BCS National Championship Game: Budget Travel Tips

If you are a football fan, chances are you don't want to miss the 2009 BCS National Championship Game or in Miami. Traveling to Florida to and back home can get pretty expensive, so these budget travel tips will help you save some cash and still have some fun.

Bookingbuddy.com

Bookingbuddy.com is one of my favorite sites to find the best airline deal around. Why is it so great? First of all it's really easy to use, and second, it saves you time and sometimes, hundreds of dollars, all with one click! What you do is enter your travel itinerary on their site. Then, to the right of the itinerary is a list of icons that represent various airlines. If you want to find a quote at that airline, simply click on it. Bookingbuddy does all the work for you so you don't have to type in your itinerary at each location. Click around at the various sites and find the one with the best deal!

Although I have not used Bookingbuddy for hotels, the same process works. Type in your itinerary at Bookingbuddy, or indicate you'd like to find hotel AND flight and proceed to click on the airlines of your choice to check out the prices. Using their hotel tab can also save you a lot of typing on various sites. What I also enjoy about Bookingbuddy is that they save your itinerary on their site so you can return at a later date and search all over again to see if the prices have changed.

Check back frequently

Upon speaking with a travel agent, he informed my family that the best time to buy your tickets is when the prices reset at midnight. However, you must clear your cookies on the travel agency sites first, I guess so they wouldn't be aware you were already searching and give you the same price as before. He also said the best time of the month to purchase tickets is towards the end of each month when the prices are reduced to meet the month's quota. What I've noticed from my years of bargain travel searches is that the prices fluctuate all the time, sometimes as much as $100 from one day to the next. I know the travel websites tell you the earlier you get it, the better. But what I've discovered is that is not so. I've seen the prices rise and drop dramatically from week to week and you just got to trust your gut that the day you search and find a price is the week you are getting the deal!

Car Pool

Gas prices are finally under $2.00/gallon here in the U.S. If you have the stamina and willingness, gather the family and take a road trip down to Florida for the big game. To save on gas money even further, carpool with some buddies or another family. If you don't know anyone, you can always post on Craigslist or at the Sports Bar requesting a travel partner. Once in Miami you can always get separate hotel rooms. At least traveling by car will greatly reduce your expenses and allow you some rest as a passenger for those longer drives. Be sure to pack a cooler full of goodies if you choose this route! You can always stay at KOAs along the way to save some cash.