Frommer’s Budget Tips

At the 2012 Boston Globe Travel Show, Arthur Frommer and his daughter Pauline offered their advice on  “When to Splurge and When to Scrimp on Vacations“.

The high cost of air travel has forced many would-be-vacationers to stay close to home.  The Frommers suggested that rather than cancel your travel plans altogether, plan ahead and save on other vacation components such as food, lodging and activities.

Here are a few of their suggestions:

• Best time to buy plane tickets – 6 weeks before travel date, on a Tuesday or Wednesday;  Avoid booking on a weekend
• Use Twitter to track last minute bargain fares
• Consider airfare/lodging packages
• Stay in apartments where you can make your own meals rather than hotels
• Avoid Tour Groups and travel independently instead
• Save on lodging by booking a condo directly through the owner, renting a spare room or participating in a home exchange

The Frommers also recommended checking out these websites:

• To rent a spare room or apartment: airbnb.com and wimdu.com
• Rooms for free/cultural exchange: couchsurfing.org, globalfreeloaders.com, usservas.org, homeexchange.com, workaway.info, wwoof.org
• Hotel deals: hotelscombined.com, hipmunk.com, dohop.com
• Packages: bookit.com, vacmart.com,  expedia.com
• Car Rentals: bnm.com, autoslash.com
• Teaching English in Spain: Vaughan Volunteers

For more tips from the Frommers, listen to their weekly radio show on WOR News Talk radio 710 AM, Sundays 12-2  or subscribe to the podcast.

Cheap Flight Search

Sitting in a dreary London hotel room wishing you were in the South of France?

Check out the options for cheap flights at skyscanner.net, an online search engine that includes Ryanair and other European discounters in the search results.

The site offers some cool tools like a quick start guide, cheap flights map, and a whole month option.

Not too picky about the destination?  Try the everywhere search to find a bunch of bargain travel suggestions.

Listings for cars and hotels are also searchable.

Olympic Inspiration

If the coverage of this year’s Winter Olympics inspired you to see more of Vancouver, British Columbia, you may want to check out some of these offerings.

Through April 30, the Loden Hotel, (877-225-6336) , a boutique hotel in downtown Vancouver and a 2010 tripadvisor Traveler’s Choice is offering a special promotion. Save 33%  on three nights or 3 for the price of 2 in a garden vista room. A  30 minute sauna treatment at the spa and basket of complimentary bath products is included.  Use the Travel and Leisure magazine promotion code, Promo Code: T+L, when booking your reservation.

Read the Travel and Leisure Vancouver guide for a good overview of what to see and do in the city as well as a nice selection of city maps.

The February 2010 issue of Sunset magazine featured Vancouver with its recommended list of  the best places to stay, eat and explore.

For tripadvisor‘s list of hotel deals, click here.

See the official city of Vancouver tourism site before you make your plans.

Photo of Vancouver bus (cc) by Stephen Rees and republished here under a Creative Commons license.  Some rights reserved.

International Travel Site

 

 

“In a nutshell, BootsnAll seeks to cultivate an organic community that encourages  independent travel It does this through thousands of travel stories & travel blogs written by travellers, travel guides to destinations all over the world, a membership of passionate travellers, and the ability to book all of your travel needs – air tickets, hostels, RTW tickets, adventure trips, and more – from one website. In this way, BootsnAll aims to be the ultimate resource for the independent traveler.” (Description from their web site)

A Guide to Educational and Cultural Travel

 

 

A web site that pulls together information from other organizations who sponsor trips of interest to a variety of travelers.

Destinations for Nature and Culture Explorations

JOURNEYS INTERNATIONAL is the longest standing family-owned global ecotourism company in the US. The company  offers full-service exotic, guided cross-cultural explorations, nature safaris, treks and eco-tours in remote corners of Asia, Africa, the Americas and the Pacific. Founded by current directors Will and Joan Weber in 1978, JOURNEYS boasts an extraordinary record of client and staff satisfaction and several industry awards

Couch Surfing: Making Connections and Free Accomodationss

A web site that helps you make international connections. You register and then find a member who will offer you “a couch” in their home as you travel.  There are all sorts of safety precautions and privacy rules. Sounds like a great opportunity to get to know local communities all over the world.

A brief article in the National Geographic Traveler Blog, describes this progam.  Take a look!http://intelligenttravel.typepad.com/it/2007/10/couch-surfing-r.html

Rent a Villa!

 

A web site that features apartment, house and villa rentals in locations all over the world

Budget Hotels In Europe

 

This site offers reviews of lots of inexpensive hotels in major European cities. A nice feature of this site is that you can search neighborhhods of the city.  Each hotel has a review and a description of its location.

[Thanks to the 8/6/2007 Sunday New York Times]

International Travel Sites

World’s largest educational and travel organization for older adults.

Travel packages to Europe, Asia and South America. Prices quoted are per person.

Hostels www.hostel.com Over 10,000 hostels listed. Site has ratings of individual hostels by travelers. Prices quoted are in US dollars.