During a summer vacation season where travelers are looking for more bargains than ever, coupons — especially the on-line variety — can make a big difference. The other suggestion is to cash in some of those frequent flier and loyalty points you have collected. And look for free stuff to do.
Two sites have recently been suggested that are filled with coupons — PromotionalCodes.com and CouponWinner.com. Here, visitors will find plenty of bargains. Some of the deals are for a couple of bucks and others are for free stays. It all depends.
For instance, checking into PromotionalCodes.com, there are coupons for $10 off the entrance to SeaWorld, 5 percent off the London Pass and the New York Pass, as well as some two-for-one deals. CouponWinner.com looks like a lot of the same stuff but with different presentation.
There are plenty of sites filled with coupons. The take-away here is to take some time to check the coupons out. Once travelers had to wait for coupons to come to them in the mail. Now they can proactively go out and search for coupons that will work for your trip. I always get $5 every oil change just by going to the JiffyLube site.
Here are some dos and don’ts—
Do’s
* Do Compare prices of brands and stores on similar products
* Do Find a promotional code/coupon prior to checking out online
* Do Be open to purchasing different brands for products
* Do Research prices/coupons at sites like CouponWinner.com and PromotionalCodes.com
* Do Make sure to take advantage of the “promotional code” box at checkout
* Do Stack coupons whenever possible. Often times you can use Free Shipping AND a Sitewide discount to maximize combined savings.
* Do Stock up to increase your savings. Many coupons will provide an even bigger discount when you buy more.
* Do Share your coupons with your friends!Don’ts
* Don’t Purchase anything online without a promotional code. If there is a box for a code, you will most likely be able to find some discount on the web.
* Don’t Make an in-store purchase without comparing prices online. You can often find the item cheaper online PLUS most retailers offer free shipping.
* Don’t Forget to check sites like CouponWinner.com or PromtionalCodes.com BEFORE you shop so that you can find the best deal. Even if you are shopping at the last minute, you may find incredible savings just by spending a minute to check for last minute coupons.
* Don’t Forget to read the details on each coupon. Some offers may include a minimum order size, promotional code, or be exclusive to certain products. Make sure to check the restrictions to ensure that you receive the full discount.
* Don’t Pay for coupons. An upfront fee for access to discount coupons is often a sign they are fraudulent.
* Don’t Be married to a brand. Often times coupons can be offered for the same product from a different brand where you can save.
Besides coupons, this might be the year to look into using frequent flier miles or loyalty points. American Airlines just announced that they are accepting miles for one-way tickets at half of the two-way cost. Other airlines, with the drop in passengers flying, have opened more award tickets.
Besides the normal trade-in systems for frequent flier and frequent stayer programs, www.points.com is working to make mileage collectors’ lives easier. The site allows users to maintain their mileage and loyalty point balances from different programs in one place. Plus, points.com provides a system for transfering your points to friends.
Points.com has introduced a new system, GPX, that actually allows members of different mileage programs to swap miles. Every airline isn’t signed up yet, but American, Delta, Frontier, Air Tran, Alaska, Aeroplan and some others are part of the program. New airlines are sure to join if the scheme works. Beware: swapping miles (at least the deals I saw) seems expensive from my point of view.
Let’s say, you have some virtually useless 7,000 miles of Delta miles that you would like to convert to American (or another program airline) miles; this system allows the transaction to happen legally. Unfortunately, it looks like users end up losing about half of their miles and throw in some cash, but 3,500 miles in a program you use might be far better than 7,000 sitting in a program that’s outta sight and outta mind if the price is right.
Finally, open your eyes, read the local papers and find free things to do wherever you travel. For example, our blogging friend Dr. Vino says to look for free wine tastings.
They can be really a fun and informative aspect of wine life in the city. They’re free because stores can’t (easily) charge for tastings on their premises with the off-premises retail license. Many stores have regular free tastings, check out my NYC wine shop map for my favorite stores. Here’s what’s happening at a few of them:
Chambers Street Wines: Italian white wines, Friday, 5-7; Summer favorites from local distributor, Polaner, Saturday, 4-7.
Crush Wine & Spirits: Free tastings Thursday, 5-7; annual “War of the Rosés” June 11, (session one 5–6pm, session two 6:30–7:30pm; R.S.V.P. to [email protected])
Moore Brothers: there’s always something open in the back.
In all cases, whether swapping miles or trading in coupons, read the fine print carefully. Sometimes getting a great deal can end up costing more money and taking far more time than simply forking over the initial price. Then again sometimes the savings are fabulous. That’s what keeps us bargain hunters going.
If you find it for free, so much the better.
Charlie Leocha is the President of Travelers United. He has been working in Washington, DC, for the past 14 years with Congress, the Department of Transportation, and industry stakeholders on travel issues. He was the first consumer representative to the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections appointed by the Secretary of Transportation from 2012 through 2018.
