I was compensated for this post but all opinions are my own.
Can you imagine grabbing a hot shower, some delicious food, and complimentary alcohol all while waiting for your next flight at the airport? If you are a frequent traveler like I am then this probably sounds too good to be true.
Airport lounges provide an oasis in the midst of the hustle and bustle of traveling, and it’s possible that you’ve walked past them before and never know they were there. Read more...
Walt Disney World resorts are split into three main categories: Value, Moderate, and Deluxe. Value resorts are the most affordable and the most basic in terms of amenities.
Today I’m sharing a thorough review of Pop Century, one of Disney’s Value resorts, with a focus on what you get for your money when staying there. Is Pop Century actually a good value? Read on to find out what I think!
What you will pay for a room at the Pop Century Resort varies greatly depending on what time of year you visit. Read more...
I love visiting South Florida in the winter to get a dose of sunshine and warmth. In this post, I’ll show you how to take an affordable family vacation to Miami, the Everglades, and Key Largo that your kids will love!
There are some pretty pricey things to do around South Florida, from harbor cruises to airboat tours. The key to keeping your trip under budget is to find some affordable activities everyone in the family will love. Read more...
My favorite credit card for free travel is offering a huge sign-up bonus through April 4th, 2018! Don’t miss out on over $900 worth of free flights – read on to learn all about the Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards Visa!
I fly from North Carolina to Orlando three to four times each year to visit Walt Disney World, and I almost never pay for airfare.
How do I pull this off? Read more...
Every resort at Walt Disney World offers daily resort activities for guests. I’d argue that Animal Kingdom Lodge offers the widest array of resort activities and the best options for kids of any Disney resort.
This fall my family stayed five nights at Animal Kingdom Lodge and only went to the theme parks one day, so we had lots of time to explore the resort and try out the many offerings! Read more...
Whenever possible, I recommend staying on-property at a Disney resort when visiting Walt Disney World.
But sometimes that’s just not possible, such as on a last-minute trip when Disney resorts are booked or if there isn’t a Disney resort available that fits your budget.
When we planned our short trip for December there were zero rooms available at Disney resorts so I began researching cheap hotels near Disney World.
I booked us a one-bedroom suite at the Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham Lake Buena Vista based on the great reviews of the property (four and a half stars on Tripadvisor). Read more...
The single easiest way to save thousands on a Disney World vacation is to rent DVC points for a stay at a Disney Deluxe resort hotel. My family has been doing this for years and it allows us to visit Disney World often, even on a limited budget!
In this post, I’ll walk you through how to book your Disney World vacation with a DVC points broker, which is by far the simplest way to go about renting DVC (Disney Vacation Club) points. Read more...
I’ve recently come to love the Hilton Honors program because you can now redeem Honors points to reduce to cost of any available hotel room thanks to their Points + Money option!
In this post, I’ll show you how to find the best deals using the Hilton app (which doesn’t work on their website) and how to use the Hilton Points + Money feature to save big on a vacation to Disney World (or anywhere else). Read more...
One way to visit your favorite vacation destination more often is to get your family members as obsessed with it as you are!
We get to visit Walt Disney World one more time this year, thanks to my mother-in-law’s willingness to make a short trip down for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. Here’s how we are saving money on this trip.
My mother-in-law has bravely agreed to stay two nights at an off-property hotel that seems too good to be true. Read more...
After years of researching how to get the best deals on car rentals, I’ve finally settled on an easy three-step process for getting the lowest price with the least hassle.
In this post, I’ll walk you through my method and show you an example of how I saved on our recent rental!
First, you might be wondering how far in advance you need to book your rental car. Read more...
If you are looking for creative ways to save money on a Walt Disney World vacation, here is one of my top suggestions. I have used this strategy MANY times and have saved hundreds of dollars!
In a nutshell, it is possible (and pretty easy) to stack two discounts on top of each other for Disney World resort hotel reservations when you book on Orbitz.com.
With both discounts, you can get up to 50% off of the regular prices of Disney World hotel rooms! Read more...
My daughter and I took a trip to the beach a few weekends back and today I’m sharing how we made the trip for a little over $100. This includes two nights at a hotel, gas, food, and entertainment!
My husband was out of town on a fishing trip so the girls headed to beautiful Atlantic Beach, NC. Here’s how we had a fantastic time on a limited budget:
I spent $40 total on our two nights lodging at the Holiday Inn Express – Havelock NW New Bern thanks to my stash of IHG Rewards points. Read more...
Here’s a quick post to share how I booked two nights at an on-property Disney resort for only $90/night – in peak summer travel season!
I was able to get us discounted rooms at Disney’s All Stars Music Resort for two nights in June with one of my favorite money-saving strategies – using Orbitz promo codes in conjunction with Disney World discounts!
Orbitz regularly releases 15% off promo codes for hotel stays booked on their sites. Read more...
I fly from North Carolina to Orlando two to three times each year to visit Walt Disney World, and I almost never pay for airfare.
How do I pull this off? I fly for (almost) free using Southwest points! In this post, I’ll show you how to earn and redeem points so you can visit your favorite destination more often.
The main way I’ve earned Southwest Rapid Reward Points is by opening a new credit card. Read more...
My dad, my four-year-old daughter and I headed to South Florida this March to get some much-needed sunshine and spend some time together. I did a bunch of research to find the right place to stay and settled on the Embassy Suites Fort Lauderdale 17th Street.
I chose this hotel because:
I’ve been looking into creative ways to put money aside for a future Disney vacation for my sister, who wants to visit Disney World more frequently with her family. Of course I’m looking for a way to do this that will also save money in the process!
The best money-saving way I’ve found to put funds aside for a Disney trip is to buy Disney gift cards at a discount with a credit card that will earn considerable cash back on your purchase. Read more...
My daughter and I had a blast on our short spring break trip to Walt Disney World. The sunshine, warmth, and flowers completely lifted my spirits! In this post I’ll share details of our trip plus all the ways I saved money during a generally expensive time of year to travel to Disney World.
First, I was lucky to be able to fund most of the trip from a targeted offer I received in the mail at the end of last year from US Bank. Read more...
One special feature of staying at a Hilton hotel is the ability to check-in before you arrive with the Hilton Honors app. Did you know you can select your room location when you check-in with the app, too?
In this post I’ll walk you through how the check-in process works and what to expect when you use the app to select your room. I used it to get us a fantastic room for our stay at the Embassy Suites in Fort Lauderdale earlier this year. Read more...