Discount travel under $500

With soaring oil prices driving up prices for airline tickets and gas, is it really possible to take a great vacation for less than $500?
Absolutely. All it takes is a little extra planning and a dash of ingenuity.
For some clever ideas, we checked in with travel guru Nancy Dunnan, editor of Travel Smart Newsletter, one of many sources, including package deal aggregators SideStep.com and Travelzoo.com, that offer helpful leads on discount travel.
1. Fly or drive? Compare which is cheaper by using the American Automobile Association’s calculator. At press time, we found, for example, that driving roundtrip from Denver to Memphis costs $193.82 in a 2007 Toyota Corolla, using 57 gallons. American Airlines prices the same roundtrip route for just one person at $199. (Prices quoted here are subject to change.)
2. Relax and retreat. Reduce stress on a retreat. Your local church, synagogue or YMCA may sponsor its own retreat by renting out a summer camp in the off season. Most have hiking trails, nature walks, swimming and sometime tennis. Rooms are basic but clean. One option: Located in the Berkshires western Massachusetts, the nonprofit of Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health offers a mind-boggling array of classes and packages in a rustic setting with trails. Prices start at $152 a night for dormitory berths; courses and meals are included.
3. Exchange your home. Pay no lodging fees by trading your home for someone else’s. For best results, plan well in advance and be cautious.
Green Theme International costs about $50 a year and focuses on sports and activities. Home Exchange offers listings in more than one hundred countries for a fee of $99.95 a year. Save more by using airline miles to get there.
4. Play Farmer John. You can do so all around the country, but Pennsylvania has the most options: twenty-five working farms that invite guests to learn about farming and share in doing chores. Great for kids. All-inclusive costs vary but can be as low as $85 a night for a family of four. (888-856-6622, pafarmstay.com)
5. Go to Vegas, baby! Wyndham Resorts regularly offers ultra-low deals to twenty-seven locations. The trade-off is sitting through a two-hour timeshare pitch, usually on Saturday morning. (Be sure to leave your checkbook and credit cards at home, so you’re not tempted to buy, and blow your budget.)
Jennifer Dempsey, of Salida, Colo., has gone to Las Vegas three times with Wyndham. She finds the cost, as low as $75 for two nights in a hotel, worth it, despite the pitch. “It’s crazy not to do it,” she says. The resort company throws in free show tickets and a couple free buffet meals. Once they even sent Dempsey a $100 gas card.
Once you’re there, Vegas is full of bargains, including show tickets, which Dempsey has picked up free off the street. A non-gambler, Dempsey says she’s spent three nights in Vegas for less than $200 total. (wyndhamtrips.com)
6. Check out Chautauqua Institution. This historic retreat on picturesque Chautauqua Lake is located on 750 acres in southwestern New York. During the summer, it offers nine weeks of programs, including current events, religion, politics, science and literature. Spend $14 to $140 on an open-enrollment class or buy a one-week gate pass for $325. Call 1-716-357-6250 to sign up for a class (ciweb.org).
7. Try a B&B. Not only do bed and breakfasts cost less, they also include breakfast and, often, afternoon tea and cookies or evening wine and cheese. Throughout the summer, some members of BedandBreakfast.com offer free gas (or discounts) via their Tanks A Lot program. For example, through October 18, if you arrive at the historic Pilgrim’s Inn on Deer Island, Maine, in a hybrid vehicle, you’ll receive up to $40 off your bill. The group has seven thousand B&Bs in more than forty states, Canada and the Caribbean.
8. Summer on the slopes. When the snow melts, so do ski resort rates. Most resorts offer great summer programs along with low prices, including book, film and music festivals; summer camps for kids; and outdoor sports.
9. Spend just one day. Local public libraries, museums and historic societies often run day bus trips to interesting places. Dunnan recently took a New York Public Library trip to author Edith Wharton’s home, The Mount, in Massachusetts. The outing included a paper bag breakfast, lunch, a lecture, and sherry and cheese on the ride back. “You felt you’d been on vacation,” Dunnan says. Typical costs range from $40 to $150.
10. Ride the rails. Amtrak offers hotel packages for more than twenty-five U.S. and Canadian cities, as well as Niagara Falls, Glacier National Park and the Grand Canyon (free admission to the park may be included). Amtrak’s “Philadelphia Vacation,” for example, includes two nights at the Comfort Inn Historic District and admission to the Independence Seaport Museum, with roundtrip rail. At press time, prices started at $309 per person from Washington, D.C., $251 from New York City and $235 from Pittsburgh. (800-268-7252, amtrakvacations.com)
11. Play tourist at home. You don’t have to travel to get a vacation. Rates drop when cities empty out on weekends and business travelers head home. Some city hotels offer special packages that may include amenities such as free breakfast, parking or passes to museums and famous sites. Local museums may have a free day, in which no admission is charged. Check your newspaper or with your travel agent.
12. Gather a group. Hotels regularly give discounts when you book five to ten rooms at a time. Plan a reunion with family or friends, and ask the hotel for a free community room with breakfast.
13. Visit a pal. Visit your friend who’s been asking you to forever. With free lodging and home-cooked meals, you’ll have enough left over in your trip budget for a thoughtful thank you gift.
14. Roll on a coaster. Buying theme park tickets online is often cheaper than buying at the gate. And during the summer, many parks stay open late on certain days, lowering rates for evening visits. For example, after 4 p.m. on select days, Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park, Calif., charges $24.99 per adult instead of $49.99. Look for other discounts and see if season passes are cheaper.
15. Enjoy the great outdoors. The National Park Service has information on all national parks, as well as details about inexpensive camping or in-park lodging reservations and educational programs, at nps.gov. In July’s second issue of Discover EDGE you can read about how to get a great deal at a national or state park.
16. Save a bundle by booking together. Instead of booking separately, save money by booking a package that includes airfare and hotel, and maybe a rental car, too. Check the vacation division of the major airlines flying to your destination, or ask your travel agent. United Airlines (unitedvacations.com or 1-888-328-6877) regularly has excellent package deals, such as free Universal Theme Park tickets, special rates at the Universal Orlando Resort and other goodies.