We all love going on vacation. It’s a time to recharge our batteries, reconnect with family and just get away from the hustle and bustle of the everyday working life. But do we really feel like we can go on vacation, or are we working too much?
The Glassdoor Employment Confidence Survey from early 2014 found that while most employees are using at least some of their vacation time, fully 75% of those surveyed are not taking all of their vacation time. In fact, the average U.S. employee takes only half of their earned vacation time. Why is that?
Those in the survey reported that they weren’t taking time off because no one else at the company knew how to do their work, while some had a fear of getting behind. Still others were completely dedicated to their company while others felt like they needed to work hard in order to get a pay raise or a promotion.
Whatever the case, studies have shown that those who don’t take vacations may have increased risk of health issues, as well as having higher stress levels and lower productivity. Those who do take vacations are more productive after a vacation, they sleep better and their brain response is quicker after a vacation. So why aren’t you taking your vacation time?
Vacations can be expensive, which is another reason why people end up skipping them. If you plan ahead, however, you can hack your way to an affordable vacation, and return rested and rejuvenated. Let’s look at some ways to save while you’re on vacation.
Here’s a discussion on travel hacking from a recent Money Mastermind Show.
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Honey or Rakuten when you book. If you do you can get anywhere from 4-12% or more in cash back. For example I recently checked Rakuten and you could get 4.5% cash back on Priceline, 4% cash back on Expedia, 2% cash back Southwest Airlines, up to 3% on Hotwire, and 11% on Orbitz.
For some more general travel hacks and tips, check out the video below. In it I give some of my tips, as well as sharing tips from Kraig at CreateMyIndependence.com, Heather from Simply Save MN, Eric from NoNonsenseLandlord.com and Steve from MoneyPlanSOS.com. [embedded content] Your airfare can often be one of the most expensive costs of a vacation. Here are some ways to save on your airfare. Save on your ticket price by searching for the best deal First and foremost it’s important to make sure that you do your research when buying airline tickets. These days the Internet makes it easy to comparison shop – and find the best fares. Save on fees When you’re booking your airfare, be aware of what airlines charge more fees than others. For example, change or cancellation fees can vary by hundreds of dollars depending on the airline. If there’s a high likelihood that you’ll have to cancel or change your flight, consider booking with an airline like Southwest that has no change fees or cancellation fees. Otherwise you can end up paying in excess of $100-150. Also, be sure you know if your ticket is restricted – most tickets bought on third party sites are. If you have a chance you’ll need to re-book or cancel, be aware of that, or it could cost you. Save on flights by using credit card miles There are plenty of airlines credit cards out there that will allow you to earn free flights via airline miles, or sometimes get free perks like free checked bags, use of airport lounges, free upgrades, etc. Just make sure you know what the cards that you’re signing up for are offering, and what you’re getting. Make sure you know: People I know and trust who take part in these programs suggested to me that I choose one or two cards and programs, and stick with them until you get your free flights. Don’t go signing up for a bunch of them all at once because in the end you’ll end up scattered with a bunch of cards, with miles on all of them – but not enough to get flights. Buy at the right time If you do a flight search on Kayak they show a pricing trend notice on your results page and give you advice on whether now is a good time to buy or not. They’ll show you average low fares during the month that you leave, the best fare found and a graph showing prices for the last 90 days. Do your research, and know when the best time to buy is. Get refunds on airfare if the price drops If you buy an airline ticket often times you can still get a refund if the price for your flight drops. The site Yapta.com can help to alert you if you’re due a refund. Some airlines like Alaska Airlines or AirTran will give a refund for any price drop. Others, like JetBlue or Virgin America will give refunds for price drops of $75 or more. Still others like Delta and American will give refunds if the price drops over $200. Sign up for Yapta and you’ll get a notification if your flight price has dropped and you’re due a refund. After airfare your lodging costs are typically going to be the most expensive part of your trip. If you’re staying longer than a few days it may be the most expensive part of your trip. Here are a few ways to save on your hotel or other accommodations.
How to book cheaper rooms Booking alternative type roomsSometimes you can get a better deal on your accommodations by booking an alternative type of lodging. Here are a few. Pay for your hotel by hosting via Airbnb while you’re away One interesting way to pay for your hotel is to host someone at your own home while you’re away. Becoming an Airbnb host is pretty simple, and if you can find someone to manage the rental while you’re away, you can pay for a good part of your trip! For example, in our area, if you rent out your entire home for a week or more you could make in excess of $1200 – or more! Save on paying for hotel WiFi and calls Often when you’re staying in a hotel they’ll have WiFi for you to use, but in many instances they’ll charge you for the convenience – often $10 a day or more. Save some cash by getting a WiFi hotspot from FreedomPop. With FreedomPop’s 4G hotspot you get 500MB-1GB of free data every month, all you have to do is buy the hotspot itself – which will range anywhere from $20-100 or so. Check out my full review of their hotspot here: Have some phone calls to make while you’re away? Check out the free FreedomPop cell phone service as well! If you need a rental car to get around when you’re at your destination, it pays to do your research before you travel. It can mean saving hundreds of dollars. Here are a few tips for saving on your rental. One thing you don’t always think about is the high cost of communicating with your loved ones if you go overseas. I learned just how expensive it can be when I went on a Mediterranean cruise with my wife a few years ago. At the time the best way for us to call home was using international calling cards, and they weren’t cheap. These days, however there are better solutions. Video conferencing These days there are quite a few free video chat options available. You can use free tools like Google Hangouts, Apple Facetime or Skype. You just need to make sure the person you’re talking to has it as well. WiFi phones If you have WiFi available where you’re going (and most places do these days), you can use a WiFi phone from a company like Republic Wireless to call home. Even if you’re overseas Republic Wireless phones can call home to US phone numbers, as long as you’re calling via a good WiFi connection. By default you’ve got an international cell phone! VOIP phone service My in-laws like to go down to Florida during the winter, and they save a ton of money by bringing their home phone with them. How does that work? They use the Ooma Telo home phone VOIP service, so wherever they go – as long as they have an internet connection, they an hook up their Ooma Telo device and then they can receive calls at their home phone number – but at their hotel or at their condo. We’ve also been using Ooma for a couple of years now and love it! If you’re planning on traveling, it pays to do a little bit of legwork. Travel isn’t cheap, and a few hours of research can mean the difference between paying through the nose and saving hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars. The Internet has made the process easier than ever, and there are a ton of sites out there to help you book your airfare, your lodging and your car rental – at the lowest possible cost. You can even use the Internet to find some affordable activities once you arrive. So take that vacation, you’ll be happier, healthier and you’ll be more productive once you get back. Just don’t break the bank to do it! Have your own travel hacks, tips or stories? Tell us all about it in the comments!
Source: biblemoneymatters.comSave Money On Airfare
Save Money On Lodging
Save Money On Car Rentals
Save Money On Communication
Saving Money On Travel Just Takes A Little Legwork