Planning some business travel, a summer vacation or road trip? Using some common sense guidelines and social media tools can add up to big savings both before and during travel and make traveling a better experience.
“It’s about tradeoffs. It’s the little sacrifices we make so our money can stretch to cover the things we value most. It isn’t easy, but I’ll be happy when I’m sitting beachside without worrying that I emptied my savings account or put everything on credit to get there.” says Justine Rivero Credit Advisor for Credit Karma in Forbes.
Rivero recommends having a savings fund and a travel fund, finding a travel tradeoff (like bringing lunch to work rather than going out) and sticking to it as well as budgeting to enjoy by considering expenses when we arrive at our destination.Readily available social media tools can work very nicely into a common-sense strategy that can add to our travel fund, help with the budget and help control expenses while we travel too.
- Save now, travel later- money-saving offers from a variety of sources can be yours via social media platforms like DealTaker.com where by following @CouponBot on Twitter delivers instant coupons & deals by tweeting @CouponBot with a store name right after it. I got money-saving coupons by tweeting @Couponbot Delta Airlines. Airlines, Hotels, Car Rentals, Luggage, Travel Accessories and even vacation packages are also available.
- Follow companies on Twitter. Many offer exclusive, limited-time-only deals to their followers. I got a free case of Chobani Yogurt , delivered to my front door, by following @ChobaniNikki and signed up for even more free stuff at ILoveFreeThings.com. Tip: set up another email address just for this kind of thing to keep from getting your regular email box overloaded with offers/spam.
- Don’t go it alone- Knowing ahead of time what to expect in an area you are unfamiliar with is made easy with FindMeetGo where we can get in touch with other travelers from around the world, explore different trip plans, or let people know about your own future adventures. The goal: to find other open-minded travelers, such as yourself, to meet up and share costs with.
- Unlock deals– Using location based apps such as FourSquare and Facebook, unlock deals to save money for an upcoming trip or save while traveling. On the horizon, recent news suggests daily deal king Groupon and Foursquare are reportedly working on a partnership that would offer targeted deals based off of a users’ check-ins. That could be huge.
- Check In to hotels via social media to earn bonus points-Members of Best Western’s global loyalty program, Best Western Rewards, are now able to earn bonus rewards points redeemable for travel, gift cards, merchandise and more just for using the popular social media platform Topguest. Other hotel chains and loyalty programs offer this added incentive as well.
Flickr photo by katerha