Travel Deal of the Day (December 7, 2007)

If your idea of a vacation involves renting a condo rather than a hotel room, there is a website aimed specifically at you to help you find a vacation rental.

The Deal:
As mentioned earlier, VRBO.com provides vacations rentals that are listed by the owners of the condos. The rental units range in price from very moderately priced to very expensive. When using VRBO.com, you must do your homework. You cannot count on the fact that the pictures and facts on the website are entirely true – it is up to you to verify the facts on the website. But if you are comfortable with a little less assurance than you would have at a hotel, you are likely to find quite a deal at your vacation destination. With the market possibly turning to a recession, you may find deals now that may not have existed during a stronger economic time period.

How:
Go to www.vrbo.com.

Travel Deal of the Day (September 18, 2007)

Have you considered renting a condo or vacation home during your next vacation? You may be able to save a considerable amount of money when compared with a hotel. Now, there are great resources to find vacation rentals.

The Deal:
Many people only consider hotels for lodging during vacations. You may save money by renting a vacation home or condo directly from the owner of the property. Quite often, you can find vacation lodging in a prime location (such as a direct oceanfront location or a ski lodge very close to the slopes) at quite a discount to an equivalent hotel room. In fact, most vacation rental units are quite a bit larger than hotel rooms and often include kitchen facilities.

How:
The most cumbersome way to find a vacation rental is via the Classifieds Section of a newspaper in the vacation area. This method still works and you can often find vacation listing on the website of the newspaper. A better way to find vacation rentals now is to use Vacation Rentals By Owner – http://www.vrbo.com/. As with any other purchase, since no website can guarantee that every renter is honest, verify the facts about your vacation rental (request pictures of the unit, or, if you know someone in the area of the rental unit, have someone inspect the rental unit) and use a credit card to pay for the rental, if at all possible.