So you’re dying to go on a vacation, but not ready (or able) to sacrifice your wallet?
Hey, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to get away with the family and friends for a while. We all need to recharge every once and awhile.
In fact, science has shown that vacationing can actually improve sleep, reduce stress, improve productivity, and even help prevent heart disease. Use that line next time you bring up vacationing to your spouse.
So how can you go on a much needed vacation without breaking the bank?
Here are 7 tips to help you save big on your next vacation.
Dealspotr is the world’s largest and most accurate database of coupon codes, and yes, they have a travel section.
Under the “Travel” interest in Dealspotr, you can find coupon codes for everything from travel gear to hotels to gas, and everything in between that falls in the category of “travel”.
After you’ve looked through the Travel interest section, head over to the Brands tab in the main navigation, and click on “Travel and Events”.
This is where you’ll see a list of brands that fall under this category. You’ll see travel sites, hotels, rental car companies, movie theatres, and more.
To find the best deals, look for the “% avg savings”.
Also, once you know where you’re vacationing to, don’t forget to search Dealspotr for deals on location-specific brands and attractions.
For example, if you know you’re going to Nashville, you could search for “Nashville”, then click the Deals tab on the left-hand side to see things like Nashville Predators tickets, or Nashville-specific sales and deals.
You could do the same search for specific attractions and restaurants you plan on visiting while on vacation to save on those as well.
People who want money from their unused gift cards will sell them to sites like GiftCardGranny and Raise for way less than they’re worth. Then those sites turn around and make money by selling them to you at a discounted price.
The result?
You get all kinds of gift cards for way less than the marked value. I call that a win-win.
So how does this help you go on vacation?
You can purchase gift cards for restaurants, gas, snacks, clothes, movie theatres, and more. All at a steep discount.
To see this in action, go to GiftCardGranny.com and click “Top Deals”.
From there, you can scroll through and rack up on savings. You might even get some cool ideas for your trip and even plan your trip around the savings you find here.
If you’re still in the process of planning your vacation, or if you’re looking for extra things to do on your trip, Groupon is your site.
If you’re not familiar with Groupon, it’s a popular site typically used for saving at local businesses, but not many people think about looking at Groupon for deals for their vacation destination.
Start by going to Groupon.com, changing your location in the top right-hand side to your destination.
Then hover over Local, and click Things to Do.
You’ll find crazy savings on all sorts of local attractions. Just make sure you read the fine print on each one, because many of them will expire relatively quickly. For this reason, it may make more sense to start searching for Groupon deals closer to time to actually leave for your vacation.
It’s mostly common knowledge, but worth stating here: You’ll save money on airfare if you fly out of larger airports.
So don’t be unwilling to drive a couple of hours if that’s what it takes. Typically the ticket savings will be well worth the gas and time spent.
There are a few basic things you can do to minimize your gas bill when driving on road trips.
Use the cruise control. It actually does help a good bit with fuel mileage - up to 14% actually.
Avoid drive-thrus (unless you have screaming kids, then hit the drive thru hard). According to General Motors, idling in a drive-thru burns more fuel than turning off your vehicle and restarting it. Edmunds says, “Avoiding excessive idling can save up to 19 percent.”
Driving slower and less aggressively can save you a ton.
If you want to know where the cheapest gas around you is at all times, check out GasBuddy.
GasBuddy lets you get a real-time look at local gas prices so you always pay bottom dollar when filling up.
Most people know that Google has a Flights section where you can shop and compare airline tickets. It’s quick and convenient, and Google finds the best deal for you automatically. The only thing is, you have to already know the dates of your vacation. If you have a time in mind, then go for it.
However, if you’re feeling a bit more spontaneous and want to try to save even more money, take a look at Hipmunk.com.
Start by going to Hipmunk.com and clicking “Deals” in the top navigation.
You’ll then be taken to a page that asks you where you want to fly from, and that’s it.
From there, it will give you a list of the absolute best flight deals, regardless of time, date, or location.
You just pick the location, then pick the trip that looks best in terms of price, duration, etc.
As you can see, I can get a flight from Nashville to Ft. Lauderdale, FL for 45% off if I want to stay for 7 nights, or 36% off if I only want to stay for 3 nights. Not bad at all.
According to CheapAir.com, the best time to buy airline tickets at a bargain between 3 weeks and 3 months in advance.
CheapAir says, “check fares frequently during this period because at some point during these 3 months the best fare is likely to pop up.”
That means that while you aren’t necessarily guaranteed to find the best deal in that window, it’s much more likely to happen then than at any other time.
So if you want to save money, don’t buy your tickets too far in advance and don’t want until the last minute.
Extra tip: Experts generally agree that Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the cheapest days to fly, so keep that in mind when planning your trip and looking for cheap airfare.
Mike is a husband and father of 2 who studies the art of never paying full price for anything.
