We all know that travel can be pricey. Add a kid or two to the mix and the cost only increases.
I have been called cheap. I prefer to be called thrifty. My mother raised me to be penny conscience. Being only allowed to spend my allowance given for doing chores, I realized as a child in order to get what I wanted I would need to save. I now only shop at Bealls Outlet, love Walmart, cut coupons, and stress if my bank account falls below a certain amount. Having this in mind, I thought we could not travel because it would cost too much. With school holidays falling during the higher priced travel times, the cost for travel can be outrageous.
I have used several bargain travel sites to book travel. These include Groupon, Expedia, and Priceline. On cruises, I have used VacationsToGo.com as well as booked shore excursions through outside shore excursion companies in order to save on the mark up they charge when hosting the excursion through the cruise ship.
Ebates, now known as Rakuten is a free website. When you sign up for Rakuten, they pay you to shop online. I would highly recommend logging into Rakuten before making any purchase online, however many of the participating websites are travel websites. In addition to using Expedia where you can obtain points for your travel, you can also get anywhere from 3% to 10% cash back on your travel arrangements. Why not also purchase your new outfit for the cruise while shopping on Amazon. Log into Rakuten first so you can get cash back. Amazon has very affordably priced outfits. With a Prime membership, the outfit ships free and should you not like it, you can ship it back also with no cost!
Other ideas to save money include bringing breakfast with you on the trip to eat in the room. Protein bars are easy to travel with and can save you between $5-$15 per person for breakfast. Most hotel rooms have coffee makers so I also bring extra coffee and filters. You can also ask for additional coffee and filters at the front desk. If your room has a kitchenette, a fridge, and microwave the option for meals is much more vast.
My husband and I also bring our own alcoholic beverages. The hotel bars charge between $5 and $15 for a drink. We bring our Yeti cups with us and fill them up before leaving the room to head to the pool. We walk back to the room for refills.
In future blogs, I will be discussing actual trips and travel booked using these bargain shopping ideas.
Disclosure: This post includes affiliate links. At no extra cost to you, I will earn a commission should you click on a link and make a purchase. This blog is independently owned and the reviews of any product and/or travel destination here are my opinion.
