By: Jennifer Jolly, The Good Idea Gal
1. Sign up for a Bing Fare Alert! (similar to a “flash sale”)
- Airlines can drop fares to make sure every single seat is booked. They don’t advertise these drops so the only way to find out about them is to have a family member who works “on the inside” or set up a Bing Travel fare alerts.
- The Bing alert uses science (not advertising) for your specific itinerary (such as Dallas-Orlando March 19-21 – and emails you the second that price drops.
- 50% of fare drops are only around for 48 hours
- Example: I just booked Dallas to Orlando for $99 round trip – when I searched for that same ticket two days ago – it was $511.
2. Be Flexible:
- Fares for trips spanning Tuesday to Tuesday or Wednesday to Wednesday are about 20% less expensive than those scheduled for Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
3. Take Advantage of Fabulous Freebies:
- Find a hotel where there’s free Internet access, free breakfast, free parking, even free entertainment deals. Many great resorts offer a free night if you book five, a free round of golf, even a swim with the dolphins.
- Also, go to kidsmealdeals.com. to find out where kids eat free. Last year in Washington DC my family saved $100 at one meal just by choosing a restaurant where kids eat for free with a paying adult.
4. Look for Package Deals :
- The trick here can be finding the best deals. A short time ago, I priced out a room at a W hotel in Dallas, and found four prices for the same two-night stay: over $300 a night on the hotel Web site, about $280 on one booking site, $149 on another booking site and finally $109 on the third booking site when I bundled the hotel with an airfare.
- Instead of poking around the entire Internet for the best deal, try bundling it up with your airfare instead; you might find rates that are otherwise completely hidden and unavailable. I found the same thing with my rental car; when I bundled it in with the airfare, the rate was $11 a day — can’t beat that!
About Jennifer:
Jennifer Jolly is a popular mommy-blogger and TV personality with more than half a million subscribers across several outlets. Over the last two years, she has delivered more than 700 TV and radio segments on popular consumer technology trends as the "Mobile Mom" and "Frugal Mom." She was a TV reporter and anchor for 12-years. Since becoming a Consumer Lifestyle Expert, she has worked on segments for Fox & Friends, The Early Show, Today Show and CNN American Morning and many more. She is also a regular contributor to ABC’s Nationally Syndicated,View From the Bay and guest columnist for Scripps Howard News Service.
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