Exchange traveler’s checks before going to dinner – International travel tip

by Gadling Staff on

When dining in a foreign country, exchange your traveler’s checks for local currency before going to a restaurant.

While traveler’s checks are pretty much accepted everywhere, don’t expect the restaurant employees to be adept at exchange rate calculation.

My best friend and I learned this the hard way dining at our first restaurant in Europe. We received far less change than we were owed and couldn’t communicate well enough to explain the problem. That, or we were taken advantage of. Either way, we didn’t make that mistake again!

Learn what’s fresh, and eat that – Dining out tip

by Gadling Staff on

Order dishes made with locally grown, produced, or just-caught ingredients, like cheeses, tomatoes, oranges, olives, seafood, and other bounty. Ask your restaurant server or research your dining destination so you’ll be in the know.

Also, check out local markets to see what vendors have stocked in their bins. If you spot a huge vat of eggplant, then you’ll probably be happy ordering some eggplant parmesan at dinner that night. Tanks filled with squirming lobsters? Yep, there’s your splurge. If your dining spot has an onsite bakery and you’re not a carbo-phobe, you can fill up on warm buns and breads straight from the oven.

9 tips for saving money on a ski vacation

by Gadling Staff on

Ski vacations can be expensive. Once you add up airline tickets, vehicle rental, lodging, lift tickets, food, lessons, equipment rental, baggage fees, apres-ski, and tips for instructors, you might just think you’ve made a down payment on a house or a new car. Despite all these costs, however, savvy skiers and snowboarders can save money on their next ski trip.

As a ski industry insider, people often ask me how they can save money on their next ski vacation. These are the most frequent cost-effective tips I share.

Take your ski vacation during the off-peak season.

This one may be obvious, but… ski resorts know they’ll be packed during holidays and school breaks, so they really roll out the deals during off-peak times to lure in vacationers. This is a great time to find deals on lodging, airline tickets, and lessons.

If you have kids, you may need to make adjustments to their schooling to attend during off-peak times, of course. If you’re kid-free, the beauty here is that skiing during off-peak times means the lines — both on the slopes and in the restaurants — will be much shorter.

Plan ahead.
Ski vacationers miss out on many deals by not planning months in advance. Many ski resorts offer pre-season ski pass sales months prior to opening for the ski season. These can offer significant savings over daily lift tickets. Discounted season passes are often available the last two weeks of the previous ski season — and then offered again in early fall before the season starts. Don’t wait until the lifts start spinning.Bonus: Season passes usually offer discounts on lessons, food, and lift tickets for family and friends, so season pass discounts may be deeper than initially perceived.

Don‘t pay the window lift ticket rate.
The window rate is the penalty for not planning ahead (see above). Discount coupons can often be found in the Entertainment Book, or online at Liftopia, Skicoupons, Skifreedeals, and in the Gold C Book. Market specific coupons may be available too; you’ll need to check Craigslist and eBay to find them.

Pro tip: Snowboarders often find coupons in the printed edition of Transworld Snowboarding.

Don’t pay full–price for last–minute ski vacations.
Sometimes ski resorts realize that they have a sudden drop in bookings and put almost everything on sale. To see if this is the case, check regularly with the Central Reservations of the ski resort for any specials. Also, check on the website of the local Chamber of Commerce. Finally, be sure to keep an eye on Liftopia.com for notices.

Don‘t pay full–price for ski or snowboard lessons.
Understand this: Discounts always exist for lessons. First check the resort’s website for any specials. Then check for lesson, rental, and lift specials on SkiCoupons.com.

Don’t be afraid to ask an instructor at the resort for a referral card, which offers immediate discounts on most lesson products.

If all else fails, stop an instructor at the resort and ask for a referral card. Referral cards offer immediate discounts on most lesson products.

Skip the rental car.
Most often, rental vehicles are just needed to transport you and your gear to the ski resort. Once at the resort, most ski resorts have a free bus system. Eliminate the car rental expense and high rental taxes by taking a resort bus or shuttle instead. If you book as a group or reserve in advance, you’ll often get a discount. Look for coupons on their website, too.

An even cheaper option may be to take a Greyhound bus to the ski resort. The ultimate cheap option is to look for rideshares on Craigslist or some other ski carpool websites.

Use discount dining habits.
It’s possible to eat gourmet meals at budget prices even in ritzy Aspen, Colorado. The trick? Eat at the bar instead of in the dining room. You’ll get significant savings.

Some restaurants and bars have free hors d’oeuvres during apres-ski while others may have free pizza hours on off-peak days. Check the online schedule of events at restaurants and bars at the ski town you plan to visit. Many use Twitter and Facebook to announce specials.

Generously tip your ski or snowboard instructor after the lesson.
This may be the best tip of all! You’ll learn the locations of the best budget dining, apres-ski, and all the specials in town. The instructor likely works a second job at one of these establishments. Even if your instructor doesn’t work at a local restaurant, he or she will know where all the best deals are.

Are you eligible for military discounts?
If you or your spouse are active duty military members, there are significant lift, lodging, and rental discounts available just for you. Check your favorite ski resorts website for information. If you don’t see any information, send an email inquiry using the ski resort’s contact email address. Most resorts offer military discounts to active duty military. A few resorts in Colorado offer discounts to retired military.

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10 tips for saving money on a Florida vacation

by Gadling Staff on

A Sunshine State vacation can be a luxurious splurge, but it can also be quite a steal if you know how to save money on your travels. Here are some tips for saving money on your next Florida vacation.

Plan a spring or fall visit

Most vacationers come to Florida in the summer (when families travel during school breaks), or the winter (when folks venture south for a bit of Florida sunshine). That means you’ll find the best Florida vacation bargains during the so-called shoulder season: in April and May (between Easter and Memorial Day) or September and October (between Labor Day and Thanksgiving).

As proof, consider this: In May 2010, a room at Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – Riverside goes for about $170 per night. One month later, you’ll pay more than $200 per night during summer vacation.

Head to a lesser-known beach
If a Florida beach vacation is what you desire, step off the beaten path for cheaper accommodation and food options. A rental home that sleeps six in popular Panama City Beach costs more than $1,200 per week during the shoulder season each fall. But 90 minutes east in Apalachicola, a comparable beach-front home costs less than $800 for the same week.Are there more attractions, restaurants and souvenir shops in Panama City Beach than Apalachicola? Yes. But if you plan to spend your time lying on the beach and relaxing in your rental, you will save hundreds by going to a less popular destination. Plus: fewer folks jockeying for beach space and for table service.

Consider a vacation home or condo
At first blush, a rental home or condominium might seem like a more expensive choice for a Florida vacation, but it can be a money-saving decision. The biggest benefit to renting a home is that you have a full kitchen. If you choose to buy or bring groceries and prepare meals in your rental, you can save hundreds of dollars in restaurant bills over the course of a week. (Other potential benefits include a private pool, a garage, laundry facilities, your own yard, and a little elbow room between you and your nearest neighbor. Some of these rentals are pet-friendly, so you can also save money by bringing your dog or cat, rather than boarding them.)

Further, many rental homes sleep six or more people, so your party may be able to share one rental rather than have multiple hotel rooms. Both HomeAway and VRBO both offer a search of Florida vacation rentals, or check with the visitor’s bureau in the city you plan to visit for a list of local vacation rental Web sites.

Pick up restaurant and attraction discount books
You’ll find racks of free tourism booklets in the lobbies of hotels and restaurants and at Florida Interstate rest stops. While they might look like junk, you can save 10 to 50 percent at attractions such as the Museum of Science and Industry in Tampa, Butterfly World in Coconut Creek, or Gatorland in Orlando by clipping the coupons inside.

You’ll also find Florida motel discounts, restaurant coupons, and souvenir freebies in some of the magazines. An online search for the attraction name followed by “coupons” might yield similar discounts that you can print at home and bring with you on your Florida trip.

Look at package deals
Just as bundling your cable and Internet saves you money, booking a vacation package can get you deep discounts on a hotel or rental car. A quick search of AOL Travel for vacation deals in your desired Florida destination will give you many options for the cheapest airfares and a variety of different lodging choices, all for one discounted price.

Pro tip: check the rates on the hotel or rental car’s Web site before you book a package. There are travel booking services out there that actually mark up these combo deals.

Fly into secondary airports
Several smaller airlines have moved into the Florida market by calling some secondary airports home. Want to travel from Detroit to Tampa this spring? A flight on a major carrier will cost you about $265. But drive an hour to depart from Toledo, Ohio, and Allegiant will fly you direct to St. Pete-Clearwater International, about 30 minutes from Tampa, for $140.

To save money on food in Florida, ask the locals where they eat. You might discover a treasure, like a $3.49 pressed Cuban sandwich in Tampa or a bucketful of fresh raw oysters in Orlando.

Other small Florida airports to try include Southwest Florida International in Fort Myers, Charlotte County Airport in Punta Gorda, Orlando Sanford International and Daytona Beach International. Don’t forget about Palm beach International, which offers free WiFi, and from which you can easily reach Fort Lauderdale or Miami.

Eat like the locals
To save money on food in Florida, drive away from the beachfront property and ask the locals where they eat. The bell staff or housekeepers at your resort are often a great resource for this information. You might discover a treasure, like a $3.49 pressed Cuban sandwich at the Interbay Meat Market in Tampa or a bucketful of fresh raw oysters on the concrete bar at Lee and Rick’s Half Shell Oyster Bar in Orlando.

Shop right for souvenirs
When you are in need of T-shirts, postcards or other Florida trinkets from your trip, you can save money on souvenirs by passing up the souvenir shops. Instead, head to the nearest Walgreens, CVS, Walmart or Target. These mass market retailers know that their Florida customers include many tourists, so they offer local souvenirs at discount prices. You will find Mickey Mouse stuffed plush at the Walmarts in Orlando and T-shirts emblazoned with South Beach sunsets at the Walgreens in Miami.

Get outside
What makes Florida the most visited state in the union? The weather! So get outside on your vacation and save money on free or cheap Florida activities. The most famous free attraction in Florida is the beach, of course. But you can also camp, hike, kayak, and cycle in Florida state parks for very little money.

Pack a picnic lunch and drive just 30 minutes from Walt Disney World to spend the day hiking 23 miles of trails at Lake Louisa State Park in Clermont, where the entrance fee is $5 per car. Or bring your fishing pole and pay $4 to cast your line into Tampa Bay from the Sunshine Skyway Fishing Piers, south of St. Petersburg.

Save on theme park admissions
If you plan to visit one of Florida’s famous theme parks, research the various tickets available before you leave home. You will often find the best deals online, in advance. For example, if you are going to Busch Gardens Tampa Bay or SeaWorld Orlando, you can save $10 off the cost of an adult admission simply by buying online before you get to the park. Also know that you get more for your money if you plan to visit the theme parks for more than one day. A one-day ticket that gets you in to Universal Studios Florida and Universal’s Islands of Adventure costs $109. Plan to stay two days, though, and your ticket cost drops to $67.50 per day.

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Free King Tut passes in San Francisco

by Amy Chen on

On Feb. 21 and 22, the de Young Museum is giving away free passes to the King Tut exhibit in San Francisco.

Tickets to “Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs” are normally pretty pricey. For a family of two adults and two kids between the ages of 6 and 17, you’re looking at shelling out $98 on admission passes alone if you visit on a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday (kids under 5 are free).

Details: Tickets will only be handed out on site on either of those days. Sponsored by Target, the giveaway is limited to four tickets per adult. Tickets will be time-stamped in batches of 30-minute windows, though you can linger as long as you’d like once you’re in. The box office opens at 8:30 a.m. each day with the first entry at 9 a.m. and the last entry at 4 p.m.

While you’re waiting for your timed entry, there will be plenty of free entertainment: fortune tellers, belly dancers, tarot card readers, and even a DJ spinning contemporary Egyptian music. Kids can also learn how to “engrave” hieroglyphics into copper foil. If the complimentary tickets run out, the rest of the permanent collections at the de Young will be free that weekend.

Tip: Strollers, diaper bags, and backpacks must be checked before entering the special exhibition galleries.

The exhibit, which opened in June 2009 at the de Young, closes on March 28.

If you haven’t seen the exhibit, here are some highlights, courtesy of FAMSF.

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