You'll Want To Use These Websites To Unlock Serious Savings On Travel

I've already given you a couple of tips in the last two or three episodes , and today we're going to give you some more on how to save some serious money when it comes to traveling , so stay tuned . Hello , this is Bob Bales of the Traveling Fool , and I want to welcome you to this week's podcast , where we're talking about saving money for travel .

Travel is expensive . Every time you want to take a break , you got a big four-day weekend coming up . You're thinking , man , I would love to go spend some time at the beach , but to do that , I got to catch a flight , then I got to get a hotel , and by the time I do that , I might as well just sell a kidney , because it is expensive .

However , there's a lot of ways that you can save money on travel , and everybody has a suggestion , but I'm going to tell you about some websites that can save you some serious money when it comes to travel . Now , I'm not getting paid for any of these recommendations .

These are all sites that I use or have used in the past , and they can save you some serious money when it comes to travel . So let's get into it Now . This first one I'm going to give you could actually save you money anytime you're shopping online or buying anything , but it also works on travel . It's a browser extension for Chrome called Karma K-A-R-M-A .

Now Karma is absolutely free . You download it .

It sits in the background , but when you go to sites like TripAdvisor , expedia or Hotelscom , priceline , tripcom and a whole bunch more , they search in the background for the very best coupon codes to apply at checkout , so you can save anywhere from $40 , $50 , $60 a night on a hotel room , because it's searching for a coupon code that you would have not known

otherwise . Now it doesn't just stop at travel , it also does prices on , like I said , amazon and a whole bunch of other sellers . Karma saved well over $300 million for their consumers . And it's easy . It doesn't cost you a dime . Just pop it up in your browser and it sits there and looks at the background . It's well worth checking out , trust me .

Now , these next two I'm going to give you . Not everybody's going to qualify for them , but I would be willing to bet a whole lot of people will . Now I'm retired military , so this is how I found out about these years ago . The first one is called Armed Forces Travel .

Now it's supported by Priceline and it is a US Department of Defense official online leisure travel site for active military guard , reserve Coast Guard , retired military , reserve Coast Guard , retired Military and everybody that's eligible for their MWR program , which is Morale , welfare and Recreation .

So if you qualify under those criteria , it will save you a bunch of money . It looks at hotels , flights , car rentals , cruises and even event tickets . I did a little quick search on it and found results ranging from Lakers season tickets to a King Tut exhibition at the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas .

All you got to do is go to their website , which is AmericanForcesTravelcom . Now , at the end of the podcast , I'm going to list all of these websites in the show notes , which will be on the blog , and you can check them out so you don't have to worry about taking notes Now . The next one is called Armed Forces Vacation Club . This one is really cool .

Military , including Gold Star families and civilian employees of the Department of Defense and the immediate families of all those above . That's a whole lot of people that qualify for this one . Now you gain instant access to their R&R resort rentals worldwide , and they start off at just $419 a week .

Now , that's what the website tells you , but it gets even better . The regular R&R resorts give you locations around the world , places like the Sands Ocean Club in Myrtle Beach or Banff Rocky Mountain Resort in Canada . Plus , there's other places just all over the world . You can search by R&R resorts , high-demand resorts , short-term resorts and a bunch of others .

Now you will occasionally find resorts less than $419 a week , and some are more in the really high-demand areas . I went on there just before I taped this and I did a search and found Calypso Cave Resort in Kissimmee , florida , listed at $379 a week . Now , that's not bad if you're going to go to Disney World .

Or how about $579 a week for the Interlux Club Royale in Thailand or the Le Club ? No , no , I'm going to screw this up . Mugins M-O-U-G-I-N-S big fancy club for $500 a week just outside Cannes , france , right next door to Monaco . And the prices now ?

Now here's the kicker the prices are not per person , but for the entire room , so when you do the search , it will tell you how many people can stay in the room . For example , the room in France . The one for what was it ? $500 a week is one bedroom with a partial kitchen and it sleeps four . So I'm assuming it's got like a pull-out couch or something .

So four people can stay in Cannes , France , for $500 a week at this resort . Now you can also spend $669 a week and get a two-bedroom at the same location with a full kitchen that sleeps six people . I mean , good Lord , that's $100 a person a week . You can't even get a hotel room in Houston for that price .

Now just look at some of the information section on each property Down at the bottom . It'll tell you more information and when you do that , it'll give you all the criteria for the property , because some of these are all-inclusives , some may require deposits . The all-inclusives actually require an extra fee per day , may require deposits .

The all-inclusive is actually required extra fee per day . And I've looked at some of them and they're like anywhere from $10 or $20 a person per day and each one is different . Some of them have absolutely no restrictions . Everything's up at the top but down at the bottom and the more information will tell you about it .

Now , this company has been in business for over 20 years and I've known a lot of people that have used him and been extremely satisfied . It's a great website . You can find properties all over the world and it's well worth checking out . That one is the Armed Forces Vacation Club . Now for flights Now .

I previously gave you some tips on finding cheap airfares and how to do it using Kayak and Google Flights , but there's some other sites that can also save you money . The first one is Skyscanner . It's been around for a long time . I've used it in the past . With Skyscanner you can do a search by putting in your departure airport , the destination section .

You just put everywhere and then put your departure month and your return month and hit search and you will find all kinds of flights at some really good deals . It's worth checking

out . If you say you know I'd love to go on vacation somewhere , don't really want to know where I want to go , do a search for two or three months out and just hit it and you'll say'll see all these flights come down . You're like , oh my Lord , you mean I can go to London for $300 round trip , because it'll find them for you .

The other site is Momondo M-O-M-O-N-D-O . This one you go to the explore section in the left-hand column you put in your departure airport . You leave the destination to anywhere and the dates to any time , and it'll do the same thing . I found flights like Houston to Tokyo for under $600 round trip and a lot of other really great deals .

So , just like searching kayak or Google flights , you need to check on them daily If you're looking for deals . It takes two or three minutes each one . I just leave an open tab on my browser and once a day I go in there and hit it and go oh , look at this , there's a cool flight . Living there Doesn't take very long at all , just check them .

If you don't want to check them daily , check two or three times a week Takes a couple minutes and you can find all kinds of deals . I've been thinking about taking a trip to South Korea and , depending on when I check , I've seen prices ranging anywhere from $1,400 round trip down to $790 round trip .

I haven't narrowed down the time frame I'm looking to go , but I just keep monitoring it to see when I can go and things like this . It's a great tool . So Google Flights , kayak , momondo and Skyscanner those are the sites you want and if you're flexible on your travel dates or if you're adventurous and you're just looking for a great deal on flights .

There's a couple of other sites you can sign up for that offer both free and paid plans . Now I'm signed up for both of these . The first one is Matt's Flights , A fellow named Matt M-A-T-T Matt's Flights . You sign up for his email alerts with Matt's Flights and you will get deals on flights from your home airport .

It'll ask you what airport you want to put in there . You might get three or four emails a month . Sometimes you get a few more , and what they do is they'll send you an email anytime they find a really good deal . That's leaving out of the airports that you designated Deals like Austin to Denver for $48 round trip . Now they also offer a two-tier paid plan .

For $97 a year , you get domestic and international flight deals from your home airport . Mistake deals , which are the mistake airfares that sometimes the airline will publish a deal and they'll screw up on the pricing . There's also economy class deals and up to five times as many deals as the free membership will get you , and you get that for $97 a year .

Now , for $149 a year , you get all of that . Plus , you receive the best airfare guaranteed for your specific travel plans . All you have to do is email them your trip details and they do all the work , so you don't even have to search for the flights . You'll also receive business and first class flight deals and their custom itinerary services .

Now they have some great business class flights . You'll find business class flights in a lot of cases are cheaper than some people are booking for economy , which you won't do unless you pay them the $149 a year . Now you book the flights directly with the airlines , not through Matt's Flights .

They're just searching for the deals and they say that they will save you an average of $500 per flight . Now I'm assuming that they mean international flights , since you can get domestic flights for a whole lot less than $500 . I found some fantastic deals and all you have to do is go to Matt's Flights , subscribe to their newsletter .

Now there's another one that works the same way , sort of . It's called Secret Flying . Secret Flying is another email deal alert program where you select the airport you want to fly out from and they show you deals , including the air airfares , and they give you a link that goes directly to Priceline and Skyscanner .

They partner with these two companies , so that's how they get paid and you're booking with Priceline or Skyscanner Secret flying lists , deals flying out of your selected airport and some are short notice . So it's not the best if you have a particular travel date or destination in mind .

But if you can book a flight leaving in the next month to a dream destination at half the normal advertised price , it might be worth it . Destination at half the normal advertised price , it might be worth it . For example , boston to Dallas for $127 round trip with JetBlue , and it had dates going out two , three and four months .

Now both sites are really good to sign up for and you get deals directly into your inbox . Those are the best ways that you can save some money on airfares . Now I'm going to give you a couple of sites to save money on hotels . One works everywhere in the world .

It's a travel site that not a lot of people have heard of , but it's been around for a long time . It's called Agoda . The deal with Agoda is it works best in Asia . You find the very best deals for rooms in Asia with Agoda , but they also have deals that are comparable to bookingcom and everybody else if you're looking in the US or in Europe . But what ?

I was traveling a lot to Asia . That was my go-to site . It has listings all over the world , like I said , and sometimes you can find a better price in the US if you go to one of the other websites . But for prices in Asia , agoda does the deal , man , for example , the City Garden Hotel in Manila , philippines , which I personally stayed at .

You go to Bookingcom and they list it for $140 a night , but Agoda the price is $48 . Now , not all their hotels have such a huge difference in price , but you can almost always find the best price on anything in Asia by going through Agoda . Another site that works worldwide is Hopper H-O-P-P-E-R Hopper .

Hopper is actually an online travel agency and they offer an app that you download and use on your phone . Now the way Hopper works is they've collected an archive of millions of flight , hotel and car rental prices . Then they analyze the data to produce predictions with a 95% accuracy .

To produce predictions with a 95% accuracy and they notify you of when they predict the price will be at its lowest point . So you can book it quickly right from your phone , helping you find the best possible deal . They encourage you to use the app . The website works , but it doesn't work for all of the things .

I think it only works for hotels , but for flights , car rental prices and everything else , you've got to use the app . Now they've been in business since 2007 and Hopper has done this algorithm thing . They're like the Google of the travel industry and they have got this down to a science and they will find you some excellent deals .

So go to Hopper , download it . The app's free to use , doesn't cost you anything , and if you book it , you just book it through them , so that's how they get paid . Now , on a previous podcast , I gave you an app that I use for road trips , and I'm going to tell you about it again . It's called Gas Buddy .

I use it all the time whenever I go on a road trip . All you got to do is download the app and it does a search of the gas prices near you , and they have a couple of plans also .

They have the free one , which is what I use , but you could also get a free Gas Buddy card , and what that does is , if you use that card , it debits it directly from your bank account and it saves you a little bit more money than just using the free app , and they also have a credit card , which you could earn even more savings .

Like I said , I just use the free app , but once you open it , all you got to do is hit find gas , and it uses GPS to figure out where you're at and searches all the gas stations around you .

You can hit I want to look for regular premium or diesel , and then it gives you the prices of the gas at multiple gas stations that are near you within like five or ten mile radius , and you can review those results on either a list showing you from the cheapest all the way down to the most expensive , or you can open up the map and see where they're at

with the prices , or you can open up the map and see where they're at with the prices . Now , the thing about this is the prices are reported by the users . So while you're getting guests , you can input the price that you paid and it updates the app .

So when you get the results , it'll tell you the station , the price , the user that reported the price , his screen name and when it was reported and it's usually been reported either that day or one day previously . I did a quick search next to me and prices differed anywhere from 13 cents a gallon and that's within a five mile radius .

So if you're going on a road trip , you can say , okay , I can pay $2.87 a gallon for this off the highway , but wait a minute , if I take this little side road , go down three blocks , I can save 20 cents a gallon . Well , that adds up if you're on a long road trip . So that's the best way to save money on gas when you're traveling .

So here's just a generalized tip and this will save you money . Generalized tip and this will save you money .

Trust me , if you're looking to book a hotel in another country , try using a VPN , a virtual private network . All it does is it masks where you're logging into . It shows you logging into somewhere else . I've got one installed . They're great for security . I use them all the time , just so I have it .

I mean , I use one at home , but I especially use one when I'm traveling . But I can go into my VPN and log in from anywhere in the world . If somebody were searching and says where's this guy logging in from , it could say Moscow , london or Dallas , texas . But use a VPN and log into the country that you're looking at hotels for .

So if you're going to Germany , log into Germany on your VPN and then search for rooms on the websites that you go to search for . It doesn't always work , but I've found drastically different prices by doing this .

You do a search from where you're living in Philadelphia , because you're fixing to go to Frankfurt on vacation , and you're seeing hotel rooms for $140 , $150 a night on this website . Well then , you open the web browser in incognito mode , which is easy to do .

You just go up on the right-hand corner and hit search incognito , turn on your VPN and do the same search with the same website out of Frankfurt , germany , and you'll see prices $20 and $30 cheaper than the price you just saw in America . Why , I don't know . I guess they're doing that foreigner's tax . I have no idea , but it doesn't always work .

But it does a lot . And if you book a room using a different currency than US dollars , it also helps . So up in the top it'll say what currency are you looking at ? Well , I'm going to book it in euros . It'll give you a different price than if it would if you were booking it in dollars from Philadelphia .

Now , if you're using your credit card , the credit card company will convert it and in some cases they might charge you a foreign transaction fee , which ranges around 3% , but more and more these days , cards are having zero foreign transaction fees , so sometimes you can get a whole lot cheaper rate and save a good chunk of money on your hotel just by searching ,

using a VPN and booking it from the host country currency . I've done it numerous times and it saved me a bunch of money . Now the other one can get real complicated , so we'll keep it simple . There's what they call , you know , hacking points . You sign up for a travel rewards program .

You get credit cards which give you multiples of the deals , and you rack up your credit card to get multiples of travel points . And people get hundreds of thousands of airline miles and things this way by juggling three or four credit cards , and there's websites that deal with this .

I personally don't have the patience to do it , but I do have travel rewards cards . For me , the simplest way to do it is every time I buy something , I use my credit card . If I'm going grocery shopping , I use my credit card . If I'm filling up my car , I use my credit card . Go out to eat use my credit card .

I don't pay cash or debit cards or checks for anything . You could also pay your bills with it . You can pay your rent with it . You can do all kinds of things . The key is don't spend any more than you normally would if you were writing a check or using your debit card , and pay off the balance at the end of each and every month .

So if you spend , we're just going to pick a number out of the air .

If you spend $2,000 a month on bills , gas , groceries , everything else all combined , and you're using your debit card to do it , you're keeping track so you don't overspend Well , just have the wherewithal to say I'm not going to spend more than $2,000 and I'm not going to go crazy buying stuff just to buy it .

I'm going to use my credit card for what I would normally use my debit card for and rack up the same $2,000 , but pay it off at the end of every month . So you don't owe any interest . Works out great and you wind up racking up a bunch of miles . That's a simple way to do it .

But here's the thing if you don't want to do all that , you can still get good deals just by checking out the sites that I mentioned . Now imagine going and telling your co-workers after a four-day weekend that , hey , I just got back from this great beach resort and the flight , the hotel , everything cost me less than $500 . And that was for four days .

I flew to another state and had a blast .

Now , if you go to thetravellerpoolcom , this podcast is going to be there along with all the others and all these websites are going to be posted in the show notes and , like I said in the beginning , I'm not getting paid for any of these recommendations . The links on the site go directly to that site , so I hope you got something out of it .

Please hit the like or subscribe button , check out a few of the articles on thetravellingfoolcom and next time I'm going to tell you about four or five destinations that you can go to this winter , not even have to use a passport , and enjoy a great , warm beach vacation . So stay tuned until next time and safe travels . Thank you you .