How I Saved $285 on My Next Trip Before Leaving Home

Last night, on the phone with my parents, we were literally moments away from booking what we thought was the best deal in Phoenix, $129 per night for a suite at the 4-star Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak Resort, a hotel with literally acres of pools, waterslides and other kid-friendly fun. As my dad was talking about dates and details, I was skimming blogs & (almost miraculously) I spotted an article on WeJustGotBack.com's new blog about $72 per night rooms at the Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak. For our five-night stay, that blog post saved my father and I each $285!

As a travel blogger, I get lots of email from resorts telling me about special promotions and "deals." As an avid traveler, I am also signed up for newsletters from several different travel sites, yet I rarely post these deals to my site. Why? To do a good job writing about promotions, you need to know what the prices have been historically, you need to read the fine print, and you need to scour the available offers to make sure that the deal you're telling your readers about is the best available. I simply don't have the time to do all that myself. It's difficult enough to find the best deal for our own trips, can you imagine doing all that work for every deal that crosses your desk?

When I saw that WeJustGotBack was posting family travel deals on their blog, I was curious to see whether they would post the PR pieces that we all receive, or do the work to validate each offer. Last week there were a few posts that caught my attention: this post comparing two different deals at the Steamboat Ski Resort and this one with great tips for snagging the best deal in a recession. Then a few days later the blog saved my family $570! I feel like I can safely say that the offers on WeJustGotBack represent real values, not PR fluff. I also like the fact that each post calculates costs for a typical family of four. Most travel websites assume there are two in a room, so if you want to bring kids on a cruise, you usually need to read the fine print or call for details yourself.

WeJustGotBack's Family Travel Deal Blog is worth subscribing to, and I recommend you check it out.

Filed Under: budget

5 comments | Posted on November 12, 2008 | Save to del.icio.us

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Comments

  1. marina on November 13, 2008 at 11:35 a.m.

    thanks for the tip. I've just signed up with them. Even though the majority of the travel we do is central america based, but you never know:)
    <a href="http://muchacostarica.com/blog/2008/11/13/close-encounters-with-13-animals-in-costa-rica.aspx">MuchaCostaRica</a>

  2. Mara on November 13, 2008 at 6:17 p.m.

    This is an excellent recommendation Debbie. I've got my eye on this site too, although I haven't had an opportunity to use it yet.

  3. Scott on November 16, 2008 at 5:24 p.m.

    Nice choice of place, too. We stayed at the sister hotel a few years ago (when D was pregnant with girl #2 - paid ~$150/night in the summer) and visited this one. Squaw Peak is definitely more family-friendly.

    In both cases (though esp. Tapatio Point), I'd be sure to request rooms as close to the pools as possible ahead of time. Both properties are hilly and the shuttle service isn't great (and I was with an eight-month-pregnant lady in 100+-degree heat).

  4. Scott on November 16, 2008 at 5:29 p.m.

    Oh, and I looked at the "Insider Guide" for Seattle on We Just Got Back, and it recommends taking the Seattle Streetcar - the one that closed in 2005. (It also recommends the monorail. And the Fun Forest.) So perhaps one should stick to the deals they find...

  5. Debbie on November 16, 2008 at 9:56 p.m.

    Marina & Mara, thanks :) I hope you find a great deal too!
    Scott, thanks for the great tip! The hotel looked great online, but it's always wonderful to get a personal recommendation (and advice)