Step-By-Step Guide to a Cheap Vacation
Mike and I went to Aruba for a week in December 2016 and had a wonderful time. We stayed at a one-bedroom condo with a full kitchen. There were a swimming pool and a hot tub right by our patio. The cost of our plane tickets plus accommodation was less than $500. How did we do that?
If you follow this step-by-step guide, you may be able to pull it off, too!
1/ Go to St Martin! Yes, if you like to vacation in Aruba the way we did, the critical first step is to get yourself to St Martin -- the French side, to be exact.
2/ Be adventurous. Check the place out throughly, preferably on foot, even if you are not sure where you are going. This way, you will see people and places you otherwise would never see, if you were in a car. Interesting encounters may happen on your way to a beach just 5 minutes away from your AirBnB. You never know.
3/ Be open to talk to anyone -- including strangers shouting out to you in French from a moving vehicle! What do you have to lose anyways? Since you are a stranger in a strange place, you might as well mingle with others in the same situation.
4/ Treat strangers with compassion. They may be lost, or they may not. If you are lucky, they may actually be promoters of some timeshare property. These folks live on commissions based on the number of responders to their promotion campaign. Help them out. If they hand you a scratch-off ticket, scratch it. I know you do not believe in such a thing, but scratch it anyways. Again, what do you have to lose?
5/ Be spontaneous. Yes, you are planning to go to the beach. However, if you happen to hit the 7-7-7 jackpot on a scratch-off ticket, be open to changing your plans. Your new friends probably are very excited by now. You can tell by how they are hugging each other while jumping up and down like crazy bunnies. They just earned a $400 bonus because of your win! Hop in the car of these total strangers on a foreign island and trust that they are really taking you to claim your prize. It's a win-win for everybody! Woo-hoo!!!
6/ Stay calm and remain open-minded. Do you know what timeshares are like? How does the system work? If you are curious, consider listening to a presentation and taking a tour of the property. If not, eat your free lunch, enjoy their beach and then take a free cab ride home. Before you go, make sure you claim your grand prize -- it could be a discount voucher for a 7-day stay at one of the company's timeshares anywhere in the world!
6/ Be flexible and giving. Flying to and from vacation hotspots is tricky business. Make sure you fly on the busiest days, like Boxing Day, so as to increase your chance of being stuck at the airport. When this happens, volunteer yourself to be bumped. How are you going to get home after your plane lands at 2am anyways? Wise travelers would give up their seats and opt for staying an extra night at a 5-star hotel, like The Westin. A good airline will offer you a meal coupon for dinner, plus a $600 flight coupon for future use as compensation.
7/ Book a vacation to Aruba with your vouchers! Pick some peak season dates again, if you feel lucky. Repeat steps 2 to 6, when possible. You could be vacationing every year in timeshares and flying on airline vouchers!
Good luck!
If you follow this step-by-step guide, you may be able to pull it off, too!
1/ Go to St Martin! Yes, if you like to vacation in Aruba the way we did, the critical first step is to get yourself to St Martin -- the French side, to be exact.
2/ Be adventurous. Check the place out throughly, preferably on foot, even if you are not sure where you are going. This way, you will see people and places you otherwise would never see, if you were in a car. Interesting encounters may happen on your way to a beach just 5 minutes away from your AirBnB. You never know.
3/ Be open to talk to anyone -- including strangers shouting out to you in French from a moving vehicle! What do you have to lose anyways? Since you are a stranger in a strange place, you might as well mingle with others in the same situation.
4/ Treat strangers with compassion. They may be lost, or they may not. If you are lucky, they may actually be promoters of some timeshare property. These folks live on commissions based on the number of responders to their promotion campaign. Help them out. If they hand you a scratch-off ticket, scratch it. I know you do not believe in such a thing, but scratch it anyways. Again, what do you have to lose?
5/ Be spontaneous. Yes, you are planning to go to the beach. However, if you happen to hit the 7-7-7 jackpot on a scratch-off ticket, be open to changing your plans. Your new friends probably are very excited by now. You can tell by how they are hugging each other while jumping up and down like crazy bunnies. They just earned a $400 bonus because of your win! Hop in the car of these total strangers on a foreign island and trust that they are really taking you to claim your prize. It's a win-win for everybody! Woo-hoo!!!
6/ Stay calm and remain open-minded. Do you know what timeshares are like? How does the system work? If you are curious, consider listening to a presentation and taking a tour of the property. If not, eat your free lunch, enjoy their beach and then take a free cab ride home. Before you go, make sure you claim your grand prize -- it could be a discount voucher for a 7-day stay at one of the company's timeshares anywhere in the world!
6/ Be flexible and giving. Flying to and from vacation hotspots is tricky business. Make sure you fly on the busiest days, like Boxing Day, so as to increase your chance of being stuck at the airport. When this happens, volunteer yourself to be bumped. How are you going to get home after your plane lands at 2am anyways? Wise travelers would give up their seats and opt for staying an extra night at a 5-star hotel, like The Westin. A good airline will offer you a meal coupon for dinner, plus a $600 flight coupon for future use as compensation.
7/ Book a vacation to Aruba with your vouchers! Pick some peak season dates again, if you feel lucky. Repeat steps 2 to 6, when possible. You could be vacationing every year in timeshares and flying on airline vouchers!
Good luck!
Comments
Post a Comment