Annual passes to parks and attractions are one of the best ways to stretch your summer activity budget. For example, the zoo in my town offers admission prices as follows:

• Adults (12-64) = $9.75
• Youth (3-11) = $6.75
• Children (2 and under) = FREE

I have my 8-year-old son and I so it’ll cost us $16.50 just to go to the zoo once! Holy right. However, my zoo, like most zoos offers plenty of membership offers that make going to the zoo way more affordable.My son and I could get a $54 Zoo 4 Two annual membership that allows us free admission for a year, free parking, reciprocal admission benefits at over 120 zoos nationwide, discounts on Zoo train rides, gift shop purchases, and educational camps and classes, and much more. Going to the zoo just 4 times during the year more than pays us back for the membership.

Start looking for annual memberships at various local places in your town. Usual suspects include: zoos, museums, state gardens, theme parks, and more. If you’re looking for annual passes that will garner you savings on summer vacations check out the following:

America the Beautiful – National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass – Annual Pass - Cost $80: Gets the pass holder/s and passengers in a non-commercial vehicle into national parks at per vehicle fee areas and pass holder + 3 adults, not to exceed 4 adults, at per person fee areas. (children under 16 are admitted free).

The National Park System also offers:

• Senior Lifetime Pass. - Cost $10.
• FREE lifetime pass for U.S. citizens or permanent residents with permanent disabilities.
• FREE pass for park volunteers acquiring 500 service hours on a cumulative basis.

Get a pass for the state parks in your state - at least the ones that still charge admission.

If your family likes to camp you should check out the KOA Value Kard Rewards program. You earn points for each qualifying stay at a KOA Kampground which gain you $ off other stays. There’s also a 10% savings on daily registration fees at any KOA Kampground. Best of all KOA benefits are only $24 per year.

Which annual passes does your family typically buy?

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Actually, I’m not sure inexpensive is the right word. Less expensive might be more appropriate. With summer coming up fast, you may be thinking about flying off for a vacation; here’s how to save some green in the process…

PLAN WELL!:

Not planning well is a serious flight blunder. Rebooking can cost you huge amounts in fees and some flights may not even be refundable at all - not even for credit (i.e. international flights). Make sure you have a plan that, not counting major emergencies, will work out. Also make sure your flight back is reasonable. Case in point - one summer my ex and I flew to my nightmare of a mother-in-law’s house. Three days in we decided to leave early (before violence broke out) - we had to pay a lot of fees to fly out early. Make sure you don’t over-estimate your vacation ability.

Shop, shop, shop:

Shop around a lot before settling on tickets. Check with different airlines but use the same dates to gauge price. Also if you live in a big city, or a city near another city it may cost less to fly out of the further away airport. Same for arrival cities. The last time I went to San Francisco for example, it was cheaper to fly into Oakland and take the Bart into the city.

Don’t fly on weekends:

This is not hard and fast, but normally flights during the week will cost less.

Maybe buy two tickets vs. round trip:

Sometimes it can be less expensive to buy one ticket to a destination and another back vs. round way. Not always though - check prices on both.

Re-think your vacation:

Summer is nutty. Everyone travels. Can you get the kids out of school early in the spring or keep them out in the fall and travel then? Vacations are fun anytime of year, why not go when flights and other things like hotels are cheaper?

Read the fine print and double check before clicking buy:

True story - my friend just bought online tickets for a trip, he was all excited to get this great deal. He bought the tickets AND THEN noticed that the ticket he bought was one-way. He thought it was round trip and it turns out his great deal, well, sort of sucked. Make sure you read all the fine print, and know exactly what you’re buying before you pay.

Ignore all the rules:

Besides the shop, shop, shop rule and the read the fine print rule, most flight rules can change. No matter what you hear about online deals, airline newsletter deals, or best times to fly, the only way to know for sure is to check around.

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We love the zoo. We love the museum. We love the science center. Since we are thrifty, we don’t love paying to visit all the fun attractions available in our area. Luckily, we often don’t have to pay or, if we do have to pay, we can score a major discount.

I usually start my search for cheap or free attractions we can visit at my credit card company’s site. Bank of America gives card holders free admission to a limited number of museums on the first weekend each month. If I can find one we want to visit and kids’ admission is very cheap or even free, we’re good to go.

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I’m looking into hotels for when I attend a conference in Las Vegas in a few months. Last year I chose an inexpensive casino and regretted it. The room was disgusting, I had to pay for cabs or the monorail at least twice a day, and there was no in room coffee or continental breakfast or any kind of perks. Plus, being a few miles from my hotel made it difficult to go back to my room and work or rest during two hour lunch breaks.

In doing my research I realized even though many of the casinos offer cheaper rooms, if I choose a hotel near the convention center I’ll be saving money in the long run. I’ll save at least $20 to $30 per day on cabs or monorail, plus many of them offer in room coffee and a free continental breakfast which will also save money.

Last year I really didn’t do much partying or gambling. I did have dinner with some friends but kept the entertainment budget to a minimum. With that in mind, I think it’s best to stay off the strip. Moreover, a couple of the hotels offer suites with small kitchens. If I make a bunch of my own meals, I’ll save quite a bit on restaurants.

Do you have any tips for saving money at hotels - without having to stay at a low priced dive?

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…and boy are my arms tired.

Sorry.

Forgive my delay in posting. I was at the Blog World and New Media Expo in Las Vegas, learning some awesome tips to help me be a better blogger for you. Besides learning a lot about blogging, I learned when it comes to Vegas, you do indeed get what you pay for.

Cheap Hotel

I decided to save money by staying at one of the more inexpensive hotel and casinos on the strip. Really folks, it was bad. It stunk of cigarette smoke, the maid rarely came to clean the room, room service trays were left out in the hallway for days and the drunk, half-naked chick passed out in the hallway made me happy I didn’t bring my son. The upgraded room included a widescreen television which made no difference because there were only a few channels that weren’t about Las Vegas or that particular hotel. I ask you, how many times can one watch commercials for Blue Man Group or Tournament of Kings? Plus, I had to pay $12 a day for sporadic Internet service and had a charge on my final bill of $1 a day for local phone service, when I never even picked up the phone. Sorry, the bargain hotel was no bargain. I’d rather pay a little extra for better service.

Expensive Food

No matter where I ate, I found nothing under $10. Sandwich and water? $10. Salad and diet coke? $10. Pizza and a glass of wine? $10. And that was cheap food. If you want something good to eat in Las Vegas, you’re going to have to open your wallet just a little wider. Case in point: The buffet in my hotel was terrible. The buffet at the Bellagio? Worth every penny – and it costs more than $25!

I’m not complaining

I’m not complaining. I understand I’m in Las Vegas where money is the name of the game. I know it’s possible to to eat and sleep in an inexpensive manner. In my opinion however, it’s not enough to just survive. Sometimes it’s better to pay a little extra to truly enjoy yourself. Sometimes, when you travel on the cheap, you indeed get what you pay for.

I’m a little cranky this morning. I just got socked with hundreds of dollars in fees from an online “discount” travel site and there’s not a whole lot I can do about it. Trust me, there are better ways to get cheap airline tickets.

I ‘m going out of town for a conference next month. I booked my flight using a popular online discount airfare website. On the whole the process was easy and the rate wasn’t bad.  The trip including aifare and hotel was about $650, which isn’t too bad for flying across the country and spending three nights in a popular tourist destination.

I found out yesterday that a new day of classes was added to the conference. Since I have a press pass to cover the entire event, I felt it in my best interest to change my flight to depart a day earlier. I knew I would be socked with a penalty for changing the flight, but I didn’t realize how much additional it would cost! I just paid an additional $518 on top of the original $650 to change my airfare and hotel!

While this website might offer great travel discounts, they don’t make it easy for you to change your flight - and if you do you’re socked with hefty fees. I think it’s for this reason alone I might stick with making reservations directly through the airline and cutting out the middleman. I’m never going to use this service again. I’m not one who changes my plans often, when I do I don’t want to be penalized.

This was an important lesson to me.  Places offering discounts have lots of small print. Read it before booking!

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