Thank goodness it is finally Spring Break time. Many of you are leaving the awful weather of the north and going to warmer climates. Recently, we travelled to Florida from the mid-west. Although we wanted to have as much fun as possible, we really didn’t want to break the bank. We decided to be adventurous and see what would happen if we used Hotwire to book our hotels. To help keep costs down, we packed a cooler. In addition to packing food for the trip down, the cooler is also very helpful throughout the week if you don’t have refrigeration available. We did normally eat out one meal a day.
So let me tell you about our Hotwire experience. The first night, we stayed in the Macon, Georgia area. We ended up at a Holiday Inn Express for the base rate of $60 per night. In this area, $60 was 40% off the normal rate. The hotel was right off the Interstate with easy access back on. Since this was such a big success, we decided to try again the next night. We wanted to stay close to the beach, but not pay those high costs. We hit the jackpot. Again, we were able to get a room for $60 a night, but this hotel was right on the beach in North Daytona Beach. This was about 50% off their normal rates. When we got checked in, we loved the area so much, we wanted to stay an extra night. When I booked the second night, we asked about the rate and although they couldn’t match hotwire, they did give us a great deal.
I do want to mention, this was just before most of the normal spring breakers were heading to Florida. For those of you who have not used Hotwire, you do need to be a little bit flexible about your location. It is also helpful if you are a bit aware of the hotels in the area, as you will be blindly bidding on a hotel. You will also want to check when booking about any surcharges the hotels or condos may have, in addition to what you pay to Hotwire. For us this was a huge success and we will use for future vacations.
Frugal Princess 