Bebes' Money Saving Travel Tips

I know, I know… It’s been over a year since my last post and we’ve been on many trips since that I have neglected to share. All those stories are still coming, I promise. But, in the meantime, I’ve been inspired to share some of our travel tips and tricks on saving money and making the most of our adventures.

We just booked a two week trip to New Zealand and got an incredible deal. A lot of people may think that a trip like this would break the bank. That it might be something you have to save all year (or a few years) for. But, if you’re willing to make a few compromises and do a little foot work, a trip like this can be very affordable.

Here are the details:

3 People (Myself, Bebe, and my Father)
Depart LAX (Los Angeles) Sunday, May 23rd
Arrive AKL (Auckland) Tuesday, May 25th
11 Nights in a Two Bedroom Suite (includes full kitchen, washer & dryer)
Depart AKL and Arrive LAX Saturday, June 5th
Price Per Person: $1125

The compromise:

We are traveling in New Zealand’s Late Fall/Early Winter Season. Or the “Off Season”. If you are a beach bum and are interesting in lying out on the beach and soaking up the South Pacific rays, then this probably isn’t your vacation. The temperatures are typically between 50 and 60 degrees, so the weather should be, by no means, miserable.

The foot work:

A key factor in getting a good deal on travel, something that not everyone has the luxury of having, is flexibility. In this instance, I am not talking about last minute, pick up and go flexibility (which is a great thing to be able to do), I am talking about figuring out the ideal Depart/Return Combination. This was our scenario: We knew about when we would have time off work, starting sometime around the third or forth week in May for about two weeks. We were originally looking at only 9 days, searching for Friday thru Sunday, Saturday thru Monday, and so on… looking to see what the cheapest flight combinations would be. (On a side note: It was only on accident while searching that we came across the fact that if we wanted to add another week to our vacation, it would only cost about $60 more per person, total!) And the cheapest combination was to fly out on a Sunday and return on a Saturday. The point is, if you have just a few days flexibility, it may save you a few hundred dollars to leave a day before or after.

Here are a few examples of this from a simple Expedia.com search:

Search Criteria:
Based on Double Occupancy
9 Days of Travel/7 Nights in Auckland
Same Hotel Room

Results:

Sun 5/23 thru Tue 6/1 = $982 p/p
Mon 5/24 thru Wed 6/2 = $1028 p/p
Tue 5/25 thru Thur 6/3 = $982 p/p
Wed 5/26 thru Fri 6/4 = $932 p/p
Thur 5/27 thru Sat 6/5 = $907 p/p
Fri 5/28 thru Sun 6/6 = $982 p/p
Sat 5/29 thru Mon 6/7 = $982 p/p

If you choose the Thursday through Saturday choice, you could save $25 to $121 PER PERSON!

So, the moral of the story is, if you put a little thought into planning and you're willing to compromise some things, you don't have to break the bank in order to take that "trip of a lifetime" every year.