Planning a Holiday Vacation with Little or No Travel Budget

Have you ever envied people who pay bottom dollar for great vacations? What you really envy is the time they have invested in using free resources on the Internet to find the best deals that stretch their dollars more than the average consumer believes possible.

Some people are their own personal travel experts. One way to take a dream vacation is to book your trip in stages. For example, if you want to take a week-long trip for the holidays, start in August and September researching airfare sales. If you are flexible with your dates and destinations, you can open up a broad search. When you see a fare that is too good to pass up (like $129 round-trip from south Florida to Washington, D.C., over winter break), you can seriously think about booking the flight.

As you get a little closer to the vacation, you can invest another sum in the prepayment of your hotel reservation. If you can't afford a week of accommodations all at once, you can try a strategy like booking 3 days at one hotel and then later paying for 4 days at a different lodging. One hint is to look for brand-new hotels that are just opening. They will offer introductory rates even during the holidays.

After you have booked airfare and lodging, you can add other arrangements like the rental car, commuter train tickets, and admission tickets for entertainment venues. Another idea is to buy gas cards and prepaid debit cards to save for travel incidentals. In this piecemeal fashion, you build your vacation into a total package. At each stage, you save a lot of money through prepayment. The only disadvantage is the possible loss of money if you have to reschedule your vacation due to unforeseen circumstances.

By taking incremental steps in financing your vacation, you can take advantage of weekly specials in travel and enjoy the economic advantage of booking in advance. The time that you spend researching prices on the Internet is usually rewarded by saving hundreds of dollars on your vacation.

This method works in a way that paying for a vacation all up front never does because many people do not have $800 to $2,000 to pay at once for flight and airfare packages offered by travel web sites like Expedia and Priceline. The information found at these highly successful sites comprises your market research.

If you watch the sales, you can plan a trip to a wonderful vacation destination. Because you are taking steps well in advance, you will save more than you would if you waited until you saved the total right before your travel dates. Use tools like the Priceline "Name Your Own Price" option to save even more.

The same travel research you performed while fare watching will help you to successfully bid on tickets and accommodations when cash is at your fingertips. Explore the affordability of travel through creative booking and financing schemes that fit your budget. You just have to think outside the box of traditional travel in order to take a terrific trip for the holidays.

© 2008 Ian White, Access 2000 Pty Ltd

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Ian White Moderator Housecarers
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The cheapest way to holiday is to actually swap houses for your vacation time.
Its a great way to cut costs and have a holiday...

Its amazing that ore people don't do this

Maggi

I also think investing in a campervan or similar is a great way to save money while traveling as you not only have accomodation sorted but you can shop in supermarkets and cook your own food.

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It's not the destination it's the glory of the ride!

My husband and I are members of the Hospitality Club (www.hospitalityclub.org) which is where you get to stay for free in people's home and learn about their cultures and lives and visa-versa. It is fantastic and you get to make some lovely friends. We travelled throughout Europe last year for 2 months and didn't pay for any accommodation.

While you get free accommodation it is more about cultural exchange.

Since joining we have had over 50 people stay with us from all around the globe and we have stayed with many people as well.

We have found that although people may have different languages, religion and perspective on life, etc. At the end of the day, families are the same the world over. And it is so wonderful to be part of it.

Cheers
Elwynn

'We only work for our next plane ticket'

Wow thanks for that info Novacat. I think this would be a good website to put in it's own topic on the travel forum!

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It's not the destination it's the glory of the ride!

try : http://www.skyauction.com/ for travel

try: http://www.ovguide.com/ for movies, travel and tv

try: http://www.exercisetv.tv/

* for exercise videos on the road . All these sites I have given you are free of charge....

Enjoy !

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Best Regards
Alicia