Budget travel deals and tips

It's a tough economy. But you can still plan a family trip if you play it smart. Here's how:

By Kimberly Lisagor

Transferring frequent-flier miles was one tactic that made a trip to Hawaii possible.

1. Find the best deals on the Web.
"People still want to travel. They just really want to make sure they're getting the best value they can for their vacation dollar," says Hotwire's Barbara Messing. One way they're doing that is by subscribing to e-mail newsletters.

Hotwire's travel-ticker.com sends targeted deal alerts to subscribers. Someone in L.A., for instance, might read about a price break at a popular Santa Barbara hotel, while a New Yorker is more likely to see a Bermuda package.

SmarterTravel.com sends regional travel alerts to subscribers, and TripAdvisor.com's e-mail newsletter called TripWatch lets travelers keep a virtual eye on specific cities.

Other sites, such as farecompare.com and yapta.com, let shoppers compare fares for a particular route over time. Yapta.com e-mails subscribers when fares drop, even after they've purchased a ticket. It's a little-known fact that major U.S. carriers often will give you a voucher for the difference if the ticket price drops before you travel. If you see a fare that's less than what you paid for the same class of service, call the airline to request a rebate or travel credit.

2. Seek bargains to make that dream vacation a reality (like this Iowa family did).
When Murray Williams scheduled a business trip to Maui this fall, he thought it would be fun to take his wife and two sons along. Until he checked airfares.

Round-trip tickets from Des Moines, where he is the vice president of the Iowa Credit Union League, would have cost about $1,000 each. "I have wanted to have my family go to Hawaii for quite a while," says Williams, whose sons are 5 and 2. "But I started to question whether that could happen."

With rising fuel prices driving flight costs sky-high, many travelers are experiencing airfare sticker shock.

But Williams was determined. He spent hours on the phone, transferring frequent-flier miles between accounts, asking friends for recommendations and shopping for hotel deals. His efforts paid off -- the Williams family will go to Hawaii in November.

Is it worth the effort to find the deals? "It is for us," Williams says. "You make it work. You put in the extra time." Read on to find out more ways you can maximize your travel deals.

3. Check out "adventure" tours.
Rates for guided trips are set up to a year in advance, and discounts are now on the rise. "The savvy consumer can find some incredible deals out there that actually make traveling in 2008 considerably less than in previous years," says Dave Wiggins, director of Trusted Adventures, an alliance of adventure travel companies. In response to the economy, ROW International (rowinternational.com) has dropped the price of a fall Croatia trip by $500 per person. Austin-Lehman Adventures (austinlehman.com) offers a $300 travel credit to travelers on September and early October trips. And Euro-Bike & Walking Tours (eurobike.com) has discounted a fall cycling tour in Italy by $100.

4. Join an organization offering travel discounts.
Budget-conscious vacationers often use a resource in their own wallets. Credit card companies, professional organizations, alumni associations and countless other groups with membership cards offer valuable travel discounts, and more of their members are starting to take advantage of them. For example, card-carrying AARP members can get a $50 to $125 resort credit at Beaches and Sandals resorts.

AAA expects the 7% increase in the use of its discount card last year to grow. Cardholders get a price break at 110,000 North American hotels, restaurants and attractions.

American Express Travel recently issued a list of "recession-proof vacation" tips, including a reminder that cardholders are eligible for travel benefits. Another pointer: Use reward points to offset the cost of a trip. Programs like American Express' "Membership Rewards Pay with Points" let travelers pay for part of a trip with points and cover the balance with cash or credit.

5. Cruise for steals.
As gas guzzlers go, few modes of traveler transport outrank cruise ships. Cruise lines have started implementing fuel surcharges that can raise the price of a weeklong journey by $50 or more. But most travelers remain undeterred, says Jim Antista, president of The Cruiseman (cruiseman.com), a cruise-only travel agency. "When I mention to them that the modern cruise ships burn thousands of gallons of fuel each trip, they quickly see that their little surcharge is nothing compared with what the cruise lines are having to pay," he says.

Antista says cruise lines are offering more frequent promotions (like Carnival's senior citizen rates "for almost every sailing" and weekly last-minute specials from Royal Caribbean). And because the all-inclusive costs are locked in at the time of purchase, cruises are more recession-proof than many other vacation options.

Some hotels offer $50 gas cards and more to lure customers.

6. Take advantage of "gas rebates."
The lodging industry has felt the strain of decreased air and car travel this year -- $5.6 billion in lost hotel revenue, according to one study. To encourage travelers to get back out there, destinations all over America have rolled out "gas rebate" incentives.
In Branson, Mo., travelers can exchange their gas receipts for a "Gas Buster" discount card good for $50 off at some local hotels and attractions (explorebranson.com).

Visitors to Aspen, Colo., who book through Stay Aspen Snowmass (stayaspensnowmass.com) can get a $50 gas card and two free bicycle rentals with a hotel stay.

San Diego and San Luis Obispo are two California counties with so many hotel gas promotions that they have launched Web pages to highlight the choices (sandiego.org/gasdeals and www.sanluisobispocounty.com -- click on "Getaway Gas Deals").

Hawaii, which has been hit particularly hard by rising airfares, is teeming with island hotels that are offering free car rentals and gas cards to guests who book multi-night stays (www2.tripsofdistinction.com/Specials.do).

Kimberly Lisagor last wrote for USA WEEKEND about favorite destinations with environmental challenges. She is the co-author of "Disappearing Destinations: 37 Places in Peril and What Can Be Done to Help Save Them."
Cover photo: Jean-Michel Foujols, Stock Image/Jupiter Images; Williams family: Eli Reichman for USA WEEKEND