Hotels.com:
Save money by booking your hotel reservation through hotels.com. It’s free to open a hotels.com account, and you will have access to more discounts than when you just visit the website. Plus, after 10 hotel stays you get a free night, with the value based on the average value of the 10 hotels you stayed at. There may be some hotels that don’t count towards this discount, but I use the site often and I don’t think I have ever booked a hotel that didn’t count.
The downside is there is a waiting period of a few days. You can’t stay 10 nights somewhere and then get the 11th night free. I think that’s so they have time to confirm the hotel stays. I have traveled for a couple of weeks straight and when I already had 9 nights towards the discount. I paid for the 10th night at the beginning of the trip and by the end I was able to redeem the free night.
Another perk of using the site is I can do a hotels.com search in my email and pull up all of my hotel reservations. Plus I like being able to view the hotels in both list and map form when deciding on which hotel to stay at. Hotels.com also includes detailed hotel information and links to the hotels.
If you want to save even more money, instead of booking your hotels with a regular credit card, open a credit account at best buy or amazon and buy enough hotels.com gift cards to qualify for interest free financing. Pay off the balance before the promotion expires (6 months to 3 years depending on their current promotion) and you don’t lose money on interest. Hotels.com gift cards are also handy if you want to pay for a hotel for someone else but don’t want the hotel to have your name or credit card information on file.
Plan on giving the hotel an actual credit card to put a deposit on though, since many hotels do that. If you don’t want to do that you can call each hotel (or email it to have it in writing) and ask if they put a deposit on your credit card. Hotels.com will often have those details and any parking fees listed when you view the hotel.
Other ways to save:
Many major airlines offer the opportunity for employees and sometimes even their family to fly for free.
Compare the perks of each airline before you apply.
Or you could work on a cruise ship, become a missionary, work on a train, for a bus company, or join the military.
You could also get your pilots license and travel around doing helicopter rides at fairs or tourist attractions. Or sell a craft and travel the world going to craft shows. Or deliver/sell medical supplies. Or be a sales rep to a region of vendors, traveling around your region to show them the latest products to sell in their stores.