I receive a lot of offers for discount travel deals. This is due in part to the fact that I’ve signed up with some of my favorite websites to receive special offers. It’s also due to the fact that I’ve taken advantage of special offers so the hotels and airlines I’ve done so with are prone to sending me new offers. And I’ve noticed that the number of offers I’ve gotten has increased since starting this blog so I guess that it’s also due to my writing about budget travel.

I enjoy receiving special offers for several reasons. First of all, it inspires my daydreams about travel. Second, it offers me a chance to regularly compare travel prices so I know what’s actually a good deal and what isn’t. And third, of course, it can save me money when traveling. I’ve noticed, however, that some offers are truly good and others are a waste of time. I’ve specifically noticed this about hotel specials which are the most common type of deals that I receive.

Here are five signs that indicate to me that a special offer for a hotel is worth taking:

1. It is for a hotel that I already know I like. If I’ve stayed at the hotel or with the chain before and know that I like it then it’s usually worth it to take advantage of the deal.
2. It’s for a hotel or destination that I’ve been longing to go to. I keep a mental file (as well as a journal) of the places that I want to visit one day. When I see a hotel special for a place that is on my list, I definitely think it’s worth looking into it to see if I can take advantage of the offer.
3. The fine print is clear and seems fair. The first thing I do when I see an offer that looks appealing is skip straight to the fine print. That’s the easiest way to find out about hidden charges, inconvenient restrictions and other things that would make the deal not worth it.
4. Research indicates that it’s a good deal. Ultimately, the only way to know if hotel specials are good deals is if you take the time to research them. The simplest way to do this is to check out both the hotel website and a couple of travel booking sites to see what a standard rate for the room is. Then read some online reviews to get an idea of whether or not the hotel is a good one. A hotel that has positive reviews and is offering a deal lower than their normal pricing is usually a good choice.
5. The rest of the trip is within my travel budget. Even if I find a great hotel deal, I don’t take it if I can’t afford the rest of the trip. A realistic look at how much getting there and spending time there will cost in addition to the cost of the hotel is necessary before accepting a travel deal.

How do you decide if a travel deal is a good one to take advantage of?

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I recently got into a discussion with some girlfriends about what it means to enjoy budget travel. Although most of us turned out to be on the same page about it, we did play a little bit of devil’s advocate during the discussion. Here are some of the things we decided that budget travel does (and does not!) mean to us.

Budget Travel Does Mean

• Getting a fair price on a trip. Budget travel doesn’t necessarily mean paying the lowest price possible to go somewhere. It means being able to enjoy a trip at a price that you consider fair. For example, it means getting good deals on hotels even if those hotels are more expensive than some of the ones your friends would choose to stay in.
• Finding free and cheap alternatives to higher cost options. We all agreed that budget travel means doing your research to find ways to enjoy your trip that are lower-cost than the average traveler may pay to take the same vacation.
• Learning to budget. Ultimately, we felt that budget travel means learning how to set limits and boundaries for yourself when planning your trips. It means learning to create a realistic travel budget and then to stick to that budget when traveling. It means setting a travel spending cap for the year and not exceeding it (unless an emergency warrants it, of course).

Budget Travel Doesn’t Mean

• Being uncomfortable. Budget travel means getting a good price for good travel. It may mean staying in economy hotels but only economy hotels that are comfortable and safe. It doesn’t ever mean sacrificing comfort and safety for the lowest price.
• Traveling to the cheapest places. Sometimes budget travel does mean traveling to destinations that are cheap rather than to expensive cities. However, it doesn’t necessarily mean this. It may mean budgeting wisely to go to a more expensive destination.
• Being cheap. There is a big difference between being frugal and being cheap. None of the gals in the group wanted to be penny-pinchers, to skimp where it wasn’t necessary or to skip travel altogether to save money. Instead, we want to be frugal with how we spend our money when we travel, making smart choices that reflect our strongest beliefs about how we spend both time and money.

What does budget travel mean to you?

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As a general rule, I don’t think that vacations are for shopping. However, I know from experience that there are times when you end up shopping during your trip. Sometimes it’s because you come across such great local stuff that you have to have it. Other times it’s because you end up needing items unexpectedly during the trip. Still other times it’s just a bad impulse that takes over.

Here are ten rules that I follow to keep travel shopping low-cost and to a minimum:

1. Pack well. Making sure that you pack everything that you could possibly need during a trip helps to prevent arriving at the destination and finding out that you need to buy something that you already have at home.
2. Don’t shop at hotels. Hotel gift shops and stores adjacent to hotels are almost always expensive. If you do find that you need something (such as medicine or a toiletry item) then you should head to the nearest local store instead.
3. Don’t buy souvenirs for others. The family back home can see your pictures and hear your travel stories. They don’t need more stuff.
4. Buy only what you can not buy at home. If you see a local item that you really think you want, look very carefully at it. Ask yourself if you could find a similar item back home or on the Internet. If you can, don’t buy it. This helps you to only purchase items that are truly unique and really represent your travels.
5. Only buy things that will last. You should be as discerning during travel shopping as you are when shopping at home for high-quality items.
6. Know how you will use it and where you will store it before you buy it. This helps prevent wasteful purchases.
7. Learn to barter. You can save yourself some money on the purchases that you do make by negotiating for a lower price before you buy.
8. Consider taxes, currency exchanges and shipping costs. Don’t just look at the price of the item. Consider the total cost of the item including getting it back home.
9. Take time when buying items. The worst decisions are made when you’re under pressure to buy something before you leave the area. If you don’t have the time to make a good decision, don’t get the item.
10. Set a budget. If you know that you tend to buy items when you travel then set a reasonable budget for doing so and don’t spend more than the budget allows.

Do you have any other tips for frugal shopping during trips?

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Here are five tips to help you find last minute summer travel deals right now:

1. Look for package deals instead of one-off deals. It’s often smart to get good separate deals for air fare, car rental, etc. However, that’s not the case at this point during the summer. Instead, you want to look at packages that offer these things all bundled for one low cost. That’s because package deals are often negotiated a season or even a year in advance when prices might be lower whereas one-off deals are being set right now at higher prices.
2. Use your social networks to get a good deal. Start checking out Twitter and Facebook for good offers on deals for travel. You may be able to find the actual deals advertised on these sites. Or you may just be able to get great travel deal suggestions and info from your online friends.
3. Look for a good deal on an unusual transportation option. Trains are always cheaper than planes and they’re particularly inexpensive right now when planes are charging so many different fees just to fly on them. Cruises are also cheap this summer compared to flight and hotel deals.
4. Consider booking your trip for the very end of the summer. Most families have kids that are going back to school at the end of August. If your kids are on a different schedule or happen to be homeschooled then you can hold off and get really great deals in late August. It’s still summer everywhere but the whole trip will be a lot cheaper.
5. Work with individual people and ask directly for deals. Instead of staying at a chain hotel, go stay at a mom-and-pop place. Ask them directly if you can get a deal on your room. If you’re willing to barter or lend a hand then they might give you a deal. The personal touch can go a long way this summer!

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One of the most popular phrases in my personal budget travel handbook is “instead of”. You can use this phrase to make some really great choices that allow you to travel at a lower cost. You aren’t saying that you won’t travel just because you want to save money. You’re saying that you will travel one way “instead of” another way to cut costs.

Here are ten examples of “instead of” options if you want to save money on travel:

1. Choose to stay at economy hotels INSTEAD OF more expensive hotels. Better yet, choose to stay at hostels instead of hotels to save even more money.
2. Opt to visit small local museums INSTEAD OF major museums or costly landmarks.
3. Pack your own food or shop at grocery stores along the way INSTEAD OF spending the extra money to purchase meals at restaurants or fast food chains.
4. Visit local swimming pools, watering holes and small creeks INSTEAD OF going to water parks to cool off with the kids while you are on vacation.
5. Get library books before you leave to read while you’re on the road INSTEAD OF investing in video games, DVDs and other more expensive forms of road trip entertainment.
6. Find out what types of festivals and events you can attend for free at your destination INSTEAD OF going to costly attractions or more expensive events.
7. Look for deals and promotions INSTEAD OF paying full price. It’s always great if you can do exactly the kind of trip that you want to do but pay less for it because you took the time to look for a deal.
8. Always pay cash INSTEAD OF using a credit card so you don’t accrue interest charges for your vacation costs. Better yet, use a cash back rewards credit card INSTEAD OF cash and pay it off immediately before any interest is added.
9. Set a budget for your trip in advance INSTEAD OF trying to figure out after the trip how you’re going to make up for all that money that you spent while you were on vacation.
10. Visit friends and family in smaller destination cities INSTEAD OF traveling to the more expensive hot spots.

These are just a few of the most basic ideas for travel alternatives that will save you money. I’m sure that you could make an entire list of your own. Feel free to share your ideas in the comments!

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I recently decided that it was finally time for me to go ahead and try this Twitter thing. I am not really sure if I have it down yet. However, I am enjoying sharing links and thoughts about budget travel through the site. If you’re interested, you can follow me here.

Since I’m enjoying my experience on Twitter, I thought I’d share some of the people that have Tweets I like to read. Here are 10 that are great for anyone interested in budget travel:

1. @BudTravel. This tweep links to a lot of great travel deals. What I love is that there are a lot of RTs here so I get to see what people are posting even though I’m not following them yet.
2. @AboutBudgetTrav. Great links to travel deals. Also great links to stories about budget travel which is what I really like!
3. @SoulTravelers3. So glad I found this one. It’s updates from a family of 3 that’s been traveling the world for about 4 years. So fun to read!
4. @AlmostFearless. This woman quit her job to travel. I’m a little bit jealous!
5. @CruiseLog. I don’t really do cruises much but it’s still fun to read about the deals on them that are out there. Do you cruise?
6. @ExoticFamTravel. Fun posts and questions about travel dreams.
7. @TravelMamas. Great tips for parents who want to travel with their children in a way that’s fun and affordable.
8. @TravelAnswerMan. This guys has visited over 100 countries so he definitely has a lot of interesting tips and thoughts to share.
9. @TravelDudes. My scrapbook of places I’d like to visit has grown considerably since I started following this Twitter account!
10. @GoGreenTraveler. I admit that I don’t know nearly as much about eco-conscious travel as I probably ought to. Following this Twitter account seems like a great way to start learning, though.

Who do you follow on Twitter? Are you posting about budget travel stuff there? If so, let me know!

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I love paying attention to travel news, don’t you? Unfortunately, that news has been a little bit depressing ever since the recession started. Sure, there have been a lot of great articles about how to save money on travel and which destinations are cheapest but those are mostly coming from blogs. The real media headlines seem to keep reporting that people just can’t afford to travel. I’m happy to say that this trend seems to be changing.

Two different news articles caught my attention that both seem to indicate that travel is ramping up again:

1. 21% Increase in Travel Searches on Google. This means that quite a lot more people are at least thinking about traveling this year than last year. The most frequent searches were for car rental and hotels. Interestingly, people aren’t just looking for budget travel anymore; the number of people looking into luxury travel options is also on the rise. I’d say it’s smarter to stick with looking for budget travel information, though, wouldn’t you? It’s not as though the recession is over yet!
2. Asia’s Budget Airlines Prospering. This article indicates that growth in travel isn’t just a Western thing. Things are getting back on track in Asia, too, although the emphasis there seems to still be on budget travel. Specifically, there is expected to be a lot of growth in the budget airline sector in Asia. The one concern is that high fuel prices may limit this growth.

These news headlines seem to say something important which is that we’re not in the clear yet as far as this recession goes but we can start thinking about doing more fun stuff again. Travel isn’t just fun; it’s also important. Travel helps us to expand our experiences and to better understand the world around us. We may need to stick with looking into budget travel for now but we can certainly be looking. With good planning and a keen eye for deals it’s definitely possible for us to do some traveling this year!

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One of the options that we have as people who want to travel frugally is to participate in volunteer travel. This refers to the kind of travel where you do volunteer work at the destination in exchange for your room and board. You may do anything from teaching a local family’s children in English to building homes for people who don’t have them. You can do volunteer travel for almost any length of time in almost any destination that you want to visit.

I have mixed feelings about volunteer travel as a way to save money. Here’s what I see as the pros and cons of volunteer travel:

Pros

• You do save a lot of money. You don’t have to pay for your accommodations at all plus you typically get free meals. That saves a lot of money especially on trips where you want to stay awhile.
• You can safely visit exotic destinations. You might feel safer traveling to some countries if you are doing so with a group of other volunteers.
• You meet a lot of great people including locals. You really get to see the inside of the culture that you are visiting.
• You get to help others. That’s always a good thing. It’s also great for family travel since it teaches your children that they can have a great worldly experience while also aiding others who need their help.

Cons

• Volunteering takes up most of your time. My experience with volunteer travel is that you don’t actually have a lot of time to explore landmarks and other destinations because you are busy with your volunteer work.
• Some volunteer experiences are inevitably negative. You do jobs that you don’t want to do with people you don’t like too much and the result can be a negative travel experience. Of course this isn’t always the case but it’s a risk that you take.
• You miss out on staying at cool local hotels. I’d actually rather get great hotel specials and stay in a unique local spot than stay at a volunteer location. ( Sometimes you can find great rooms on special like these cheap hotels in NYC.

So I think that there are pros and cons to volunteer travel. I definitely think that it’s something that you should try at least once in your life. I just think that it shouldn’t replace other kinds of travel because it does have its drawbacks.

Have you ever done volunteer travel? Did you have a good experience with it?

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Guess I’ve gotten off to a slow start with my blog posting for this year. It’s been more than a week since my last post! I’m the type of person who tends to beat myself up a little bit about things like that. However, one of my personal New Year’s goals is to be kinder to myself. Although I hope that a lot of you are enjoying my budget travel blog, I realize that it’s not the end of your world if I don’t post every few days. I’m trying to remind myself of that and to just be happy that I get the chance to post as often as I do.

That said, the New Year has gotten off to a great start here. I was able to take a little bit of time to myself to solidify some of my goals for 2010. I had already established my travel goals for the year but I wanted to take the time to make some other personal goals instead. Like the one about being kinder to myself. And I also want to be more compassionate and caring with my family. It’s so easy to snap at the ones that we love but it’s so unfortunate that we do this, isn’t it?

Anyway, I’d love to know how your holiday travels went. Were you able to get good deals on hotels? Did you spend as much as you thought you would or more than that or less? The friend I’ve mentioned on the blog before (who originally wrote to me about Houston hotel deals) actually ended up not spending anything at all on her holiday travels. I thought that the way that she did this was great so I figured I’d share it here to get us all off on the right foot for a great New Year.

Here’s what she did:

• Used frequent flyer miles that she’d accumulated to pay for her flight.
• Used travel points from her credit card to pay for an affordable hotel room.
• Traded her time and energy for food (by cooking the food bought by relatives in the area so everyone was happy)
• Committed to only enjoying free activities – and kept that commitment
• Refused to buy anything new for the trip or during the trip

How inspiring! I think a new 2010 goal of mine might be to travel next Christmas season without spending any money.

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I love everything about budget travel. I love the experience of it. I love getting better and better at it as time goes on. And I love learning as much as I can about how to save money on traveling by getting advice from people who are even better at it than I am.

I get budget travel advice from a wide range of different sources. The ten best places that I’ve found for getting budget travel tips are:

1. My friends and family. I tend to surround myself with people who also enjoy traveling and who also need to save money. The conversations that I have with these people are my favorite source for new budget travel ideas.
2. Budget travel blogs. I specifically look for blogs that are related to budget travel. There are great general travel blogs and great blogs on frugality. There are also great specific blogs on niche topics like hotel specials. However, the blogs that are about the whole general topic of traveling frugally are the best resource for this information.
3. Travel news sources. I go to standard news sources like CNN and Yahoo! News and scour the stories there for hints on budget travel. These news sources have been particularly helpful regarding budget travel since the recession began.
4. Twitter. I love Twitter! It’s a great source for getting up-to-date budget travel tips. You have to find the right people to follow on the site but that’s getting easier and easier as the site improves. Look for existing Twitter lists related to budget travel and just follow those!
5. Travel Booking Sites. I don’t necessarily book all of my travel through these sites but they’re a great resource for getting information and tips about reducing the cost of travel. This is one of the best resources I’ve found for getting tips about getting good deals on hotels.
6. Travel magazines and women’s magazines. These two types of magazines both frequently feature articles about budget travel. Hint: Look at back issues in the library for tips instead of paying for the latest issue at the newsstands.
7. Travel guides. There are several publishers that put out budget travel guides for specific locations. These books are a great source of low-cost travel information to specific destinations.
8. Forums. To be honest I have a lot of trouble finding the best forums for this topic but I know that they’re out there. I think forums are a great way to connect with other people about all types of topics so I continue looking for the right ones about this topic.
9. Facebook. Whenever I have a question about budget travel I always ask my Facebook friends. They never fail to give me some kind of creative answer.
10. My own brain. Staying in touch with myself and using common sense have really helped me learn more about budget travel as I go.

Where do you get the best information about budget travel?

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