Going Awesome Places
LOVE TRAVELING? Join Ticket to Awesome for travel hacks, discount codes, best gear, and guides to help you save money and plan the most epic trips.
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π¨π¦ Earn an easy 6K Aeroplan points by signing up by Sept 1. Oh and did you hear Flair Airlines is offering $1 base fares? Hey Reader! If there's one thing that readers ask for again and again, it's how can they make travel more affordable. Or better phrased, "where the deals at?". Dropping some knowledge bombs in 3...2...1... Here's what's happening this month!
If you're new to our monthly newsletter, shoutouts to you! We have a favour to ask. If you're on any of these channels, give us a follow so you can stay up to date with what we're up to: Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Pinterest, and YouTube. Isn't It Impossible To Save on Hotels?The hotel industry isn't known for big sales, coupon codes, and discounts so at surface level, it may seem that it's something you just have to eat the cost. If you know where to look though and you play your cards right, you can find ways to save on hotels. 1) Hotel DiscountsWe won't go through the pros and cons of each hotel brand but every one has their own set of promos and sales throughout and they usually do them by quarter. Similar to car rentals, hotels also have corporate codes. These are special discounts for employees of companies. If you work for one of these companies, it's sometimes easy to forget that you have access to this. These can yield large discounts. Luckily for you, we have these all laid out for the big brands!
2) PointsI know what you're thinking, don't you have to stay at a ton of hotels and spend a ton of money to build up these points? Well, just like for flying, credit cards come into play. With points with say, Marriott Bonvoy and Hilton Honors, you can bank up a few thousand points and get a free stay. That's 100% off. For Marriott in Canada, I have a credit card that gives me free night certificates and a big lump sum of points when signing up. Get the card and you're IN THE GAME! 3) Rebook when prices dropThis is a new company that basically lets you know if a hotel that you booked dropped their price. Who has time to check prices? Instead, all you have to do is sign up and forward your booking confirmation to a designated email address or submit it through a form and that's it! If there's a sudden sale, you get notified and simply rebook.
4) Status mattersEvery hotel chain runs their own loyalty program and like all others, they have tiers. The higher up you go, the more perks you get. Aside from things like room upgrades, bonus points, and late check-out, the key feature for us is free breakfast. If you've read our adventures at Le Meridien Bora Bora and Conrad Maldives. For both of those trips, the breakfast was key in saving heaps of money because we essentially turned it into a brunch. This works well for resort-type properties but in general this can cut down on food costs when you travel. NEW: Hilton Honors has a new business program where, if you join ours, you can earn double nights through to the end of the year. That gets you to status 2x faster!
β What hotel loyalty program are you fans of? For us it's Hilton Honors and in the article below, we cover interesting ways to fast track to the all-important Gold and Diamond status.
5) Don't leave points on the tableIf you haven't guessed, hotel discounts come from having status and building up points. What goes a long way are the bonuses you can pick up along the way. Yes, you have to complete stays to get these but we always make a habit of signing up for every single one in case. Don't miss these promotions for Q4 of 2024 (some aren't well promoted).
6) Price compareIf you're willing to do a bit of homework, you'll quickly learn that not all hotel platform are the same. Some are more expensive than others so find the cheapest one by checking each one
Lastly, don't forget about price matching! Almost hotel brand has a price matching policy. We cover this with all of our hotel pages. In Hilton, Radisson, and Marriott's case, you get a whopping 25% off the matching rate. For Choice Hotels, you get a $50 prepaid credit card. Best Western is even better but it's a $100 BW gift card. This is an under-utilized feature. Simply find it lower on one of the sites above, submit it, and get the stay for even cheaper! 7) Vacation rentalsI hesitated putting this here as I have my gripes with Airbnb, but depending on the situation, they can be cheaper or make more sense than your traditional hotels. While Airbnb is the best known platform, don't forget about VRBO. Many properties list on both so compare both prices!
β π° This Months Travel DealsWe've got a bunch of outstanding travel deals that you'll want to take advantage of. Remember, we have our deals group on Facebook. It's free to join if you haven't yet!
Remember, we update our Going Awesome Places Deals page often so make sure you bookmark it. Also, if you want to know about deals right when they come out, join our secret FB group. βοΈWhat's New on the SiteWe've been taking advantage of the rest time required after surgery by publishing a few new articles and sprucing up some old ones!
π₯ New Video on the ChannelβRemember last month's video on the Elemental Wonder of Gros Morne? This is our full 3 day itinerary that covers what we did, where we stayed, and restaurants we ate at.
βοΈ What's Next at Going Awesome PlacesIt's been almost 8 weeks since the surgery if you can believe it. The recovery has been painfully slow but it's been slowly together. My right knee can now bend close to 90 degrees (wait until I get to 98 degrees! π). In other progress, I'm down to 1 crutch and I'm able to drive again as well! The good news on the Going Awesome Places end of things, we're starting to pick up some work so you'll see a bit more content coming from us in the coming weeks. On a personal note, we'll also be going through a basement renovation in September so it'll be a busy one! π This Month in TravelWhere to travel in September for early fall foliageSummer is slowly edging away for another year which means it is time for us to get fully immersed in our best Instagrammable fall behaviour. Think cozy hot drinks, hikes through breezy forests, fresh evenings by lakes, and crunching through bright colored leaves. Here are some of our much loved fall destinations, perfect for easing out of summer and into those crisp days:
Travel newsHere's the latest from the industry with a few articles that we think you'll enjoy.
Are You a Chronic Overpacker?We get it, a change out of your normal routine and the chance to be a well prepared, effortlessly stylish, person who hikes, eats exotic food and breezes through airport security is sometimes too much to pack for. I'm sure all of us have on more than one occasion packed items that you never use, but feel you should take anyway, and that's fine! We have created and tested a few packing lists over the years, but we will never be perfect! So let us unite in our packing useless items and sitting on our luggage to make it all fit. August has almost passed us by, the Olympics are now giving way to the paralympics. Beyond the recovery, projects, and renovations, we're looking forward to planning a trip for November and December. If you have any suggestions, send them our way! Will Tang Affiliate Disclaimer: To cover the cost of my email software and the time we spend writing our content, we sometimes link to products that we recommend. Keep up to date with the latest: β€οΈ Looking for ways to support us? We have a tip jar set up. |
βGoing Awesome Places
LOVE TRAVELING? Join Ticket to Awesome for travel hacks, discount codes, best gear, and guides to help you save money and plan the most epic trips.