Weekend Getaways: Travel for Cheap

Posted on 12. May, 2009 by MJay in Travel

In these post-college days, when we have a little more money around, what better thing to do than see a little bit more of the world? Travel hasn’t been this cheap in a long time and a couple tips on finding good deals can stretch your money farther. I absolutely love traveling and I think its the best way to learn about yourself and the rest of the world. Coming back, you’ll have a greater appreciation for where you come from and an ever growing itch to go further.

That being said, planning an extensive vacation requires a lot: getting time off, setting aside a large amount of money, coordinating schedules, planning events, or even figuring out where to go in the first place! I’ve found that planning a major trip abroad can be quite the stressful ordeal.

To avoid all of this, I’d like to introduce you to the Weekend Getaway. These are usually planned no greater than two weeks in advance, require little to no planning, and can result in an exciting, super-cheap way to see a little more of the US.

Living near a major airport is key to this if you plan on flying anywhere, so for the purposes of this post, I’m going to assume that you all do! All you have to do is decide that you want to go, take the following steps, and pull the trigger!

travel

Funds:

This is obviously the most important part. Set up an account using something like ING Direct and wire some money over there to hold until you find the right combination of time, price, and location. I’d suggest at least $500-600 to cover your flight, expenses on the ground, and lodging. I like ING because they offer the best way to build savings accounts for different purposes. More on ING Direct in a later post…

Destination:

The key in choosing your destination is pretty simple. Warm or cold weather? That’s about it. Every week, I get weekly airfare deals through a variety of different airlines and travel websites. AirTran and Delta both fly out of Atlanta and have great weekly deals. AirTran’s Net Escapes features some good one way deals, currently$49 to Miami, $49 to West Palm Beach, $99 to San Francisco, and more. Delta, after joining the SkyMiles program features great deals around the country. Currently, you can fly to Orange County, CA for $119 round trip. Being patient and finding the right deal here is key. Expedia, Travelocity, and just about every other travel site will have similar deals. Once you find the destination, its time to find a room!

Lodging:

After finding a cheap flight, the next step is finding a room! Last minute hotel rooms in big cities or on the beach are SO easy to find. Just as an example, a flight to Chicago on Air Tran through June 10th is $49 dollars each way. In two weeks the Cubs are in town, how cool would it be to see Wrigley Field? (I’ve been there before and I felt like a kid in a candy store!) A quick search of hotels found a 4 star hotel in the middle of the city for $98 a night. Assuming you are bringing your college buddy with you, you split the two nights and you’ve just found yourself in Chicago for a long weekend for $200 bucks. Don’t worry about getting around, Chicago is famous for the “El” trains.

You’re There, Now What?

Going back to the idea of a weekend in Chicago, a quick search on Craigslist pulled up a pair of tickets at Wrigley for

Wrigley Field

$40. Not into baseball? There were also some tickets to the Chicago Fire MLS match, theater tickets, museum passes, concerts, etc all for under $25 a person. Building a weekend around something like this is easy to do and can be done in just about every city in the US. It requires very little planning, a good deal of flexibility, a little bit of risk taking (this makes it more exciting, trust me), and an open mind. If you find yourself going on one of these trips, try to find any locals you might know through social networking sites like Facebook. Ask them about some of the good places to eat, drink, and see are. They’ll typically give you some good advice.

What Else…?

That’s it! There’s really nothing more to it. I have taken a weekend trip like this just about every year and they are some of the most fun I have in a given year. In the past two years, I have made it out to New York City, Vegas, Chicago, Richmond, and Nashville for nothing more than you might spend in a nice night out in your town. If you want to cut costs further, there are always cheaper rooms and ways to save on food, but don’t forget to enjoy yourself. This is the reason you are out there in the first place!