Lodging Deals - How to Make the Most of Your Travel Dollar in Today's Economy

     In today's economy we have all been forced to take stock of what our priorities are. Some of us choose our homes, children, insurance, cars or businesses as the pinnacle of our ever decreasing budget. Whatever the choice, one thing has become clear this year, vacation and travel plans are very low on the priority list of many people, if on the list at all.

     The decrease in travel to destination resorts has had a dramatic effect in areas such as Vail, Breckenridge, and surrounding ski vacation destinations. Lodging revenue is down, ski area visits are down, sales revenue is down, all of these factors have a negative impact on the area as a whole.  Lost jobs, closed businesses, decreased municipal budgets, and a decrease in revenue across the board. However, the downturn in vacation travelers has produced one positive effect of note, deals on vacation rentals.  Due to the increased supply of lodging and the increased need to entice a vacationer to travel when funds are scarce, the lodging sector has responded with a variety of deals on lodging.  Free nights, heavy discounts, package deals, and free lift tickets are becoming more common in the travel marketplace of today.

Here are several effective ways for you  to locate the best deals on vacation rental lodging.

      The more nights you are willing to pay for, the better deal you will get.. Most management companies want to fill weeks instead of weekends, so they may offer free nights or heavy discounts for a longer stay.
If you are flexible with your dates it allows management companies to fill gaps on their calendars, which encourages them to discount rates.  If you are able to move your dates around by a couple of days you may be able to find a great deal on your lodging.
A growing trend is last minute vacations.  If you are able to wait till a week or two before  your stay, you can locate great deals on lodging.  This is due to the fact that any vacation rentals that are not booked a week or two before the date become more difficult to fill, so companies offer discounts to those who will fill in.  However, don't wait too long, or wait during heavy travel dates or you may end up stuck at home.