May 2, 2008 10:13 pm US/Mountain
More Coloradans Look To Save $$ On Vacation Plans
Good Question: How can I keep my vacation cheap?
Written for cbs4denver.com by Alan Gionet
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Good Question, a regular part of CBS4 News at 10 p.m., is an opportunity for Alan Gionet to drill past the basic facts of a story and give it some depth & perspective. See more Good Question reports.
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In order to answer the economy-themed Good Question "How can I keep my vacation cheap?" CBS4's Alan Gionet interviewed Metropolitan State College of Denver assistant professor and director of hotel management Chad Gruhl, who had several suggestions for travelers involving the way trips are booked and the choices that are made when on the road or in the air. DENVER (CBS4) -- "I'm not going to go on any vacations at all," said one man in town for a convention. A friend said she was headed to San Francisco in a couple weeks. The tax return helped. She's waiting for her tax rebate check to finance more of her trip.
Getting there will be more expensive and there's no doubt about it. Bigger cities are going to be among the most expensive places you can go. But there are things you can do.
"You can go right online and find entertainment books for any city and order that entertainment book and you may pay $30 for using it for two weeks," says Metropolitan State College of Denver assistant professor and director of hotel management Chad Gruhl, "But if you're going to be staying for a while that really can save you a lot of money."
He also thinks if you're headed for the cities, use the mass transportation. Skip the cabs and the savings add up fast.
"And if you're going to stay there for a week, Chicago, New York, San Francisco, buying a weekly pass versus buying a daily pass or every time you get on to public transportation is a great way of saving a lot of money."
There are rules that apply for both cities and small tourist towns. If you want to go to an expensive restaurant, try lunch rather than dinner. Go to a modest place for lunch. Consider picnics and try to get your own breakfast.
When it comes to hotels, try the big travel web sites like Expedia, Orbitz or Travelocity, but go directly to the hotel's Web sites, too.
"Hotels on their own Web sites are discounting more, because they're losing money to the Expedias," says Gruhl, "so they are conscious of that."
He likes to use the Web sites for local convention and visitors' bureaus.
If you are flexible on dates and destinations you may have the best luck.
"The hotels will react pretty quickly, so you may be able to get some deals on short notice. Now there's the other extreme, you can do your research and get good deals if you're thinking about things way ahead of time, however there certainly is a great way of saving money and that is waiting until the last second and not having necessarily a destination, waiting until you see the airlines are giving those deep discounts and hotels are giving those deep discounts and that may be your best bet."
On the airlines or in your own car, this is the year to travel light.
"Thinking ahead of what you're going to take. Keep in mind with some airlines charging for a second bag today, you don't need to take everything in the world."
More stuff weighs more and makes your vehicle burn more gasoline.
To go cheap on the road, don't pass every grocery store, says Gruhl. Even if you think you're going somewhere cheap to eat.
"If you are going to stop at a fast food place, for example, bring your own soda. A 2 liter soda on sale in the grocery store may cost you 75 cents, versus paying $1.50 for each soda, if you have five people in your family, it adds up very quickly."
If you're going to stay in state there are a lot of places in Colorado you probably haven't discovered.
The smaller tourist towns are likely less expensive than that big resorts. Renting condos is still pretty expensive. Some towns are surprisingly close.
One example of a close getaway is Golden Gate Canyon State Park west of Golden and about 30 miles out of Denver. You can go for a week and come back with plenty of gasoline still in the tank. There are cabins and yurts for rent, as well as campsites -- both electric and non-electric.
Senior ranger Todd Farrow thinks it's a hidden secret for a lot of people.
The camping area CBS4 visited was improved just a few years ago and the yurts are a novelty to many families.
"You can sleep six people at $60 a night, plus each vehicle needs to have a pass, which is $6 a night."
That's a lot cheaper than a hotel, and you're already out on the trail.
"It's 12,000 acres of your park in your backyard," says Farrow. What a backyard.
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