Everyone who knows me knows I am a Cheapskate!  My motto is “Travel Often, Travel Cheap”.  This must be the frugal German in me!  So I am starting a series of blogs on how to travel on the cheap. 

Today I’ll start with my own hometown, San Antonio, Texas.  On my website (www.beckyflores.com)  I have a list of “Fun Things to Do in San Antonio”.  However, today I wanted to focus on how to have fun in San Antonio on the CHEAP.  My idea of cheap isn’t necessarily free but rather cheaper than paying regular price.  If I can find free stuff, I’ll list that also but you understand that if you want to go to Sea World for example, unless you know Shamu, you’re going to have to pay to get in.  Why not save a few bucks here and there and splurge sometimes too.  I’ll also list a few things to splurge on.  Let’s get started!

  • San Antonio Attractions:  Here’s a great website with discount coupons for quite a few of the most popular San Antonio attractions:  http://sanantonioattractions.com/. 
  • Hotels:  I always check www.tripadvisor.com for hotel reviews by actual previous guests.  If most reviews are good, I’ll consider the hotel.  If most recent reviews are not so nice, skip it.  Remember, no hotels will ever make everyone happy but if the majority are favorable reviews, you’re probably safe.  Hotel discounts are tricky.  I usually check the hotel website first, then go to the other travel sites and see what is available at expedia.com or orbitz.com.  Finally, I call the hotel directly and see if any discounts are available, ask for the “best rate available”.  Generally if you have one of the following memberships they’ll give you some kind of discount:  AAA, AARP, Sam’s Club or Costco.  Ask if they’ll take whatever club you belong to, you might be surprised.  If the reservations clerk won’t play then ask for a supervisor or (MOD) Manager on Duty.  Ask again, see what happens.  You can’t be shy about asking for discounts.  He who doesn’t ask, pays regular rates!  Unless there’s a huge convention in town or it’s a major holiday or you did not plan and it’s last minute (shame, shame), you should never pay rack rate!  I never do!  One last thing that most people don’t think about — Do you have any relatives that work for a hotel chain?  My son works for the Hilton chain and they offer a “Friends & Family” Rate.  This rate is generally better than anything you can find on the internet.  Isn’t it time that you call your cousin Bob who works at a hotel and get hooked up with a discounted rate! 
  • You Gotta EAT!:   San Antonio has some fantastic restaurants.  See my website for a listing of my favorites.  Let’s talk about saving money when eating out.  I am not much of a picnic kind of gal but this is a great way to save some money on meals especially if you’ve got a large posse of kids.  Here’s a nice site that has reviews and coupons:  http://www.mysanantonio.com/entertainment/dining/toppicks.html.  Here’s a website where you can buy discount coupons for dining.  Looks like a pretty good deal but be sure to call the restaurant before heading out, I saw one restaurant listed that was out of business, some nice local favorites are listed  http://www.entertainment-savings-offers.com/san-antonio/restaurants/listing/.   Crumpet’s Restaurant coupon, voted Best Romantic Restaurant in San Antonio, 2007:  ttp://www.crumpetsa.com/coupon.html.  If you’re a frequent visitor to our town, you might want to invest in an Entertainment book, it will surely pay for itself  http://www.entertainment-savings-offers.com/san-antonio/book/.  Valpak coupons are pretty good and usually come in the mail but here is the link to San Antonio restaurant coupons:  http://www.valpak.com/coupons/home#R:san%20antonio,%20texas. 
  • FREEBIES:  Some free things to do including:  Riverwalk, The Alamo, La Villita, La Cantera.  Here’s a neat website:  http://www.free-attractions.com/san_antonio.htm. 
  • Becky’s SPLURGE:  No discount coupons that I know of but if you want to eat at one of the best on the River Walk, try Boudro’s.  Great food and killer Prickly Pear Margaritas.  BE SURE to call way ahead for reservations as they are ALWAYS busy and request a table by the water!  Dinner Barge:  If you have a large group, you could do a dinner on a river barge catered by Boudro’s.  If there’s just a few of you, do the group dinner.  You’ll have to dine with other folks but it’s alot of fun.  I’ve done both the private dining and the group cruise and it is a BLAST!  This isn’t cheap but it is something that you will remember always!  Becky says you can splurge on this!!!  You can call the restaurant directly and they can arrange for you, here’s the website for contact info:   http://www.boudros.com/boudros/.

 I know that I haven’t listed all of the discounts for stuff to do our great city, so if you have anything to add, please do our visitors a favor and send it to me via comments!  Welcome to San Antonio!