Travel Deal of the Day (March 8, 2010)

JetBlue has an incredible deal if you book today (for travel Tuesday & Wednesday March 9-10, 2010). Travel between New York JFK Airport and the following cities is only $10/way:

Fort Lauderdale (FLL)
Buffalo (BUF)
Tampa (TPA)
Orlando (MCO)
Rochester (ROC)
Oakland (OAK)
Burlington (BTV)
West Palm Beach (PBI)
Salt Lake City (SLC)
Fort Myers (RSW)

Availability is limited and additional restrictions apply. For more information, go to the jetBlue Sale.

Travel Deal of the Day (November 10, 2010)

It is the season of gift cards - and the travel industry is no different than any other sector of the economy. Travel providers of all types will likely be trying to convince you to buy gift cards for the holiday season. Be sure to consider the financial stability of the company offering the gift card as you want the travel provider to be in business when the gift card is redeemed. With that being said, note that many sellers of gift cards may offer a bonus that may make a gift card purchase worthwhile, even if you are purchasing the card for yourself.

The Deal:
Before your next travel purchase, inquire whether a gift card purchase may help you reduce the total cost of your purchase. Many retailers will now offer some sort of bonus for purchasing a gift card - such as offering to provide a gift card worth $25 when spending $20. If you know you will use that travel provider, it may be cost effective for you to purchase the gift card for yourself to obtain services from that provider at a "discount." Be sure to note the above caveat and all rules/restrictions associated with the gift card.

Travel Deal of the Day (September 22, 2009)

If you are using the web to purchase multiple airline tickets, hotel rooms or car rental reservations, how you book can affect the perks you receive.

The Deal:
When you book a travel reservation, you often receive bonus miles for booking online. Often such bonuses are awarded "one per reservation," meaning that if you book for three people in the same reservation, only one person receives the bonus. Also, some websites (such as FatWallet.com or ebates.com) provide rebates for booking online, but sometimes such rebates are only awarded once per booking. In such situations, it may be advantageous to book each passenger/hotel room/car separately to receive an award/perk for each booking. Just something to think about the next time you book.

Travel Deal of the Day (September 2, 2009)

You can now pay to be one of the first few passengers to board a Southwest flight. Passengers on Southwest obtain boarding passes up to 24 hours in advance of departure. A few groups of passengers, the airline's most frequent flyers, passengers paying a very select group of high "business" fares and/or connecting passengers (when applicable), currently obtain the first boarding passes, and then all other passengers are accomodated based on how early they check-in at the Southwest website. Southwest will now offer passengers the ability to purchase priority boarding - for $10/way, you can obtain the next boarding passes (after the previously mentioned groups) regardless of when you check-in at Southwest's website. For more information, see this post on the Southwest Blog.

Travel Deal of the Day (July 8, 2009)

If you are planning a summer trip to a major city, take a few minutes to browse the Convention/Visitor Bureau website of your destination city to view the deals available.

The Deal:
Due to the slumping economy, many Convention/Visitor Bureaus are offering specials for hotels and attractions. You may find excellent deals on these websites applicable for your trip. Be sure to consult these kind of websites before booking any non-refundable hotel or attraction reservations as you may qualify for discounts by linking over from the Convention/Visitor Bureau website or using a promotion code offered at these websites.

The Inside Scoop:
You may be able to find the best deals using other websites, so it pays to shop around - nonetheless, if you have not checked out the relevant Convention/Visitor Bureau website yet, it may be worth your time.

Travel Deal of the Day (June 23, 2009)

If you are traveling for the July 4th holiday weekend, you may save money by strategically selecting your travel dates.

The Deal:
You will likely save money on airfare when traveling for the July 4th holiday weekend by avoiding travel on Friday July 3 and Sunday July 5. These two dates will likely have the highest demand, so the cheapest fares will likely be available on other dates. Be sure to check fares for travel on July 2nd, 4th and 6th to find the best fares. As always, check all possible airports near your preferred departure and arrival cities. In addition, watch out for great last minute deals starting this week - with the decline in travel demand, travel retailers will likely offer promotions to spark demand.

Travel Deal of the Day (June 16, 2009)

The price of Entertainment Books (providing coupons for a variety of businesses) drop throughout the year (until the expiration date for most coupons on November). The books are now free with the purchase of a book for 2010. The purchase of a book can be a great deal, if for no other reason than the 5% off American Airlines electronic coupon in the book. Check out the Entertainment Book website to find out about the travel (and other) coupons - you may find that you pay for the book with a single (discounted) travel purchase.

Travel Deal of the Day (June 9, 2009)

You can now receive 1% back on all purchases at Orbitz via Ebates.

The Deal:
Ebates, which offers a percentage back (percentage varies) on purchases at a variety of web retailers, is offering 1% back on purchases at Orbitz. If you are making a purchase at Orbitz, remember to go to Orbitz via Ebates.

How:
Go to Ebates and search for "Orbitz."

Travel Deal of the Day (June 5, 2009)

The National Park Service is offering fee-free weekends during three weekends this summer. This is a great value - there are so many incredible national parks, and this promotion can save you up to $25 in admission fees per day.

The Deal:
Obtain free admission at up to 100 selected national parks on June 20, June 21, July 18, July 19, August 15 and August 16, 2009. For more information, see this National Park Service Note.

Travel Deal of the Day (June 1, 2009)

Are you on Twitter? If you are not, you may be missing out on money-saving travel information and discounts for a wide range of travel providers.

The Deal:
The first "deal" is that Travel Deal of the Day is now on Twitter (under the name "TravelDealDaily"). If you are not on Twitter, you are likely missing out on many travel deals. Many travel companies are providing discounts via Twitter. You may receive a discount just for signing up to follow your favorite travel provider on Twitter.

How:
Go to Twitter.

Travel Deal of the Day (May 15, 2009)

If you are considering a Memorial Day weekend trip, you may want to think about booking your travel today, as you may find the cheapest fares with a seven day advance purchase. If you cannot book your travel today, note that there are an increasing number of fares with a three day advance purchase requirement because of the bad economy. Some deals may not have any advance purchase requirement. You may be able to find incredibly good deals this Memorial Day weekend even if you book just before the holiday weekend. Be sure to check a variety of websites for travel deals, such as an aggregator website (such as Kayak) and check a site with last minutes specials (such as ListMinute).

Travel Deal of the Day (May 12, 2009)

If you drink Coca Cola products, you may be aware of the MyCokeRewards program, which provides prizes for redeeming codes on Coke products. Here is a travel deal related to the program.

The Deal:
One of the new prizes allows for the redemption of 500 points for $35 off of an Airtran flight. This may seem like a small discount, but in these recessionary times, this may be a valuable discount because it saves you money off of a plane ticket and it provides a good redemption for your points (redemption value of 7 cents per Coke point redeemed).

How:
Go to the MyCokeRewards Program and search for the AirTran $35 Off Prize.

Travel Deal of the Day (May 4, 2009)

If you travel frequently, you may want to consider a service called MajicJack, which offers unlimited US local and long distance calling for a very low set price each year.

The Deal:
MajicJack is a device that offers unlimited local and long distance calling within the US via your computer's USB port. Most retailers sell the unit for around $40, which includes unlimited local and long distance calling (as well as a few other features) for the first year. Considering how expensive many internet calling plans are, this is a very inexpensive way to call others. The great thing about MajicJack is that you can call US phone numbers under the plan when traveling anywhere in the world, as long as you have access to high speed internet. Please note there are multiple customer service complaints about the unit - so, you are receiving a very low price with very little customer service if something goes wrong - but given how cheap the unit is, you may find the unit an excellent bargain. Please also note that you are paying in advance for the phone service - so all the normal risks associated with payment in advance apply.

How:
For more information, go to MagicJack or use a web search tool (such as Google) to find local retailers selling MajicJack. Radio and TV personalilty Clark Howard frequently recommends MajicJack - his posting here provides additional information regarding the tool.

The Inside Scoop:
If you really want to save money, consider buying the MajicJack at Radio Shack if you have an Entertainment Book (coupon/discount book) with a Radio Shack coupon. Many Entertainment Books have a $10 off coupon (usually with a $50 purchase) for Radio Shack, so if you have such a coupon and buy the Magic Jack (usually $40) and another $10+ item, you can receive $10 off of your purchase.

Travel Deal of the Day (April 29, 2009)

Watch for some absolutely amazing deals over the next few weeks because of multiple factors dramatically affecting travel demand, including the swine flu and the global recession. If you want to travel, now is your time. You should be able to find incredible deals, especially during the next few weeks before school lets out (with the possible exception of Memorial Day weekend). My primary suggestion would be to book a cancellable hotel reservation and/or cancellable car rental reservation if you are traveling within the next few weeks or even in the next few months. We are likely to see prices drop even further, and you want to make sure you are able to cancel your travel reservations and rebook using the best deals. Keep checking rates/fares as your trip approaches as I would anticipate that prices will continue to decline due to the overall low demand for travel.

Travel Deal of the Day (April 23, 2009)

JetBlue has a $29/way sale in quite a few markets, including but not limited to:

Boston - Buffalo
Boston - Charlotte
Boston - New York JFK
Boston - Pittsburgh
Boston - Raleigh
Boston - Richmond
Burbank - Las Vegas
Burlington - New York JFK
Charlotte - New York JFK
Las Vegas - Long Beach
Long Beach - Oakland
Long Beach - San Francisco
Long Beach - San Jose, CA
New York JFK - Pittsburgh
New York JFK - Portland
New York JFK - Raleigh
New York JFK - Richmond
New York JFK - Rochester
New York JFK - Syracuse
New York JFK - Washington IAD

Other sale fares include $59/way between Boston and San Francisco/Oakland, $39/way between Fort Lauderdale and Nassau and $59/way between Newark and Orlando/Tampa. Fares must be booked today (April 23, 2009) for Tuesday or Wednesday travel between May 5, 2009 and June 10, 2009. See the jetBlue website for more information on this sale and for all restrictions.

Travel Deal of the Day (April 8, 2009)

If you travel to or from New York, your flights likely have or will become much less expensive due to a new arrival at New York’s LaGuardia Airport (LGA) – Southwest Airlines.

The Deal:
Southwest Airlines just announced its new schedule to and from LGA. Southwest will offer multiple nonstop flights between Chicago Midway and LGA as well as Baltimore/Washington (BWI) and LGA. Fares for BWI-LGA start at $49/way; fares for Midway-LGA start at $89/way; and fares across the country to LGA are mostly $99/way (which is very cheap for many cities into LGA).

How:
You can find information about Southwest’s new service and an introductory sale at this link.

Travel Deal of the Day (April 2, 2009)

JetBlue has an incredible deal for travel between San Francisco and New York or Los Angeles.

The Deal:
JetBlue is offering a $14/way sale for travel on the following routes: (1) SFO to JFK, (2) JFK to SFO, (3) LGB to SFO, and (4) SFO to LGB. Travel must be purchased on April 2, 2009 for travel from April 2 - 8, 2009. Seats are very limited.

How:
Full restrictions are available at this link.

Travel Deal of the Day (March 30, 2009)

Usually, five-star hotels in North America are quite expensive. However, there have been a few North American Four Seasons hotels offierng rates averaging around $150-$175/night. Here is an example of great deal in a wonderful Canadian city - Toronto.

The Deal:
The five-star Four Seasons Toronto is offering a weekend special starting at $172.50 per night (first night at $345 and second night free). The rate is valid for a two-night stay on a Friday and Saturday or a Saturday or Sunday. Rates are valid until April 30, 2009.

How:
Go to the Four Seasons Toronto Second Night Free Deal.

The Inside Scoop:
The reality is that even $172/night can seem extremely expensive in a bad economy. However, if you have to go to Toronto or you are looking for a quick vacation, this deal is extremely competitive for such a great hotel with great service.

Travel Deal of the Day (March 25, 2009)

There is a rather large recession going on right now – you would assume that this leads to great travel deals everywhere. I have noticed that there are some great travel deals; however, some providers have been unwilling to lower rates to a level that is consistent with the economic conditions. Here are some tips for hotels and airfare for finding good deals:

(1) Airfare: I have noticed that the best deals are on highly competitive routes – fares in markets dominated by a single carrier are not nearly as affected by overall economic conditions (of course, exceptions apply). In the past, the presence of a low-cost airline has been one of the keys to finding the best deals in a market. Now, I have seen very low airfares in some markets that are dominated by only high cost airlines. For instance, I have noticed from the Mid Atlantic region that there are $99/way fares to Florida and the same fares to Los Angeles. Given the distance between the Mid Atlantic area and California, I would tend to think that the $99 fare is a better deal.

I have not seen as many compelling “last minute” airfare deals. Usually, airlines publish airfares during midweek for travel either of the next two following weekends. (Use sites such as Smarter Travel to find such deals.) I would tend to think this is where the best deals would occur since an airline is relatively certain where it will have open seats so it should offer great last minute airfares in markets with tremendous seat availability. The recent last minute airfares as a whole have been rather unimpressive. I have found much better deals by looking for advance purchase fares in markets with tremendous competition. My general advance for finding such deals is to use sites such as Airfare Watchdog to find the best airfares from your city on any given day.

(2) Hotels: Some hotels have cut prices dramatically, and other hotels have been completely unwilling to adjust rates. I spoke with two hotels recently about a hotel stay. The hotels were similar in almost every manner – similar locations, similar hotel reviews, similar availability, inquiries relating to similar time periods, etc. One hotel discounted rates over 50% and bent over backwards to attract business, and the other hotel had an attitude of “take it or leave it.” Given this experience, I would make a few suggestions:
-Check the “specials” and “packages” sections of a hotel’s website to find any incredible packages. I have seen many hotel websites add excellent deals in the package area of a website. I would tend to think that hotels might be more willing to add excellent travel deals to this area of their websites rather than lowering rates overall as business travelers as less likely to look in this area of a website (so such discounts tend not to dilute business-traveler related revenue).
-Check TravelZoo, which frequently publishes great travel deals.
-Call a hotel’s in-house reservations manager. It can be a challenge to find this person. Often when you request “in-house reservations,” you are either connected to the national reservations line or a regional reservation office that handles reservations for multiple hotels. To “negotiate” a deal with a hotel, you need to find a contact in the hotel. These people will have far more discretion to deal/negotiate. As I mentioned earlier, some hotels still refuse to provide better deals, despite the fact that similar competitors are offering such deals. I simply recognize that such hotels do not need my business as much as other hotels.
-Ask for every discount imaginable – I recently encountered a tremendous AAA package. I was shocked this hotel even offered a AAA discount (this hotel in the past rarely offered any discounts). Ask for AAA, AARP, corporate rates, Entertainment Card, Professional Affiliations (Bar Association, Amer. Medical Association…), local chamber of commerce deals….
-Remind the hotel that you are on a travel budget. The reservations agents may be sympathetic to such a plea and work with you on a rate.
-Remind the hotel if you are a return guest.

Hopefully these tips will allow you to find a great deal. There are truly incredible travel deals right now – you just have to know where (and how) to look.

Travel Deal of the Day (February 25, 2009)

As I have previously mentioned in this blog, you can receive rebates from Ebates for purchasing a variety of products and services (including travel) online. Here is a great way to earn money when booking travel.

The Deal:
Receive a $1 rebate when booking Jetblue travel via Ebates. If you are booking a flight on jetBlue, it pays to go to Ebates and link over to jetBlue, as you will receive a $1 rebate (for each jetBlue itinerary) from Ebates.

How:
(1) Become an Ebates member (if you are not already a member);
(2) Go to Ebates' jetBlue page (enter "jetBlue" in the search box); and
(3) Use the link to go to jetBlue to book your travel.