Like most savvy travelers, I look to take advantage of flash sales, special offers, coupon codes and well-priced travel specials and bundles. Navigating the Internet for great deals can be both exhausting and invigorating! With so many great sites out there -- including air carriers, hotel sites and wholesalers -- I've been using a great tactic for the past few months and I'm sharing my wisdom with my followers.
Set up an alternative email address and dedicate it to travel savings. When joining hotel loyalty programs, registering for sites that send emails about discount travel offers or sites that send reminders about cruise sales, it's a great idea to provide the site with an email address that you've dedicated to travel savings. This way, when you are comparing or compiling your information, you can sort the emails in folders dedicated to air, land, cruise, package or theme parks. Use this and only this email for your travel plans.
Then go even go a step further. If you're a reviewer on sites like www.tripadvisor.com, www.cruisecritic.com or www.familyvacationcritic.com, use this email as your contact. This keeps your contact information a bit more private and can allow more discreet communication with other reviewers.
In addition to organization, a secondary email allows a primary email address to not be flooded with advertising. It is fair game in the email marketing world: Marketers share email addresses, so if an alternative one is provided, it's a smaller nuisance than a primary email to clear out spam.
By using an alternative email, when you're ready to sit down and research and have the time to devote to reading through emails, your travel offers will be there waiting. I have effectively used this strategy, and it works for me.
One of my favorite email notification sites is the Fare Predictor on www.bing.com. I've had emails sent to this secondary address when fares drop, and it's a great alert system.
Furthermore, sites like www.priceline.com are also worth a try. I've had great success with rental car offers with this site. And, by using this alternative email, my smart phone is not clogged up with emails if and when my offer is accepted.
Even in the trip-planning process this strategy is a help. If online travel specialists are emailing offers or estimates, this is another way to keep things simple. You can check this alternative email address when you have the time to devote to examining savings and sorting through offers and sales.
There are great travel deals out there. Staying organized and keeping a handle on offers and savings will ensure the best deal. Happy travels!