We just got back from a much needed vacation to Arizona. It was an amazing trip, but I'd be lying if I said that I didn't bust my booty beforehand to make sure we got the most bang for our buck!
I thought it would be great to share some of my strategies with my readers, so here goes!
We flew into Phoenix, got a rental car, drove to Tucson to see my brother for the weekend, drove back to Phoenix and stayed with my mom for a few days, left the kids, and then my husband and I went to Sedona and the Grand Canyon alone. We drove back to Phoenix, got the kiddos and flew out from Phoenix. Here are my top five tips for saving money when traveling, then I will detail the trip, what it would have cost if I did not shop around and get creative, and then what I paid.
Top Five Tips:
1. Check flight prices on Southwest every Tuesday when the new weekly rates come out, they will change drastically from week to week.
2. use rentalcars.com to get a rental car. Also, start shopping about a month before your trip. I had been searching nonstop and the rates were around $400 a week everywhere, and then, the week before we left, I found rentalcars.com and the price was $188! I don't know if it was just rentalcars.com or the proximity of the trip but it made me very happy!!
3. Use Restaurant.com to eat out!! Restaurant.com sells $25 gift certificates for $10 everyday, however, they often have codes that you can use to get 80% off, making the $25 gift certificates just $2! You can search whatever town you will be in to find restaurants and buy them ahead.
4. Use Priceline.com for your hotel! This was my first time using priceline and I could not be happier!! You name your price and what star hotel you want, and then priceline searches hotels that will accept your offer. I named a price of $100 a night for the best star available, which was four. It was a little scary because you don't know where you are staying until after you pay for the hotel! We ended up staying at a Resort, and they upgraded us to the best available room with a fireplace, terrace, view, and hottub which goes for $250 a night usually!
5. Make your own tours! There are so many tours available, but if you have a rental car and some creative know how, you can do it yourself! The tour from our hotel to the Grand Canyon was $135 a person. We ended up driving there ourselves, and it cost $25 a car to get into the national park, once you get in, they have a pretty elaborate bus system that takes you to different view points that you can ride for free!
1. Flight $218 each way x 4 people x 2 ways = $1744
2. Rental Car = $400
3. 14 meals for four people = $490
4. Resort $250 x 2 nights = $500
5. Grand Canyon Tours = $270
TOTAL = $3404.00
Actually Paid:
1. Flight $89 each way x 4 people x 2 ways = $712
2. Rental Car = $188
3. 14 meals for four people using Restaurant.com certs = $168
4. Resort with Priceline $100 x 2 nights = $200
5. Grand Canyon gas and ticket into park with free bus tours = $45
TOTAL PAID = $1313.00
SAVED $2091.00!!
Hope this helped one person! Happy Traveling!!
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