Travel Deal of the Day (November 30, 2007)

In an earlier post, I commented on deals at airport parking lots. Here is an additional deal on airport parking that you should consider, especially on longer trips.

The Deal:
Many airport hotels are now trying to fill empty rooms by offering "Park and Fly" rates that allow you to stay the night before you leave at the hotel and park at that airport hotel while you are out of town. These rates sometimes can be an excellent deal. You may be able to get a "Park and Fly" rate for the same amount as the cost of just airport parking. In some cases in very expensive cities, the "Park and Fly" hotel rate may be lower than the cost of airport parking. Some hotels also allow you to park for free (even without a "Park and Fly" rate) if you stay at the hotel before or after your trip. In such cases, find the lowest available rate and you may save versus parking in the airport parking lot. Using an airport hotel the night before your trip can be especially convenient with early morning departures as you are very close to the airport and most hotels have an airport shuttle.

The Inside Scoop:
Though this can be a deal, watch out for hotels that charge very high "Park and Fly" rates - in such cases, the "Park and Fly" rate is not a deal unless the convenience makes the high rate reasonable for you.

Travel Deal of the Day (November 29, 2007)

If you are on the Four Seasons mailing list, you likely received a free night certificate recently. Four Seasons Hotels recently sent out a third or fourth night free certificate for a free night when staying on their “Bed and Breakfast” rates at certain Four Seasons Hotels worldwide. You must pay the “Bed and Breakfast” rate (which is higher than the standard rack rate) for the paid nights. This may be a deal, but before you use this promotion, you should evaluate this offer as compared to other Four Seasons offers.

The promotion is only valid at certain hotels, many of which already offer a free night promotion which is valid on the lower standard rates (which do not include breakfast, unlike the above promotion). Also, you can often receive free breakfast and a free night when booking Four Seasons hotels through either a Virtuoso travel agent or via the Fine Hotels & Resorts promotion (if you have an American Express Platinum or Centurion Card). I will talk more about these programs in the near future, but the important point for now is that the recent promotion started by Four Seasons may or may not be the best deal – so, check around before booking.

Travel Deal of the Day (November 28, 2007)

If you have the freedom to travel over the next few weeks, it may be an excellent time to find a deal to a winter vacation destination.

The Deal:
The three to four weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas are a great time to travel to winter vacation destinations. The first 10-15 days of December are an especially good time to travel as kids are still in school. So, if you are flexible, hotels often offer extraordinary deals. If you have not yet booked a vacation for the next few weeks but your may be interested in taking a last-minute getaway, keep abreast of the last-minute hotel and airfare deals published on websites such as http://www.smartertravel.com/. You can find especially good deals in places that are extraordinarily expensive just a few weeks later during Christmas week – such as Florida and Hawaii.

Travel Deal of the Day (November 27, 2007)

If you are traveling to Las Vegas, the Harrah’s hotel group (Caesars Palace/Paris Las Vegas/Rio/Bally's/Harrah's/Flamingo) has rates starting at $45/night for travel this winter.

The Deal:
Find deeply discounted rooms at the following Harrah’s hotels for purchase by November 30, 2007 and stays until January 31, 2008:

(1) Caesars Palace ($100/night)
(2) Paris Hotel ($79/night)
(3) Rio ($49/night)
(4) Bally's Las Vegas ($59/night)
(5) Harrah's ($45/night)
(6) Flamingo ($45/night)

Travel Deal of the Day (November 26, 2007)

If you are traveling pretty frequently and are parking at the airport, one of your last stops on the internet before heading to the airport should be to print an online coupon for a parking lot near the airport.

The Deal:
Many airport parking lots are now offering special “internet” rates available only if you print a coupon available on the parking lot’s website. Such coupons normally save you $2-$3/day and sometimes also include a free day on longer stays. Many parking lots also have frequent parker clubs (similar to frequent flyer clubs) allowing you to save money when parking at a lot on a frequent basis. Many parking lots that offer such online discounts advertise the rates that are available only when printing the online discount coupons - so, if you are intending on paying the advertised rate, you must print the online coupon.

Travel Deal of the Day (November 19, 2007)

If you are looking for a free roundtrip ticket by getting bumped off of an overbooked flight, this is certainly one of the best weeks to find such a deal.

The Deal:
When airlines overbook flights, they will solicit for passengers that are willing to volunteer their seats in exchange for a ticket on a later flight and some sort of voucher valid for future travel. Thanksgiving week is a heavily traveled week, and airlines are very unwilling to fly with empty seats during such a high demand weak when passengers are willing to pay very high fares for each empty seat. During such a week, there are quite a few opportunities to exchange your ticket for a free travel voucher.

Such vouchers often come in two forms:
(1) voucher valid for a free (capacity-controlled) ticket or
(2) dollar-value voucher (valid for a certain amount off of normal airfares on that airline).

The benefit of option one is that you do not have to watch airfares. Instead, if the airline has allocated at least on seat one your selected flight as eligible for purchase using the free ticket voucher, you can use your voucher for that flight. The drawback for this option is that you must search for such flights. This can be a difficult exercise as flights are quite full so few seats are available using these vouchers. Blackout dates can also create a problem. You also earn no frequent flyer miles when using such free ticket vouchers.

The benefit of option two is that you can use the dollar-off voucher on any fare. You earn frequent flyer miles on the ticket purchased using a dollar-off voucher. The drawback is that dollar-off vouchers require that you watch airfares as you are essentially purchasing an airfare and discounting that airfare by the amount of the voucher.

Travel Deal of the Day (November 13, 2007)

Most rental car coverage that is offered by credit cards is “secondary” coverage – meaning that it covers only what is not covered by your own automobile coverage. There are a few options for primary car rental coverage you may want to consider to avoid having to file a claim on your own automobile coverage should you have an accident in a car rental:

(1) Diners Club offers primary car rental coverage with its credit card. For $95 a year, you receive various travel benefits including the primary car rental protection. If you rent a car frequently, you may want to consider the Diners Club card.

(2) American Express offers optional primary car rental coverage (above and beyond its standard secondary coverage available when using most/all American Express cards) for a fee. The fee is based on the level of coverage and is charged per rental. The fee normally is around $20-$25/rental.

You may want to consider these options if you rent frequently and would like to avoid making any claims on your individual auto policy.

Travel Deal of the Day (November 12, 2007)

National Car Rental is offering $30 off a weekly rental – just in time for Thanksgiving and early December trips.

The Deal:
Get $30 off a weekly rental when renting a car from National. The discount is valid on Compact through Luxury cars. Cars must be picked up by December 15, 2007.

How:
Go to the National Weekly Discount.

Travel Deal of the Day (November 8, 2007)

Various Kimpton Hotels are offering sale rates during a one-day sale that ends at 3PM today.

The Deal:
Kimpton is offering significant discounts on various hotels throughout the US. Kimpton has a variety of (mostly four star) boutique hotels. The sale rates are valid for stays until January 6, 2008, but must be booked by 3PM today.

How:
Go to the Kimpton One-Day Sale.

Travel Deal of the Day (November 6, 2007)

Mandalay Bay is offering its rooms and suites at a very low price over Thanksgiving weeekend.

The Deal:
Get a room or suite at Mandalay Bay over Thanksgiving weekend for $99 (room) or $134 for a one-bedroom suite. The promotion is valid for a ten-day period around Thanksgiving (Nov. 16 - Nov. 26).

How:
Go to the Mandalay Thanksgiving Deal.

Travel Deal of the Day (November 5, 2007)

Did you check your frequent flyer account or hotel frequent guest account balances recently? When do your points expire? You probably should check if you do not travel that frequently, as the points in many of these accounts expire as soon as one year after earning the points. But there may be a very simple way to ensure that your points do not expire.

The Deal:
There are a variety of ways to avoid losing your frequent flyer or frequent guest points. The most common way to avoid expiration of your points is to have activity in your account – for instance, if you have Starwood points, staying at a Starwood hotel will extend the validity of your points. In addition to this more obvious way of extending the life of your points, you may not realize that by holding an award, you may actually extend the life of your points. In some programs such as Starwood and United, when you hold a reservation using points, the points are temporarily deducted from your account. In many cases, this is seen as “activity” in your account, extending the validity of your points. You may want to inquire as to whether this applies in your frequent flyer or frequent stay account as it is a free way to extend the life of your points.

Travel Deal of the Day (November 2, 2007)

When you take a weekend trip to a city, many people would not even consider a hotel near the airport. However, weekend rates at many airport hotels are so reasonable that these hotels should be considered for weekend trips.

The Deal:
When going away for a weekend, you should look into hotels outside of the downtown area of the city you are visiting if you want to save money. Quite often, airport hotels discount rooms heavily during the weekend when business travelers are at home. The discount can be especially large when using a site such as www.priceline.com and www.hotwire.com – these cites allow you to bid for a hotel at a certain star level and in a certain area of the city. The negotiated weekend rates at many airport hotels are extremely cheap.

Travel Deal of the Day (November 1, 2007)

The four-star Beau Rivage Resort in Biloxi, MS is offering $109/night rates for much of November. The rate includes two-for-one breakfast buffet coupons. To book a room at this rate, call the Beau Rivage at (800) 56-ROOMS and ask for promo code “AUTUMN.”