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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Will this help our economy?

The numbers seem to indicate that this new travel plan is going to help the United States economy. There is a good argument to be made for promoting tourism. With so many places to choose from, international travelers have to be encouraged to choose to visit America. It wasn’t always this way. In the past, we didn’t have to advertise what a great place it was to visit. However, since 9/11, tourism has decreased. We have to remind the world that they still want to travel here.

Of course, the Act alone isn’t going to change the tourist economy. It will be up to the advertisers to do a good job of letting people know why America is a great place to visit. Additionally, everyone in the travel sector will need to do their part to make sure that tourists have a good time while they are here. Offering hotel specials, providing great service at attractions and making foreigners feel welcome are all things that can really make this effort work.

America is a great country. We should share it openly with other people. After all, we want to be welcomed in to their countries in order to see new things and experiences new cultures. It’s only fair that we encourage them to do the same!

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• Great deals. I want to use a website that will offer the best hotel deals and best airfare.
• Ease-of-use. I definitely want to make sure that any website that I use is going to be one that is really user-friendly. No glitches; no tough-to-read text, etc.
• Lots of information and reviews. I don’t just want to know about the latest hotel specials; I want to know about what makes each hotel special!
• Personality. I’d like to see the personality shine through the site as I’m reading it. This makes it easy to get a feel for whether or not a recommended deal would be right for me.
• Variety. A website that offers the same deals over and over again is boring. A website that offers new stuff all of the time is going to keep me interested.

It doesn’t matter to me whether a travel website is an independent site or one that’s produced by a chain company. What matters to me is the content and the quality of that content. I want to check out travel websites that are going to really be useful to me. Let’s face it; we all have a limited amount of time that we’re able to spend online. I don’t want to waste mine on travel websites that aren’t the best websites.

One of the websites that I’m really excited about right now is the Choice Hotels website. This website was already a good website by the above standards. However it’s recently undergone a site redesign that makes it even more appealing to me as a reader. Features of the new site include:

• New advanced search bar. They’ve made it a lot easier to search for good hotel deals close to the destinations that you want to visit.
• Rate comparison tool. I love that they’ve made it possible to easily compare the costs and features of different rooms that are available. You can easily look at photos of the room as well as package deals that might make it cheaper.
• Look for deals within certain interests. A cool new feature lets you look for the best deals in certain categories such as romantic vacations. That makes for easy planning!

What do you think?

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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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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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