Discounts and Freebies Mean More Money to Spend on Your Summer Driving Vacation

It’s summer time and you’ve got vacation on your mind. It’s time to be budget minded!

The more you save on each individual vacation expense, the more you have to spend on yet another vacation item or experience.

Here are a few ways you can save while you spend for fun.

Before you leave on your vacation, check out the American Automobile Association’s (AAA) list of discounts for its members for theme parks and other venues.

Just Google AAA and you’ll be brought to the web site of the regional AAA office nearest you. Click on the button: Visit AAA.com and you’ll be brought to a page that lists discounts by category: dining, hotels, travel, entertainment, theme parks, etc.

http://www.aaa.com/aaa/sem/sem.htm?redirectto=http://www.aaa.com/?area=JoinSEM&skin=JoinSEM&gcid=S15141x073&keyword=exact_aaa

Click sequentially on all categories of interest to you and see how much you can save!

For example, the link for southern N.E. theme parks is:

http://www.web.aaasne.com/sne/membership/tickets.php#parks

U.S. National Parks Discounts

If anyone in your travelling party is 62 or older, he or she qualifies for a Senior Citizens Pass to all 58 National Parks. With this pass, 4 adults and any children under 16 years of age in the car can get into the park for free. There is a onetime charge of $10 for the pass and it’s good for life. The pass can only be obtained in person -- at any of the parks -- and proof of age/ID needs to be presented. A U.S. driver’s license will do nicely.

http://www.nps.gov/fees_passes.htm

The Senior Pass also provides a 50 percent discount on some Expanded Amenity Fees charged for park facilities and services such as camping, swimming, boat launch, and specialized interpretive services. In some cases where Expanded Amenity Fees are charged, only the pass holder will be given the 50 percent price reduction.

State Tourism Office Discounts

Many state tourism web sites offer special discounts to all sorts of experiences and destinations.
For example, Massachusetts offers $99 packages which represent a savings of at least 20% off normal prices for adventure packages, boat rentals, family theme park tickets, etc.

http://www.massvacation.com/mass99/d.php

Or Go West and find your discounts in Arizona:

http://www.arizonaguide.com/

Whatever your destination, it’s easy to save money so you can have more fun, by planning and shopping ahead online. Know about any discounts? Share them here in the comments!