How to Travel Cheap

Find Really Cheap Airfare and Other Ways to Take a Cheap Vacation to Hawaii

June 18, 2008 · 1 Comment

Ah, Hawaii. A vacation paradise! Have you always dreamed of taking a family trip to Hawaii but need to stay on a budget? Imagine clear tranquil blue water, lying on a hammock, lounge chair, or a beach towel and enjoying the warm tropical sun and gentle ocean breeze (sounds so cliche but it is so true). And umbrella drinks of course, something nice and fruity. What could be nicer and more relaxing?

Sound expensive? Well, it doesn’t have to be anywhere near as costly as you thought.

Even though Hawaii is a notoriously expensive travel destination, with some research you can find some deals for the budget minded and hold onto more of your cash. Let’s check out some tips on getting really cheap airfare and how to spend some time in Hawaii with as little pain to your pocketbook as possible.

First, you have to get there, so let’s explore some different ways you can find inexpensive airline tickets.

You’ve probably heard of the discount air carriers such as JetBlue and Southwest, and often you can find great deals with these airlines. However, what you may not know is the major airlines, due to problems of late such as bankruptcy, are actually making an effort to undercut the prices of some of the cheaper smaller carriers. So don’t automatically cross the larger companies off your list right off the bat. Check their websites and see what kind of deals they are offering.

I recommend checking with the larger online travel sites such as Expedia and Travelocity, but don’t assume that just because you have checked there, all other travel sites will offer the same airline fares. The lowest fares may be at another site so check as many as possible. And of course, as I mentioned, check the individual airline websites as well. Fares are always changing, remember to try different times of the day and different days too.

You can use a travel agent at a physical location (as opposed to online) to help you look for deals on hotels, rental cars, etc. Often they have package deals available that can save you a bundle.

Scheduling your trip for the off season will help you save money. Don’t worry, the weather will still be gorgeous!

You might consider finding a travel message board or forum and ask local residents to give you some advice on the area you plan to visit. They will know what hotels are the cheapest, where you can go to eat for less money, and lots of fun and often free activities. Forums like this are gold, do use them!

Now, once you have secured your airline travel tickets for a cheap price, how can you enjoy this vacation oasis without taking out a second mortgage?

Choosing to plan your trip to Oahu has a great advantage in that public transportation can be found to pretty much anywhere on the island. This can save you a bundle because you might decide to forego a rental car.

Once you arrive, you can take in free nightly hula shows at Kuhio Beach in Waikiki. They often also show free films in the evenings on the beach.

The Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center is another great tip for how to travel cheap. Here you can find some more freebies as they offer free lessons in hula dancing, ukulele, and lessons on how to make a lei. They will also provide lesson in Hawaiian quilting. Now where else can you learn things like this without spending a dime? Great fun.

If you choose to save money by not renting a car, you can save by taking the bus everywhere, or you can rent a bike for about 20 bucks a day. If you do rent a bike and need to take the bus somewhere, you can take your bike along with you on the racks of the city buses. Cool huh?

Remember that if there are decent waves, the surfers will be out, and most any day you can find a surf contest going on. For the cost of some sun screen you can enjoy some absolutely amazing tricks and performances put on by the surfers. This is an extremely fun and inexpensive way to spend a day in Hawaii.

On Saturday there is a farmer’s market at the Kapiolani Community College. This is a super way to soak up local culture and find some local produce and crafts, and you can find some spectacular deals here too. It’s a great place to save money on all those souvenirs you need to bring back home to friends and family. You know they’re expecting something! You can find cheap eats here too, or you can even just wander around and people watch.

So if you have always wanted to travel to Hawaii but had no idea how to find really cheap airfare, take advantage of these tips and you can have an awesome dream vacation to this beautiful state without spending too much cash.

You should never pay full price for airplane tickets. If you’re ready to learn how to find airline travel cheap, join the thousands of happy travelers who areĀ  already saving boatloads of money on airfare right now. You too can get really cheap airfare!

Find inexpensive airline tickets!

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Airline Travel Cheap – 14 Tips to Finding Inexpensive Airline Tickets

June 4, 2008 · 1 Comment

Do you enjoy traveling? I do and am perpetually on the lookout for new and innovative ways to find airline travel cheap. Rather than dropping a bundle on the price of the airplane ticket, I’d rather spend my hard-earned savings on other things like splurging on a great dinner or shopping. Given this, I have put together a few tips to help in your search for inexpensive airline tickets.

1. Purchase a package. Buy airplane tickets, hotel, and car rental together and often you can save when comparing individual prices.

2. Flying one way is great but also usually the most expensive. You can save money by opting for connecting flights.

3. Check neighboring cities. As an example, if you are planning on flying into Orlando, FL, be sure to check out prices for flights to Tampa instead, as these flights are almost always less expensive and usually not too far out of your way.

4. If you are not traveling out of the country, consider flying on one of the smaller airlines for the major carriers as you will usually save on the purchase price this way.

5. Be sure to use the Internet to check out last-minute discount fares on the airline’s main website. Start looking midweek for the upcoming weekend.

6. Be patient and wait for an excellent price to come up. But when you do see a great price go ahead and purchase it, so always have in mind what your definition of a “good price” is so you’ll be ready to grab it at a moment’s notice. You never know when those awesome prices will show up.

7. If possible, you should be flexible with your leaving and return dates. Sometimes if you just adjust your dates by as little as one day you can get a cheaper price. For example, leave Wednesday and return Sunday instead of leaving Tuesday and returning Saturday.

Click here to read the rest of the article and learn more tips on finding airline travel cheap.

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Find Lowest Airline Fares With My Airfare Secrets

May 31, 2008 · Leave a Comment

If you love to travel, there is an e-book penned by a fired travel agent that can save you a ton of money. Wondering where to find the lowest airline fares? My Airfare Secrets has oodles of information to save you money on your family vacations or weekend holidays.

When I first took note of this book I was really tempted to purchase it right away since it is relatively inexpensive, but I held off for a few days. Eventually I just had to know what those secrets were! Yes, I was quite curious. And anyway, there was a money-back guarantee if I didn’t like it, which makes it really a no-brainer.

The basic concept of the guide is that the author was a long-time employee of a major airline and was fired (for a ridiculous reason) after many years of outstanding service. As his revenge, he decided to write this guide which would outline all the major travel agent tips and insider secrets to finding lowest airline fares.

I would say he did a great job. The inside information in this book is superior. After going over the ebook the first time, my head was spinning with ideas I wanted to use to save some money on my upcoming vacation.

Now, was every single thing mentioned in the book going to be useful to me? No, but I found a lot more helpful and beneficial information than I actually expected to. I had already decided if I found even two or three things that could save me some money on airfare I’d be happy. I found much more than that so I was ecstatic. There were a few things I had heard of before but quite a lot of tricks and tips I never knew existed, and a few of the tips are really worth the price of the book all by themselves.

I think the information in My Airfare Secrets ebook is really far above average. One of the things that really aggravates me in a lot of informational books like this is there is way too much fluff. I am not sure if the authors are just trying to fill up space or what, but to me it’s just a waste of time. Thankfully, this guide dispenses with that and just gets right to the point. I loved that as I didn’t feel I was wasting time reading a bunch of nonsense while waiting to get to what I paid for.

All in all, I feel that if you are looking to save money on your travel, find some great ways to save on cruises, or just find the lowest airline fares possible, you could do a lot worse than My Airfare Secrets. Considering the amount of money you may be able to save, it’s quite a bargain.

Join the hundreds of others who are reaping the rewards of this guy’s misfortune. Learn how to find the lowest airline fares and get inexpensive airline tickets, for your next vacation!

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Cheap Travel Orlando – Tips from the Locals

May 21, 2008 · Leave a Comment

If you are planning a trip to Florida, specifically Orlando, you are most likely looking for cheap travel Orlando deals and tips. Who better to advise you than someone who has lived in the area for 36 years. Yes that’s me, I’ve lived here most of my life, and therefore I can offer you a bit of help toward your vacation.

First, in regard to theme parks, beware of lots of pitches from people selling time shares and offering you “free Disney tickets” and such. Are these a scam? Well some can be. And even those that are legit can really waste a huge amount of your time and also get you in such an aggravated mood that you won’t enjoy your “free” tickets. I use quotes around the word free because I don’t believe any of the time share sellers are really giving you free tickets. You might end up with tickets without spending any money, but in the long run you have spent a big chunk of your time and aggravation, and therefore — not free.

But on the other hand, my cousin is a master at this stuff. She has gotten many many tickets free of charge by listening to these spiels. Frankly I don’t know why she does it, but she does, over and over. So for those of you who are determined to consider this a cheap travel Orlando deal, and you really want to give it a try, her method is simply ask how long the sales pitch will last and demand that they stick to it. Don’t take no for an answer. Be firm and do not allow them to sway you from your goal, which is free tickets (or whatever they offer) within a specified amount of time that you listen to them.

So on to more cheap travel Orlando tips. Let’s talk restaurants. If you limit yourself to the areas by the theme parks you will not find many places that I would consider local “secrets” as far as great and relatively inexpensive restaurants. But there are a couple of places I recommend heartily if you would like to venture away from the tourist areas and into the city of Orlando and its surrounding areas. Really I could write an entire article on just this subject, so I will only mention a couple places here. If you are looking for Italian, Amalfi Italian Restaurant and Pizza is super. It is located at 523 South Chickasaw Trail. I used to work over in this area and ate there at least twice a week. Unfortunately I don’t get out that way as much anymore but it is well worth the drive, and definitely worth including in cheap travel Orlando tips. Great food, great prices. If you’d like to drive just a little out of your way into the surrounding area of Apopka you can find what I considered THE best southern seafood type restaurant called The Catfish Place. This one is definitely considered a secret of the locals and has the best catfish, hush puppies, cole slaw, just the works. I really love this place!

I recommend renting a car. Shop around online before you arrive to find the best deal. I usually find Enterprise to be very helpful and inexpensive, and I have used them exclusively for many years without any problems.But sometimes if you use Travelocity or another online agency you can uncover a deal online, and if you do, go for it. The Orlando area is just way too vast to be trying to navigate around by public transportation. Much much cheaper to simply rent a car.

Planning a vacation? Find airline travel cheap!

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