TOP SECRET! Sign up for the city you are traveling to with sites like Groupon and Scout Mob. These discount-finders will send you amazing local deals on spas, restaurants, and entertainment that usually only the locals know about.
1. Off-season doesn’t mean the wrong season, when no one wants to go or when you won’t be able to experience the best of that area. Some of my favorite travel experiences have been during the off-season.
2. It does mean deals and discounts. Huge tourist destinations are the best bet for sharp discounts in the off-season because these economies are completely dependent on tourist income as opposed to business-travel income.
3. You’ll save more on hotels than airfare if hotels can fill an otherwise empty room for 25 or 50 percent of what they normally get. That money is just straight to their profit. Airlines just won’t fly as many trips. By far the nicest hotels I’ve stayed in for very small amounts of money have been off-season deals on major chain hotels, like Marriott, which I get on priceline.com.
4. Getting on the phone often gets you deals. I find a specific deal online or something through the hotel’s own social-media marketing efforts or through a discount club like jetsetter.com. Then I call the hotel and try to book it directly.
5. Use community-generated review sites like tripadvisor.com to get the real scoop on hotels and locations. You’ll see pictures of rooms and facilities posted by guests, instead of the hotel’s marketing team. Plus, you’ll get the real deal about the staff, the location, and the overall experience of staying in the hotel.
6. Not that children aren’t delightful, but I’ve been in places where there are huge groups of schoolkids running around making it a much less pleasant experience than it would otherwise have been.
7. Cities and major business centers are not as likely to have off-season deals, because there’s no off-season for business travelers. It’s hard to imagine a season in New York City that’s the off-season.
TOP SECRET! Sign up for the city you are traveling to with sites like Groupon and Scout Mob. These discount-finders will send you amazing local deals on spas, restaurants, and entertainment that usually only the locals know about.
8. You’d be surprised at what you can negotiate. I called a place in Barbados. It was the off-season, and I said, “Is that your cheapest room? What if I stayed a few extra days?” She said, “Well, I can offer you the rate for Caribbean citizens.” Caricom is the term for the Caribbean community, and there’s a rate for native Caribbeans. It was really easy for her, and it would never have come up online. Only by my calling the hotel did she think of saying, “Oh, we can slip you in under this Caricom rate.”
9. If you want to get a taste of the real local culture, ask a waiter, the girl giving out pool towels, or the bartender where to hang out. You’re sure to find some great spots that aren’t overpriced for tourists.
10. Public transportation is the way to go. If you can figure out the bus system, take it. You can literally save hundreds of dollars taking buses instead of flagging down cabs every time you want to go somewhere.
11. In any season, beware of extra fees. If you can’t avoid them or talk them down, at least be aware of additional fees such as extra legroom charges, hidden hotel fees, and rental car extras you don’t really need.
12. There are great currency-converter apps that you can download to your phone. Use one if you’re traveling somewhere that has a much different monetary system than you’re used to, and you won’t end up paying $12 American for a can of mystery soda.
13. Refundable tickets can really pay off, especially if you’re booking a trip months in advance. Spending an extra forty or fifty dollars up front is a lot better than paying hundreds of dollars in change fees, which all major airlines consider mandatory.
SOURCES: Loren Bendele, CEO, savings.com; Seth Kugel, Frugal Traveler blogger, New York Times; Nina Willdorf, former editor in chief, Budget Travel.