Travel Deal of the Day (Nov. 30, 2006)

The Deal:
Flying last-minute can be expensive. Without any advance purchase, a weekend trip can break the bank. But it does not have to be so expensive, especially with so many ways to save money on last minute tickets. Here are three ideas to save money when you need to travel last minute.

How:
1) Check last minute airfares offered by the airlines. Airlines usually offer last minute fare sales at the beginning of the week (usually Tuesday or Wednesday) for travel either the next weekend or the following weekend. A good website to check for last minute airfares is www.smartertravel.com - usually these last minute weekend fares require you to leave on Saturday and return the following Monday or Tuesday.

2) What if you cannot leave on Saturday but need to leave on Thursday or Friday? I have saved a ton of money purchasing last minute packages on www.site59.com - Site59 allows you to purchase weekend travel packages (air/car, air/hotel or hotel/car) for travel within 21 days. Quite often, the price of an air/car package is much cheaper than buying just the airfare alone through an airline. It is often advantageous to buy one of the these packages when you need to travel last minute over a weekend regardless of whether you actually use the car or hotel that comes with the airfare.

3) A final suggestion – check out the low cost carriers' websites. Many major web travel sites do not check airfares for various low cost carriers. So, it is important that you individually check the low cost carriers’ websites (Southwest, Airtran, JetBlue, Frontier), especially because these carriers often have reasonable last minute ticket prices.

Travel Deal of the Day (Nov. 29, 2006)

Going on vacation? Another free-night hotel deal is available, similar to the Marriott promotion discussed last week.

The Deal:
Fairmont Hotels is providing a buy two (or three) nights, get one night free promotion.

How:
1) Select a hotel offering the promotion at: http://www.fairmont.com/winter/

2) Book your hotel room using the promotion by December 18, 2006 for stays until April 30, 2007.

3) Full terms and conditions of this promotion and related Fairmont promotions are available at: http://www.fairmont.com/termsandconditions/

Travel Deal of the Day (Nov. 28, 2006)

Are you (or someone you know) a college (undergrad or graduate level) student? Do you want to get 10,000 easy, free United Mileage Plus miles? If so, read on….

The Deal:
The United College Plus Program provides a number of benefits to university (undergrad or graduate level) students, including a 10,000 mile bonus for graduation.

How:
1) Join United Mileage Plus, if you are not already a member, at: https://www.ua2go.com/ci/JoinMileagePlus.jsp?jumpLink=%2Fjoinmp

2) Sign your Mileage Plus number up for the United College Plus Program at:
http://www.united.com/page/specialpage/0,6822,50149,00.html

3) To receive 10,000 easy Mileage Plus miles after graduation, send your transcript to the address listed at: http://www.united.com/page/article/0,6722,3106,00.html

The Inside Scoop:
1) No actual travel is required to earn the 10,000 miles. You must, however, sign up for College Plus while still a university student and then send in a transcript within 12 months of graduation.

2) If you want to earn additional miles while attending a university (and at the same time establish a credit history), you can sign up for the free United College Plus Visa card which offers one mile for every two dollars spent. Note that this mileage earning rate is lower than some of United’s Mileage Plus credit cards with annual fees, but since this card is fee-free, it may work out well for some students. See the information about the card at: http://www.united.com/page/article/0,6722,3101,00.html

3) Bottom line: the 10K mileage bonus for graduation is probably the easiest free mileage promotion available to students.

Travel Deal of the Day (Nov. 27, 2006)

Thinking about going on a cruise? When booking a cruise, many people just book the airfare that is offered by the cruise line without checking airfare rates. The cruise price quoted to you may include an optional air portion that you can find cheaper on your own.

The Deal:
Check airfares before purchasing the airfare offered by your cruise.

How:
Search traditional booking channels for the best available airfare. It sounds obvious, but many people ignore the fact that while the cruise rate may be a deal, the optional airfare offered by the cruise can be more expensive than booking on your own. Always check to see if the cruise line has added in optional airfare at a price that is higher than you can book on your own.

The Inside Scoop:
Remember to get to your cruise port at least 24 hours before your cruise is scheduled to depart. The cruise will not wait for you and airline delays are very frequent.

Travel Deal of the Day (Nov. 25, 2006)

A hotel booking website will generally sell you a hotel room in one of two ways: 1) the hotel sells you a room at the exact rate offered by the hotel or 2) the website pre-purchases or pre-negotiates room rates from a hotel and sells those rooms to you, usually at lower rates than in the first manner. When operating in this second manner, the website usually makes its money by pre-negotiating a significant discount from the hotel and then passing on some of the savings to you.

The Deal:
Buy rooms from websites that pre-negotiate or pre-purchase rooms and then sell those rooms to you at a discount.

How:
1) Go to a website that pre-purchases/pre-negotiates room rates. One such website you can click on to book travel is:

2) Compare the rates at a site such as Easy Click Travel with the rates available through the hotel directly and through other websites.

The Inside Scoop:
Sometimes websites such as Easy Click Travel (see link above) that pre-purchase/pre-negotiate room rates will obscure the name of the hotel so the hotel will allow that website to offer the hotel at a significant discount. It is easy to figure out which particular hotel is being offered. Do a www.google.com search with the description offered by the website and the location indicated by the website. Ignore that star rating since star ratings are often subjective and differ depending on the rating system.

Travel Deal of the Day (Nov. 24, 2006)

Going to a convention at a hotel? Did they block rooms for overnight guests and you automatically just accepted the pre-negotiated group rate for the hotel? Well, you may have just overpaid, or, if nothing else, subsidized the group organizer’s room.

The Deal:
Saving money when attending a convention is easy and painless. There are a couple of rules to keep in mind when attending a convention to avoid overpaying.

How:
1) Call to find out the pre-negotiated rates for attending the convention. Sometimes, the rate will be a bargain. But, sometimes the rate is actually higher than rates available to the general public since the hotel knows most people will just book a room at the group/negotiated rate (you are a captive audience). In addition, sometimes the pre-negotiated rate is higher so as to subsidize the free room(s) given to the group organizer(s).

2) Check the website of the hotel and check rates via an aggregator website which checks hotel rates at a number of area hotels (examples include: www.sidestep.com, www.kayak.com). Check for applicable discounts including the Entertainment Card rate, AAA, AARP, travel industry, American Bar Association. Also, do a www.google.com search for the hotel and terms such as “promotions” or “discounts” – you may find incredible deals you did not even know existed.

3) Call the hotel and check for available discounts. But do not indicate that you are part of a convention. Just check to see the rates available to the general public and check for discounts. You may be pleasantly surprised at the choice of available rates. One thing to note here - if the hotel has blocked a large portion of its rooms for its group/convention, the rates may be higher than normal (since fewer rooms are available for the general public), making the group rate seem more attractive. I would recommend finding a room rate that is cancelable, book that rate, but be sure to note Step 5 since the hotel will likely discount rooms closer to your check-in date if the pre-blocked rooms go unsold.

4) If it would be feasible for you to stay in the vicinity of the convention but not necessarily at the exact location, I would recommend using a prepaid/non-refundable service such as www.priceline.com or www.hotwire.com to find a hotel in the area of the convention but likely at a much lower price. (I will talk about how to use these services efficiently in a later blog – stay tuned.)

5) Assuming that step 4 did not work out and you booked a cancelable room rate, I would recommend periodically checking room rates at the hotel. If the convention guests do not use all the pre-blocked rooms, the hotel will release the rooms for sale to the general public. This often occurs so close to the arrival date that the hotel must sell those rooms at a significant discount. If you have booked a cancelable room rate, you can switch to the lower rate. Remember, the hotel will not call you to tell you that it has lowered its rates – it is incumbent upon you to check. Also remember that it is important to reserve a room in advance to ensure that you have a room in case the hotel does sell out.

6) If you are staying at the hotel over a weekend, check for last minute weekend rates offered by many hotel chains the Tuesday or Wednesday before the applicable weekend. You can sign up to be automatically emailed such last minute hotel rates at http://www.smartertravel.com/hotel/.

Travel Deal of the Day (Nov. 23, 2006)

Have you ever wondered why there are always people who say they paid for the cheapest room at a hotel but ended up getting the best room with the best view? How did they do that? Well, knock on wood, I have been very lucky to be one of those people. There are some easy things you can do to increase your chances of getting a great room upgrade at hotels.

Deal:
Getting a free room upgrade at a hotel is actually pretty easy. It basically comes down to being kind and being savvy.

How:
1) First off, before even making a reservation at a hotel, investigate the hotel’s frequent guest club. Join the club! Most frequent guest clubs are free. And the hotel will be much more likely to give you an upgrade if you are a member of a frequent guest club. In fact, many of the frequent guest clubs have as a published benefit a free room upgrade based on availability.

2) When making the reservation, be very, very kind to the reservation agent. You are much more likely to receive a better room if you are kind. The agents have an incredible amount of discretion to give you a great room. Especially if you frequent that hotel, it is very helpful to develop a rapport with the agent – they will get to know your preferences and be more likely to upgrade you or give you the best room available. Remember when making the reservation to indicate to the reservation agent that you are a frequent guest club member.

3) Monitor the website of the hotel and the frequent guest program you are a part of to see about any specials. You may see that free room upgrades are available or discounts are available to allow you to pay for a lower priced room or even the same rate but in a better room.

4) On the day before check in, call, email or fax the front desk manager to remind them that you are coming and about any special occasion. The hotel usually pre-blocks its rooms the night before the day of arrival. You want to be pre-blocked into the best possible room. (This is why, even if you check in early in the day, the hotels may not have the best rooms available…they were pre-blocked the night before.)

5) At check-in, ask for any frequent guest upgrades or any upgrades based on some special occasion.

6) Always think about developing a rapport with the hotel employees, especially if you are a frequent guest. I have met incredibly nice people working at hotels, and they very much appreciated when you tell them when they do a great job. On top of this, they will remember you the next time you visit and will be more likely to give you a room upgrade on your next visit.

Travel Deal of the Day (Nov. 22, 2006)

You are ready to go on a holiday weekend. You have the plane tickets and the hotel. Only one thing left – the car rental. No problem, right? Then you notice that the car rental agency wants $100/day for even the smallest car.

This is a common problem. Especially around holiday time periods or in cities with high demand for cars, car rental rates can be incredibly high. One potential fix for high prices – look for pre-negotiated car rental rates for which you may be eligible.

Most people are used to asking for the AAA discount or some other standard 5% or 10% discount. However, 5% off of some horrendously high rate is just not a good discount. The discounts I am referring to here go beyond just the standard percent off discount. There are many pre-negotiated rates that can be far lower than the standard rates in place during high demand time periods.

The Deal:
Pre-negotiated car rental rates can be an incredible deal during high demand time periods and/or during holiday time periods.

How:
1) Look at every entity, organization or club you are in any way associated with or ever could be associated with…look everywhere. Think about: where you went to school/university, your insurance company, your old fraternity/sorority, your credit union/bank, your employer, your professional association, your travel agency, your airline, your discount warehouse club (Sams/BJs/CostCo)...You will be shocked at some of the reasonable rates that have been pre-negotiated by the organization you had long since forgotten.

2) Call the car rental companies and ask for the “code” associated with that organization. Each car rental company will call the “code” something different. For instance, National calls it a “Contract ID #” whereas Hertz calls it a “CDP #”….you can find the name for the “code” on the website of the car rental company you are interested in using. Or, better yet, do a www.google.com search for the organization and the car rental company name and find the relevant code on the web.

3) Use that car rental company website to book a reservation (to be eligible for the best rates) and try all the codes that may apply. If the standard rates are low, using a percent off discount (along with a coupon, if applicable) may be the best discount. But when standard rates are really high, look for the pre-negotiated rates of these organizations.

The Inside Scoop:
1) Always try to combine your discounted car rental rate with a coupon. Sometimes coupons will be blacked out or unavailable, but often there is at least one coupon which can get you terrific discounts on top of the discount you are eligible for based on the “code” mentioned above. Some common places to find great coupons include the Entertainment Book or your discount warehouse club (Sams/BJs/CostCo).

2) Always, always, always – keep checking your car rental rate up until the day you pick up the car. The rates change constantly. I quite often find the best rates within 48 hours of when I pickup the car.

Travel Deal of the Day (Nov. 21, 2006)

How can you get a $500/night 5 star Hawaiian hotel for only $250? How can you get a busy $300/night metropolitan hotel for only $99/night? These hotel deals are obtainable through a largely unknown Hyatt program known as the Hyatt Stay Certificate Program. Hyatt allows you to prepay for certificates redeemable at many of their hotels. Hyatt ranks its hotels in four categories, from the least expensive (Classic) to most expensive (Elite). The prices for these certificates range from $99 (Classic) to $249 (Elite). Many times, especially for leisure travel during a holiday season or for business travel midweek, these stay certificates provide excellent deals.

The Deal:
Purchase Non-Refundable Hyatt Stay Certificates for stays at Hyatt Hotels & Resorts. The prices vary based on the level of Hyatt hotel:
Classic (lowest level) $99/night
Choice (level 2 of 4) $135/night
Premier (level 3 of 4) $165/night
Elite (highest level) $249/night

When:
No time restriction (based on availability)

How:
1) Go to https://www.certificates.hyatt.com/WorldValidHotels.aspx to verify what is the lowest level of certificate your selected Hyatt hotel will accept (a Classic level hotel, for instance, will indicate that it will accept Classic, Choice, Premier or Elite certificates).

2) Verify that your Hyatt hotel is available. First, go to http://www.hyatt.com. After selecting a hotel to search for availability, enter the following in the box marked “Offer Code”:
HSCLN# (for Classic level hotel; replace # with the number of nights you want to stay)
HSPRN# (for Premier level hotel; replace # with the number of nights you want to stay)
HSCHN# (for Choice level hotel; replace # with the number of nights you want to stay)
HSELN# (for Elite level hotel; replace # with the number of nights you want to stay)

3) Book reservation using the relevant offer code (see step 2).

4) Go to https://www.certificates.hyatt.com/products/CertsStay.aspx to purchase non-refundable Hyatt Stay Certificates or call Hyatt at (800) 555-9655 to purchase the certificate. Allow adequate time to receive the certificate via mail.

The Inside Scoop:
1) While a city hotel that discounts its rates on the weekend may be offering a lower rate on the weekend than would be available if using a Hyatt Stay Certificate, other hotels - such as the Hyatt in Kauai - offer rates that are almost always much higher than the $249/night rate you can obtain using the Elite level Hyatt Stay Certificate.

2) The certificates are non refundable. While you can usually cancel the reservation you made for a hotel when using the Hyatt Stay Certificate, the certificate itself cannot be returned for a refund so you must use it before the certificate expires.

More Information:
The terms and conditions listed above are only a partial list of the terms and conditions that apply - full terms and conditions are available at:

https://www.certificates.hyatt.com/terms/TermsStayCerts.aspx

Travel Deal of the Day (Nov. 20, 2006)

It’s a great time of the year to go on vacation. Whether you enjoy skiing, sightseeing or sitting at the pool, this is a prime season to go away. The hotel industry knows this, and generally hotel rates during Thanksgiving and from the last week of December until mid April reflect this high demand. Thankfully, Marriott and Hertz have teamed up to offer a great buy two nights, get one night free discount that has been publicized only minimally. This discount can can save you a ton of money, especially in expensive winter vacation locations such as the Caribbean, Hawaii, Florida and Europe.

The Deal:
Stay Two Nights, Get the Third Night Free at Participating Marriott Hotels and Resorts.

When:
Now through June 30, 2007 for a weekend stay of at least three nights (offer valid Thursday through Monday, with a minimum of three consecutive nights that include a Saturday night).

How:
1) Go to http://marriott.com/specials/promotion.mi?promotion=hertz.

2) Find an available hotel and click "Show Rates & Rooms" to find all available rooms.

3) When booking, ensure that the “rate rules” (which should be displayed before confirming the reservation) state that the Hertz promotion applies for the dates you requested. Print those rate rules to ensure you receive the appropriate discount at check-out.

4) According to the rules, the hotel will charge you for all three nights, then subtract the final night off of your bill at check-out.

The Inside Scoop:
1) The terms of the offer require you to rent a car with Hertz to be eligible for the deal, but the Hertz rental does not have to be at the same time as your hotel stay.

2) If you are staying more than just a weekend, try checking rates for three weekend nights using this promotion and then checking rates using some other discount for the other nights of your stay.

3) This discount is available until early Summer 2007, so start thinking about any spring and summer trips.

More Information:
The terms and conditions listed above are only a partial list of the terms and conditions that apply - full terms are available at:

http://marriott.com/specials/promotion.mi?promotion=hertz