An Epic Time
for Travel

TripandTravelTips.com

It’s surprising that we don’t hear more about the possibilities that exist right now for those who love to travel. Quite simply, we are experiencing the greatest period in decades.

This is no exaggeration either.

The depressed economy has wreaked havoc on the domestic travel industry. Additionally, many parts of the country have suffered from massive overbuilding causing a flood of hotel rooms. Finally, the crackdown on corporate excess has left many ballrooms empty which otherwise would have hosted various events and trade shows.

And with a decline in hotel guests comes a decline in airline passengers.

Finally, don’t forget about the cruise ships. The cruise industry has been hit hard as well.

The result has been a perfect storm of deals and steals across the travel map. If you do your homework you’ll find fares and rates which would have been unthinkable several years ago.

So, what does this all mean you may ask? Well, it means several things.

First, for the family who takes the yearly trip, it means a second trip. Or, it could mean the same trip but with upgraded everything. For the budget conscious family, it means the four-star hotel or resort hotel instead of the two-star property. For the young couple it means Cancun or the Dominican Republic instead of Wildwood or Myrtle Beach.

The travel opportunities presented by the reduced demand in lodging and airfare have been bolstered even more by the deals available from the restaurant industry. Just about every major steak house chain is offering dinner specials. You’re even seeing previously unheard-of offers from some of the top tier fine dining restaurants.

But, how to find the deals?

In previous articles we’ve discussed at length how to find airfare deals and how to find hotel deals. We’ve also discussed finding cruise deals. It all comes down to the amount of effort you are willing to invest, the amount of resources you have, and, most importantly, your flexibility.

The true travel warrior enjoys research and effort. To him or her, finding the killer deal is as rewarding as the trip itself.

Your resources are your collection of links to pages and sites offering travel deals. Examples are the deals or sales page of your local airlines and the main travel sites like Travelocity. Also included would be sites like TravelZoo.com and AirfareWatchdog.com which post daily and weekly travel deals.

Finally, there is your flexibility. We’ve discussed flexibility in several articles and cannot emphasize enough how important flexibility is when it comes to finding killer travel deals.

Now, obviously, a retired couple is going to have more flexibility than a younger couple with three kids. If you are of the latter, you’ll have to use some creativity for keeping as flexibility as possible. Hording vacation and personal days at work so they can be used on a minute’s notice is a good start. Minimizing your children’s sick days from school so you can pull them when need be also helps. You get the point.

So, you're now on notice. Put down that remote control, and get behind your computer.  You’re experiencing an unprecedented time of affordable travel.  Grab it while it's still here!

Good travelin!

Trip and Travel Tips.com