Travel Tips

Forfeiting Fun Now Means More Fun Later

In an ideal world we would all have a never-ending vacation fund. Unfortunately life is expensive, as are vacations. Most of us do not have time to plan a vacation months in advance, but with these money saving tips you can make a last-minute vacation affordable, while not sacrificing fun. In addition, a low-interest credit card from Launch CU could be a great option to help you save money. If you have another credit card, be sure to check your most recent statement to see what interest rate you are currently paying. Chances are, our low rates, no cash advance fee*, and no annual fee* on our VISA® credit card could save you a lot of cash.

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• Use booking sites such as Hotwire, Hotels.com, Expedia.com, or Priceline to book your hotels. By utilizing any one of these sites you can save big on your hotel stays, which frees up money to spend on activities.
• Want to go on a cruise but think it’s too late? Think again! By utilizing last minute cruise booking sites you can save 67% or more off the original price. With companies such as Cruises Only, CheapCruises.com, and Cruises.com you can plan a last minute cruise at a price that you can feel good about.
• Sacrifice fun now for fun later. If you belong to an expensive gym or enjoy weekly shopping trips, temporarily suspend your membership or put the shopping trips on standby, and put the money in a vacation fund. It is also a good idea to cut back on eating out, and visit the beauty or nail salon less. According to Bankrate, the most important thing to keep in mind is that you are simply sacrificing today’s fun for the fun that you will have on your family vacation. All you need to do is set aside the money that you would normally spend on extras and put it into a special vacations savings account. You can even create a separate vacation savings account at Launch CU.
• Purchase deals in advance with daily deal sites such as Groupon and LivingSocial in the city where you plan to vacation. This will not only help you to save money, but will also give you some great ideas on things to do in the area.
• If you have a GPS, take it. This will save you money as car rental businesses will try to upsell you to cars that include a built in GPS.
• If you have any college-age or military members in your family, be sure to bring related IDs on the trip, as many businesses offer student and military discounts.
• If your travel plans take you to a big city such as Los Angeles or New York City, consider booking a hotel in a smaller city where rates are cheaper. In addition, booking with a smaller hotel chain can save you money.
• Pass on souvenirs. Though it may be tempting to buy memorabilia from your trip, these items are not necessary to remember your trip. Instead, take a lot of photos and use the money that would have been used on souvenirs to do additional activities.
• If you are an AAA or AARP member make sure to check local hotels, attractions, and restaurants to see if they offer any special discounts for membership.
• Think about buying groceries for your trip instead of eating out. The money that you save on eating out could mean the difference between seeing or not doing that last activity you really wanted to do.

Conclusion: When we are on vacation we tend to like to splurge, because after all isn’t the point of vacation to reward ourselves for hard work? By putting some of the above mentions into practice you can not only save money on your vacation, but also do more for less. As a reminder if you plan to travel outside of the United States, be sure to let your financial institution know. This not only helps to protect your account information, but also ensures that your funds will be available to you as you travel.

*APR=Annual Percentage Rate. The rate you pay will be based on your creditworthiness. If your risk profile puts you in a higher risk category your rate may be higher. Rates shown are subject to change without notice. Click here for additional disclosures, rates and terms.

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