How to find Cheap Last Minute Vacations Fast

Are you a bit spontaneous?     Would you like to get away for the weekend, to somewhere you may have never been before?    Are your travel dates flexible?

When I’m looking to get away for the weekend, many times I don’t care exactly when and where I go.  I just want to go somewhere DIFFERENT, and well let’s face it, DIRT CHEAP.  (When I say “cheap”, I mean that I want to stay in a semi-luxury hotel for a rock-bottom sale price, and not at the dump by the train station).

I know exactly where to search for the cheapest vacations, fast.  In my opinion, Travelocity has the EASIEST search engine.  Why?  Because Travelocity allows you to search for all last minute vacations departing from Seattle, without requiring you to enter in travel dates and destination cities.  That way, when Travelocity pulls up it’s list of deals from Seattle, I can scroll down the list until something looks interesting (and affordable).   It takes less than 5 minutes.  

Here’s how to do it:

1. From Travelocity’s home page, click on “Last Minute Packages” tab.
2. In the search box select your departure city.  In this case “Seattle“.  As long as you are a little flexible, leave all other boxes alone.
3. Hit “Search Packages“.
4. The cheapest packages are on top of the list.  Usually the top of the list is ignorable.  Do you really want a Spokane vacation?  I didn’t think so.  Move on to step 4.
5. Select “Flight + Luxury Hotel” tab.   This way you will pull up hotels with higher star ratings.  Today they have a vacation to New Orleans from Seattle, staying at the “Marriott New Orleans Metairie at Lakeway” for $241.97 per person.  This even includes taxes!
6. Copy the title of the hotel that you are interested in and go to TripAdvisor.com. 
7. Paste the title of the hotel into TripAdvisor’s searchbox and read the user reviews.  These reviews are priceless.  Be aware that even the best hotels sometimes get bad reviews, so use common sense.   Whatever you do, don’t skip this step, or you may be in for a bad experience!  I am pleasantly surprised to see that the Marriott New Orleans has the #1 rating on TripAdvisor.com with stellar reviews.  Definatley a good pick.
8. Take note of the going rate of the hotel on TripAdvisor as well. The average price for the Marriott New Orleans is $173 per night.  Sounds like a I found another cheap vacation on Travelocity!

Sources: Travelocity.com, TripAdvisor.com

Deep Discount Travel Coupons

http://www.TravelSiteCritic.com Grand Opening!

TravelSiteCritic.com is starting their Grand Opening promotion today, which runs through October 12, 2008.  They are giving away Deep Discount Coupons for Hotels, Vacations & Cruises or $300 in Free Gas to the first 500 people who respond!  The hotel discounts are phenomenal.  These are the coupons they are giving away:

• 4 Night Hawaiian Hotel Stay ($28.25 per night-2 adult 2 child) 
• 2 Night U.S. (mid-week) Hotel Stay ($21.50 per night-2 adults)
• 3 Night U.S. Hotel Stay ($38.33 per night-2 adults)
• 4 Night Florida Hotel Stay ($28 per night-2 adult, 2 child)
• Airfare + 2 Night Hotel Stay ($388 total-2 adults)
• TWO 4-Night Mexico Resort Stays ($23.75 per night-2 adults)
• 7 Night Cruise ($878 total-2 adults)
• 4 Night Oceanfront Mexico Resort Stay ($53.25 per night-2 adults)
• 3 Night Jamaica All-Inclusive (meals included) Resort Stay ($125-$157 per night-2 adults)
• 7 Night ‘5-Star Resort’ Stay in 80+ International Destinations ($59 per night/2 adults + $7 per night for additional adults)
• Las Vegas Fun Book: $500 in vouchers for gambling chips, meals, drinks, show tickets, and slot play to spend in several Las Vegas casinos ($19 one-time redemption fee)
• $300 Gas Rebate ($25 monthly gas rebates for 1 year)

These prices include the taxes and fees!  I don’t think you can find deeper discounts anywhere!

These coupons are offered because hotels want to fill up their vacant rooms and cruise lines want to fill cruise cabins.  The hotels are major reputable brands:  Marriot, Hampton Inn, Hilton, Holiday Inn, Wyndham Resorts.  Cruise lines include: Royal Caribbean, Carnival Cruises, and Norwegian Cruiseline.  Each coupon is subject to whoever has vacancies.

Check out TravelSiteCritic.com to get your free coupon!