As someone who loves to share travel deals and codes, I always have to be honest with my followers too. So I will be the first to share the good and the bad of my travel experiences just as I do with the companies I use while traveling. I share so many codes and deals that it sometimes takes me a while to get around to using them myself.

I have been a supporter of travel pony since the beginning and finally got to use them. It was an easy pleasant booking experience. Here's a little insight to how I chose travel pony and how I research for a trip

I was just looking for one night and as usual I resorted to my heavy research to find the best deal. For the small town of Leavenworth, WA I knew I wanted to stay at the Best Western. When we travel we usually try to find a place that has a separate bedroom or is a suite since we have kids, especially now with two. However for a quick one night stay being close to kids activities and having a pool were more important so best western was the choice.

I first checked the big box companies like Expedia and Travelocity(which technically are partnered) but they do offer different deals and/or hotels at times. I had an impossible time trying to use a promo code for both companies. I was going to book on my phone but for some reason they wouldn't allow a promo code for basically all of Leavenworth, WA. I traded emails with them to no avail and moved on. As a side note they both wanted about $140-150 for the room but I had some codes that could have lowered that by $40.

Next I checked the Best Western site and the cheapest I could get was $134 plus tax which jumped higher as I got closer.

Hotel tonight was hit and miss as they weren't really a strong suit for this small town, although I was willing to wait until the day of travel to book.

On Hotwire I saw I could get (what I thought) was the Best Western for $121 plus tax and if you sign up with an email address(use multiple addresses if needed) to get a discount code, then I could get it for $10 less. I hadn't done my full research and Leavenworth doesn't have a large presence on the better bidding blog so I wasn't 100% sure on if it was the correct hotel.

I looked at Travel Pony as well and was happy with what I saw. Their price was about $127 if I remember correctly but then I had a promo code which brought the price down. I ended up paying $124 total with tax.

I know all this research sounds like a lot but it really only took a few minutes each day of checking the sites and it saved me about $25-30 off paying that $138 plus tax price.




We really enjoyed the hotel and I will have a review up soon.

As I have shared previously click on the link below and you can get a free $35 credit from Travel Pony to use. The booking has to be for at least $200 but that is easy to do, especially for a two night stay.

CLICK HERE to sign up

Well, summer has arrived and I thought I would share some great ways to save this summer on hotel stays.



As always you can sign up to receive emails from your favorite  hotel brand but I know that can become bothersome, trust me. In order to blog various deals, I am getting hundreds of emails a week from the various  brands.



1. Hotel Tonight App- Hotel Tonight is a smart phone app that provides you with same day hotel deals for 1 night bookings. So you can go on your phone (time now at 900 am local time of hotel location) and you can see all the deals offered. As with
other sites like hotwire the room type is not guaranteed, but you will save a decent amount. Sign up using my promo code:  RFOJTIK and get a free $25 credit



2. Hotwire-As I have posted many posts about this site, I use hotwire frequently. I combine this with researching the deals on
  betterbidding.com which can show me what hotel I am bidding on. This only works with hotwire but they do have a forum for Priceline too that gives bidding tips and help. Hotwire will send you a $10 promo code for signing up for their emails too
book from my links! CLICK HERE

 3. AAA-if you have ever thought you might like roadside assistance this is great plus most  don’t realize how many discounts are available with AAA. Last year I traveled with the family and since we were more specific with what type of room we wanted
so we needed to book direct with the hotel. I found some great AAA rates that saved me anywhere form 10-25% off which basically paid for the yearly membership with my savings. AAA also offers discounts at restaurants, shopping, and auto repair.



4.  Groupon/Living social – Both have getaway and escape packages and I have used both with frequency and ease. Use my link for booking and check out the deals now! Use my links please to book! CLICK HERE



5.Travel Pony- A newer site that is social media based (log in with Facebook) They show you the hotel savings and will ask you to share the deal you booked. 

CLICK HERE to sign up (free account) and get a free $35 promo code to use 

6. Travel Zoo-another great site that has awesome deals. I have used them on a couple times and always been satisfied with the deals

 This is the best time to score a deal, trust me. I think people forget about this time of year. Instead of planning travel they are hibernating for the fall and winter. Kids back to school, weather changes, I hear all the excuses.Think about a trip this fall, even if just a weekend getaway.

Its almost like a switch turned on where I start to see the most impressive travel deals rolling through my emails on a daily basis. The hotel sites start running the deals at 30-50% off, Groupon and Living Social will start to have the travel deals as well. I am already seeing them as they started to roll in the last week.
All this on top of the fact that hotel rates drop anyway due to the season and that kids are back in school. The hotels and resorts need your business. If they are not giving deals on the types of sites I listed above you may also see the hotels own websites with packages or specials. There is always a deal for somewhere you want to go, just might have to look for it.

For us up here in the Pacific NW we are lucky in that September and October are still pretty nice most years so a local weekend getaway isn't a bad thought. Need some sun? How about California, Nevada, Arizona, or Mexico. All within just a 2-5 hour plane ride away from up here and maybe even closer depending where you are reading this from.

Here are some links to my affiliates where you can score a deal!

Try out a new site in Travel Pony. They are social media based and want you to share the deal you get. They even tell you what the other sites (like Expedia) are charging for the same hotel. I have compared and the numbers are legit. They are limited right now on the cities as they are in about 22 cities but the saving are huge! Click below to check it out

I just became affiliated with a new hotel booking site called Travel Pony. I did a random check of their rates and they seem to have some great savings. It is Social Media based so they require you to log in with Facebook and ask that you share your savings. This can be annoying to some I am sure, but it is the wave of the future as with some app only based booking spots that I have raved about on the blog. They are in 12 cities right now and should be expanding quickly so check them out and most importantly, save some money!