USA - Top Money Saving Tips for Tourists

Rashers72

Said I would start a thread to help visitors to USA from Ireland/Eurozone countries where you could post any tips to counteract the 30% increase in prices for visitors since last summer (when brought back into Euro).
All contributions welcome - special offers for hotels/motels, restaurant chains, tourist attractions, how to get discount booklets for malls, etc.
Not sure about theme park tickets (Orlando/LA mainly)?
Maybe even Supermarkets for those self catering (thinking about Orlando etc.).
I imagine there are some good deals with Groupon deals, but again locals might assist.
Probably best to exclude airfares and car hire, as these are traditionally booked and paid for in Euro in advance.
Thanks in advance. If an offer is time limited, please indicate expiry date.

Dave1442397

I think your best bet is to find websites that already list all the deals.

There are sites like www.dealnews.com that have many categories to choose from.

Once you get to specific forms of entertainment, there are always websites to guide you.

For skiing, I like http://www.epicski.com/f/21/resorts-conditions-travel

Disney has plenty of sites to choose from, including http://www.disboards.com/

For attractions in places you plan to visit, there are usually plenty of reviews and prices posted on www.tripadvisor.com

ProudDUB

Most of the major hotel chains in the US have loyalty programs that you can sign up for, where you stay with them for X amount of nights and you get Night Y free.

InTheTrees

One of the largest discount airlines in the USA is Southwest Airlines, but it doesnt subscribe to any of the travel search sites, you wont find it on kayak or orbitz or travelocity, etc, so you have to book through the website yourself:

https://www.southwest.com/

ProudDUB

Sorry, probably should have provided a few links in my earlier post.

http://hhonors3.hilton.com/en/index.html

http://www.marriott.com/marriott-rewards/earn-points/points.mi

An awful lot of the hotels and motel in the US are part of larger chains. As they often they have different brand names, the average tourist may not be aware of it, or think it worth their while to sign up for their loyalty program. The links above show some of the various hotel "families". The reward/loyalty programs generally cover all of them. So for example, if you stay at a Doubletree or a Homewood Suites, you can accrue points that can be used at the other Hilton hotels that are a part of the same group.

rossie1977

Las Vegas top 10 value deals, updated monthly http://www.lasvegasadvisor.com/topten.cfm

Novella

If you sign up for a hotels.com account and book all of your hotels through them, when you have stayed ten nights at hotels, you get what is called a 'Welcome Rewards' night. The rewards night is equal to the average value of your previous ten stays but if that is $70, you can book a $100 room and just pay $30.

You don't just have to book hotels in the US either, you can use it if you go away for a break in Ireland or whatever. I think it's pretty good and used it a lot when my husband and I were long distance and had to travel to see each other. Their customer service is great too. I once arrived at a hotel I'd booked through them and the hotel couldn't find my reservation and told me that they had no rooms available. I called hotels.com who contacted the hotel directly on my behalf and I was upgraded to a suite.

Ruu

Choice Hotels and Wyndham Rewards are other loyalty programs, have hotels ranging from basic, no frills to having the works. (not 100% sure but think you need a US address).You can also choose to earn airline miles. Choice has big discounts if you stay longer or pay in advance.

Do your homework with regard to hotels and proximity to parks in Orlando, etc. Most offer free shuttles so you can escape the nightmare of having to park there and the daily fee.

endofrainbow

Kmart and Sears have a very good points awards system. Generous points and easy redemption

Rashers72

endofrainbow wrote: »

Kmart and Sears have a very good points awards system. Generous points and easy redemption

Can they be used by tourists (I.e. Non residents?) And are rewards instant? All Irish supermarkets would require Irish addresses and discounts would no be received till next quarter. Any links? Thanks

endofrainbow

once you have a valid email address the rewards are instant - you could buy today and use your rewards tomorrow. I have an account and I'm not a resident:

http://www.shopyourway.com/rewards

MarkY91

endofrainbow wrote: »

once you have a valid email address the rewards are instant - you could buy today and use your rewards tomorrow. I have an account and I'm not a resident:

http://www.shopyourway.com/rewards

Thanks for that. It will cone in handy in June!

McSween

MarkY91 wrote: »

Thanks for that. It will cone in handy in June!

Allegiant Air are a budget airline operating out of Orlando Sanford Airport (SFB).

InTheTrees

Another large discount Airline that doesnt subscribe to the travel fare search sites. They also have regular sales on their site:

http://www.jetblue.com/

FatherTed

Stay in hotels that include a free breakfast e.g. Embassy Suites especially with families.

Yamanoto

When it comes to hotel stays, I find I'm usually better off utilising Priceline's 'Express deals' or 'name your own price' functions, rather than relying on redemption opportunities from the likes of Club Carlson, SPG or HHonours. To accrue points on those programmes, you're often paying the full published rate or very close to it.

If you are heading for any of the big brand chains & the Priceline process seems a little opaque, check out the links below for preferential rates. Not every hotel will discount on the dates you're looking at, but the bottom two in particular have delivered great savings for me on many occasions.

http://stay.hilton.com/mvp/

IHG's 'friends & family' rate is actually open to the public.

http://www.ihg.com/hotels/us/en/global/corporate/friendsfamily?key=PxyOqu9bjcrG7738%252FYlthhIJ67afakIlMGRMGEDAqbc%253D&cm_mmc=DCE-_-FF-_-20100106-_-AM27164

Carlson Friends & Family (promo rate code - CARLSONF) is strictly speaking, only available to those with solid ties to the Rezidor group. The code will often bag you a room for $70 / $80.00 at a Radisson, Park Plaza or Country Inns & Suites, but you may be required to give details of a Rezidor employee name at check-in, though I've never been asked to do so.

http://www.radisson.com/friendsandfamily / http://www.clubcarlson.com/

Rashers72

With sat nav rentals at an average of US$12 per day, not many will select that option. I have a Tom Tom 1 that I use in Europe fine, and I previously downloaded US maps from Tom Tom about 6 years ago. They presently cost EUR40-50 for either a new map or update on their website. However, if you change the url from gb to ie , the price drops to GBP15 for either. And if you then use the promotion code ‘Welcome15_uk’ (case sensitive) it drops the price to £6.95./EUR10. Quite the saving for anyone interested. I know lots of people using Sat Navs on their phones, but I think a dedicated one for EUR10, powered by car battery, and with all the update POI's etc. Hope that helps someone!

Rashers72

Just back from family road trip to California, so said I would put up a few up to the minute suggestions to help work within a budget, but still enjoy:
For flights, book ahead. We got 3 adults, 1 kid with BA Dub-LHR-LAX mid week and Sat return via SFO for Eur2150. Price doubled 6 months later. Was booked within a week of flights becoming available, 330 days in advance.
Generally got 10% off hotels by using their own loyalty cards, but plenty of other options there also.
Used VRBO, Airbnb, Flipkey to source private rentals. Got a fantastic 2 bed apartment in Pacific Heights in San Fran for 4 nights for about €1k. Bus outside door to all locations, lots of internal space, full kitchen, huge living room. Really happy with that one.
If u want to buy something specific, don't be afraid to use Amazon box opened deals. Generally save about 10% off existing lowest price, but sometimes more. Goods were 100% perfect. Also their warehouse deals are great. Had them posted to hotel about a week before we arrived.
Used Groupons for bike hire in Venice beach and San Fran. Saved about 25-50% off walk up prices. Also bought a pair of headphones via 1 of their deals. samsung phone ones $5 plus $5 delivery.
Shop around for gas prices, if doing a big road trip - we were doing 1,300 miles. Prices ranged from $3.20 per gallon to $5.50 in what I paid. I also seen signs at big truck stops for under $3. I spent $205 driving that amount of miles.
If kids are teens, order Hollister and Abercrombie clothes via their websites, and have delivered to hotel or in our case apartment in advance. Selection of sizes and colours is normally better. Try on sizes in store first. We were able to return anything we did not want via store. To be fair some of the stores still had a very good selection, more then I thought they would have.
We went to 2 different outlet malls during our trip, each about 4 hours. Got the list of stores in advance, and just worked through the key stores so no aimless wandering! Again, joined loyalty schemes, got vouchers, and worked away. Some were good, and could be combined with in store offers. Nice to have in back pocket! I got a big bag of Ghirardelli choclates for my work in factory outlet store for $10. Exact same pack in duty free SFO was $26!!!!
Used google to source discounts for certain tourist attractions. Example: Ripleys Believe it or Not in San Fran. Got kids in free. Lots of other discounts if we booked packages, but in this case we only wanted to go to that one.
I found the older Over 30's Americans still love the Irish and were really nice and helpful on one occasion for us when we needed some assistance. Just talking to people saved us both money and more importantly time.
Thats all I can think of for now. The rate is probably a little downer at the moment, but was not as bad on the ground as I thought it would be. There are still plenty of bargains in clothing and electronics if you needed them, but it was generally kids stuff for us, so no large spends, but some nice stuff bought.

Rashers72

Rashers72 wrote: »

Just back from family road trip to California, so said I would put up a few up to the minute suggestions to help work within a budget, but still enjoy:
For flights, book ahead. We got 3 adults, 1 kid with BA Dub-LHR-LAX mid week and Sat return via SFO for Eur2150. Price doubled 6 months later. Was booked within a week of flights becoming available, 330 days in advance.
Generally got 10% off hotels by using their own loyalty cards, but plenty of other options there also.
Used VRBO, Airbnb, Flipkey to source private rentals. Got a fantastic 2 bed apartment in Pacific Heights in San Fran for 4 nights for about €1k. Bus outside door to all locations, lots of internal space, full kitchen, huge living room. Really happy with that one.
If u want to buy something specific, don't be afraid to use Amazon box opened deals. Generally save about 10% off existing lowest price, but sometimes more. Goods were 100% perfect. Also their warehouse deals are great. Had them posted to hotel about a week before we arrived.
Used Groupons for bike hire in Venice beach and San Fran. Saved about 25-50% off walk up prices. Also bought a pair of headphones via 1 of their deals. samsung phone ones $5 plus $5 delivery.
Shop around for gas prices, if doing a big road trip - we were doing 1,300 miles. Prices ranged from $3.20 per gallon to $5.50 in what I paid. I also seen signs at big truck stops for under $3. I spent $205 driving that amount of miles.
If kids are teens, order Hollister and Abercrombie clothes via their websites, and have delivered to hotel or in our case apartment in advance. Selection of sizes and colours is normally better. Try on sizes in store first. We were able to return anything we did not want via store. To be fair some of the stores still had a very good selection, more then I thought they would have.
We went to 2 different outlet malls during our trip, each about 4 hours. Got the list of stores in advance, and just worked through the key stores so no aimless wandering! Again, joined loyalty schemes, got vouchers, and worked away. Some were good, and could be combined with in store offers. Nice to have in back pocket! I got a big bag of Ghirardelli choclates for my work in factory outlet store for $10. Exact same pack in duty free SFO was $26!!!!
Used google to source discounts for certain tourist attractions. Example: Ripleys Believe it or Not in San Fran. Got kids in free. Lots of other discounts if we booked packages, but in this case we only wanted to go to that one.
I found the older Over 30's Americans still love the Irish and were really nice and helpful on one occasion for us when we needed some assistance. Just talking to people saved us both money and more importantly time.
Thats all I can think of for now. The rate is probably a little downer at the moment, but was not as bad on the ground as I thought it would be. There are still plenty of bargains in clothing and electronics if you needed them, but it was generally kids stuff for us, so no large spends, but some nice stuff bought.

God please organise my life!!!

FatherTed

Also for Car Renters, download the Gas Buddy app to your phone to find the best local gasoline prices.

iusedtoknow

FatherTed wrote: »

Also for Car Renters, download the Gas Buddy app to your phone to find the best local gasoline prices.

Stay away from Shell in the US - always more expensive (at least in California)

Chevron and 76 are the cheapest...

InTheTrees

When I was younger;

Most motels have a check out time of about 11am

On really long road trips I like to drive at night. Check into a motel at 8am and they arent going to throw you out three hours later so you'll get until the next day at 11am. If you want to stop off in a small town and rest for a day it almost feels like getting 2 nights for 1.