Walt Disney World has a great package that came out at the end of last week. It’s basically Buy 4 Get 3 Free, meaning that if you pay for a package of 4 nights at a Disney World hotel plus tickets, you’ll get a total of 7 nights hotel plus another 3 free days of theme park tickets.

This can be booked now, and you can travel now through June 27th. The thing is if you travel now through March 29th, you’ll also get a $200 Disney Gift Card.

If you’re wondering if this is a better deal than the August/September Free Dining plan like I was, it depends. The price of your package will vary now through June, so it depends on when you go. When free dining occurs (which there is no guarantee it will happen this year, although it has gone on for at least 4 years now), you have to pay full price for the rooms. Now through June, you’ll probably pay a lot less for the rooms, so it depends on when you’re going if it’s a better deal or not.

Also, if you have a birthday coming up in the first half of next year, remember that you will be able to get a free park ticket for your birthday - or if you are part of a package that includes tickets (like this package) they will give you a choice of a “birthday fun card” in the amount equal to a 1-Day pass, a special birthday fastpass, or a 1-day magic your way base ticket for use in the next year.

Here are two places you can price out a Walt Disney World vacation including your 3 free nights.

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Now that it’s starting to get colder (Parts of NJ/NY even had snow yesterday!), you might be thinking about taking a vacation. The good news is, because of the economy, prices are a LOT lower than you might expect. The price of oil has gone down quite a bit, and since not many people are booking trips right now, companies are really giving great prices as an incentive to get you to travel.

Not sure that the prices are low? Take a look at a cruise that The Travelzoo TravelZoo had in their Top 20 email today. You can take a 7-night cruise on Norwegian Cruise Line to the Caribbean for just $234.00 per person, and that includes a $50 credit for once you’re on the ship! That’s just incredible. I’ve taken 2 Norwegian cruises before, and while I got a great deal, it was more than double $234.00 per person! You can even get a balcony for under $500 a person. It’s just crazy.

If that wasn’t enough, on American Airlines right now you can book a round-trip ticket to Hawaii starting at just $249. I tried it with airfare from NJ, and where it usually costs over $1,000 per person, going in November would cost just $436.00 per person plus taxes. Not bad right?

This is just a small sampling of the types of deals available now, and assuming nothing changes in the next few months, the deals will either stay as good, or get even better! So if you’re already sick of the cooler weather, it might be time to book that winter vacation, and not have to break the bank!

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Looking to go to Disney World or Disneyland in the next few months (through the end of January)?

If so, you might want to take a look at Orbitz. Right now they have a deal where if you book through them, and stay at least 5-nights, you’ll get $150.00 off of your vacation. That’s pretty good, especially considering it can be hard to find discounts to Disney!

The code is ORBDISNEY150, and you’ll need to put that in before you do your search.

I will let you know, until you actually CLICK on a specific vacation, you won’t see the discounted price. When I saw the matrix-results that showed me all my different choices, it pointed out which hotels would give me the discount, so I assumed that the prices reflected the $150.00 off. It did not. Once I clicked on a hotel, it showed the lower price, so be sure you’re looking at the lower price!

I’m already planning on going next September, otherwise I might have taken a second look at this! Hope this helps someone who is planning a trip for the next 3 months. You have until November 23rd to book the trip, so you don’t have to rush too much.

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When going on vacation, there is a good chance you’re going to do a lot of the attractions in the area. For example, if you’re going to Los Angeles, you might be going to Disneyland as well as Universal Studios. If you’re going to Toronto, you might be going to see the CN Tower, the Royal Ontario Museum, the Ontario Science Center, etc. Since this is the case, a few companies have come out with packages where you pay once, and get tickets to many of the attractions in a city at a great savings.

For example, when we were in Toronto, for one price, we got an entrance into the CN Tower, Royal Ontario Museum, Ontario Science Center, Casa Loma, the Hockey Hall of Fame, and the Toronto Zoo. It would have cost a lot more to buy tickets individually to each of these. This was known as the Toronto Citypass, and if you were going to at least 4 of the attractions, it made sense to buy the pass.  We had no intention of going to the Zoo as we didn’t have enough time, but since we were planning on going to 5 of them, it was still a savings for us to buy the pass.

Citypass is not the only one to offer such passes to different cities. There is also the Go Card which has similar passes for other cities. There are even some that are not part of a program, and just have a pass for one location, such as the Niagara Falls Adventure Pass, which included the Maid of the Mist, Journey Behind the Falls, White Water Walk, Butterfly Conservatory, and the People Mover Bus.

We did that one as well, although we skipped out on the White Water Walk due to lack of time.  We still saved money, and got to see everything we wanted to see.  It was also great since these count as tickets, so you don’t have to wait in line at each location…you can go right in!  So that was an extra little perk.

So if you’re going to a city that has a lot of well known attractions, first take a look to see if they have some sort of savings pass where you can pay once and get into many of the attractions.  You’ll be surprised at how much you can save.

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When traveling to another country, you will have to convert your money one way or another. There are many options to doing so though, and the amount of money you save or lose can be huge.

You can convert it before you leave, or once you get there. You can also just use an ATM at your destination, and you’ll get money in the currency you’ll need while there. Another method is to use your credit card, and you won’t have to worry about physically changing your currency. Which is the best though?

While traveling to Canada last week, that was something that was on our mind. What I recommend is that before you leave, find out the different costs for each method. You might get a better exchange rate from one place than from another.  Plus, credit cards sometimes add fees.

Another thing to take into account is your own bank. It turns out that some banks have deals with bank chains in other countries, so that you can use them just like you would your own. So for example, when we used an ATM in Toronto, it was just like using our bank back home, and we didn’t get charged any fees.

What ended up being the best for us? Well, when we used the ATM, it automatically gave us Canadian money, and we didn’t get charged any fees at all, so that was the best. When we used our credit cards, we got charged about a 3% fee each time. So for us, it was best to pay cash for as much as we could

It’s definitely something to check out before you leave though, as you can end up spending a lot more money than you originally thought if you have to pay a fee or don’t get as great of an exchange rate.

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When you think about AAA, you probably just think about your car, and how they can help if you get a flat tire, get stuck, or anything else like that.

While that is all very true, AAA can help you get a lot of discounts in other ways. Although I have to admit, sometimes it can be hit or miss.

We have AAA, and every time we are getting ready to book a hotel, we check both the regular rates, as well as AAA rates. Most of the time though, the regular internet rates are lower than AAA rates. I always check, because you never know.

Well, this past week, we were able to use AAA rates for 2 of the hotels we stayed at, one a Courtyard Marriott, and the other a Comfort Inn - both in Canada. Not only did the AAA card get us better rates, but it got us free buffet breakfast at the Marriott that is normally $18 per person per day. Not bad right?

AAA did even more for us this trip. They offer discounts to a lot of attractions as well. We knew that and have used them in the past, and even went to a AAA office in Asheville, NC last year to get a discount to an attraction. Well, we were able to get AAA discounts at both the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY and at Howe Caverns, which is about 45 min away from Cooperstown. So we ended up saving quite a bit on our trip due to having the AAA card.

They also offer discounts to theme parks, and even some stores (both in store and online), so it’s defintely something to check out, especially if you already have a AAA card, and hardly use it!

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Ready for this? Priceline is going to guarantee that your next trip will be nice and sunny. If you book your trip to one of their top 100 destinations before September 12th, and leave for your vacation between August 16th and November 16th, they will give you a “Sunshine Guarantee”.

What does that mean? Well, unfortunately they can’t stop the rain…but they can make up for it! If it rains for more than half of your trip (in other words, if it rains at least a half of an inch a day for at least half of the days in your vacation) they will give you a full refund!
So if you go away for 3 days, it has to rain at least a half of an inch for 2 or more days. If you go away for 4 days, it has to rain for 2 or more days, etc. So if you’re going away for an even amount of days, it has to rain at least a half of an inch for half of the days for you to get your money back. If you go away for an odd amount of days, it has to rain at least a half of an inch for half of the days + 1 to get your money back.

I don’t know about you, but I really can’t stand when it rains on my vacations…especially when I want to be sightseeing, or doing other things outside. While no one can guarantee that it will be sunny on your trip, this is definitely a nice bonus! Either you end up with a great vacation, or it rains most of the trip, and it becomes a free trip! Not too bad!

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If you plan on going to Hershey Park before the end of the month, here is a coupon you might want to use. You’ll get $12.00 off of an adult ticket, and $5.00 off of a child’s ticket. That’s a great way to keep the cost of going to an amusement park down!

If you’re going to Hershey Park, you can’t miss the Chocolate Factory. It’s free, and it shows you how your favorite chocolate products get made. The store at the end of the ride is great if you love chocolate…lots and lots of choices, including things you won’t find at your local supermarket!

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Looking to go to Las Vegas, but don’t want to spend a lot of money? Well, it’s never really been expensive to stay on the strip, but these days it’s a real steal. Almost every major hotel on the strip has a great deal going on where you’ll get your room for hardly anything, and then they’ll usually give you something else on top of that!

Here are just a few examples:

• Excalibur - Rooms start at $41.00, and for $51.00 a night you’ll get an upgraded room which includes a 42″ plasma screen television, piillow top mattress, contemporary bathrooms with granite countertops, and alarm clocks with iPod inputs.
• Luxor - Rooms are as low as $55.00. This is a really low price for Luxor.
• Monte Carlo - Rooms start at $59.00. These rooms are usually well over $100.00 a night, so this is another great price.
• Harrah’s Brands - If you plan on going to Las Vegas 2 times within the year, this might be an amazing deal for you. Depending on how long you stay, they’ll give you money towards your next flight out. For example, if you stay for 2 nights, you’ll get $200 in airfare credits for your next trip, while if you stay for 5 nights, you’ll get $500 in airfare credits for your next trip. You’ll also get free food for this trip, and the more you stay, the more food credits you get.To show what is possibly the cheapest deal, if you stay at the Imperial Palace for 5 nights (I picked a random Sun-Fri in September), it came to $328.00 for the stay. For that $328.00, you’ll get 5 nights at the Imperial Palace for September 2008, $125 Citywide Food Credit applied to your room, as well as $500 airfare credit towards your next flight to Las Vegas. That’s pretty great, no?

  If things keep up the way they are, this is only the beginning, and we’ll keep seeing more great deals to Las Vegas, as well as other big tourist areas that just aren’t getting the number of tourists they are hoping for. So now could be a great time to travel for less!

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Travelzoo is a great website, and an even better newsletter. If you sign up for their newsletter, every Wednesday morning you’ll receive a list of their Top 20 travel deals on the web.

They range from airfare to vacation packages, to cruises, to hotels, and more. The locations vary as well. You’re just as likely to see a deal for a hotel in New York as you are for a cruise in Europe.

Beyond the 20 deals you’ll get via email, they also have their website where you can visit anytime to look for deals.

Personally, what I think this is great for is if your vacation is far off, you haven’t booked it yet, and you’re just seeing if there is anything that comes along. You can check it out every once in a while, and see if something comes up.  That’s also what I use their newsletter for.  You never know when just what you’re looking for will show up.

It’s also great if you want to book a vacation, but don’t know where to go. You’ll be able to see where all the great travel deals are, and choose from there.  They make it nice and easy to search too, so that if you’re looking for a specific type of deal, you don’t have to search through all of the deals.  For example, if you want to search for deals in Orlando, you can just click on “Orlando” and just search there.  It’s not just by location either.  You can search for Romantic vacations, Sports vacations, and more.

If you’re looking to book a vacation, or enjoy seeing what’s out there as far as deals, I’d really recommend signing up for their top 20 deals newsletter.  You’ll really get to see what is out there as far as great deals, and maybe you’ll come across  the perfect deal for your  next vacation.

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