February 11, 2010

Travel Planning Tips

Here are some tips to consider when planning trips (not in any particular order):

  1. Sign up for a rewards credit card.  We have 2 credit cards that we rotate to get airline and hotel points.  Our cards of choice are Southwest Visa and American Express Hilton HHonors.  A lot of our weekend trips are booked using our free flights or free hotel nights.  There are many other credit cards that offer incentives with Alaska Airlines, Marriott Hotels, etc.  
  2. Check out the forums on TripAdvisor.  I love this site.  You can get a lot of information and recommendations from locals and people who have traveled to the areas you are interested in visiting.  I love getting some off the beaten path ideas from the forums.  You can also read lots and lots of reviews for hotels and tour guides.  
  3. Sign up for email lists or newsletters.  When I know we are planning a trip somewhere, I sign up for newsletters.  I get notices of deals on rates by being on email lists.  Set up a separate email account just for these newsletters if you don't want to crowd your personal email account.  I received our last good rate at a Vegas casino by being on their email list.  We were on Qantas email list for our trip to Australia although we never got a sale rate.  I'm currently on Aerlingus' email list for our trip to Ireland next spring.
  4. Sign up for Travelzoo.  They send out emails with a list of deals of the week.  They also send out emails for specials on shows.  I just got tickets to a Will Ferrel comedy show in LA for half price by being on this list.  Discounted (1/2 price) Cirque shows will show up occasionally.
  5. Sign up for discounted show lists.  I get emails from Art's Tix in San Diego and Hot Tix in Chicago. Do a google search for your area of interest if you plan on seeing a show somewhere during a trip.
  6. Visit your friends.  I first started traveling by visiting my friends that lived in different places.  Not only are you visiting your friend and a different place, but you have your own local travel guide.  If you're lucky they might let you stay with them!
I'll keep updating this list!

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