TRIP COACH

How to Pay for Your Vacation

You don't have to beg, borrow, or steal to indulge your wanderlust. Armed with these practical suggestions, your dream vacation may be more affordable than you think.

By Fran Golden, September 2012 issue  |  Subscribe to the magazine

Another reputable plan is elayaway.com. It will automatically deduct money from your bank account each month toward the purchase of a gift certificate from select hotel chains (Hyatt, Marriott, and Best Western), car rental agencies (Avis and Budget), airlines (American and Southwest), and websites (Travelocity and bedandbreakfast.com). You’ll pay a processing fee of 1.9 percent of the gift certificate. (You basically pay a hefty premium to impose a savings plan on yourself.)

Gate 1 Travel lets you reserve a spot on one of its 400+ packages for as little as a $100 deposit per person as soon as the package is released (which is usually 12 to 18 months in advance), then pay off your trip in as many advance payments as you like. The catch is that your vacation must be completely paid for at least 45 days prior to your departure or you will forfeit your reservation and deposit.

What if I’m never going to have the cash for the trip I want?

You may be able to secure lodgings without going completely broke. For $10 a month, you can list your home on homeexchange.com for a swap. (Basically it gives you the opportunity to find someone in your dream destination who’s hankering to visit your neck of the woods.) The more detailed your home description (including photos and house rules), the more likely you are to attract a swapper. Similar sites include digsville.com and homelink.org.
Another cash-free option is to trade your services for lodgings. This won’t work on a major chain hotel—go for a B&B or small hotel where you can speak directly with the owner, and consider in advance whether you can offer the kinds of services they might be interested in bartering for. (If you’re an accountant, landscaper, or IT pro, you’re on solid ground; a poet, investment banker, or nuclear physicist, not so much.) It’s also possible to “bank” bartering services with a barter exchange, such as ITEX, where small businesses can register for a fee and perform services for other members of the exchange, accumulating dollars that are yours to spend as you please.

READER TIPS!

Not surprisingly, readers on BudgetTravel.com offer some imaginative—and highly effective—ways to pay for the trips they crave.

“For all our vacation spending/mad money we save any $5 bills—they all go into our vacation savings pot. So if you go somewhere and pay with a $20 and get three $5’s back, they all come home to the pot! Last year we saved enough spending money for three trips!” Mary Lou Hood Brangers, Morristown, Tenn.

“I begin planning about six months ahead and pay for as many things as possible in advance, such as theater tickets and some hotels, so that the cost will be spread over as many billing cycles as possible.” Thirza Sloan, Covington, Tenn.

“I have a vacation savings account into which I put my credit card rewards checks, rebates, rolled change, and any found money as I get it. Because we get paid biweekly, there are a couple of months when we get three paychecks instead of two, so I also earmark one of those ‘extra’ checks for the vacation account.” Ingrid Windsor, Smithsburg, Md.

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Note:This story was accurate when it was published. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.
 
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