I chatted up Genevieve Shaw Brown, a senior editor Travelocity, who had a bunch of "Who knew?" money-savers to share:
- Click that “Flight + Hotel” button: One study says it’ll save you $315 on a two-person trip.
- If you’re visiting a big city, stay in the business district over the weekend. When the business travelers clear out, room rates drop up to $100 a night—and even more if you stay over Sunday night.
- Look for brand-new hotels. New properties are trying to entice customers away from their old favorites. Check hotel Web sites to see where they’re opening their newest properties.
- Follow travel pros on Twitter. They’re a great source of short-lived, “Act Now!” deals. (Click here to follow Genevieve. She just wrote about some $9 plane tickets! Gah!)
- If your dates or location are flexible—just get me anywhere warm!—check a site that specializes in last-minute deals. (I just found myself a flight to Puerto Rico plus four nights in a hotel for $420! Rory, do we have plans this weekend?)
- Consider “different” destinations. Another find: a two-week
Alaskan cruise for $57 per person a day here. It might
not be your mama’s dream cruise, but it sounds pretty sweet to me.
Genevieve also suggested booking a trip to Mexico now. Rates are
way down, even for a trip you won’t take ’til winter—when
everyone will be in a tizzy about some other kind of flu.
Passport Panties: A Clever Way To Stash Your Skivvies When You Travel
Does anyone have other fun ways to save on travel? Anyone have any big trips coming up?
Here are some special sweepstakes for you, from Glamour. Click the links and enter to win:
- A $1,000 gift card
- An HP mini 1000 Vivienne Tam edition laptop (Eek! Am I eligible?)
- Or an unembellished HP mini 1000 laptop (That’s right. Leave the pink one for me.)
- The perfect pink summer cardigan
- A Sonia Kashuk brush set
- A gorge beach tote from Sakroots
- The Rusk Go Green hairdryer
- Classic shades from Ray Ban
- Skinny white jeans from Old Navy
- Or any pair of jeans from Old Navy
- A Pottery Barn margarita set (Mmm ... margaritas ...)
- A Lisa Curran bikini
- Lancome Color Design lipstick
- A Krups coffeemaker
- Amrita Singh bangles
Plus more steals and deals from around the ’Net:
- Don’t forget it’s free chocolate Friday!
- Free underoos from Victoria’s Secret
- Free doughnut from Krispy Kreme today (And, um, happy National Doughnut Day.)
- And Dunkin Donuts will give you a freebie if you purchase a beverage. (Guess they’re celebrating, too?)
- Enter to win tickets to the new Transformers movie
- Free water bottle from Juicy Juice
- Free one-month Netflix trial
- Free Crest Whitestrips teeth whiteners from Walmart
- Free scoop of ice cream from Friendly’s on Saturday
- Free coffee mug from Case Construction (Enter code CASETLC. Disclaimer: I have no idea what it looks like. But it’s free!)
- Free Carefree underoo liners
- A free cork trivet
- Buy a TGIFridays entree, get one free
- Free Fekkai hair product samples from Sephora
- Free scented candles in tins
- Free samples of Loreal EverPure hair products
- Free samples of Alterna hair products
- Free bar of MD Skincare soap from Bluemercury
- Free 40-minute facial from Clarins
- Free sample of Healthifeet foot cream
- Free sample of Omega-3 fish oil pills
- Free sample of OB tampons in a handy little carrying case
- Free organic treats for your pooch
- Free sample of Quaker’s fancy new granola bar
- Free sample of Mighty Leaf tea
- Enter to win a YEAR’s supply of Kraft Mac & Cheese by leaving a comment on this nice lady’s blog.
- Three free Barenaked Ladies song downloads from Ben & Jerry’s (If I had $1,000,000, indeed.)
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