Saving Money: Travel Deals

They word "staycation" is sooo Summer 2008. This summer you have every right to prevent some of those "Mommy, I'm bored" complaints and hit the road. Sure, gas prices are back on the steep side and there might be less money in your wallet these days, but you can maybe still eke out a trip somewhere—if you play your cards right and plan accordingly.

WARNING: Do not go into debt to travel!

Whew, OK. Now that that's off my chest, let's get you where you want to go as cheaply as possible:

• Travel auction sites like Priceline.com allow you to bid on hotels, flights and car rentals based on your budget on set dates. You can save up to 40 to 60 percent on luxury hotels that don't usually advertise on their own websites! Recently, my relatives came to visit us and booked a five-star boutique hotel in Manhattan for a three-star price!
  
  
• For flights or hotels, Travelzoo.com has a great super-search feature that not only gives you prices from Priceline.com, Cheaptickets.com, Orbitz.com and Hotwire.com but smaller airlines like JetBlue.com, which doesn't always show up on bargain search sites.
  
  
• These same sites also have a car-rental search feature, but also head to CarRentals.com to compare prices (not the prettiest site, but easy sorting and local deals).
  
  
• If you're flying, make sure you visit sites like Kayak.com for comprehensive searches of both the big airlines and smaller discounters as well. Even big carriers like American and Delta are matching or beating discount guys like Spirit and JetBlue, so shop around. Travel has rarely been this cheap!
  

The takeaway: If you're low on funds, you can still plan a vacay with a tight budget, even if it's just to visit loved ones a city away. With so many deals available online, the Internet is truly your travel friend!

Want more money-saving tips? Check out our Recession Proofing Boot Camp!