Posts Tagged ‘cheap travel tips’

Earlier this year, I pledged to live a cash-only lifestyle. Well, as much as possible. Some things — like the cable bill — are better left to automatic bill paying. When I took this challenge on, I knew one large obstacle lay ahead: A Park City, Utah, vacation that I had committed to last summer. But I’m happy to report that a combination of planning and frugality resulted in an affordable and — most importantly — interest-free vacation!

Here’s how I did it:

• Lodging: 6 people, 5 nights — $350 per person.A friend took the reins on this vacation. She reserved the house, and the rest of us made our checks out to her.TRAVEL TIP: Travel during the off-season. We went in mid-March, at the start of the off-season to save money. We rented a three-bedroom duplex within walking distance to the Park City resort and downtown at a reduced rate because we waited until after the busy season was over. Plus, our late-season adventure afforded us beautiful weather and wide-open slopes.

• Airfare: $333 roundtrip.I booked a roundtrip coach flight from New York to Salt Lake City (direct going, one stop returning) online for $333 and paid with my debit card to avoid interest fees.TRAVEL TIP: Check out Kayak.com. The travel website cross-compares fares from hundreds of other travel sites and tracks price variances from day to day to help you pinpoint the best time to jump at a good deal. You can also set up “fare alerts” that send automatic emails when the prices drop for flights you’re interested in.

• Car rental: 4 people, 5 days — $90 per person.There was just no way around this expense. We visited several mountains within an hour’s drive from Salt Lake City — Park City Mountain Resort, Alta Resort, Powder Mountain Resort and Snowbasin Resort — making an SUV rental absolutely necessary.TRAVEL TIP: A friend negotiated the SUV rental at a mid-sized sedan’s price. All it took was a friendly inquiry at the rental company’s counter when he picked up the car. I suggest you try it too.

• Ski rentals and lift tickets: $134.That happens to be my total. I didn’t ski as much as the others did. But here are a few tips everyone can use to save.TRAVEL TIP: To avoid oversized baggage fees at the airport, we left our gear at home and rented equipment in Utah. Also, we rented everything for the week and purchased discount lift tickets in advance from one off-mountain rental shop and saved a bunch off day-of lift tickets and equipment rental charges at each individual mountain.

• Food and Drink: $199 per couple.As a group, we decided to stay in and cook instead of hitting expensive restaurants every night. Each couple was responsible for buying whatever they needed to create our respective culinary masterpieces. Leftovers were brought to the mountain the next day for lunch, and everyone grabbed an extra bag of chips or two for after-mountain snacks. This amount also includes the traditional post-mountain lodge drinks to warm us up before our trek back to Park City.TRAVEL TIP: My boyfriend and I religiously contributed to a change jar we started in April 2008. Before we took off for Utah, we cashed out $374. This completely offset our food cost and helped our lift ticket cause.

While the trip’s cost certainly wasn’t chump change, we cut corners where we could to make it manageable. Planning far ahead afforded all of us the time needed to set money aside and pay off our trip beforehand. Using cash while there ensured that memories, not the bills, were the only things left over once we arrived home.