Cheap Travel Tips

Play Each Site Off Each Other
My wife seems to have a knack for finding the best rental car and hotel rates using a combination of Hotwire + Travelocity compared to Priceline.com. How?

She'll first assess the going market rate of the rental car, hotel, or airfare. She then goes into Priceline to underbid the going market rate. For instance, if the going rate of rental cars is $20 for that week, she'll start off a bid at least 50% less than market rate. Worst case scenario no one accepts her bid. Using this technique has literally saved us $$.

Procrastination Pays
This may seem counterintuitive because we've been trained to book in advance for better raties (i.e., airfare). However, this isn't always true for hotels or car rentals. Since the prices change with demand, if there's insufficient demand close to your travel date, rates drop. You can then move in and benefit from these cheap rates!

Cash Rebate Credit Cards
Charge your trips and travel services on a cash back credit card. For instance, you can get up to 5% cash back with Blue Cash® from American Express.

Loyalty / Reward Programs
Membership truly has its rewards and perks. The key here is loyalty. If you're not sticking to a few airlines, hotels, or car rentals, your credit will be diluted over many brands. This same concept applies to casinos (i.e., Las Vegas); the casinos will reward you for playing. I recently received free room comps at the Red Rock Casino and Resort!

More Business Trips
Another way to bring down your cost of travel is to treat it as a business expense for tax purposes. Of course, you'll need to consult a tax professional for your individual situation.

You don't need to be a big business; think home-based business. If you are a business owner, then think about travel affiliate programs (i.e., Commission Junction, LinkShare.com)

Travelocity.com
Who doesn't love the "Roaming Gnome" commercial? On top of that, Travelocity rewards loyal customers. After booking a few flights, she is now part of the VIP Member program who offer decent perks. However, I really like the "Farewatcher" feature that allows you to set up travel alerts and searches for extreme deals. Travelocity Saves You on Flights, Hotels, Car Rentals, Cruises and More
.

Hotwire.com
Hotwire has some pretty cool features. However, my wife really uses Hotwire to determine the going market rates (flights, hotels), including using the best value guarantee. She then goes to Priceline to start the lowball bidding process. Note: If your company participates in the NextJump.com program, you might even notice a difference between the public rates compared to corporate discount rates on some travel options! You can even get 4-star hotels at 2 star prices!  Get up to 60% off retail rates at Hotwire!.

Priceline.com - no one deals like we do!
Okay, William Shatner's new "Priceline negotiator" commercial isn't that great. However, this is clearly one of our favorite website services. If you know the market rates, you can start with a lowball bid less than 50% or greater. If it is accepted, you save $$. If not, increase your bid by small increments to get great discounts!

Kayak.com
A friend of mine recently mentioned this travel website. The best way I can describe this is the Google of Travel Search Engines. Kayak.com was created by co-founders of Orbitz, Travelocity and Expedia; it helps you find great travel deals from over 100 other travel sites. Find Cheap Flights from 100+ Sites with One Click.

Marriot Hotels
The Marriott Rewards program is free to join. This program offers additional flexibility; you can also earn airline mileage points. In addition, the Courtyard by Marriott chain offers decent accommodations for business travelers. Finally, if you have AAA member? Get discount rates at Marriott

Here are some useful travel resources.

If you have great travel sites you use, please contribute to my travel swicki on Eurekster.