VACATION PLANNING STRATEGIES - Price Comparison, Stacking, and Creating my own discounts

These are actual pictures from the resort we are going.

This blog article is part 2 of a 3 part series.  To review the other 2 parts in this series, please click ONE or THREE.  These blog postings are intended to show you how to apply the strategy, or in other words, see the strategy in action.  However, if you would prefer to see a simple run down, please click VACATION PLANNING STRATEGIES - In Short.

I ended my last post with scheduling your vacation during a destination's off peak season.  That will give you the best start in grabbing the best prices for not only the hotel but for everything else.

Once you have drawn that line in the sand and determined which hotel, when, and the price, now is the time to get creative.  [If this is the first page you are viewing, if you wish, please be advised that this is the 2nd post in this series. The first post was published on 3/19/15 under the heading, "VACATION PLANNING STRATEGIES."  ] I use many different sites, both on and off the web, to figure out if the price that I just found is actually the best price on the market.

I contact independent travel agencies, Costco travel agency, AAA travel agency, American Express travel agency, my timeshare connected travel agency, and travel agency I find online that have advertised a special.  I also make sure to check directly with the hotel/resort because often times they offer their own promotions and specials that 3rd party vendors do not offer.  Nonetheless, I also check sites such as Priceline, Hotwire, Expedia, Orbitz, Tripadvisor, Hotels.com, etc.  I have never really written my strategy out.  So much of what I have done has been based on my hunch at the moment.  However, now that I have this site and the special page I created called "VACATION PLANNING STRATEGY" I will update that particular page's brief summary as I remember and/or discover other sites I visit.

Now, as you know, while Priceline and Hotwire are great, to get their best prices, you have to purchase before you really know what you are getting.  For some of you that is not acceptable.  How about if I told you that there is a website supported by the users of the Priceline and Hotwire community that helps each other decode the Priceline and Hotwire system.  That website is www.betterbidding.com.

For Priceline, people post their specific bids and what they received.  Once when I had to go to San Diego, I researched what bids Priceline had accepted and what hotel the consumer actually received and I bid just under that amount.  I ended up with a successful bid and I was fairly certain of the hotel I would receive.

For Hotwire, there is a way to look up what hotel Hotwire is offering based on the amenities, location, and description provided.  On www.betterbidding.com, the community of users identify for you the specific hotel the Hotwire description refers to.  Through www.betterbidding.com, I was able to secure our hotel for Cancun a few years back.

As I stated above, I like to check directly with the hotel/resort to see if they have a particular special or promotion they are running.  Examples of some of the type of promotion they may have are:  AAA discount, Kids eat/stay free, Costco discount, etc.

In my case of the Dominican Republic trip, we will be staying at Dreams Punta Cana.  Dreams Punta Cana had a AAA discount and a Kids Stay Free Offer.  With these discounts and by choosing to go during an off-peak season, I was able to get 2 rooms for 5 people (2 adults and 3 children) for 9 nights at a total out-the-door cost (which includes taxes and fees) of just above $2500.  I opted to "upgrade" to their Preferred level (the highest level) and so we are paying $2810.

Frankly, I don't think that is a bad price.  However, I am not done yet.

Instead of paying for the entire amount upfront, I only put down a deposit of one night's stay.  The remaining balance is over $2000.  Now, I have great credit so I recently received a credit card offer to get $200 to open a new credit card and spend $1000 within the first 3 months.  So, I opened up a credit card and I will be paying down the balance by $1000.  In addition, the credit card offer provides 0% interest on all purchases for one year.  What this means is that I can slowly pay back the $800 ($1000 - $200) instead of tying up my funds. 

I do not recommend opening up credits just for the sake of opening up credit cards.  I, at most, open up a credit once every 2 to 3 years.  Also, I hold on to the credit card for several years before I cancel the account.  I very vigilantly protect my credit and I recommend you do the same.  You will end up saving a lot of money with good credit because credit companies want your business and will provide you the best interest rates and offers.  In my above situation, I was looking to cancel my American Express card because the one I had was a Costco-Amex card.  There was a recent announcement that Costco and Amex are discontinuing their relationship in 2016.  Therefore, I was going to look for a different credit card to replace the Amex card anyway so the timing was right.

Bottomline, I was able to create (thus far) an additional $200 discount dropping my hotel price down from $2810 to $2610 for 9 nights, 2 bedroom, for 5 people, at a 5 star all inclusive hotel in the Dominican Republic.   I say "thus far" because I am not done yet.  I still have a balance just over $1000 that I have to pay for the hotel/resort.  I am in no rush to pay it off.  I want to give myself the opportunity to find another deal that will help me create another "discount" for myself.