At the very least, it’s five years overdue, because my friends and I have been doing this for at least that long. In fact, it was the topic of discussion one day at Meals on Wheels and when one of the other volunteers remarked that they had been renting vacation homes for decades.

1. It’s cheaper. It’s exceptionally cheap when you go during the off-season, usually almost 50% off the peak rates. The vacation homes are usually very large so when you finally calculate the cost per person, it’s quite affordable.
2. It’s negotiable. Hotels are not very good at negotiation, unless you’re a savvy customer or use something like Priceline, the price is whatever you can get through a travel search site. Demand for vacation homes, especially in this recession, is down and you can use it to your advantage.
3. You have kitchens and grills to cook yourself. Most hotels, unless it’s suites, won’t have any type of kitchen or even a microwave. You can continue to save money on your vacation if you take advantage of the kitchen and the grills usually made available in vacation homes.
4. A pool of your own! If you’re in a vacation home usually frequented in the summer, chances are it has a pool that you can use all to yourself.
5. Plenty of communal space. If you want to play board games or yard games, it’s pretty much impossible in a hotel. With your own vacation home, you have living rooms and other communal spaces you can take advantage of.
6. Parking aplenty. If you go to a hotel in a resorty area, usually you can park one or two cars a room in the hotel parking lot. With a vacation home, no one is monitoring so you can pack in as many as you want.
7. Free Wi-Fi. The last home we stayed in had free Wi-fi, which was a great perk. While paying $9 a day at a hotel isn’t horrible, I don’t plan on being tethered to a computer so $9 to check my email is a bit much (I know there are lots of hotels with free Wi-Fi, but many still charge!).
8. More likely to be pet friendly. A vacation home is more likely to be pet-friendly, which means you can save on kenneling costs. Hotels? Forget about it, you have no chance.

It is not without negatives though. First, you’ll usually have to rent the vacation home or condo for an entire week, even if you’re only staying for a long weekend. My recommendation is that you split the cost evenly across the number of people, rather than the number of days people are staying.

Second, you’ll need a lot of people to fill the beds in a house to make it worthwhile. When we went to the Outer Banks, there were close to fifteen beds. We had enough people and the cost of the home was ridiculously cheap, but if you don’t know enough people then it may not be worth it.

Despite the two negatives, which are potential deal-breakers, renting a vacation home beats a hotel in my book.

(Photo: tony_wan_kenobi)

7 Reasons to Skip Hotels & Rent Vacation Homes from personal finance blog Bargaineering.com.

1. Free Transportation to and from the Airport: When you stay at a resort, Disney will shuttle you to and from the airport on their Disney’s Magical Express Transportation service. They will also wait for your checked-in luggage and deliver it to your room several hours later, which is great if you’re getting in the morning and want to take advantage of the time to visit the park.
2. Extra Magic Hours: If you stay at a Disney resort, you’re to participate in Extra Magic Hours, which is when the park is opened early or later just for resort guests (the park that has the magic hours will change each day). During our last trip, we took full advantage of the Extra Magic Hours because the traffic in the park dies down considerably. We were able to get on the most popular rides with only five and ten minute waits, sometimes with no wait. We rode the Buzz Lightyear ride at Magic Kingdom three or four times in a row without waiting.
3. Free Transportation to and from the Parks: Free buses every 20 minutes to and from the parks, coupled with the free transportation to and from the airport, means you never need a rental car. It also means you don’t have to pay for parking each day at the park, which is even more savings.
4. Take Breaks During The Day: It’s a lot easier to jump on a shuttle back to your room if you want to take a break during the day. Towards the end of our trip, we would take an hour or so naps or breaks in the late afternoon before dinner, it’s a lot of walking in Disney!
5. Souvenirs Delivered To Your Room: If you buy anything, you can show them your room card and it will be delivered to your room. We didn’t take advantage of this but it’s nice not to have to carry something around all day!
6. Participate in the Meal Plan: I discussed my thoughts on the Disney Dining Meal Plan but if you like the convenience of the plans, you can only get it if you are staying at a Disney resort.

One more bit of advice, if you are celebrating something, like a birthday or an anniversary (or just celebrating life!), ask for a button from your front desk or from the information services desk at any park. They’ll give you a small pin you can wear. We got a Happy Anniversary pin and practically every Disney employee wished us a Happy Anniversary or asked us how many years, it was a fun little highlight to the weekend. It also acts as a conversation starter whenever you’re waiting in lines or on the bus.

So, the next time you visit, consider a Disney resort because you’ll be surprised how good the deals are nowadays.

(Photo: gold41)

Six Reasons Why Disney Resorts Rock from personal finance blog Bargaineering.com.

Overall, we were pleased with the Dining Plan and felt that it was a great deal. There was only one downside, it was too much food!

How the Disney Dining Plan Works:

Each person is given a certain number of “entitlements” each day for one of three categories. The three food categories are:

• Snacks: By definition, snacks are things that are single serve and under $4 a piece. There are a few exceptions (caramel apples coated in chocolate are considered snacks by the computer but cost around $4.19) but the general rule is that anything that is a single serving and under $4 can be spent as a snack.
• Quick Service Meals: There are no dollar amount rules but if you serve yourself and find your own table, it’s quick service. With quick service meals you get an entrée, a non-alcoholic beverage, and a dessert. In the cases where dessert isn’t served, such as at breakfast, you can get two drinks.
• Table Service Meals: Again, no dollar amount rule but if you have table service then it’s using one of your table service “entitlements.” It includes your entrée, a dessert, and a non-alcoholic beverage.

There are five dining packages, but only three are truly just about meals:

• Quick-Service Dining – $29.99 per person per day, includes one snack and two quick service meals.
• Dining (Standard) – $39.99 per person per day, includes one snack, one quick service, and one table service meal.
• Deluxe Dining – $71.99 per person per day, includes three table service meals and two snacks per person.

There is a Premium Dining Plan and Platinum Dining plan but they start getting crazy. The premium includes refillable drink mugs, tickets to a Cirque du Soleil show (La Nouba), etc. The Platinum includes fireworks cruises, in-room babysitting, spa treatments, etc. By the way, the Premium costs $159 per person per day and the Platinum costs $209 per person per day!

How We Fared

Having gone to Disney before, we knew we enjoyed eating at several places already – Marrakesh, the Moroccan restaurant at Epcot, and Biergärten, the German buffet at Epcot. We discovered another new favorite on this trip, Kona Café in the Polynesian Resort, that we probably wouldn’t have tried without the meal plan (maybe we would’ve, who knows!?).

Since we knew we were going to eat out every meal and we weren’t going the frugal route, the dining plan seemed to make sense. On the whole we “spent” approximately $551.86 across the five days, or $55.19 per person per day. Considering the package cost us only $39.99 per person per day, we came out ahead about $15 each per day. In theory, we thus saved $151.96 by going with the package.

But wait… there’s a huge caveat – We got more food than we could handle! Having the dining plan changed how we would’ve normally ordered food. The most notable change was in desserts. I never order dessert because I don’t have a big sweet tooth! If anything, my wife and I share a dessert. Never in my life have I ordered dessert for five meals straight, which we did on the meal plan because it was included. I also almost never order soda with dinner because I’m concerned the caffeine would affect my sleep. Cut out one soda and one dessert and you’re already talking $7-8 a day, cutting half our savings! We probably wouldn’t have bought chips or dessert with our lunches either, another $5-6 in savings at lunch, thus negating almost all of our savings! (in the case of lunch, we would ask for bottled water or give the dessert to some kid who wasn’t hyper enough)

Want another caveat? We were left with two snacks we had to use at the end of the trip – we bought some fudge and a caramel nut apple to take home. That’s $8 we probably wouldn’t have spent if we didn’t have to.

Your savings are really in those “extras” – the side of chips, the desserts at dinner, a soda with every meal, etc. I normally don’t get those and my wife normally doesn’t either, so had we behaved “normally,” we probably would’ve saved more by not getting the plan.

Best Values

The best snack, in terms of value and maybe nutrition, in any park has to be the pretzel – which ranges in price from $4.04 to $4.20. I was surprised to see different prices, sometimes within the same park, but they do vary (though I don’t think the pretzel size changes). We would routinely split a pretzel as a snack during the day. Another good snack, though not particularly healthy, is a candied apple – the caramel and nuts coated apple at about $4.24.

The best quick service meal, hands down, is the #1 Combo Rib & Chicken at Cosmic Ray’s in Magic Kingdom. After you add in a soda and a desert (they won’t give you bottled water there!), the price for that meal rockets to a stunning $21.37, nearly twice the average price of any other quick service meal. It’s definitely enough food for two, but since we were both on the meal plan, it made no sense to “save” because we would have to spend it later anyway.

Best Hacks

Ask for bottled water instead of dessert: I don’t know many people who eat dessert with lunch but I do know a lot of people who would enjoy a nice bottle of ice cold water as they wandered around a theme park in the heat of Florida. Some places will let you do it, some won’t, it never hurts to ask!

Skip breakfast: In terms of value, breakfast is clearly the least valuable of all the quick service meals. My wife and I usually opted to share a pretzel for breakfast and just wait it out until our lunch.

Try to get substitutions: It’s not always clear what counts as what, so if you are in doubt ask. In one case, the attendant didn’t know if a caramel nut apple counted as a snack until she tried it in the machine and it worked. Be courteous and you never know!

Don’t try to maximize value all the time: Remember, the goal of a meal is to be fed and to be happy – not to maximize the dollar amount of what you’re getting for your entitlement! Nowhere is this more true than at a buffet, don’t stuff yourself so full that you’re sick and can’t ride Buzz Lightyear at Magic Kingdom afterwards. Eat until you’re satisfied, then go out and ride some rides so you’re happy and satisfied. How much you dented the restaurant’s bottom line won’t matter!

Snacks convert well into souvenirs: We left with a candied apple and a square of fudge, but you can always get popcorn balls or some other neat Disney snack souvenir you can give a friend when you get home.

Overall Impressions:

Looking back, we probably won’t get the dining plan again though we were by no means displeased with our experience. I felt the whole experience was a wash financially, though we did discover a really awesome restaurant we didn’t know about before. I don’t know how the experience would’ve skewed had we had kids, whose plans are $8.99, $10.99, and $20.99, but that’s something to worry about down the road.

(Photo: ckramer)

Our Disney Dining Plan Experience from personal finance blog Bargaineering.com.

Here are some hot deals from weeks past:

• Rome: 6 Night s& Air for $599 through Sceptre Tours
• Bahamas Beachfront Getaway incl. Air for $259 through Bookit
• Las Vegas 4-Diamond Hotel on The Strip for $79.99 through Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino

A few weeks ago there was some $300 deal for an all inclusive four-night, three day trip to Dublin, Ireland (airfare included). We definitely thought about that one but opted instead to use the vacation days for a trip to Disney.

Quick Travel Tip: Subscribe to Travelzoo’s Top 20 Deals List from personal finance blog Bargaineering.com.

If you live elsewhere, don’t fret. There are over 2,460 landmarks in the United States. New York takes top honors with a 256 according to Wikipedia, with Delaware bringing up the rear with five. In Maryland, there are 71 and we’ve only gone to one of them – the Bollman Truss Railroad Bridge (by accident too). You could go to one landmark each weekend and be busy until the end of next year!

Check out your state and find a piece of America’s history to explore this weekend!

(Photo by Dean.Franklin)

Low Cost Weekend Ideas: Visit National Landmarks from personal finance blog Bargaineering.com.

Last minute deals are so great because they represent revenue that would otherwise be lost to the company offering it. The cruise ship will set sail with a full complement of crew and supplies regardless of the actual passenger count and an empty cabin represents a lot of lost revenue so selling it at a discount to the rack price is something they’re very much willing to do. It’s why hotels and airlines sometimes have last minute fares and discounts, an empty room or seat is lost revenue.

The flip side is the risk involved in waiting. If you really want to go on a cruise, say for your honeymoon, then you probably don’t want to risk waiting for a last minute deal because a last minute deal may never come. For example, we booked our honeymoon flights for Hawaii several months in advance when the deal looked good to us (it’ll run a little under $700 a piece from Baltimore to Honolulu, which seemed like a good price for the time we’re going); we weren’t willing to see if there was going to be a fare sale a month beforehand.

So, if you have a little flexibility, consider waiting until the “last minute,” roll the dice, and maybe you’ll go on a vacation you never expected – say to Iceland to ride some tiny horses and fight in the snow (I had a few friends do that, they have a blast). Many of the travel sites have “last minute” sections or you can always scour deal sites like Travelzoo for great last minute bargains (I’m a fan of their Top 20 deals too).

Last Minute Vacations: Risk With Rewards from personal finance blog Bargaineering.com.

One word of warning, sometimes the airline’s site won’t have the same price. It might be that the search engine has a special deal of some sort with the travel provider (or it could be something else, who knows) but this trick doesn’t always work. I’ve also found that this trick doesn’t work as often with hotels and car rentals, there doesn’t seem to be as clean of a $5 markup.

Lastly, all those search engines won’t have two important budget carriers in their results – Southwest and AirTran (and maybe a few other smaller outfits). To get those flights you’ll have to go through the site’s own website (though some of their partners will appear in the results, such as ATA, a partner of Southwest’s).

Save $5 On Airline Tickets on Travel Search Engines from personal finance blog Bargaineering.com.

I’ve included after the jump a link to each of the department or division or office of tourism for your convenience.

Low Cost Weekend Ideas: Visit Your State Tourism Website from personal finance blog Bargaineering.com.

Tours cover both the present state of coin manufacturing as well as the history of the Mint. Learn about the craftsmanship required at all stages of the minting process, from the original designs and sculptures to the actual striking of the coins. (tour information website)

If you’re a resident living in the Washington D.C. area, there is a US Mint Kiosk in Union Station that showcases some of the products for sale but not much else. “The kiosk offers the latest commemorative and annual coins, the popular new quarters, collector maps, medals, and a variety of coin jewelry.”

Folks who don’t live anywhere near any of those can go on a free Virtual Tour, if you have Macromedia Flash 7.

More Low Cost Weekend Ideas

Low Cost Weekend Ideas: United States Mint Tours from personal finance blog Bargaineering.com.

The JAVAX maps means you can see where all the hotels are in relation to one another (without having to use some arcane mapping system born in the 1990’s like Mapquest) and to where you need to be.

What do I like?
1. The map, of course! It goes beyond a slick Web2.0 JAVAX map, but what they do with that map. First fiddle with all the refining check boxes until you get the hotel characteristics you’re looking for and then sort by the criteria you want (probably price). Then, look at the map. It has little bubbles for each of the hotels listed in the search results that conform to your specifications. Now scroll the map around and watch the list get updated. If you mouseover the results list, the bubble corresponding to that hotel turns from orange to white. Mouse over the map and a hotel, the hotel information pops up.

2. Sites Searched I put in Boston and the site searched over thirty other sites. I then put in Pittsburgh, also searched thirty or so sites. There is a lot of data out there and it looks like Farechase is pinging a whole lot of them.

What they could do to improve it?
1. Add a method to add your one waypoints on the map, for say the convention center you are going to or your friend’s house. It’d be nice to know, with a little more precision, how far you are from a particular address.
2. Add a smoking/non-smoking preference in the hotel rooms.

Yahoo Farechase Review for Hotels from personal finance blog Bargaineering.com.

Here’s what I like about Yahoo Farechase:
1. Yahoo Farechase remembers your searches. How many times have you hit back on any of the other engines and had to tediously enter your information again? I hate it. I hate it with a passion. Yahoo remembers it. And not only does she remember it, when you click it she just populates the boxes so you can change them as you see fit, she doesn’t automatically start running the search again.

2. That progress bar means something. And they show you intermediate results. Farechase searches through all the airlines in its database (American Airlines, America West, US Airways, United, Delta Air Lines, Frontier Airlines, Alaska Airlines andContinental) and populates the list as it gets data.

3. That JAVAX filtering is sweet. The “Refine Results” panel allows you to check and uncheck departure times, airports, airlines, and the number of stops – each time updating the results without having to reload the page.

4. Forget the Airport Code? Just type in the city it’s in, slowly, and a drop down box will appear with possible airports and cities that you could be looking for. Very nice.

Basically I see Farechase as a tool I’d use instead of Expedia, Travelocity or any of the other flight search engines but, as with the others, you still need to check Airtran and Southwest Airlines’ websites directly for their fares. Farechase gets two thumbs up from me.

Oh, and if you think this is cool, just wait until you use it for hotels.

Yahoo Farechase Review for Airline Flights from personal finance blog Bargaineering.com.