While it is sometimes difficult to find vacation specials over the Christmas holiday, there are other considerations you can take into account that could help you save a lot of money. Here is a list of ten tips that might help you to save money on your next holiday vacation adventure.

1. Since most airlines are now charging for extra bags, taking your gifts on the airplane could very well end up costing you a lot of extra fees. In fact, most travelers will find that shipping gifts via UPS or the U.S. Postal Service will be much cheaper than trying to carry those gifts onto the airplane.
2. If you are going to carry Christmas gifts on the airplane with you to your destination, it is recommended that you do not wrap your gifts until you reach your destination. With the heightened security concerns at American airports, airport security will likely unwrap your gifts for you, just so that you can board the airplane. So don’t wrap your gifts before you leave, and you will not have to wrap those gifts twice. Additionally, whenever possible, you should pack loose items in clear plastic bags for the same reasons. If security needs to dig through your small items, items may be lost.
3. If you need hotel rooms at your destination, hotel-flight packages are generally far less expensive than buying the two items separate, in some cases as much as 75% cheaper. Even connecting flights are generally cheaper than direct flights.
4. Before you order those airline tickets, take some time to check the alternative travel methods including: Amtrak train, bus, or rental car. You may even find packaged Christmas vacation deals offered by specific airlines, such as those offered by American Airlines here, which is offering flight and hotel Christmas package deals for as little as $139 per night per person. (Click the links for more specific vacation discount offers.)
5. When talking to a travel agent, don’t give the agent a specific travel date, but instead, give a date range to the agent. Your flexibility on travel arrangements could literally save you as much as 50% on your travel arrangements.
6. If you are willing to catch an afternoon flight, as opposed to a morning flight, and travel on Tuesday instead of on Monday, once again, you could save a lot of money on airfare.
7. For holiday travel, if you are willing to travel on Thanksgiving Day or Christmas Day, you will find the airports relatively empty and the flight ticket prices extraordinarily low.
8. Be willing to consider alternative airports. For example, you could fly into Dallas / Fort Worth airport (DFW) or you could fly into Dallas Love Field (DAL), which is located just to the northwest of downtown Dallas. If someone is picking you up at the airport, there may be little difference to them which airport they pick you up. And, if you are catching a cab or rental car from the airport, the extra drive time will not be that much, since there is only 20 miles between airports.
9. When you rent a car at your destination, be sure to refill the gas tank before you return the car to the rental car agency. If the car rental company has to refill the gas tank after you drop off the car, they will charge you their gallon price, which is typically much higher than the gas station across the street from the car rental agency.
10. If you plan to stay in a hotel while visiting family over the holidays, ask if the hotel offers courtesy shuttles to and from the airport. This could prevent you from needing to have someone waiting for you at the airport, and it could eliminate the cost of catching a taxi cab to your hotel, which could cost quite a bit of extra cash.

Please visit our website often or register to receive our RSS travel feed, as we are constantly looking for great new travel deals and money saving tips for your travel experience.

When people go on vacation, they tend to believe they are getting their best deal, when they have shopped different hotels, vacation homes, and other venues and found the best advertised price. If you think this way, let me tell you now - in no uncertain terms - you are spending more money than you should have to spend.

Three Questions Designed To Save You Money

1. What is the best price you can give me on this room, or whatever?
2. Is that the best you can do?
3. If the answer is No, repeat questions one and two.

Hotels Need To Fill Rooms

More so in a time of recession, like we are in right now, hotels are desperate to fill rooms. If you are at a hotel with a nearly-packed parking lot, the chances of getting a reduced rate on your hotel room is low. However, if the parking lot at the hotel is less than half full, hotel proprietors are more inclined to jump through hoops to get your business.

Be prepared for the hotel proprietor who is willing to call your bluff. If you tell the person behind the desk that you “will go elsewhere” if they do not cut the price, be prepared to walk out the door if the answer is “No.” More often than not, if your request is met with a “No” at a hotel with few cars in the parking lot, and you start moving towards the door to leave, the hotel proprietor will call you back to the desk, before you reach the front door.

If the parking lot is full, chances are good that the hotel proprietor will not give you a better deal, even if you ask and threaten to leave.

The truth is that you don’t even need to threaten to leave, in order to secure a better deal. All you need to do is to simply ask. What is the best price you can give me on that room? And, is that the best you can do?

Is that the best you can do, is a very important question. This is the question that determines what the lowest price really is. The worst that can happen is that you don’t get a discount price… That is why you should never threaten to leave, unless you have every intention of carrying out that threat.

Better Deals Do Not Always Mean Lower Prices

Suppose your hotel proprietor is willing to give you a free breakfast, if you pay the full price on the room. Breakfast for five at McDonald’s generally costs me $15-$20. So a free breakfast meal for staying at one particular hotel still adds up to money saved, so sometimes, full price for a hotel room will save me money.

One of the best lines in my book of tricks is to wait until the transaction is done, then ask for my “breakfast ticket”. Almost universally, the hotel clerk will ask me “what breakfast ticket?” When I respond, I tell the clerk that I always get tickets for a free breakfast when I stay at other hotels. Nine times out of ten, the desk clerk will say “Oh, okay,” and pull a breakfast ticket from under their desk. Free breakfast is good enough for me.

If you are on vacation, as opposed to a business trip, your hotel may have discount coupons available for local attractions. If you are looking to visit a specific attraction, don’t be afraid to ask if your hotel has discount tickets available for that attraction. You might be surprised what you hotel might be able to offer to you.

Vacation Homes

Vacation Home owners are also feeling the pinch of the recession. As such, you should not be afraid or intimidated at having to ask a vacation home owner if you can get a discount or better rental rate.

Personally, after I discovered vacation home rentals, I decided that if I could afford to go on a vacation, I could also afford to rent a vacation home instead of renting a hotel room. Hands down, the vacation home rental industry offers far more value than any hotel chain could think to offer their customers.

God Gave You The Ability To Speak And Ask Questions - Don’t Be Afraid To Ask

On March 4, 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States was inaugurated into office. He entered the presidency during the midst of a banking panic. In his inaugural speech, he spoke the words he is most famous for today, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

FDR’s words of wisdom are as relevant today, as they were when they were spoken in 1933. The only thing you have to fear from asking questions of hotel proprietors or other attraction venue operators is fear itself. So long as you don’t make the mistake of trying to strengthen your question with a threat, you have nothing to fear and money to gain, simply by asking three really easy and simple questions.

I cannot reiterate this point enough… Don’t be afraid to ask for a better price or a better deal. As Ben Franklin was so fond of saying, “A penny saved is a penny earned.”

This is a nice deal that I found this evening. Consider these features:

• Your choice of hotel
• 3 days / 2 nights
• For two people
• Includes Show Tickets
• Includes Attraction Tickets
• Includes Dinners
• $49

It is an unbelievable offer ! You owe it to yourself to learn more.

On our last Las Vegas vacation, we stayed at the Stratosphere. On our next visit, we will stay on the Strip, perhaps at the Luxor or the MGM Grand.

If you have never been to Las Vegas, it could be a trip of a lifetime. But if you are like us, your first trip will certainly not be your last trip to Sin City!

Click here to learn more about this very attractive deal.