how much more you can save on your holiday costs.