Archive for December, 2008

Book December 30 and 31st only for flights to Vegas from January 13th to March 11th for 1/2 off. There are some great buys to a fun filled city from Southwest and the majors are matching the fares from many cities.

Here are the particulars from Southwest. Search your favorite airline for competing prices as well.

For 2 Days Only, All Bets Are Off!

No bluffing. No poker face. All flights to Vegas are 50% off! With fares this low, you’ll have plenty of cash left to hit the casinos. Fly roundtrip on a Wanna Get Away fare from any Southwest Airlines city to Las Vegas between January 13 and March 11, 2009. Sale fares available for purchase December 30 and 31, 2008 only.

Don’t gamble with a deal this sweet. Book your half-price Vegas getaway today! Book on this page or enter promotion code LASVEGAS on southwest.com.Purchase December 30 through December 31, 2008, midnight pacific standard time.

Travel January 13 through March 11, 2009. Travel valid all days of the week. Roundtrip travel is required on a Wanna Get Away fare to/from Las Vegas McCarren International Airport. Offer applies to Southwest Airlines-operated, published, scheduled service. 50% discount available only on southwest.com off the total amount of any roundtrip Wanna Get Away purchase before taxes and fees.

This promotion does not include Business Select, Anytime, or Senior Fares. Seats are limited and won’t be available on some flights that operate during very busy travel times and holiday periods. Fares do not include federal excise tax of $3.50 for each flight segment. A flight segment is defined as a takeoff and a landing. Fares do not include airport-assessed passenger facility charges (PFC) of up to $18 and government-imposed September 11th Security Fee of up to $10. The discount is only valid with the provided Promotion Code and is not combinable with other Promotion Codes or fares available exclusively through the web tool “DING!”. If combining with other fares, the most restrictive fare’s rules apply. Fares are nonrefundable but (except for tickets purchased through our Group Tickets program) may be applied toward future travel on Southwest Airlines. Fares are subject to change until ticketed. Any change in itinerary may result in an increase in fare. Changes made to the itinerary after purchase may eliminate qualifications for this promotion. Standby travel requires an upgrade to the full unrestricted fare.

Here is a classic Fat Finger Fare Mistake; Thanks Dave at the BRG Blog for sharing:

Orbitz is showing the beautiful Outrigger Ala Moana’s “Waikiki Suite” (city view) as $32.00. HotelClub shows it as $29.00 plus $3.00 in taxes. January 19th only, but hey, it’s a $300 room.

Enjoy it if you can!

It’s clearly a mistake, since the one-person rate is the regular price, while the double occupancy rate reflects the pricing error.

This can be had free on HotelClub if you have member dollars laying around.Room type to look for (there are tons):”Waikiki Suite 1Br Mountain View – 1 King Bed Or 1 Sofa Bed – Tower”

Here is the property’s official website:http://outrigger.com/hotels-resorts/…la-moana-hotel

FREE HOTEL ROOM opportunities and other travel deals are listed daily on the BRG Blog: http://bestrateguarantee.blogspot.com/

Update

Two Hours later and it is Gone already.

Josh sent along this email from the Avis First Department. It is a drastic cut in Avis First Benefits. Here is part of his letter:

As we approach a new year, we’ve made two important changes to our AVIS FIRST™ program that will affect how you earn your weekend reward benefits in the year to come.Effective January 1, 2009, the following changes will apply:1. Avis First weekend rewards will now be earned after every fourth qualifying Rental.2. Rentals that earn frequent travel rewards (i.e., frequent flyer miles or hotel program points) will not count toward the four qualifying Rentals required to earn your weekend rewards.As always, we appreciate your business and look forward to seeing you soon. You can find the most up-to-date terms and conditions at avisfirst.com.

Don’t forget to take a look at our Avis First special offers. You can take advantage of them by clicking on our exclusive offers page.
Warm regards,
Sarah Bergeron
Director, Avis First

Fares Are Dropping Rapidly

I’ve seen some great Mileage Run fares showing up in the last couple days BWI-SEA on Continental for $137 all in. Savannah to Vail for $140, Jacksonville to Seattle for $117 including taxes.

Watch for your airline of choice to match some of these bargains. And remember the olde guy is looking for UA fares for July of 2009 if you come across a cheapie

make sure if you have fares already booked that you look for refares. And if you have places to go and people to see check in with the Farecompare/Flyertalk Link in the link list.

You will be pleasantly surprised

I’m looking for four days in San Diego from Thursday til early Monday AM and bidding $19 for a compact card. With the fees and goodies, it comes to about $100. I can actually get the same thing from one of the majors for $97 including the taxes and fees. It is the first time I have ever seen Priceline come out short for a car rental of three days or more.

There is no reason to give them the business. So now I’m looking for a good rental code for January 2009. Most of Marty’s codes run out December 31st. I can use anything for Delta, American, United or Continental. Anybody have an extra $ off coupon for that period or a code I can use to save a few $$$.

We Missed a Mistake Fare

By the time I caught it, it was over. $ zero base fare to India from Canada. With taxes it came in at $330+- but again it lastly less than two hours online. And it doesn’t look good that it will be honored anyway.

We can’t catch them all.

0% Interest Credit Card Offers May be a Thing of the Past

Although not entirely travel related, I read an article this weekend indicating that the new credit card rules due to go in effect in the future will take away the incentive for the credit card companies to offer 0% balance transfer offers.

I have used those offers for profit in the past by drawing on my credit card balance transfer availability, putting the money in a safe and secure savings account and just making the minimum payments until the 0% expired. Then I’d pay it off. Seems those days are done.

You might still find an offer through the creditcards .com ad in the right hand column. Just navigate to the 0% offers. The key issues are the balance transfer fee (we are looking for a cap)
and a term long enough to recoup the fee and leave a little left over for ourselves.

Of course, it you are less than perfectly disciplined, stay away from this play. The card must be used for the balance transfer only. If you need any help, let me know.

Ticket by Mail with United

Our upcoming San Diego trip is courtesy of travel credits earned by bumps. As it is an hour plus to the Savannah airport, I’m using ticket by mail. Unfortunately I cannot upgrade the itinerary until they actually receive and process the vouchers. I hope those CR1′s are still good.

Guinness Book of World Records Poker Tournament

As I’m typing away this Sunday evening I’m playing in the largest poker tournament ever played. 35,000 of us started in this game at 3:30 Eastern time. At present, I’m in 7,159 place out of 25,039 remaining players holding an Ace Queen and just called a raise. Folded and now have the average number of chips. How is it possible that a company in a storefront somewhere in Canada can keep track of 35,000 players from all over the world and the airlines and hotel programs we deal with take 10 to 12 weeks to process our promotion earnings?

$50 For Test Driving a Dodge Truck

I found this link on Flyertalk SPAM today and it offers sign up for a free test drive and $50 gift card upon completion. Try the link what the heck? With this $50 and the $50 from the hotelclub voucher, take a night out away from home. But I don’t babysit.

One of the members of Flyertalk has a motto “to plan 3 vacations in advance”. Sometimes I wish I only had 3 vacations planned. I like to be ahead of the game and am always proactively planning for my future trips.

Every trip has a legal sized white envelope with Trip Title and Dates on the outside. As I work the vacation I add the itineraries, updated itineraries, hotel accommodations, rental car reservations, mapquest maps, things to do and see, emails from friend with suggestions and anything else I want when travel day comes. I write the phone number of the hotel on the outside of the confirmation letter so I don’t have to dig through every thing to find what I need while waiting in the dark for the shuttle. Having the phone numbers in large enough legible print has saved me tearing apart an envelope in the freezing cold more than one time.

On the outside of the envelope I write my things to do list, like: bring SPG credit card, Passport required, Confirm airport transfer information. Just last week I got a tip from a blog reader about a 10% discount at Seaworld if I have my Southwest Airlines membership card with me when I get to SeaWorld. It is now on the front of that envelope. Thanks for the $22 bucks.

About a week before departure double check the front cover of the envelope and the contents for an update on the things left to do and any final decisions that need to be made.

This system works for me. I hope you find one that fits your travel needs.

Vouchers and Coupons

I use the legal sized envelope again, marked “vouchers and coupons” I am not as diligent with this one as I should be but I try to keep all my bump voucher free tickets, travel credits, gift cards, and reduced mileage awards in the envelope. I’m not as vigilant as I should because I seem to always forget the 4K miles off an award ticket or one time savings on a hotel deal. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve gone through that envelope and realized that I had just what I needed, but forgot I had it. That sounds like a good change in procedure for me. To check that envelope more often and save a few more bucks or miles on my future frugal travel.

Thanks Maya for the Flickr Suggestions

I seem to have caught on fairly well to the photo sharing site and can upload from the camera to the site and then email the photo. Now on to editing the photos and placing them in the blog. It seems like the best way to keep the blog up to date while ewe are frugally seeing the world.

Forgive me it the blog looks funny some days as I get used to adding photos to the blog again. Short term memory issues rear their ugly head once more.

I started two days ago by cleaning out my folder. If you don’t have one, my suggested task #1 is a three hole punch folder with dividers. Pockets in the front and back have helped me as well.

In the front pocket I have all the documentation for promotions where I am due miles, points or cash. I keep copies of everything and do not dispose of them until the miles, points etc have properly posted to my accounts.

I also have my “trades due” and “due me” with a name, email address and the items exchanged or pledged. There has been more than one occasion I’ve gone back to this list when I needed a travel item and found just what I needed. It’s amazing how much of my memory has deteriorated in the last five years. Past excesses? or just the aging process? Either way, I’m glad I have the trade book.

The center sections are divided into three main sections: airlines, hotels and rental cars and from there further divided by individual airline frequent flyer program, hotel program and rental cars. I keep copies of my temporary membership cards for programs I use seldom, and the others despite my failing memory I know by heart or have listed on the section divider.

And in the back pockets I have the extra goodies. Aaron gave me all his frequent flyer account numbers. I have every ones SW Rapid Rewards numbers and a few temporary membership numbers for the rest of the gang. I even have a few second account numbers for myself where I have opened a second account somehow by mistake

That leads me to suggested task number 2.

If you are the frugal person in your family, sign everybody up for every program and stick the temporary account numbers, passwords and PINs in the back of the folder. You’ll be glad you have it for everybody when the next big deal comes around.

Suggested Task number 3 is clean out completed promotions and defunct programs. I guess my ATA account number is worthless at this point. Aloha Airlines membership card is trash as of last week.

And lastly, suggested task number 4 is to organize your computer favorites, delete the outdated ones and categorize the ones you keep. Banks together, then airline programs, hotel programs, car rentals, search engines, all grouped together. It sure makes my life easier when looking for something in a hurry for myself or someone else. You may want to add some of the links I use in the links list on the right hand column and maybe add some of the “Other Sites You’ll Need” from my somewhat outdated website. That is my next suggested task.

My latest Farecompare alert from Traverse City, Savannah, Charleston and Grand Rapids shows the Hawaii fares have come down after the first of the year all the way though March of 2009.
I realize times are tough for some of us, but that is a nice fare for a winter vacation.

I expect to see hotel rates remain low as well.

2009 Goals and Aspirations

The day after Christmas and I’m already thinking about travel in 2009 and 2010. From a personal standpoint, I’d like to go back to New Zealand next December or January 2010. We have the System Wide Upgrades. We know we’d like to see more of the south end of the South Island. We have the time to go. New Zealand is Katy’s favorite country in the world so far. Odds are good, we’ll make that one.

We both really want to go back to the Stoudt Grove of Redwoods just outside Crescent City California. It is a pilgrimage to insignificance. We are so small, and they are so majestic. I’m hoping to make in in March before our Round the World. Thanks to Debbie that notified us of the last refare we got.

Fly fishing in the West has always been a dream. I’m not very good and the overhanging brush in the Midwest keeps Katy busy. She stands at my hip as we wade and helps me thread the flies and retrieves my errant tosses. Anybody know of a summer time destination that won’t cost and arm and a leg where we can cast til our arms are tired? Idaho? Montana?

Hawaii in December is already in the works with that nice Timeshare offer at Hilton I got last week. We loved the Waikoloa Village with nobody there and the week after Thanksgiving is perfect for us.

After our adventure this spring around the globe, I’m sure we’ll find a repeater or two for the future. The second time to a spot is just as rewarding if not more so.

I’d like to give Steve Belkin’s competitours.com a try. The competitive instinct in me keeps Katy from being my teammate. Our marriage is too important for a competition. Why risk it? I can get pretty intense. My kids are not really candidates for teammates as Aaron will be heading to Grad School and Andrew will be off somewhere with Doctors without Borders.

As far as Promotions and Frequent Flyer deals, I’m expecting 2009 to be a great year. The competitive nature of the travel industry will make some mistakes with capacity, and some bargains will be there for the taking. And as long as humans are programming those computers, there will be mistake fares and promotion opportunities. Our frugal network is growing so fast that a deal rarely gets by all of us now.

And sharing what we find, what we’ve learned, and the experiences, brings the most joy.

Every time one of us chips in to the effort (and you guys and gals chip in tons) somebody wins and gets to experience something they otherwise could not afford, or would even have thought of.

And for the kids, well they still need to travel. Tony has interviews for post graduate dental schools. Andrew never stops moving and Aaron has his Grad school auditions this spring. Miss Shannon, or Spitfire, is such a verb, we never know what she’ll come up with. Keep the bumps and vouchers coming.

Changes to the Blog?? I don’t think so, unless you think there is something missing? George is working with me on a Top Five Deals addition which should simplify finding the HOT DEAL easily.

Before I head off to South America I have promised Katy I’d learn how to download photos into my new Acer Aspire netbook from her Olympus camera and then insert those photos in emails from around the world. It is so intimidating for me as I have absolutely zero patience and once I’m taught the technique, I can’t remember it for the next time around.

And lastly, it least for now, when I hit 100,000 Elite Qualifying miles with United this year, I’m going to switch some of the remainder of my business for the year to American, and work on lifetime Platinum status.

It sounds like an ambitious year. I’m glad we’re starting early in January.

We are so grateful this Holiday season to have some of our children with us in person. They have all headed off to the “other side of the family” and we are off to give a little.

Katy spends every Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Years and Easter in the Emergency room. It is her way of saying thank you for her blessings.

And I’m making turkey stuffing for 800 of my friends at the Holiday Inn on Hilton Head Island for those needing a place to go, a warm meal or a little companionship.

We are truly blessed.

Happy Holidays to Each and Everyone of You and Your Families. It has been our pleasure to spend some time with you this past year.

We can see the world at prices we all can afford. I know we can, as we are doing it everyday.

It has never been about the things we possess. It has always been about the memories we have, that make us rich. The memories are the people we have met and the things we have seen.

Restaurant.com Last Day Today for 80% Off

The coupon code is HOLIDAY for today only. Get $25 off coupons for only $2.

I was making a Hilton Honors award reservation for a friend a couple days ago and was transferred to the Hilton Grand Vacation Club. Glad I took the call.

The pitch was to prepay for a 5 day 4 night stay at a Hilton in Hawaii for $599. The properties are on Oahu and the Big Island at Waikoloa. We just came from there. The room rate during that week was $209 per night so savings were offered.

I was receptive to the pitch but pleasantly hopeful. When it came to closing time, I balked and she asked if she made the offer better would I at least listen. Sure why not.

After a short break to speak with her manager, she came back at $499 and a free 5 day car rental and two tickets to the dinner luau show. “Now we’re talking, but do I earn points for the stay and can I get upgraded.”

“No on the points, but let me talk to my manager” and when she comes back again now I’m getting 20K points, yes I can upgrade with my status and I only have to pay $250 now and the balance when I confirm.

All for a two hour timeshare presentation? The rental car from Priceline costs me $150 for the last 4 day trip, the dinner show is way over priced at $60 a head, but what the hey, a free meal now. I used 125K in Hilton Honors points last time, now I earn 20K and it costs me $499 with all the goodies.

We were going back anyway. Sometimes you do get lemonade out of lemons.

Mike Gives the Blog a $25 Airtran Coupon

Thanks Mike for supplying the blog with a $25 Airtran Coupon for the first response wanting to receive Airtran Netscape Emails. Send me the email at ingy104@gmail.com

That’s the Holiday Spirit. Thanks Again , Mike

As always, ask for it, if you will use it personally.

Restaurant.com 80% Off

The coupon code for today and tomorrow is HOLIDAY. $25 coupons wil be availble for $2 only. Take a friend to dinner.

Thanks again Dave for the Wyndham Rewards Best Rate Guarantee Blog and keeping us up to date on changes with the program.

Using a Kayak link from Dave’s site I easily found the Days Inn Hotel Circle South at $95 per night and it was $85 at Orbitz, Cheaptickets and $85.50 at Hotels.com.I submitted my claim Sunday night and had my approval Monday by noon for the free night. And as with all Wyndham Rewards properties, I had done a Tripadvisor.com search of other guests experiences and condition reports. I think it is a must for these lower end hotels.

Three nights so far, paid for one with the Best Rate Guarantee and the second night free at the Marriott LaJolla.

I used Katy’s name for the BRG and still have mine available for January as it is one property per chain per month. Time to go exploring

Bestrateguarantee.blogspot.com Cut and paste that one and add it to your favorites.

Day Four San Diego = Comfort Inn at the Harbor

I always like having more than one option for housing and this time it was use Choice Privileges rewards points or the hotelclub.com voucher for $49 off the price.

I narrowed it down to the Comfort Inn at Old Town for 20K points or $94 or Comfort Inn at the Harbor for 16K points or $84? Tripadvisor shows the At the Harbor site to be in renovation and almost complete with all positive reviews. That won over the $10 higher or 4K higher award redemption. Now comes the big decision: 16K in points or $84+10 tax-$49 coucher for $44 total.

$44 or 16K in points? $44 was the answer so I can save the points for a better opportunity.

Out of pocket expenses to date: $33 for the airfare, $118 total for two nights in the Marriott LaJolla, free night for number 3 and $44 for night number four. Total $195 plus rental car that I’m bidding $15 per day for and the SeaWorld tickets.

That to me is Frugal Travel. If one flight gets bumped, we’ll actually make a profit going to San Diego.

Thanks Readers for the Wyndham Help

Jeromie, Dino, Todd and others that offered to help out get rid of this odd number, I appreciate your helping me out. I’m gonna be 3200 miles closer to Lifetime Platinum with American and get rid of those 7977 points that have just been sitting there. I think they were a sign up bonus and a hotel that actually gave points on a Best Rate Guarantee free night.