Saturday, April 27, 2013

Vacation #1 planned!

In previous years, I've submitted my full vacation requests in at work and have most of the things figured out no later than March. I'm not sure what it is about planning, but when it comes to vacations, but I don't like leaving anything to chance and the sooner it is settled, the better. Here we are, almost May, and I didn't have anything planned, so I decided to do some looking around.

(Lena, I have you to blame thanks for this idea!)

Dave Matthews Band is having a concert on 7/26 at VA Beach (3hr drive south), so I thought, heck, why not try that? I've never really been on a concert like this (i.e., not suit'n'tie, and last one was over 15-20yrs ago!), and I have never booked anything. So off the search went. It started up like this:

- Ticket in front section, back seats: $287 after fees not including $25 shipping. (Do they come in gold envelopes?)
- Hotel room: $251/ni for 2 nights from Econolodge. Econolodge is banned by our traveling employees due to their consistent bad quality. Next cheapest: $299 for a 2-star motel. But hey, I wasn't going to be picky in my first concert! Prices were so high due to season and other events.
Total cost for all: $800+
HAHA. Yeah, no. Let's remember my traveling budget for the entire year is $1k. 

I wasn't ready to ditch the idea just yet. I did more searching, and this came up:

- Ticket in second-level section, 3 rows back: $89 with free standard shipping. Tried from a different direct vendor and got these tickets. Ok, I can do this. 
- Hotel room: $78/ni, total $189 after fees at Hilton's through Priceline. This is definitely better! The hotel is half hour away, but I'm used to driving a lot longer from A to B! Even through the actual hotel's link, the price per room was $149, so I'm getting them almost half price. Thanks, Negotiator!
Total cost for all: $278.84! That I can totally do. So it's all booked. It only utilizes 1 of 10 vacation day, but I'm happy to have something to look forward to.

It's also close to the beach, and although I'm/ I used to be/ I'm not sure if I still am hydrophobic, I'd like to try this beach deal. I haven't owned a bathing suit in the past 12 years...

All in all, I'm glad I persisted and found such significant reductions. And all within reasonable budget.

21 comments:

  1. Sounds like a fun vaycay! Dave Matthews puts on a really good show!

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    1. Glad to hear that. I know nothing about these concerts.

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  2. Fun! I haven't been to a concert in a long time.

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  3. Way to go!! Great job making that affordable for you to do!! :) Exciting!

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    1. I was actually surprised I could bring the price down. Considering the venue, band and dates, I was surprised the hotel prices weren't higher!

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  4. Wohoo!! I so would love to join you for this concert :) And you got some awesome deals too! My pictures might be deceiving but we were pretty far away from the stage, and it was still awesome!

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    1. I kept wondering how close/far you were from the stage. Though I figure, if I can see them, that'd be good enough and next time I'll have a better idea about seating arrangements. The amphitheater has a 100-level, 200-level and 300-level plus lawn. I'm at 200-level, 3rd row, so maybe it wont be that bad!

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  5. I am from Va. Bch!
    Email me privately Tanner with where you are staying and I might be able to give you some tips, ideas, other things to do/avoid.
    I'm assuming the concert is at the Amphitheater?

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  6. Great job on finding a good deal!

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  7. A vacation for under $300? ...including a great concert?? Wowzers! Yes I know it's a quickie but you are going to have so much fun!!! Can't wait to see how you spend your other $700 vacay dollars!

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    1. Coming from you that makes me even more excited, haha. Didn't think I had done that well, but glad to hear it is acceptable! Thanks!

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  8. Tanner! What a great deal you got! Good for you!!

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  9. I'm like you, I plan vacations early and need to have something planned to look forward too. I think planning the vacation is all part of the fun and I love researching fun inexpensive things to do.
    I promised myself I wouldn't book another vacation until my student loans were paid off. But I'm itching to book something. I keep looking at all the travel sites. I kind of want to take the girls to Disney in January 2014 but Disney doesn't put up there package prices until July or August. Very Frustrating and in fact is the reason we didn't go this past January. I got tired of waiting to book the trip so I ended up booking a cruise instead!

    Have fun! Enjoy the beach even if you don't get in the water. I like to just sit and watch the waves. I don't really like the salt water on me.

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    1. I'm glad I'm not alone on needing to have these things planned. Though I appreciate the spontaneity of doing random things, I really need to have at least a good idea.

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  10. That sounds like a GREAT vacation, & good for you for getting such good deals! Dave Matthews Band + VA beach = TOTALLY jealous of you!

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  11. PS - I *LOVE* water so I will totally go in your place, if you'd like :)

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    1. If you can keep the water and I go to the concert, deal!

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  12. You did an awesome job finding a deal! I *love* planning vacations, and always have to have something on the calendar to look forward to. I have our next year planned out. :-) Part of it is necessary to coordinate work schedules & kids school closures, but mostly I just enjoy it.

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    1. I sometimes enjoy the planning as much as the vacation. I'm weird like that!

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  13. That is a great deal and I am sure you will have a great time.

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