Save a Bundle on Your Next Vacation

Whether it's a weekend trip to granny's house or a romantic cruise with your spouse, it is well worth it to spend the extra time searching for the best deals. With these few tips you can save thousands each year on vacations.

First things first, airport parking can be very expensive. One way to avoid it is by staying overnight in an airport hotel. By staying the night before your flight leaves you not only get to enjoy all the hotel amenities but also get to park all week for free in the hotel's lot plus get a shuttle to the airport. So why not start your vacation a night early? The cost of the hotel room will be less than half what you would pay for the airport parking garage.

Once you are at your destination, forget hotels, try a hostel. There are over 300 in the U.S. and more than 5,000 around the world. Check out American Youth Hostels (AYH). There is no age limit to membership. You can buy a year membership for between $20 - $30 and get great deals on lodging in hostels all over the world, we're talking as low as $10 a night.

If you are able to fly by the seat of your pants, no pun intended, check out these last minute travel companies, Stand Buys and Vacations to Go. They have wonderful discounts on flights, hotels, cruises, and more. Vacations to Go focuses on cruises. You can find up to 80% off cruise costs. My husband and I were going to go on a cruise last year in January, it would have cost us over $1,000 per person. When I found this site I was shocked to find the same cruise in January for $249 per person. The only catch is that it is much more last minute. I highly recommend this site. www.vacationstogo.com

Instead of flying, renting a car, and staying in a hotel, think about renting an RV. One estimate says traveling in an RV is about 70% less than car rental, hotel, and airfare. You can rent an RV for $200 to $1,000 a week. Much less than the cost of all the other expenses.

Why not vacation for shorter periods more frequently? You can often get better packages if you are traveling for 3 to 4 days during the middle of the week than on a busy holiday weekend. Consider leaving on a Tuesday or Wednesday instead of Friday or Saturday. Just that one small adjustment could save a couple hundred dollars. Also cruise lines realize that people don't have the luxury of taking 2 and 3 week cruises. To accommodate cruise lines are presenting more and more short cruise packages. Take a fabulous cruise but only for half a week.