How to ...
SLASH VACATION COSTS

Planning for a vacation can be stressful both with the time crunch leading up to it and the anticipation of coordinating the perfect getaway. One of the biggest challenges to preparing for your dream vacation can be the ability to reign in costs.

How many people do you know who have complained of vacation costs "getting away from them?" You know the complaints: the hotel was more expensive than they anticipated, the airlines shuffled their schedules and the costs weren't what they were told, or the package deal they took was a bit (or considerably) beyond their budget, but they had few options to find anyone willing to work within their budget.

I can say, "Been there, done that." But I took a Hawaiian vacation a couple years ago that gave me some measure of relief (and I'm not just talking about the idea lying on a beach in Maui for a few days, although that helped too!).

I always wanted to travel to Hawaii but was nervous about vacation costs spiraling out of control, especially since I wanted to go to the more expensive island of Maui. And I also heard of nightmares of restaurants charging top dollar.

I found doing a budget in advance helpful. A good vacation budget should answer: How much can you afford for a hotel each night, for air fare, what range of accomodations will you accept? And what could you pay each day for meals and excursions? Booking excursion on line in advance is something I highly recommend, because you will know in advance what you're spending, so you won't come home cash poor.

To book my dream Hawaiian vacation, I took a different strategy than my previous vacations. I did my budget as I recommend above and then decided to pick a travel company who would work with my final budget. Where I could name the price I could pay for hotel, airfare (my two major expenses) as well as excursions?

I found my great vacation deal through Priceline. I could name my own price based on my budget. Plus, I also found that they had vacation package deals which were considerably below their competitors.

I was thrilled when I booked a room at Maui hotel tower only to find, at my arrival, that Priceline had an automatic upgrade deal with the hotel. I wouldn't be staying in the Tower, but in my own cottage a few feet from a world famous Maui beach and at beer budget prices!!!

So if you're interested in doing a booking, we here at Planet Femme recommend Priceline. Follow our link to Priceline from this page and know that your booking will help us donate funds to the Human Rights Campaign Fund. Priceline also has some amazing prices on cruise vacation getaways and rental cars.