Every time I open Facebook, there’s usually someone posting a question like, How can I save money on travel? Or What are the cheapest ways to travel?

Well, friends, today I’m going to let you in on another travel hack. It’s extremely simple, takes only a few minutes, and you could be saving hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars just by making this easy switch.

So what life-changing travel hack am I talking about? None other than Groupon!

For those who haven’t heard, Groupon is a website where local businesses offer deep discounts on things to do, restaurants, shopping, and more … but most importantly (and often overlooked), there are thousands of travel deals as well.

In fact, it’s possible to plan your entire trip with Groupon if you try hard enough – and I’ll show you how. ;)

Without further ado, here’s the ultimate guide to saving money on travel with Groupon!

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HOW TO SAVE MONEY WITH GROUPON

 

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ACCOMMODATIONS

Besides airline tickets, hotels and accommodations are often the most expensive part of traveling… so you’ll need all the help you can get lol

Finding Groupon hotel deals is a little tricky, so here’s how to do it:

Go to Groupon’s website > click on the Getaways tab > type in your destination in the search bar and voila!

From here, you can see the top hotel deals at your destination. Let’s click on a specific hotel:

One of my favorite things about Groupon hotel deals is that you can easily see how much it’ll cost to book a certain night. On the right side, I’m hovering over June 30, which is going for $142/night.

From here you can read reviews, learn more about the hotel’s amenities, and, of course, book a room.

TIP! As with all things in life, don’t forget to read the fine print. ;) Some hotels will add taxes or resort fees, so always be sure to double check. In this hotel, for example, it says: “Additional fees: $25 plus tax daily amenity fee due at check-in.”

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ACTIVITIES

A lot of people might think Groupon is strictly for local activities like fitness classes or massages, but there’s a whole world of touristy Groupons as well!

Don’t believe me? Take a look:

$12 for One-Hour Boat Tour Around Manhattan for One in New York City (Originally $31)

$113 for a Five Hour Winery Bus Tour for Two in Napa, CA (Originally $250)

$25 for a 48 Hour Open Top Hop on Hop Off Bus Tour for One in Miami (Originally $45)

Some of the deals that I’ve personally scored included a full-day bicycle rental in San Francisco, a full-body massage in New York for $30 (it was a long day and my feet were angry at me ), and a sunset catamaran tour, among others. Major cities might also have deals on city cards or go cards (such as the San Francisco CityPass) so you can save even more on transportation, museums, and activities.

Overall, I recommend checking Groupon before booking any kind of activity, whether it’s a sporting event (you can often find deeply discounted baseball, basketball, soccer, and football tickets); guided tours; Hop On Hop Off busses; food tours; bike rentals; boat cruises; admission to a festival or event; comedy shows; pub crawls; and so much more. Just look at that list!

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FOOD

Is there anything sweeter than hearing the words food and discount together?

(That’s a redundant question, by the way!)

When I was a broke budget-friendly college student, I would scroll through Groupon to find deals to restaurants that I wanted to try (but didn’t want to pay full price). Thanks to this little tactic, I got to try out San Francisco’s culinary scene without paying full price for food – and I still use it to this day whenever I want to try a new restaurant!

The best thing about using Groupon for food is that you’ll often go to places that haven’t been written in guide books and are local hangout spots. Plus, there’s such a huge variety of restaurants, cafes, bars, and food trucks that you can try anything from sushi to local craft beers.

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TRANSPORTATION

Groupon offers a nice selection of airport transfers, airport parking passes, and car rentals.  

Instead of paying for an overpriced Uber or taxi from the airport, you can book an airport shuttle (depending on your city) and go to your hotel – usually for half the price!

If you’re planning to rent a car, Groupon travel also has a list of coupons that you can use with major car rental companies like Enterprise, Sixt, Rent a Car, and more.

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TRAVEL ACCESSORIES

Did you know you can buy travel accessories from Groupon as well? They often have discounts on things like luggage (there’s a whole section!), packing cubes, passport holders, and more – here are some of the deals I found like doing a quick search:

–Luggage (Checked Luggage and Carry-Ons)
–Cameras, camera accessories, and tripods
– Packing Cubes and Luggage Accessories (Like this 9-Piece Packing Cube Set)
–Travel pillows 
–Passport holders/organizers
-Makeup and toiletry pouches (I actually have this one!)
–Travel adapters
–Scratch-off world maps and other travel gifts

 

GROUPON GETAWAYS (TRAVEL PACKAGE DEALS)

Last but certainly not least, we have Groupon Getaways. If you don’t have the time or don’t want to plan a vacation, Groupon offers special deals on getaway packages, which usually include airfare, hotels, tours, and sometimes even food.

The best part is that there are getaways to a huge variety of places like China, Iceland, Costa Rica, the Emirates, Turkey, Spain, Belize, and many more. There are even specialized getaways or tour groups, like a Hike to Mt. Everest from Nepal tour!

Groupon travel getaway deals usually don’t last long, and there are new offers every few weeks.

You can check out the current Groupon getaways here.

 

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SAMPLE WEEKEND TRIP
(ALL BOOKED THROUGH GROUPON!)

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I’ve been hyping up Groupon for the last few paragraphs, so let me actually demonstrate how much money you can save if you book your entire trip with Groupon.

For this trip, I’ll be “visiting” one of my favorite cities in the world (San Francisco!) for a weekend. We’ll check in on Friday and check out on Sunday, which leaves us two days to explore San Francisco.

Let’s see how we do!

TRANSPORTATION

We’ll start our fabulous weekend trip to San Francisco by booking an Airport Transfer. This Groupon coupon (hehe) costs $17 one-way or $32 round-trip. Since I need to get to and from the airport, I’ll book a round-trip transfer. If we didn’t book through Groupon and went straight to the SuperShuttle website, it would cost us $38 round-trip. We already saved $6 and didn’t set foot outside of the airport!

 

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ACCOMMODATIONS

I chose to book a Superior Queen Room at the Hotel Bijou, which came out to $311.51 (plus $50 resort fee) for a total of $361.51 for two nights. In comparison, the same hotel and the same room would have cost me $420.31 on Booking.com, which means I saved almost $60 by booking my hotel through Groupon.

 

 

 

 

 

ACTIVITIES

There are so many things to do in San Francisco, so let’s not waste any time – once I arrive on Friday and get to my hotel, I want to rent a bike and cycle over the Golden Gate Bridge. One of the cheapest options is this Full-Day Bike Rental for One for $16.50 (which would regularly cost $32).

Afterwards, my feet are a little tired so I’ll opt for the Hop On/Hop Off Bus ticket for $48 (normally $55 through the website) — this instantly saves $7 and my poor tired feet. :) 

While checking out the Groupon deals, I stumbled upon this Haunted San Francisco Ghost Tour for $16 (regular price $24) — seeing as how I love spooky stuff and tours, I add it to my list and have one final activity to do for Friday night. :)

San Francisco is only one hour away from the famous wine region of Napa Valley, so my Saturday will be spent going on a half-day tour through different wineries. This Groupon has a Tour of Wine Country for $124 and includes transportation from San Francisco to Napa and back (on a limo bus!); breakfast; a visit to two wineries in Napa and two in Sonoma; lunch; and even a mimosa toast at the Golden Gate Bridge — it’s like they took my dream and made it into a tour.
If you booked it through the tour company’s website, it would cost $135 – which gives you a savings of $11.  

After coming back to San Francisco I realize that still have my Saturday night free, so I buy a $15 Groupon to PianoFight’s improv show (normally $20).

 

How much money did we save if we used Groupon? Let’s add up our costs:

There you have it: We saved over $100 just by adding an extra 5 minutes to our time and booking our activities through Groupon instead of through the company website! Not bad, huh? ;)

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That’s it for this post – Have you used a Groupon deal before? Or have you used Groupon for travel?
Let me know in the comments below, and as always, see you in the next post!