Top 10 Places to Stretch Your Dollar This Summer

If Bernie Madoff didn't waltz off with your money, and you can afford a trip this summer, start packing.

I asked Tom Parsons founder of Best Fares (www.bestfares.com ) and Anne Banas, executive editor of Smarter Travel (www.smartertravel.com) for their favorite bargain destinations to compile this list.

No matter how far your buck stretches, I would caution against visiting any destination listed under the U.S. Department of State's Travel Warnings (http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis_pa_tw_1168.html). Zimbabwe isn't on this list, but the State Department cautions travelers due to the new government's fragile condition. So despite $1 USD equaling $375 Zimbabwe dollars, Zimbabwe's not on this list.

Parsons reports some amazing hotel/flight packages to Cancun, Mexico. I reluctantly left Mexico off this list due to recent reports of the drug wars spilling into Guatamala. If you carefully research the safety of a Mexican destination before traveling, however, your biggest bargains may be south of the border.

1. Sydney, Australia. Airfares have seldom been so low (http://www.australia.com/index.aspx). Qantas and V Australia have round trip flights as low as $560 from LAX and $720 from JFK. The deals may get sweeter when Delta starts service to Sydney on 7/1/09. Many 4-star Sydney hotels offer a third night free when visitors book a two night stay. 1 U.S. dollar (USD) = $1.27 Australian dollars. Excellent government tourism sites include: http://www.visitnsw.com (New South Wales includes Sydney), http://en.travelnt.com (the Northern Territory includes Alice Springs (aboriginal art tours)) and http://www.visit-queensland.com (Queensland includes Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef). Although it's winter down under, a recent ten day forecast showed temperatures in Sydney ranging from 47 to 67 degrees Fahrenheit, which sure beats the heat of Dallas in July.

2. USA. Explore a national park. Recently, Jane Engle of the LA Times reported that Yosemite, the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone and 144 other national parks are offering free admission over three weekends this summer: June 20-21, July 18-19 and August 15-16. Some national parks don't even charge an entrance fee (www.nps.gov).

3. Hawaii. Although many U.S. destinations offer bargains, Hawaiian hotels are offering incredible deals, including a fourth or fifth night free. Banas says Pleasant Holidays has some great family packages. Traveling solo, I often use Priceline to book my hotel stay, since most packages require double occupancy. Recently, I "won" a room at the Maui Prince in Makena (South Maui) for $110/night. At www.biddingfortravel.com, winning bids for Oahu, the Big Island, Kauai and Maui range from $100-$160/nt. for 4-star hotels/resorts. Airfare is higher for summer, so you may want to use www.yapta.com or www.bing.com/travel/ (formerly farecast.com) to find a bargain fare or use airline mileage if you have enough for Hawaii.

4. The Carribean. Parsons found great deals to Grand Cayman with airfare and five nights for four people at an all suite hotel for $539 per person (traveling Monday-Thursday). Banas likes deals in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands (currency is USD), while I favor Belize and Bonaire. $1 USD = .81 Cayman Dollars, $1.99 Belizean dollars or $1.78 Guilders in Bonaire. If the June - October hurricane season worries you, however, you may prefer to visit during peak season. I've visited both Belize and Bonaire during hurricane season without any significant problem. My return flight from Bonaire was delayed one day by Hurricane Dean in 2007.

5. Costa Rica. With $576.70 Costa Rican Colon for a single dollar, there are many great deals. If you've ever longed to zipline or trek through a rain forest, Costa Rica offers many great eco adventures. Considered one of the most bio-diverse regions in the world, Costa Rica has 20 natural parks, 8 biological reserves and more. In Tortuguero National Park, sea turtles nest and crocodiles, manatees and otters swim in natural canals. See: http://www.microsites.visitcostarica.com/.

6. Europe. 1 dollar currently equals $.72 Euros -- which is stronger than last summer. Lufthansa and Air France have round trip airfare as low as $500 from many U.S. cities. Parsons recommends Germany as a gateway to Europe because there are so many flight deals into Frankfurt, Munich, etc. From Germany, you can explore Europe by car or train with a Eurail pass (http://www.eurail.com/ ). Banas likes London as a gateway to Europe and has been finding some great flight deals into Heathrow as well as outlying airports like Manchester and Birmingham.

7. South America. Argentina, Brazil or Peru. There are cheap fares from California to Argentina, but New Yorkers will find cheaper fares to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Banas pointed out that there are cheaper fares to Lima, Peru, from Ft. Lauderdale, on low-cost Spirit Airlines. Our dollar stretches well in South America. $1 USD = $3.75 Argentine pesos, $1.97 Brazil Reais and $2.98 Peru Nuevos Soles.

8. Reykjavik, Iceland. Banas last visited Reykjavik in 2001. With $1 USD = 127.48 Iceland Kronos, despite it being high season, Iceland offers great value. Banas described Reykjavik as very hip and trendy, plus you can opt for spa treatments at a nearby geothermal field with steamy waters rich in therapeutic minerals. Iceland Air departs from Boston, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York, Orlando and Seattle (as of 7/23/09): http://www.icelandair.com/.

9. New Zealand. Airfares on Qantas and Air New Zealand are lower for the off season (New Zealand's winter). $1 USD to 1.61 New Zealand dollars means more bungy (jumps) for your buck. There are great lodging deals including backpacker inns, farm stays and camping. A great place to start considering New Zealand are its tourism websites: http://www.newzealand.com/travel/USA/

10. USA. Orlando (http://www.orlandoinfo.com/ ), Washington, D.C. (http://www.washington.org/), New York City (http://nycgo.com/ ) and Los Angeles (http://discoverlosangeles.com/ ). Tom Parsons has found some great getaway deals for families to Orlando, Florida and Washington, D.C. There are also airfare and hotel deals in both New York and Los Angeles. As an L.A. resident, it's the Tony award winning hippies of "Hair" that are luring me to Broadway.

If your international dream destination isn't listed, it still may be on sale. Go to a currency conversion site to see how far a dollar goes. I used http://www.xe.com/ucc/.

Comments

[Terry Gardner - Huffpost Blogger]

Tom Parsons just e-mailed me that airfare deals to Europe are really heating up. Here's what Tom wrote: "Airlines have cut airfare to Europe starting Aug. 17, 2009. LAX to Rome Aug 18 thru Aug 26, 2009 $449 roundtrip all taxes. NYC to Zurich $249 round trip, all taxes. This is super hot."

A short while later, Tom added that the red hot deal cities are Madrid, Barcelona, Paris, Amsterdam, Rome, Milan, Athens, Zurich and Geneva. He said the bargain airfares are for travel between Aug17th through October 21, 2009, "departures can be half of the July airfare which is already 50% lower than last summer, so you should be able to a cheap fare from most USA cities to these nine."

For specific deals, you may want to visit the Best Fares website, which will do the work for you. Or you can start Kayak-ing, Bing-ing or Yapta-ing on your own.

[Terry Gardner - Huffpost Blogger]

IGNORE MY LAST POST. This morning Tom Parsons emailed me that the fares were a mistake. He wrote: "THESE AIRFARES WERE A MISTAKE -- THEY WERE PULLED THIS MORNING AT 9:20AM EASTERN. I KNOW WE GOT A HECK OF LOT RESPONSE, BUT SOME ARE GOING TO ANGRY BECAUSE WHEN YOU SNOOZE YOU LOSE."

Sorry I didn't doublecheck this info on either Yapta, Kayak or Bing.

[yuenzzzz]

This is a really great top ten list Terry. You have a ton of excellent recommendations, I would have to choose South America as #1. I recently returned from a trip to Peru to see Cuzco and Machu Picchu and the exchange rate was excellent. As long as you avoided to extremely touristy spots, you could get by on less than $30 a day. I went to a norther beach town called Mancora and got a beach front hostel for about $10 a night. Anyone can post their own list to our site http://www.toptentopten.com/. The coolest feature is you can let other people vote on the rankings of your list.

[Terry Gardner - Huffpost Blogger]

Thanks for your input, yuenzzzz. $30 a day sounds like a great bargain, and I've always wanted to visit Macchu Picchu. I have an attorney friend who visited there recently. Her flight back from Lima, Peru was delayed 24 hours so she had a chance to observe "swine flu" panic in a third world country. When they arrived, almost everyone had on a face mask, both airport personnel and travelers (this was the first weekend of the "panic"). While waiting for an update on her flight, she noticed many people would lower their mask, scratch their nose and raise it back up -- sometimes they didn't quite cover their nose after putting it back on. Others would lower it, touch their hand to their face and then re-don the mask. Once they knew their flight would be delayed 24 hours due to washed out roads from a recent storm preventing some from reaching the airport (i.e., not an airline's fault), they left and killed time in the city. The next day when they returned, almost no one was wearing a face mask. Re: Macchu Picchu -- she said it was amazing!