It is Friday afternoon and you’re home from work, enjoying your company’s early release schedule that kicks in between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Suddenly it dawns upon both you and your spouse that you have no plans for the weekend and you’re itching to getaway. Whether you’re planning a last minute trip to the mountains or a quick trip overseas, you can save money on your travel arrangements with no planning ahead. Let’s take a look at some ideas on how you can save money when the travel bug bites with no time to spare.

Mountain Or Beach Getaway – If you live close enough to the mountain, beach or some other resort area, you may be able to strike a deal on a weekend stay. Lots of people post their rental information online, allowing you to see what is available right now and to book a reservation. If the rate appears to be too high, consider making a call to the owner to ask if they’d be willing to accept a lower rate. Chances are that if you treat them with respect and ask kindly, they’ll be agreeable to a discount. After all, your stay ensures that the owner of the mountain cottage or beach house makes some money that weekend instead of coming up empty handed.

Hotel Or Resort Stay – Perhaps you’d prefer to stay at a place where you’ll be pampered, letting someone else do the housekeeping. Hotels at busy resorts are usually booked up throughout the summer, especially on weekends but in this economy cancellations are on the increase and not every room may be sold. Call up the front desk to ask for their discount rate, negotiating the best deal possible. You may need approval of the hotel’s manager to get the lowest rate, so make sure that you talk with him or her if you’re not quoted a satisfactory rate by the front desk clerk.

Just Fly Away – Can you imagine spending this weekend in Paris? With an updated passport and identification at the ready, you could find yourself winging to France on a Friday and returning home late Sunday. Call the airline directly to see if a scheduled flight has seats available. Even normally filled flights have last minute cancellations meaning that your timely call could result in a weekend getaway with a view of the River Seine. Flexibility is the key – you may have to take a red-eye (overnight) flight to your destination, but if tickets are available you could save hundreds of dollars per passenger.

Your Car Rental – Perhaps you want to drive to your destination, but you don’t want to take the family sedan. Maybe you have your eye on a two-seater roadster but wonder if you’ll pay through the nose for this type of car rental. Just like contacting the airlines, contact your local car rental store to see what they have available for the weekend and whether you can secure a special, low rate. That Pontiac Solstice is just sitting on their lot, waiting to be rented!

Book A Cruise – Normally, you must book months in advance in order to secure a low rate on a cruise. But, with so many passengers on-board, cancellations are frequent resulting in berths that are going out empty. A direct call to the cruise line should turn up an opening even for that popular weekend cruise to nowhere.

As with anything, you don’t have because you don’t ask. If you want a last minute discount, then you must anticipate that discounts are available for the asking for those times when your getaway plans are hatched on the spot.

Tags: beach house, car rental, cottage, cruise, flight, hotel, Travel Tips, vacation