Ways to Save Wednesdays: Travel (and Get Warm) on the Cheap

Which is why many Canadians throw off the shackles of winter for a holiday lounging in sunny Mexico or Cuba, drink in their hand while enjoying a nice ocean breeze. But who wants to pay retail for a vacation like that?

 

Here are 5 ways you can save serious cash on your next tropical getaway.

 

 

Remember that episode of The Simpsons when the family ended up in Japan because they got tickets for next to nothing by being flexible? Real life doesn’t reward you for waiting at the airport for great deals, but you can use the internet and do almost the same thing.

 

This works best for people with vacation time that’s a little more flexible, since the majority of the deals go through the middle part of the week. Still, a quick search online found several week-long all-inclusive vacations from Toronto, Calgary, and Vancouver for under $800 per person (excluding taxes).

 

Travel providers are generally pretty good at anticipating demand, but sometimes they’ll blow out a week at an all-inclusive resort for less than $600 per person. The key is being patient and having a boss who will let you take vacation with just a couple of weeks notice. A bad economy helps too.

 

 

Saving money on hotels when going to Vegas is ridiculously easy. Last year, I paid just $29 per night at The Tropicana, a swanky four-star joint on the south end of The Strip. A few weeks ago, I paid just $21 per night to stay at The Stratosphere. How did I get such great deals?

 

It’s a simple two-step approach. Vegas is dead during the week, since everyone shows up for the weekend. By booking my room from Sunday to Thursday nights, I saved at least 50% by getting weeknight rates. I saved a bunch again by using Hotwire to book my room.

 

Yes, you have to put up with not knowing what your hotel is going to be, but as long as the location and the quality of the hotel is up to your standards, go for it. Hotwire lets you save $20-$100 per night; for that kind of money, I can put up with a little uncertainty.

 

 

This can go both ways. If you’re low on time, you might want to stay close to the key attractions. Not only will it save precious minutes best-used touring the sites, but you’ll also save money on transportation costs.

 

For people with a little more time on their hands, staying a few kilometers away from the action can save money too. Hotels a little bit farther away are more likely to discount their rooms, and doing things like eating or buying souvenirs at places off the beaten path can be much cheaper than doing so in the touristy areas. Public transit is usually pretty cheap in most cities as well, it just takes a little more time to get to your destination than it otherwise would in a cab or if you rented a car.

 

A great example of this is Niagara Falls. In that city, $25 entrees are the norm at very average restaurants near the falls area, while we ate for just half that much downtown.

 

 

Another easy way to save money on your next tropical vacation is by thinking ahead. By getting a rewards credit card now, you can save hundreds on your next vacation for buying stuff you would end up getting anyway.

 

Say you signed up for the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite card, which gives a bonus of 15,000 Aeroplan points as a sign-up bonus, as well as an additional 10,000 points for spending $1,000 on the card in your first 90 days of having it.

 

Say you spent $1,000 per month with the card on groceries, gas, drugstore stuff, online purchases, and at AirCanada.com. You’d get 1,500 points per month, and after a year you would have accumulated 43,000 points including the freebies for signing up. That’s enough for a return flight to Mexico, Central America, and almost enough for a flight to Hawaii (taxes excluded). That’s not bad for just doing the spending you’d be doing anyway.

 

 

As we detailed in a previous "Ways to Save Wednesdays", travel insurance is a must when you're going away, and it really does pay to compare quotes before you buy a policy. This is a great and often over-looked way to save cash on your trip, and it only takes a few minutes!

 

 

Getting away in the winter is practically a Canadian tradition. If you use these tips to save money on your tropical getaway, maybe you’ll save enough to be able to afford another warm vacation. Anything we can do to make spring come a little faster is okay in my books.