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Rome nightscene © Wojtek Kutyla
A great way to experience another culture and save expenses when travelling is to stay with locals rather than opting for an expensive hotel room. If you don’t already know people at your destination, check out these websites:
Couch Surfing: “CouchSurfing is a worldwide network for making connections between travelers and the local communities they visit.”
Global freeloaders: “GlobalFreeloaders.com is an online community, bringing people together to offer you free accommodation all over the world. Save money and make new friends whilst seeing the world from a local’s perspective!”
The Hospitality Club: “Do you love meeting people from other cultures? Do you love traveling? Do you love helping other people? Then this is the place for you to be!”
Free-Stay.com: “Why pay for a holiday hotel when you can stay for free in someone else’s home? Links to a great choice of holiday swaps worldwide.”
Travelroomers: ”This site offers you the chance to travel the world for a simple trade, become a part of the travelroomers community and it will will revolutionize the world of travel forever.”
Servas: “Open your doors to Servas International, a network of peace. Doors you will never close. Friends you will never forget.”
Chicago - the most popular Memorial Day weekend destination
With rising gas prices, ridiculous airline add-ons, and an uncertain economy, many Americans choose staycations for the upcoming Memorial weekend May 23 - 27. Opting for a destination close to home makes perfect sense for today’s price-savvy travellers.
For example, people living in Los Angeles pick Las Vegas as their staycation spot and Detroit residents choose Chicago - the most popular Memorial Day destination for the second consecutive year. By checking into a nearby hotel, travellers can enjoy little luxuries such as relaxing by the pool, visiting the hotel spa, or ordering room service.
“Taking a staycation cuts travel time and hassle to a spectacular minimum and allows families to save money on getting to/from the airport, airfare, the high Euro, etc,” said Clem Bason, travel expert at Hotwire.com. “Through our relationships with top travel brands, we can offer four-star hotel rooms for two-star prices and discount car rentals for as low as $13.95 per day.”
According to hotel booking data from Hotwire.com, the top ten Memorial Day weekend destinations include:
(2007 rankings in parentheses):
1. Chicago, Illinois (1)
2. Las Vegas, Nevada (22)
3. San Francisco, California (3)
4. New York City, New York (12)
5. Seattle, Washington (16)
6. Los Angeles, California (5)
7. Washington D.C. (2)
8. Toronto, Ontario, Canada (10)
9. Boston, Massachusetts (7)
10. Orlando, Florida (11)
J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Independent Travel Web Site Satisfaction Study(SM) recognized Hotwire for ranking “Highest in Customer Satisfaction Among Independent Travel Web Sites, Two Years in a Row.”
Below Clem Bason presents some great staycations options for Memorial Day weekend that are available on Hotwire.com:
Atlanta - take a CNN Studio Tour for a behind-the-scenes look at the 24-hour news service (entry $9-12)
- $79 per night for a 4-star hotel in Downtown Atlanta
- $79 per night for a 3.5-star hotel in Midtown Atlanta
- $59 per night for a 3.5-star hotel in Downtown Atlanta
Savannah - Take a Oglethorpe Trolley tour in Savannah’s historic district or visit the immensely popular 700 Kitchen Cooking School. In Hilton Head Island, hit the beach or play golf, or visit the interactive Coastal Discovery Museum, where families can learn about the history and wildlife of sea islands.
- $246 per night for a 4-star resort hotel in Hilton Head Island (listed on Hotwire.com as beachfront hotel with pool)
- $169 per night for a 3.5-star hotel in Savannah Historic District
- $139 per night for a 3-star hotel in Savannah Historic District
- $114 per night for a 3-star hotel in Hilton Head Island
Nashville - Listen to country music and visit the Country Music Museum or go outlet shopping near Opryland
- $172 per night for a 4-star hotel in Downtown Nashville -Vanderbilt University - Metrocenter
- $126 per night for a 4-star hotel in the Opryland area
- $122 per night for a 3.5-star condo in Opryland Area
- $59 per night for a 3-star hotel in Nashville South - Antioch
As you can see, staying close to home can pay off in spades!
Today, Blissful Travel has the pleasure of hearing from Hotwire’s travel expert Clem Bason who gives invaluable tips on saving money and how to find the best travel deals. Whether you need a last-minute hotel room for New Orleans Jazz Fest (April 25-27), a cheap airline ticket or a good car rental deal, Hotwire.com is the site to visit.
E.J. For someone who is unfamiliar with Hotwire, how can they find the best deal on your site?
C.B: In order to answer this question, I thought it would be helpful to give a brief overview into what Hotwire is and how Hotwire works.
Hotwire.com is a discount travel site that delivers prices that consumers can’t find on any other website. Hotwire is able to do this due to their unsold inventory business model. With the economy taking a turn for the worse and no one knowing how it’s going to play out, consumers are holding back on their discretionary spend more than ever before. And, while hotels, car rental companies and airliners don’t want to overreact and would rather not disrupt their regular rate structure, the fact is, travel is down and rooms are sitting empty right now. When hotels, car rental companies and airliners have unsold inventory, they use Hotwire to fill it.
Hotwire benefits consumers:
Hotwire believes that consumers deserve to travel, and they deserve to get the best price. The site saw an opening in the marketplace where it could provide consumers with deep discounts without relying on bidding, hassles or games. Here’s how:
- By partnering with hotels, airlines and car rental agencies, Hotwire can offer the consumer unsold inventory at prices you can’t find on other travel sites
- Examples: Hotwire consistently delivers 4 star hotels at 2 star prices; the site uses name suppliers; Hotwire has instilled star rating system for hotels that is accurate and accountable; the site is so confident in its low price deals that if you find a hotel for a lower rate on the internet, it will double the difference between the two prices guaranteed; Hotwire also has an active customer care group that is available 24 hours a day to help travelers.
Hotwire also benefits suppliers:
- Hotwire allows suppliers to sell their inventory without disrupting their pricing models.
- Excess inventory is an inherent part of the travel business. However, unlike physical inventory like a sweater, suppliers have more urgency to sell their excess. Planes have to take off and hotel room nights are fixed in time. Hotwire takes advantage of that urgency and pass the saving on to the consumer.
- However, these discounts don’t mean suffering: Hotwire works with the same top travel brands (same rooms, same seats, same cars), but we offer deals you can’t find on other travel sites-in some cases discounts up to 50%.
- We focus on the discounts and make it easier for you to find and book deals.
- Major airlines, top tier hotels and car rental companies are comfortable giving us great deals because you don’t see their brand before you buy.
Hotwire has very strong deals:
Hotwire has very strong inventory in hotels and cars.
- Hotwire offers discounts on hotels up to 50% off of retail fares
- Hotwire’s cars start at 13.95 a day -and there are no hidden fees
One can also find deep discounts on airfare:
- Hotwire offers special deals on airline tickets that allow consumers to save up to 35% off retail fares. There are no booking fees on Hotwire.
Hotwire also offers tools that can help consumers find deals and save money:
TripStarter
The Hotwire® TripStarterTM planning tool is an online resource to offer historical air and hotel pricing data, helping travelers decide when and where to go on vacation and providing information on weather, local events and attractions for domestic and international destinations.
TripStarter shows:
- The best times of the year to save on travel
o Seasonal pricing trends for the past two years
o Tips on how to get the lowest airfares and hotel rates
- How to make the most of your getaway
o Listings of local festivities, fairs and other fun events
o Photos, maps, points of interest listings and more
Airfare Savings Hub
- The Airfare Savings Hub takes the leg work out of the hunt for the lowest price by proactively recommending alternate routes and dates for those travelers willing to be flexible with their plans to save even more money. These recommendations will appear along with the lowest available price for their exact flight request*:
- Suggests nearby alternate airports for both departure and arrivals if cheaper tickets are available.
- For instance, the airfare savings hub has found savings for travelers flying into West Palm Beach or Fort Lauderdale instead of Miami and Carlsbad instead of San Diego.
- Suggests that travelers adjust their travel by one or two days if savings are available.
- With ASH, customers can also look for the lowest fare for their route within 30 days. Hotwire’s Flexible Date Search will find the lowest fare for a specific destination within a 30 day period.
- Suggests nearby alternate airports for both departure and arrivals if cheaper tickets are available.
Deal engine: When a hotel changes or cuts their price - Hotwire has an embedded engine that compares it to the previous week and everyone in the market and alerts the consumer to this.
TravelTicker: A bi-weekly travel newsletter that promotes insider travel deals, limited-time offers and small hotel vacancies. This is for the price aware and flexible traveler. TravelTicker offers relevant, hard to find vacation deals no-one knows about
Last minute flight deals - picking deals starting yesterday that span through to Monday or Tuesday
Double the difference price guarantee: If a consumer finds a lower price on the internet, Hotwire will pay the consumer double the difference
So our advice to price savvy travelers looking for a great deal is to shop! You will find that Hotwire’s consistently delivers.
E.J: What are your best money saving tips?
C.B: Here are tips we like to tell consumers who are looking to save money:
- Be flexible - sometimes just shifting your trip start and end dates by one day will save you huge amounts of money
- Look for alternative airports - often big cities have more than one airport - and those airports may have much better deals than the ‘big guy’
- Take advantage of shoulder seasons - check out when the most popular times of year are to visit your particular destination - when you travel during peak times, prices skyrocket. Most consumers don’t know that the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is one of the least expensive times to travel
- Take a drive trip - with the price of gas mounting, you will be well served renting a car and taking that drive trip you always wanted.
- Use planning tools - check out Tripstarter and airfare savings hub.
Editor’s note: This was definitely interesting. I hope you can make use of these moneysaving tips during your next vacation. Happy travels!
Text 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.
Visit Sandemans New Europe for free guided tours in Europe. Their famous 3,5 hour New Paris Free Tour covers all the main sites such as Notre Dame, The Louvre, Palais Royal and Arc de Triomphe.
Other tours include London, Berlin, Munich, Amsterdam and Edinburgh.
Inn at Mulberry Grove in Savannah, Georgia, might be the world’s first budget boutique hotel. Launched by the British born and educated hotelier Andy Morar, the hotel provides comfortable, affordable yet luxurious accommodation for smart and price-conscious Savannah travellers. The inn, situated along Georgia I-95 in Port Wentworth, Exit 109, offers an easy stop for Florida- or South Carolina-bound travellers and outdoes all other lodging establishments in the area.
I doubt the timing could have been better for a bargain model like Inn at Mulberry Grove. But the success didn’t happen overnight - Andy Morar built his first Port Wentworth hotel, Savannah Inn, in 1997. Rather than imitating the brand hotels, he decided to do something unique and with improvements as boutique wines, exclusive beers, and fresh waffles for breakfast his guests can expect to be well treated.
Address: Inn at Mulberry Grove, 101 O’Leary Road @ I95 Exit 109, Port Wentworth, Georgia 31407
Upcoming events in Savannah
Southern Lights, a Savannah Holiday celebration, December - January 1, with parades, concerts, tree lightings, and cultural festivals.
St. Patrick’s Day Parade, Friday, March 14, 2008.
Savannah Music Festival, March 20 through April 5, 2008, is Georgia’s largest musical arts festival.
Budapest © Bernard Mukarubibi
Many European cities show their best side during the Autumn. Why not book a last minute trip to Barcelona, Rome or another European destination?
Eat tapas at one of of many tapas places, go bar hopping in El Borne, and dance into the wee hours in Barcelona, visit Szécheneyi Bath, have a coffee at Gerbeaud and stroll along the Donau river in Budapest, go shopping in Berlin, stop at the Uffizi Gallery and admire the architecture in Florence, go sightseeing in Rome or enjoy a romantic weekend in Paris.
See Ryanair and Flydeals.co.uk for the latest offers. flycheapo and Which Budget, featuring 115 airlines in 124 countries, are great flight finders.
Keep these things in mind to avoid over-priced flight tickets.
1. Book your ticket in advance. Often it’s cheaper the earlier you book.
2. Be flexible. When you search for flights, choose the option +/- 3 days to find the cheapest flight possible.
3. Look after offers. Some airlines have offers you can only book from their website, so click on everything where it stands ”offer”, “discount” or “special offer.”
4. Are you a student or a pensioner? Then you can get a discount at many airlines.
5. Double check the price. Airlines often show prices without tax.
6. Pay with credit card. Most credit cards such as VISA, Mastercard or American Express have an insurance that gives you compensation for delays or cancelled flights.
One of the most popular low-price airlines in Europe is Ryanair. You can also find cheap tickets to European destinations through Sterling, Germanwings, FlyNordic and Blue.
I just found this great website Art of Travel where you can read the independent traveler John Gregory’s online guide on how to see the world without needing to spend much. Don’t miss How to Get Cheap Flights - it’s one of the best chapters.
A few years ago I sat in the lounge area in London Heathrow Airport and waited for my flight back to Sweden to appear on the departure board. After nine hours on a flight from New York I was hungry and really tired. I lay down on a sofa and decided to rest my eyes for a couple of minutes. I woke up 45 minutes later, realising I had missed my flight. Luckily a flight six hours later had a few free seats left.
That’s my closest experience to sleeping in airports. Although I’ve never spent a whole night in an airport I wouldn’t hesitate if it was convenient, safe and fairly comfortable. Check out The Budget Traveller’s Guide to Sleeping in Airports who lists the world’s best and worst airports. Do you have any experience from sleeping in airports?
New York City obviously has a wide range of hotels and hostels. If you’re on a budget and don’t mind sharing room with like-minded travelers, hostel is a perfect choice. During my visit I found two favorites.
1. Hostelling International New York (891 Amsterdam Avenue) - The largest hostel in New York offers comfy and spacious rooms, guest discounts, included breakfast and a nice outdoor terrace. Their own back patio and garden is Manhattan’s largest private green space. The hostel is only three blocks from Central Park and one block from Broadway Avenue.
2. Bowery’s Whitehouse Hotel of New York (340 Bowery) - This hostel is conveniently situated in the No-Ho district and prices start at $28.00 per person - you can’t find any better price than that on private rooms in the city. If you do, let me know. If you don’t mind small rooms (basically just two beds and a wardrobe) and sharing showers and bathrooms with the other travelers, this is a great hostel.
One day we walked past The Gershwin Hotel (7 East 27th Street), a superstylish and funky place centrally located near Empire State Building. Even though it’s managed like a hotel and doesn’t have common hostel facilities like a kitchen, dining area, laundry and free internet access it really is a hostel. We didn’t have time to stay there, but I will definitely give it a chance during my next New York visit.
You can find more information about these New York hostels and many others at Hostels.com
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