J and I have travelled to California twice this year. {San Diego in March and San Francisco in September} We’re not independently wealthy…far from it! But better yet, we don’t have maxed credit cards either from taking these vacations. In fact, NO credit cards were used in the taking of these vacations. {Thanks Dave Ramsey!}
San Diego 2009
San Francisco 2009
I work in the Hospitality Industry {ie: NOT the highest paid field} and have 2 degrees in the field. I will never claim to be an expert but I’ve picked up some insight along the way.
He’s finishing a Master’s Degree in Architecture {not practicing at this time due to a HEAVY school load} and he works part-time in the hospitality industry.
So yes, you could say we are customer service slaves.
I’m here to SHARE OUR SECRETS so that you and your family can have a vacation too and enjoy the STEEP discounts hotels and airlines and restaurants are providing right now.
For starters:
1. USE EXPEDIA.COM, KAYAK.COM, HOTWIRE.COM, PRICELINE.COM, ETC. Typically, they will save you some serious bank, but not always {see #3}. I have used this for both of our trips to California and saved $$$ on car rental and lodging.
a. In San Diego we stayed at a high end resort on Mission Bay called “The Dana.” It was fabulous and we got it for a steal by booking through Expedia.com. I booked the hotel, car and airfare in a “package deal” and saved big! PS: The room was even cheaper than the block of rooms the bride and groom had set-up for wedding guests at that same hotel.
b. Our rental car in San Francisco came from HotWire.com. We paid $23.00 for THE WHOLE DAY. That’s it! $23.00!!! Unlimited Miles.
2. Book early. If you know right now that you are taking a vacation to Las Vegas {aka “Lost Wages” haha!} in March, start looking now for cheap airfare, hotels and even your rental car if you plan to do any sightseeing off the strip!
3. Check with the actual airline. I found the cheapest and DIRECT flights to San Francisco on the Midwest Airlines website.
4. When renting a car, sign up for the chain’s FREE Membership Club. It usually grants you access to the front of the line. I wish I would have had this knowledge prior to San Diego as I had pneumonia and we waited in line for 2.5 hours. {It was Spring Break!} When we got to the front they told us we could have “cut” in line had we had the FREE membership. I NOW belong to every rental car club imaginable. THAT MISTAKE WILL NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN.
5. Sign up for the hotel’s FREE membership club {if they have one}. Sometimes you will score FREE water bottles each day, free breakfast, late check-outs etc. Not to mention you get points from your hotel stay. {Make sure you do this with the airline as well. Those points rack up especially with Southwest!}
6. BE NICE. Be nice to every reservationist, customer service worker, Front Desk Agent, and wait staff member you encounter. This goes for everyday life too but some people are JUST DOWN RIGHT RUDE to customer service staff that at times they deem “beneath them.” When I worked at the front desk for a couple of very prestigious hotel chains that rhyme with Milton the nicer you were to me the nicer the room I would put you in of course depending on what was available. It never hurts to make small talk. Ask how their day is going, if they’ve been busy today, what’s going on in the city this weekend etc. SHOW THAT YOU CARE! You may just be handsomely rewarded for this! ;) You can still ask for a room upgrade, just ask with a smile on your face and a smile in your voice. Remember you can still get what you want from being nice. “Kill ‘em with kindness!”
7. Pick up travel books. Our San Diego trip was pretty much planned for us since we were there for a wedding but I bought two travel books for San Francisco. {I prefer this over renting from library so that you can highlight, dog-ear pages and take with you on the trip.}
a. Spend Less See More {San Francisco} by Pauline Frommer was a godsend. There are lots of other cities by her under the “Spend Less See More” category. Our book gave lots of great advice and really did save us money. {That’s how we found out about City Pass—see #8.}
b. Buy the travel books used! I prefer up-to-date travel guides and you can find the 2009 editions USED on Amazon.com. That will definitely save you! I just looked up Cancun {for another upcoming vacation} and the used copy is $5.88 versus $18.99. Take them with you on the trip.
c. Visit the Frommers.com discussion boards. I got a lot of questions answered by asking there. WOW!
8. Purchase advance tickets for sporting events, sightseeing, transportation. The Spend Less See More book gave us the biggest money saving tip of the SF trip. The City Pass {$50.00/each} was the best purchase we could have made. It covered almost all of our transportation for the entire trip. The BART and famous cable cars…. PAID FOR with the flash of our City Pass. Those types of transportation usually cost $5.00 one way! It paid for itself in transportation alone. But we also received free admittance into several museums, the aquarium AND ALCATRAZ. Again, it nearly paid for itself right there too. The City Pass is available for the following cities
New York,
Chicago,
San Francisco,
Atlanta,
Seattle,
Houston,
Toronto,
Hollywood,
Boston,
Philadelphia and
Southern California.
I purchased our 3rd row seats {behind the dugout aka PRIME LOCATION} from a season ticket holder on StubHub.com that wasn’t planning to attend this game. While I wouldn’t exactly consider them a steal of a price…they were great seats!
9. Decide if you are going to “eat fancy,” then save for it! San Francisco could have eaten us alive with the cost of meals. We decided to have 2 “fancy” meals. One to celebrate Jeff’s birthday and one with our wonderful friends. The rest of the time was Clam Chowder from the stands at Fisherman’s Wharf, In-N-Out Burger {which we don’t have here in Kansas!}, and the best, cheapo Pizzeria around the corner from our hotel.
10. Just save money. If you know you have a vacation coming up start saving. Put the money somewhere that you can’t get right to it {ie: don’t put it in your primary checking account!} Find ways to cut costs. For me it was hard not to buy new clothes for vacation, in fact I still bought a FEW new things but I saved for those pieces.
11. Start a 3-ring travel notebook. Fill the notebook with every reservation, confirmation number, pamphlet etc. you receive for your trip. That way you will be armed when you get to the airport ticket counter, car rental counter and hotel check-in. When we got to San Diego they tried to tell us we reserved a Mini-Van. HA! I think not. {Don’t mess with a sick woman armed with a travel notebook.} I whipped out my notebook and proved to them that we had reserved a full-size. Thank God for that smart move before long, we were on our way in our NEW shiny, electric blue Dodge Charger! I also saved copies to my email but I would NEVER bank on that alone. Have a hard copy in your travel notebook as well.
I do not use a travel agent for any of my travel. I never have and most likely never will. While I think they are a great help to some, they aren’t to me. { ONLY MY OPINION! } I would rather do the work myself and save the money. I’ve learned a lot along the way. By asking friends, family and even strangers on the discussion boards all of our vacations have been a great success. With a cool head and calm mind you can navigate through disasters {flight changes, flight delays, flights cancelled etc.} yourself. Don’t be afraid, give yourself the benefit of the doubt and book your next vacation!
Have a blast! Let me know if you have any tips of your own!
XOXO
I personally am asking for US Weekly for Christmas. It is a pretty price subscription unfortunately but I found it on amazon.com for about HALF of what the little postcard in the magazine is selling the subscription for! Awesome! 
