Travel Blog III

One simple website, thousands of possibilities. If you've paid attention to the last two posts, you'll understand the importance of planning ahead. Buying your tickets, arranging for your transportation and accommodations far enough in advance can save you mucho dinero. Kayak is the be all end all of all travel sites. Searches the majority of the globe's leading airlines to situate the traveler with the best flight. You can sort by price, duration, or play around with multi-city/flexible dates.

Living in a Southwest hub city, is also another great way to save. I'm not saying move to a city that flies Southwest, but it is definitely an advantage. Especially if you download and install their Ding! software. This badboy alerts you everyday to new and low prices available for purchase that day. Today's Dings! involve $49 dollar flights to Vegas from Phoenix. Get those bad boys round trip and you have a Vegas vacation getaway for under $100. Tack on the airline fees and its still cheaper than driving!

As with anything, sign up for discounts, frequent visitor memberships, and mailing lists. You'll be quite surprised to realize how much you can save, after you've spent money. Doesn't make much sense? Signing up for Southwest's rewards program will give you a freeflight after X amount of flights you've used with their airlines. Register yourself at Southwest.com.

If I can teach you anything it is that the key to being a happy saver is you have to do the research. Just like nobody is going to walk up to you on the street and hand you a wad of cash, companies aren't going to just hand you discounts. Use your resources and get it done for yourself.

All this travel talk... I'm starting to feel the urge to abandon my staycation. :)

Travel Blog II

When it comes to travelling and planning a vacation, the most important thing to do is to give yourself adequate time to prepare yourself. Save money, plan your trip, organize your life for when you are away, and request time off from work or school. All of these things require weeks if not months of preparation.

Research, research, research. Do it online and discuss it with other travelers. For inspiration, go to websites to browse travel photos, journals and videos posted by real people sharing their experiences. Southwest Travel has great things to do in all of the cities that Southwest stops in. Written by travellers for travellers.

Be prepared for certain situations. Planning ahead for things that could possibly happen will make the trip a whole lot smoother. Decide on a schedule for what each person wants to do along the way. Gather the family together and discuss what you had in mind. Be prepared for arguments. Everyone must be willing to compromise.

Find a pet-sitter ahead of time if you own any animals that can't come along. If you decide to bring any, you must remember that they can't go inside restaurants or hotels, and they will have to make bathroom breaks as well. It's best to leave them at home. Put your pets into detail for the sitter and leave them with your phone number in case they have any questions while you're gone that you forgot to cover.

If it's a family vacation and you're traveling by vehicle (for a long time), bring stuff to keep everyone entertained and comfortable. AAA Fuel Cost Calculator will tell you what to expect from your vehicle when making the journey.

Estimate the total cost of your vacation. Be sure to include restraunts (food & drink per person each day), gas for the vehicle to get there, back, and to places nearby where you'll be staying, hotel rooms per night, and any other activities that you plan on doing. (Swimming, the zoo, etc.) Holiday Travel Calculator is brilliant for calculating the total cost of your trip, including lodging, food, transportation, etc.

If the trip seems a bit pricey, you may want to consider looking for discounts. You can normally find accommodation and travel discounts online. While you're at the site, they can also help plan your trip.

Work around the price. Normally if you're visiting family in another state, you can stay at one of their houses overnight (if there's enough room for everyone). (Free showers, food, television, and bed!)

As with anything: Planning=Savings.

Travel Blog 1

A certain special some one in my life is off traveling for business, pleasure and joyful reunions. So it would make a great deal of sense that Traveling would be at the forefront of my mind.

On that note, may I present the first post in a series on traveling cheap!

Let face it though, vacations are one of those things that require careful planning and saving of time and resources. You can't just throw everything into a bag and run to the airport, no matter how often they do it in the movies, without reeling from consequences. You have to take into consideration where you're going, how long you'll be there, airfare, accommodations, transportation, entertainment, not to mention ensuring that everything will be taken care of while you're gone.

First things first: Packing your luggage.

Nothing is more horrible than getting into your hotel room after eating the most garlic riddled exotic dish only to realize you forgot your toothbrush. Well I guess walking into your hotel room to see a stranger using your toothbrush would be equally as horrible, but I can't help you much there.

What I can help you with is saving money in buying only exactly what you'll need for your trip. Everything you'll need from how many changes of clothes to inclement weather necessities.

The Universal Packing List can be directly tailored to your vacation or trip. Enter in your specifics and it will generate the perfect travel list for you. Mind you, you don't have to purchase everything on the list, but the necessities are there so you won't be forgetting much of anything.

It provides also a list of Things to do before you leave most of which will save you money!

Wash the dishes- Save money, save water. Do the dishes before you leave so you don't have to battle caked on food when you get back.
Make a lunch- Taking food from home is always cheaper than eating out. I can't beat this into your head hard enough.
Pet Care- Leaving pets with loved ones saves money and temperaments versus placing pets in a kennel.
Unplug electrical stuff- No sense in paying money to have your surge protectors running power to your PC, TV or Fish tank. Okay, leave that last plug alone, but unplug everything else that isn't necessary.
Turn down the temperature in your home-Or just turn it off. hmmmm...
Confirm airline tickets-Save money on fees, make sure you don't miss your flight.
Get your airmiles in advance-Free flight!! I'm on this!
Memorize PIN codes to credit cards-Don't write them down.

Check out what hospitals are covered by your health insurance
Install or recharge batteries
Get maps

Plan your trip enough in advance that you can ideally have everything taken care of and save yourself some money.