Upgrade Economics: 5 Steps to Getting a Better Hotel Room

The Great Recession is changing the established principles of economics. Fortunately for the budget traveler, the laws of the hotel room upgrade are now working in our favor.

It comes down to the basic principles of price discrimination—the practice of charging different prices for the same goods or services to different consumer groups. For the budget traveler in a recession, this translates to “You can stay at a Ritz for Motel 6 prices.”

When luxury hotels can’t fill their rooms, they sell their cheapest to discount travel websites. But with the junior suites empty, sometimes all it takes is a friendly smile and some nice feedback for a frugal traveler get the upgrade of a lifetime. So throw out the Rick Steves book and live in luxury while the recession is still going strong, with these five rules:

1. Book Through a Discount Site

Sidestep.com should become your travel homepage. Spend time on travel meta-search engines and read the reviews. Keep in mind that many hotels have incorrect star ratings, so examine pictures and maps carefully. And this is key: Book a hotel room one or two price levels down from the actual room you really want…

A Slimmed-Down Christmas — But Will It Last?

The chestnuts will still roast; Santa Claus will be just as jolly as ever—but there’s little doubt that the holiday season is different this year. From smaller Christmas trees and fewer extravagant gifts, to an increase emphasis on homemade foods and decorations, millions of families across the country are cutting back on expenses without sacrificing the holiday spirit this year.

It’s too soon to tell whether these back-to-basics holiday rituals will turn into lasting traditions or whether they’re just passing trends that’ll be gone as soon as the economy heats up again. In the meantime, we’ve put together a roundup of what’s different this holiday season.
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Thanksgiving Road-Trip Games

Next week, 38.4 million of us are expected to go “over the hills and through the woods”—or at least to travel by car to a Turkey Day destination. That’s just a slight 1.4 percent uptick from last year. Back then, gas prices were much lower, having fallen off from a high of $4.10 a gallon in the summer of 2008 to around $1.80 by the time Thanksgiving rolled around. But nerves were perhaps also more frayed then, too, as we watched the banking system continue to teeter.

This year, the national average price of gas is about $2.70 a gallon, so we will have to spend more to get to grandfather’s house. Pair that with a continuing climb in the number of people unemployed, and you’d actually think the number of travelers would be even lower.

Either way, as you contemplate the hours you’ll spend on a jam-packed I-95, or wherever you may be, we’d like to bring back the Recession Road-Trip Games we offered up in the summer…

Preparing for the Next Downturn

If there’s one thing we learned from this recession, it’s that economies tend to be cyclical. Stock markets crash and rebound, unemployment rates go up and down, and real estate prices can decrease just as quickly as they increased during the boom years. Unfortunately, there’s very little we can do about it, and an economic downturn is likely to happen again.

With an ounce of prevention, though, there are some things we can all do to put ourselves in a better position the next time around. After all, sudden job losses might not have been so crushing had we all had enough money in savings to carry us through the downturn. And spiking credit card rates might not be quite as big of a deal right now if we hadn’t been carrying such a large debt load prior to the recession’s beginning last fall. If only.

No matter what mistakes we made this time around, it’s never too early to start planning for the next economic crunch. Consider this your emergency survival guide to a solid financial future, no matter what’s happening on Wall Street…

5 Ways the Recession is Good for Your Kids

Some days, you might feel a bit down in the dumps over a lost job or a depleted 401K, but that doesn’t mean your kids may be. In fact, it’s beginning to look like the recession might actually be good for your kids—in the long run, at least. Whereas older generations learned their money lessons from the Great Depression, today’s younger generation is finally getting its chance to see the benefits of frugality and savings up close. Here’s a few more ways that the economic downturn might be benefiting your kids…

Ditch the Downturn, Go to… Zurich

From the picturesque buildings to the awe inspiring landscapes, there is a reason people like Zurich so much. Designer boutiques and culinary treasures lie behind every corner, while world-class ski resorts are just a short ride away. Meanwhile, with the unemployment rate in the U.S. rising to 9.8. percent last month, abandoning the States for a better life overseas may have never sounded like a more rational decision. Of course, picking up and leaving isn’t quite that simple.

Job prospects in many exotic locales are even bleaker than they are in the States, while the benefit from a low cost of living could easily be offset by high taxes or low wages in other cities across Europe…

Saving on Spa Days

Whether you’ve lost your job or you’re struggling to keep the one you still have, there’s no denying it’s a stressful time out there. But even as women cut back on expensive gyms, luxury vacations, and “It” bags, one thing we’re not forsaking is the spa.

According to statistics from the International SPA Association, overall revenues at spas across the country were up last year, even as the total time spent per visit went down. How could that be? It turns out more stressed out women—and men, let’s be honest—are visiting day spas for treatments that take less time, usually 30 minutes or less, than in years past…

A Bad Economy Can Be Good for You

Lost your job? Here’s some good news: Mortality rates are going down, since unemployed workers are less likely to catch illnesses from coworkers or be involved in commuter-related car accidents, and more likely to spend time doing healthy things like exercising in the outdoors and eating at home. That’s definitely an upside. Here’s how the recession is good for your health:

1. No more germy coworkers. Office cubicles can be a cesspool for germs, and with cases of H1N1 on the rise, this may not be such a bad time to be unemployed. Not only that, but unemployed and at-home workers are less likely to take public transportation during rush hour, reducing their chances of catching something during cold and flu season even more.

2. More incentive to quit smoking. With less discretionary income to spend on cigarettes, smoking is becoming a luxury not everyone can afford. In Great Britain, 39 percent of smokers polled said they’re planning to cut down on or quit smoking because of the economic downturn. Meanwhile, Washington State’s Tobacco Quit Line says it experienced a spike in calls during April 2009: 4,221 calls compared to 1,231 during the same time last year…

How to Haggle with Your Doctor

These days, everything’s negotiable – even health care, if you know how the system works. You may be able to negotiate a 20 percent discount or more on costs at the doctor’s office. A few pieces of advice:

Where to start:
Never try to negotiate a medical bill without getting a bit of background information. Read the details of your current or previous insurance plan to get a sense of what will and won’t be covered in your upcoming visit.

It’s also worthwhile to find out what Medicare pays physicians—since it is usually substantially less than what they charge private insurance providers or patients themselves—to perform whatever procedure you’ll need. This will help you determine the bottom floor of what a physician will accept. You can do this by calling the doctor’s office, asking for the procedure’s “CPT code,” and going to the American Medical Association’s CPT search engine to look up the typical payment for that procedure based on where you live. When it comes time to bargain, it’s perfectly reasonable to offer a payment that is 25 percent above the Medicare rate for services…

The Grand Prize? Free Rent

What’s one way to grab the attention of consumers in an overly-crowded market of coupons, deals, and special discounts? Offer up a free place to live.

Shopping sprees and around-the-world trips have apparently become passé when it comes to company-sponsored contests, since an increasing number of businesses are dangling free rent as the grand prize in seemingly-unrelated marketing efforts meant to attract new customers and draw attention to their products.

From discount clothing chains to beverage companies, there doesn’t need to be any connection to the housing market for free—or discounted—rent to be offered as a prize. Need proof, or just a place to stay? We’ve gathered up a handful of contests to prove our point…