I am constantly amused by marketers who promote the cost saving advantage of having a full kitchen in a vacation venue. Excuse me, but who do you think is going to be cooking up all those cost savings? Uh, huh. Usually it’s us. The wives. The women. Well, here’s a clue for you guys (usually NOT the family cook): Cooking Is Not My (and dare I say, Our) Idea of A Vacation!

There are exceptions, I know. One of my closest friends claims that cooking relaxes her. Well, guess where her women friends go for great home cooked meals? We’re more than happy to help her relax. Yum.

Then there are you gentlemen who enjoy cooking. And if that’s you, and you’re taking the family on vacation and just can’t wait to get your hands on the fully stocked kitchens in your dream venue, then power to you!

But even my super-hostess friend appreciates a break from baking. So we’re back to the puzzling rationale behind marketers promoting fully-stocked kitchens in vacation venues. Even more puzzling, I have found myself — a die-hard non-cooking female — curiously attracted to these vacation venue kitchen amenities. Why?

Turns out, there are lots of ways a vacation kitchen comes in handy — without cooking! Here are five great uses:

1. Leftovers. Probably obvious, but without a refrigerator and microwave and/or oven, these cost savers usually wind up feeding the gulls. With a fully stocked kitchen, on the other hand, you can go out for dinner, order the large size, and bring back the rest. You’ve just saved calories, money, and the effort of cooking!
2. Relaxing at “home.” Vacations were meant to help you relax. But after an exciting day on the beach, skiing the slopes, shopping, SCUBA diving, or whatever your idea of a good time happens to be, it’s not unusual to find vacationers dragging themselves back to their hotel rooms or resort condos. So relax already! Try heating up some butter (30 seconds) and drizzling it over freshly popped microwavable popcorn, then plopping down on the sofa and watching a movie. The venues that provide full kitchens probably also provide living rooms and dining rooms too. Add a glass of red wine to the mix (a little pino noir perhaps, chilled in the frig), and you just can’t get any better than that for winding down your hard day of play.
3. Munchies. I am certainly not advocating you add a major grocery shopping tour to your agenda. Egad! That is certainly not my idea of a vacation! But a quick stop here and there along the way is a totally organic way of collecting a few munchies. You know how useful munchies are: car trips, hiking and biking, or visits to amusement parks. Parents can actually regain a bit of control over what goes into their kids’ mouths while saving a lot of money on impulse snack purchases. So where does the kitchen part come in? Well, ever trip over a bag of goodies or find said goodie bag in a hot car or suitcase? Cabinets and frigs to the rescue!
4. BYOB. The last B stands for Beverage. As in purified, oxygenated water. Or juice. Or your own sweet tea. Whatever. You know how much sodas and other drinks cost on the road. How nice to be able to store your favorites in your vacation kitchen and bring some along for your outing.
5. Morning Coffee. I’ve stayed in many places that offer complimentary coffee in the lounge or lobby. Trouble is, I need my first cup before I tackle the shower. Once I got desperate enough to actually walk down to the office in my bunny slippers. Some venues have little coffee makers in the room to prevent those very public displays of desperation. But even then, we’re usually talking about instant coffee. Love your Starbuck’s Via if you like, I’m bred for brewed. And don’t even look at me with that powdered creamer stuff (read the label, you’ll see why). Doesn’t a nice coffee maker in your own room, your favorite freshly ground coffee, and your choice of additives sound like a relaxing way to greet a vacation day?

OK, so all these ideas involve some minor preparation. But I still love the comforts of home away from home. Even if I choose not to use them.

To find venues with these comfy amenities, visit intele.theme-travel.com or rovia.theme-travel.com (don’t feel shy about registering on the rovia site; you will NOT get spammed!)

The world, the travel industry, and the life of yours truly has undergone a rapid fire change over the past several months. That included a change of homes. Oddly enough, that change of homes led me to discover a way to legally not pay taxes for our “between houses” hotel stay.

I sold my old house. About a month before closing we had an estate sale, as I was downsizing to less than half my space and possessions. Because neither the cat nor I had any interest in sleeping on and eating under furniture that were constantly being shuffled around, I decided the better part of valor was to take a temporary leave of absence.

Being the penny pincher that I am, we wound up at the Budget Suites in Addison, Texas (they refer to this venue as Suites of America). And that’s where the discovery began.

I knew we would be there at least one month. After all, the estate sale was still two weeks off, and although I had not made a final decision on the purchase of my new home, the one I had my eye on was going to take some restoration before we could move in. My contractor told me it would take two weeks to restore. Having enjoyed watching The Money Pit more than twice, I immediately translated his estimate into six weeks. We were both wrong: It took a little over two months.

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The 30-Day Rule

During that time I learned a travel secret or two for folks wanting to take a month-long vacation, a between-houses/remodeling/restoration stay, or an extended business visit in the U.S. After 30 consecutive days, hotel guests get their stay TAX FREE! (I referenced the rule from Texas, but other states have similar rules.) Two extended stay hotels I checked had a policy of charging the tax up front and reimbursing you on day 31. Budget Suites allows you to pay the full month’s bill and not bother with the tax at all.

This amounted to more than $104 in savings, as the tax rate I would have paid in that location was over 13%.

If you visit their website, you’ll see an advertisement “rates starting at $179.” I called to find out which location(s) had those rates (these are standard rates, not specials). Given that I didn’t want either the cat or me to wind up as characters in a future CSI or SVU episode, I kept looking for a more suitable area. Addison happened to be in both a desirable area and relatively close to “home” but normally at a rate of $229 per week. Happily, they were running a special. So at the $199 rate per week for a first floor room, less the tax, but with the prorated pet deposit ($40/mo up to $150), our first 30 days ran us $836, or an average of $28 per day.

After the initial 30 days, we were able to use the locked in special rate to pay weekly — as they have a nasty little policy that states if you pay them more than you actually stay in advance, you’re pretty much SOL. No Refunds! And we weren’t really sure just how long we needed to stay in residence. The catch here is that when you do that, you get charged an $11.95 installment fee — per week, or day.

Photo credit: Destination360 Addison Texas

You see, after 30 days, hotel guests are considered “permanent residents.” And although it is not required for said “residents” to pay their “rent” in full, they are charged an “installment fee” for their partial payments. After all, who wants to pony up four weeks worth of rent and discover your stay was cut short by half, leaving you with an involuntary contribution of $398 you could not recover? Yet, had I known we would be there a full two months, I could have saved approximately $48 in “installment fees.”

Knowing Your Options for Savings

Residents at Budget Suites usually provide their own linens, kitchen supplies, and anything else one would normally use in an apartment. TVs are standard; HD-TVs are extra, as are microwave ovens and maid service. Other venues include these items as part of the deal, but their rates are higher. We chose Budget Suites strictly for the price and pet-friendly policy.

The point here is to know your fee structures and options. If you’re planning on staying in one location for a month or two, ask for their residency policy. Knowing their policy helps you manage your cash flow in saving hundreds — or even thousands, depending on the venue (there are some plush extended stay options as well) — of your vacation or business dollars. Then ask about their refund policy, if they charge installment fees, and what is and is not included in the quoted rates. Also ask for specials they may be running, even in peak season (naturally the specials will be better off-peak, but don’t assume they don’t exist during peak, especially in today’s economy). These policies, depending on your venue of choice, can make a real difference in cost savings.

Happy Traveling!

Since communications are sketchy at best with regard to friends and family stranded in Haiti since the earthquake, the U.S. State Department has a number you can call: 888-407-4747. You can also find the latest updates via Relief Web.

Both resident Haitians and U.S. visitors (amongst others) are at risk, not just because of the effects of the earthquake itself or the continuing aftershocks, but the fact that water supplies have been contaminated, resources are either extremely limited or totally destroyed, and transportation to the areas that need the most help is challenging at best.

It is unknown how many people were visiting the island, shared by the Dominican Republic, that promises “some of the most impressive ruins of the Caribbean” and lots of adventure, at the time of the quake.

People are deeply concerned, unable to contact loved ones. The U.S. State Department asks that questions be directed to them for now.

On a personal note, my church’s family is blessed to include a highly talented and very lovely Haitian-American family headed by Emmanuel, our worship minister. Naturally they are safe and sound here in North Texas; however, they have friends and family who remain on the island. Emmanuel and his family have an inkling as to what their loved ones are experiencing; they lost their Louisiana home and church during Katrina. Be that as it may, they are strong in character and faith. And they are not alone. They are surrounded by love and support from each of us in this tiny congregation. We’re glad they are here.

You may have heard on the news about the group of Texas ophthalmologists who were in Haiti at the time of the quake. As a native Texan, my heart naturally goes out to this group in a special way.

Last night I learned of a young missionary couple who had just set up base in one of the most troubled areas of the country with the goal of addressing its physical, economical, and spiritual needs. They happen to be close friends of one of our congregation members as well.

Now the Texas Baptist Men, a long-established help organization well-trained and always on the ready to tackle emergency needs, have been “deployed” to do what they can. Americans, as well as citizens of numerous other countries, are rushing to aid their Haitian neighbors. It seems that no matter where you live now, the beautiful island and people of Haiti lie close to home.

Prayers — for loved ones visiting or living in Haiti, for friends here in the U.S. who are faced with deep concern for their loved ones on the island — are welcomed from all. If you have someone you want us to pray for, leave a comment, and we’ll add you and your loved one’s names to our list. A first name only will do if you’d like. God knows the rest.

Blessings to each of you,

Relational gifting (with or without travel) has gained popularity over the past several years, and in today’s shaky economy, it’s even more popular. Instead of throwing dollars at items you hope might

appease a gifting obligation, relational gifting puts “you” into a gift that is uniquely suited to your recipients. Am I talking “homemade” here? Not entirely.

A few days ago I was at my local copy shop to pick up some business cards. The fellow in front of me was picking up his order, which he proudly showed off. And well he should! What he had done was to pick out 12 of his favorite places he had vacationed in and used his photos for customized calendars. This guy didn’t just give a pre-packaged calendar to his loved ones for Christmas; he gave his most treasured travel experiences. Well, 12 of them anyway. He added captions to each of his photos, letting people know a little something about each image or trip.

Now here’s the cool cost savings part. Because he got his calendars done during a half-price special, he was able to spend just under $8 to have each calendar professionally printed! I checked the plain jane boring pre-printed calendars in the office supply store next door. It actually cost this fellow $1 LESS than the pre-printed ones! And believe me, his were a whole lot more interesting.

For an even greater savings, he ordered the calendars through a shop that works directly with a discount online print service. By picking up his order through the store, shipping was free.

This is just one relational travel gift that’s unique, personalized, and cheap. I suspect it’s also a whole lot more appreciated than a stock calendar, and it might even be a conversation starter. Which could lead to even more possibilities!

Taking It One Step Further

Let’s say you gave a loved one such a calendar. They landed on one particular photo and told you they’d love to visit that place especially. Now as a member of a travel club such as Mega Resort Vacations, you could take it one step further by gifting your loved one with a trip to that location when you go there again yourself. What a great way to be together as a family, as friends, as spouses.

How much would it set you back to do that? Well, if they stayed in the same resort or vacation home with you, it would cost you absolutely zip extra. Talk about an affordable relational gift with travel!

If you wanted to gift them with a stay on their own, you could do that two ways:

• Gift them with access to your membership; they pay the weekly cost. This is a great gift, as it saves your loved one thousands of dollars for the week. OR
• Gift them with the cost of the week yourself. It could cost you as little as $199 for the week. If you have the money, why not?

The point here is to share yourself with your loved one and do so for less than you would normally spend on an impersonal gift. This works quite well for gifts beyond Christmas, by the way.

Are you into relational gifting? Have you used travel as part of any of your gifts this year or in years past? Share your ideas in a comment below.

Merry Christmas,

These deals pop up with very short notice (such as 3-day specials), so I’m no longer posting them here. Instead, if you’ll look to your right, you can sign up to still get notified of some of the best hard-to-find, insider short-notice travel promotional offers from various airlines, car rental agencies, and more.

You might have a few questions about the broadcasts:

Q: How often will these be sent?
A: Honestly, I haven’t a clue; but I can tell you that as soon as I find them, I send you notice.

Q: Do you profit from each of these travel vendors?
A: Sadly (for me), no. I do sponsor Mega Resort Vacations, as you can see in Best Vacation Deals. And occasionally a deal might pop up from a vendor with which I happen to be affiliated. But these broadcasts are specifically geared at finding the best travel deals available and passing them on to you. Even if they come from a competitor!

Q: Can’t I find these promotional offers myself?
A: Sure you can. If you have the time, patience, and know-how. HotWeeks-CoolPrices.com is just collecting the offers that we think most people might have an interest in and passing them on. We’ll include the links to the sites where the offer is published. That means that we will have sorted through the promotions, found the ones that offer the best deals to most folks in the U.S., and passed them on to you. For example, if you live in Spokane, Washington, you may not care about a $30 round-trip flight between Dallas and Houston, Texas; but you might well be interested in knowing about $233 flights from several major U.S. airports to several major cities in Europe.

Q: Am I obligated to buy anything?
A: No and Maybe (as in, only if you want to make a purchase). No, you will not be charged for the broadcasts or the information contained in them. However, to get the best vacation resort deals, you will need to be a member of SOME travel organization, such as a vacation club, timeshare ownership, or online membership. The rates of membership or ownership range from a few hundred dollars to tens of thousands. Membership in any of these organizations is always optional, as you can elect to use “free” online booking services that charge booking fees for nightly rates. I will review things like cost comparisons, booking fees, hidden costs, loss-leader promotional pricing, etc. here on the blog. You will ordinarily not get truly great deals from the “free” sources, but sometimes it does happen, and when I find out about those great deals, I’ll pass them on to you. Naturally, to actually take advantage of the super saver specials from transportation or other travel providers, you will need to make a purchase from the sponsoring vendor, but you only pay for the published promotional special on that vendor’s site. You will NEVER be charged for simply receiving the information from HotWeeks-CoolPrices.com. The broadcasts are FREE.

Q: Can I subscribe and unsubscribe safely?
A: Absolutely, yes. In fact, these broadcasts are generated from a service that is particularly careful about just that issue.

I hope you find these broadcasts and this blog useful and helpful to you in getting the best quality vacation deal for your travel dollar. After all, if you love to travel but hate the cost, so do we. So that’s what we’re here for. To help you save time, hassle and money on your next great vacation.

What Are Hot Week Vacations? 

Hot weeks are designed to give folks who can take week-long vacations at a moments’ notice some of the best prices in the industry. The key to determining if hot week vacations are for you is flexibility.

• Short Notice Flexibility: Hot week vacation deals for the upcoming week are usually posted anytime between Monday and Thursday. Departure dates are usually Friday or Saturday.
• Location Flexibility: To get the best deals, travelers will need to watch for locations that may be appealing to them; however, traveling in this manner is not the time to be particularly picky, as you never know which venues will have great deals that pop up any given week.
• Credit Card Flexibility: When a venue you’ve always wanted to visit pops up, you’ll need to have the funds available right then. And yes, when traveling, you use a credit card, not cash.
• Bags Packed and Ready: By keeping an essentials bag packed with must-have items, you’ll be ready to simply throw in a few clothes and your medicines and ready to go. Being prepared is the key to being flexible. BTW, a pre-packed bag may be a decent place to store your passport.
• Flexible Spirit: Let’s face it, the travel industry has taken a few hits lately. It is possible, therefore, to find a venue with a vacation home or unit that really is available, but the resort itself has closed. In this case, you will need to have packed your enjoyment and brought it with you.

Now if the above describes you, then you can find some incredibly sweet deals through a vacation membership with hot week vacation stays starting from $149 or $199 for seven days with the whole family or group.

But not everyone can find a hot week special on Thursday, pack the bags and be out the door on Friday or Saturday. True, you can find some really great prices at the last minute, but for some folks, they just aren’t feasible.

Not to worry. There are longer-range deals that may work better for you.

But if flexible is your travel style, then hot week vacations are an i-deal option for you.

As illustrated in a previous post, you have options for accessing discounted travel venues, but each carries a cost for access, even the “free” hotel search engines. I mention hotels for two reasons:

1. Most travelers think of hotel accommodations, and
2. Online Booking Engines (OBEs) such as Hotels dot com, Orbitz, Expedia, Travelocity, Hotwire,  Priceline, and others specialize in discounted hotel stays as well as discounted transportation, not resort rental savings.

Hotels are great for certain kinds and groups of travel:

• Business or other travel alone
• People who have no problem sharing a small hotel bathroom and vanity
• Travel to areas with no resorts available, and
• Overnight layovers

When it comes to best travel value for couples, teams, groups of women or families, however, hotels are not a good first choice. Why? Because they are:

• Crowded — usually one closet or rack nook, which is simply not enough room for two or more people’s luggage and other “stuff,” and one small bathroom and vanity area
• Expensive per person pricing
• Noisy neighbors, next to, above and below you — or your family/group is the noisy neighbor!
• Not as private as you might think! I don’t know about you, but I really don’t want to know my hotel neighbor’s personal grooming or amorous habits. And yes, you can hear that!

Don’t get me wrong! I’d much rather stay in a noisy, crowded, expensive hotel room than camp out in my car (and I have done that — once!). But when you have the option, resort stays are much roomier, easier on your nerves, offer great activities, and are way more private!

But if you’re not careful in selecting the right source for your resort stay, you could wind up paying more than you have to! Let’s take a look at some examples. Because my purpose here is to neither promote nor bash any of the OBEs, I have selected only four, identified by numbers 1-4. You are encouraged to do your own comparisons.

The point here is to demonstrate the advantage behind paid vacation memberships versus your “free” online booking engines. Each venue is selected in September 2009 for either a Thanksgiving or Christmas holiday visit. The trick to getting the best discounted resort rates is to wait as long as you can before booking your stay.

Rule of thumb: the closer to the date you want to visit, the better the rate offered.

However, for these holiday visits, your best airline deals are booked early, not late. So unless you’re planning on driving to your destination, and because of the last minute scheduling that can disrupt family gatherings, I don’t recommend you wait for potential hot weeks. Besides, during my research, I discovered the rooms for these specific holiday weeks were already disappearing fast!

Here’s what you’re getting instead of a hotel.

Research your price comparisons on the OBEs:

1. Refer to the resort venue as a hotel. Pretend you’re looking for a room that accommodates only two adults. It’s OK. All room options will come up, and listed resort options are generally the same price for four people as for one. That’s one of the cost saving advantages of resort vacations!
2. Next, type in as little of the name of the “hotel” (resort) as you can. For the Samoset venue, I typed in Samoset. For the following Christmas comparison, I simply typed in Welk.
3. You may discover that resort bookings are not always available on the OBEs, even when you find them there. That makes it hard to shop price, so change your week around a little, as I did.

Now let’s take a look at a Christmas week booking example. Keep in mind that this is a particularly high demand week, so you’ll need to be a little flexible, and you’ll need to start booking as soon as possible!

Again, here’s what you get instead of a hotel.

Get Creative With Flexible Planning:

With flexible planning, the Christmas vacation week shown above can open some creative possibilities. For example, you can stay in one of the U.S.’s most popular family resorts, invite your extended local friends or family to join in any of the numerous available and memorable activities, experience Christmas Eve and/or Christmas morning with your loved ones, and then head back home Christmas Day to celebrate your own traditions with your kids. You get a great visit without wearing out your welcome, and for seven days you have peace on earth, good will toward everyone.

And these are just two examples showing you the value of selecting the right travel source.

The Resort Cost Factor

There are three ways you can gain access to resort vacations. Two of them are expensive. One of them is cost saving:

1. Hotel Bookings — We’ve covered that above.
2. Vacation Club or Timeshare Ownership — These memberships cost 10s of thousands of dollars with annual maintenance fees.
3. Vacation Program Membership — You pay a fee up front to gain rental access to condo resort units. We’ve covered samples of the pricing above, and that was for peak, high demand weeks. This membership fee is usually several thousand dollars less than the cost of ownership. If not, keep shopping! I’ll focus on this option in a separate post.

Here’s a sneak peek into the vacation program membership option: depending on the program, you could save the entire cost of membership after only one or two vacations!

Happy Traveling!

Resorts, condo resorts, timeshare resorts, even pool home and log cabin vacation rentals are all terms used when referring to vacation resorts. They are highly sought after for comfort, roominess, and amenities not generally found in hotel chains around the world. Here’s why:

• Families are able to vacation together for one weekly price instead of a nightly, per person rate. One person or four, the price is the same.
• Depending on the venue, there may be several on-site activities and possible inclusives such as horseback riding and meals, not offered by hotel chains.
• Amenities often include full kitchens, washer/dryers, full living areas, and other home-like features, making it possible to maximize the space without having to trip over suitcases and their contents.
• Ladies, one word: Bathrooms! Unlike hotels, where everyone shares one tiny vanity and water closet, resorts frequently feature multiple fully equipped bathrooms, up to one per living quarter!
• And whether it’s your hotel neighbors’ amorous activities at 3:00 a.m. or your own group’s raucous game of Mexican Train, the noise factor in resorts is greatly reduced, if not completely eliminated — as in the case of the pool homes and log cabins.

Timeshare Ownership v. Timeshare Rental

A Pricey Affair

With all these advantages, one would suspect that resorts would be a pricey affair. They can be. Especially the better ones. In fact, resort amenities are often one of the strongest selling features of timeshare sales.

As a former timeshare owner myself, one of the problems I discovered was that I was charged a rather large purchase price (in my case, around $23,000, mortgaged over a period of 15 years — I forget the interest rate), with an annual maintenance fee of around $600. I would not be charged for my visits. But wait . . . yes I would! Hello! I was being charged a monthly mortgage payment, plus $600 annual maintenance fee. Because I can’t remember the interest rate, let’s pretend there wasn’t one. (Yeah, like that happens.) Anyway, my monthly payment would have been around $128. Multiply that by 12 = $1,536. Add $600 to that and total expense each year = $2,136.

Limited Access

With ownership also comes limited access. Is it just me, or does that sound backwards? Anyway, my timeshare was available to me only one week — and an assigned one at that — per year. If I couldn’t make it that week, too bad.

Of course I was supposedly able to bank my week and exchange it. I was even supposed to be able to exchange my venue for either a sister venue (no extra charge) or a member venue through RCI at a discounted rate. On paper, that looked great. In reality, I could never make it work.

The real kicker here was that when I was not able to take my vacation during my timeshare week, and not being able to exchange it for a time and place I could actually use, I was charged the same as if I had.

Timeshare Resorts: Good ~*~ Timeshare Ownership: Not So Much!

Look, I’m not bashing timeshare resorts. I just listed several reasons why these venues are the preferred choice for great vacations! The thing I found cumbersome and expensive was the ownership part.

Solution: Timeshare Rentals

Keep in mind this blog is all about saving you time, money and hassle when traveling. So let me tell you there is a solution to getting the great resort stay while saving time, money and hassle! It’s by renting the units, not buying them.

How? Here Are Three Ways:

1. Private Rentals: Some owners are allowed to and do rent their units. You can find these by typing in condo resort rentals into your search engine. There are some online rental programs where you can search for available condos, but with this option, you’re pretty much on your own for booking, support, and handling. Also, the deals are all over the place, so you’ll need to do your research!
   Savings Recap:
   • Time: No savings
   • Money: Possible, but not guaranteed
   • Hassle: No savings
2. Booking Engines: I’ll go into this in much more detail in a separate post, but suffice it to say that the online booking engines such as Hotels.com, Orbitz, Expedia, Travelocity, Priceline and HotWire are geared toward discounted hotel bookings, not resorts.
   Savings Recap:
   • Time: Hotel search, yes; resort search, no time savings
   • Money: Hotel search, sometimes; resort search, no savings
   • Hassle: OK as long as you fit their online program model
3. Resort Access Memberships: I’m not referring to vacation clubs. Those operate very similarly to timeshare ownership. But vacation memberships are not actually a new concept — offline. The online version is relatively new. This subject will also be covered in more detail, but you will need to know that there are access fees for these services. The fees depend on the membership itself as well as what you want from your membership.
   Savings Recap:
   • Time: Huge savings after membership selection; shopping for the right membership can take a little time.
   • Money: Huge savings, which is the idea — you can even save enough to pay for your membership.
   • Hassle: Huge savings after membership selection; shopping for the right membership can be a bit of a hassle. But I’m here to help.

Of course some of you have friends, family, or employers who let you use their timeshare. If they aren’t charging you for the privilege, you’ve just latched on to the best deal in town! Lucky you! Until something goes wrong. Ouch. Let me know how that works for you.

When selecting a travel program to use, be it an online booking engine or a vacation membership program, it helps to know where you’re spending your money to get the best value for your travel style.

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I call the hotel-focused online booking engines the Big 4. They are:

1. Hotels.com
2. Orbitz
3. Expedia
4. Travelocity

• Priceline is of course one of the big players, but with its customer bidding structure, it operates a little differently, so we’re zeroing in on the others for this discussion.

These travel sites are all primarily discount hotel based booking services. They work similarly by working with various hotel venues to ensure rooms are filled, but at a discounted rate, which they agree to cover. They make their commissions from booking fees and an up-charge percentage, which still offers end-users a discounted hotel stay under normally published hotel rates.

Visitors to these sites are not charged a membership fee up front to access the hotel savings. Yet that’s essentially what visitors wind up doing — in addition to booking fees. The best value is offered, therefore, to those who do not travel often and who either need to or prefer to stay in hotels (as opposed to other venues such as resorts, pool homes, log homes, etc.) while visiting their destinations.

The key here is: “do not travel often.” Given there is no upfront access fee, the small up-charge may be worth the difference in cost.

But how often is “often”? Up-charges can be way over 100% of the rates secured by these services. It is in this way they are able to promise you 50% or better savings on your hotel stay and still make a profit. So for purposes of argument, let’s say you want to stay at a hotel that normally costs $200 for the night. You get it via one of the Big 4 for $100. That’s pretty good! But again, for the sake of argument, the room cost the online booking engine (OBE) providers only $50. That leaves the provider with a $50 profit. Per person. Per night. A week-long stay for two people would generate a $700 profit for the OBEs. Plus booking fees.

A fair exchange, you say. It made them $50 (per person, per night), but I saved $100 per person, per night. Yes, that is a good deal. Until you do this enough times to pay for a membership that provides you either the same or better hotel discount, not to mention other significant travel venue discounts. So how many times is that? Well, it depends on the membership. Some memberships cost about $3,000. Some $2,000. Some 1,000. And some less.

Let’s look at this using the same $50 profit per/* example:

For the $3,000 membership, you’d need to stay only 60 nights (30 nights for two people) to cover the service fee incurred by the online booking agency. Naturally, if over a period of years, you plan on traveling alone and you do not plan on staying overnight for 60+ nights, this membership would not be worth the investment.

But the above example is only using only one travel style for one hotel cost. Naturally, as a traveler you will likely visit more than one hotel for more than one night at more than one rate during your lifetime. And you will likely not be traveling alone each time.

For the $2,000 membership, you’d need to take only 50 nights to cover your expense (25 nights for two people)

And for the $1,000 membership, you’d need to take only 20 (10 nights for two people).

_______________________________

Getting a personal, real-life perspective:

By age 16, I had visited Cabo San Lucas, Baja, CA for two weeks (13 nights) and Grand Cayman, BWI for two weeks (another 13 nights).

By age 20, I had added a second trip to Grand Cayman, BWI and one to Bonaire, Dutch Antilles (13 nights)..

By age 30, add on a week’s visit to Jamaica, one to Honduras, a SCUBA cruise in the Caribbean, a 3-day jaunt to Cozumel and more than a couple cross-country tours that expanded a period of months, not weeks. (OK, I give up counting nights.)

By age 40, add a week-long California touring honeymoon, a 3-day mission trip to Mexico and several weekend and holiday getaways here in the U.S.

By age 50, work had taken me to several trade show venues across the country, and I wound up staying in Galveston for about a month during my daughter’s hospitalization.

It’s amazingly easy to rack up those 60 nights! And those discount access costs add up quickly! Remember, for purposes of the above booking engine profit example, that’s $50 (+ or -) per night, per person over age 12. Access for a week-long hotel stay for two people would then = $700 using a “free” online booking engine. And each time another week-long hotel stay is booked at this or a similar venue or rate, the access fee is paid again!

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As you can see, you also need to consider the type of travel you take most often. Hotels may be the first thing you think of for travel accommodations, but they are certainly not the only option! You may wish to take the family on a resort vacation, for example. Or you may wish to take a second honeymoon in Paris. You might even want to cruise the Caribbean Seas. Who knows? Each travel style tacks on one more up-charge, plus commissions to the online booking engines. The point is, if you travel with even modest frequency as I have, you are spending more with “free” online booking engines than the cost of a good vacation membership.

Only you can determine the long term value in the travel programs you select. Just be aware that you’re paying for access to discount programs one way or the other. The question is, which program is best suited to your own travel needs? Click here to find out.

Happy Traveling!

Years ago, whenever I visited foreign countries, I was very naive. I was armed with travelers checks and felt totally safe. I trusted the vendors to exchange my U.S. travelers checks for the correct change in their native currency. After all, they accepted U.S. dollars (USD), right? And they were in the business of knowing exchange rates, right?

Did I mention I was naive?

But wait, there’s more. To compound my naivete, I was also American. And a Texan to boot! A very dangerous, and monetarily vulnerable combination!

I can’t speak for all non-U.S. countries. But in Grand Cayman, Aruba, Mexico, Honduras, Jamaica, and all points in between, I learned the hard way that skimming Americans was considered legitimate merchant practice. In fact, it was vendor sport to see who could skim the most from the least suspecting. It was not considered unethical or bad trade relations; it was simply the way of tourism. It was what it was. Alas for the merchant who took pity on my sweet, innocent nature and spilled the beans. Or perhaps he had an axe to grind with some of his competitors. For whatever reason, I learned the hard way, but straight from the proverbial horse’s mouth.

This message was confirmed on a later mission trip to Mexico. Our group leader insisted we get our U.S. dollars exchanged for pesos in Laredo — the Texas side — before entering Mexico. Again, there was no ill will associated with our host country. It was simply exercising good sense. But even with pesos in hand, we needed to be on our guard. The clever vendors had learned to expect “educated” tourists by pricing their wares in pesos and USD!

Well, guess what? (Another vendor, whose prices seemed a bit high but who had the most beautiful pottery, put me wise.) Unless you were savvy to the exchange rate on that particular day (or according to that particular vendor), the great prices posted in USD were up-charged in pesos.

The vendor who passed on this wisdom happened to deal strictly in USD. I purchased a $13.00 coffee mug from him to add to my collection. His competitors only charged $7.00 USD. I don’t remember the peso exchange, but, according to the vendor from whom I purchased the mug, the final payment in pesos would have amounted to about the same price he was charging in USD. He showed me a chart to prove his point.

That was a few years ago. And I have no idea who was taking me for the bigger fool. But I do know this:

I was uninformed, ignorant, and vulnerable.

Lesson learned. Technology is now available to help us out with several foreign exchange currency rate converters available online. But how do you know which one(s) to use?

Here are some things to consider:

1. Never pay a commission for using a converter. Small service fee, OK. Commission, no.
2. Look for a high exchange rate, updated daily.
3. Use traveler’s checks instead of cash. But when you do, look for travler’s check exchange rates. The good news is that some of the better exchange rates are for travelers checks only.
4. Use legitimate banking facilities for your exchanges. You don’t want to wind up with counterfeit currency! In some countries, using counterfeit currency could be dangerous to your health!
5. Plan ahead. Before you get to the airport. Airport currency exchange services do not usually offer good rates but do come with a commission attached.
6. Compare the actual currency conversion service to the online rates and get as close to the online rates as you can. The difference in cost is the service fee. A 1% service fee is a very good rate.

That said, here are some good online converters:

Google (For this you’ll need to know your currency names or codes. For example, to find out how much $100 US is in Mexican Pesos, you’ll type in 100 USD in MXN or 100 USD in Pesos)

Universal Currency Converter

http://www.xe.com/ucc/

Yahoo Finance – Currency Converter

http://finance.yahoo.com/currency

FXConverter

http://www.oanda.com/convert/classic

or simply use this widget:

And now you know too. Happy traveling!