Skip to main content

The Internet way to do your Spring Break vacation on the cheap

budget vacationWhether you’re a student or you’re just taking a conveniently timed vacation, it’s Spring Break season. That might mean jello shots off of strangers’ bodies or relaxing by a placid lake with a Jodi Picoult book, your trip will be all the more enjoyable if you find solid deals.

Here are a few different apps and online services you should check out to secure the best bargains for your Spring Break.

Recommended Videos

Places to crash

You can find a comfy place to lay your head no matter what your budget looks like. Hotels are nice, but sometimes you want something a little less formal – and a little less expensive. 

If you’d rather immerse yourself in the life of a local, check out Airbnb. People list their apartments or extra properties, so you can get a whole pad to yourself or stay with someone from the area. Places range from elaborate (a refurbished airplane in Costa Rica) to modest (spare rooms for $30 in NYC). But no matter how much you spend or where you go, Airbnb will give you an experience decidedly more unique than a run-of-the-mill hotel.

airbnb caboIf you really want to travel on the cheap and connect with locals, try Couchsurfing. It’s a digital community that connects travelers with places to stay and people to meet when they go new places. You don’t have to pay to stay with people using this service, though it’s understood that you will maintain a friendly relationship during your stay. If you don’t mind throwing your pillow on a total stranger’s couch, this is the most affordable way to go. And it might sound creepy, but most people have very positive experiences with the service – you have to be verified to use it, and you’re more likely to deal with a stray pet ferret or an overwhelming patchouli odor than anything really hazardous.

Planes, trains, and or automobiles

Unless you’ve wisely chosen a tropical locale as your year-round home, you will probably have to travel to get to your Spring Break destination of choice.

If you’re going to fly, Hipmunk is a great resource for finding the best deal. There are a lot of sites that are supposed to show you all of the cheapest deals from a variety of airlines, but Hipmunk has a much cleaner design and doesn’t inundate you with pop-ups. You can even sync your flight schedule with Google Calender or set a fare alert.

Even with Hipmunk,  shelling out for a flight gets pricy. If you’re within a drive of your destination, you can find a cheaper, slightly funkier alternate route someplace else:

Craigslist is a little shady if you want to find dates or roommates, but for a ride share, it’s a fairly reliable source of people with seats in their cars. Just make sure to tell lots of people where you’re going and keep aware of your surroundings.

Megabus sometimes offers outstanding deals if you’re traveling in certain parts of the U.S., with “dollar seats” occasionally going up for sale. If you are traveling during the peak time of spring break, though, prices may be jacked up.

If you go to San Francisco or LA, check out ride sharing service Lyft instead of taking cabs. It made a splash at SXSW by offering piggyback rides, but it’s a ride sharing app with a lot of potential.

ridejoy appSidecar is a similar service with a few more western cities on the roster, so it’s worth checking out as well – just watch out in Philadelphia, where Sidecar is running into trouble with the law.

If you’re planning to criss-cross the country, give Ridejoy a look. The app hooks you up with potential road trip companions to ease the price of gas, as well as the loneliness of the road. 

Social deals

You might think of Groupon as more of an at-home resource, but it’s very helpful for traveling, too. It partnered with Expedia to create an entire “Getaways” section that you can scour to find a vacation package that will work for you, which means you won’t have to deal with transportation or accommodation. Or you can just use Groupon to slice dollars off your dining and other activities.

groupon getaways
Image used with permission by copyright holder

You can get a good deal if you’re traveling as a group by checking out travel package sites like STA Travel. They specialize in youth travel, and they offer discounts for students, health insurance, global cell phones and other amenities. If you’re nervous about going to a new place, signing up with a service like this will give you some hand-holding to make it less scary.

If you want a classic wet-and-wild spring break extravaganza, god have mercy on your soul, but also, find out where you want to go and then look up their college- aged travel companies. For example, Puerto Vallarta has Wild Side Travel, which lays out an entire vodka-and-regrets-fueled travel roster for you and yours.

And if you want something much more upscale and grown-up, check out Jetsetter, which offers higher-end flash travel deals. Instead of bumping clubs, you get boutique spas — and they have a “Spring Fling” section especially for posh spring break getaways.

Kate Knibbs
Former Contributor
Kate Knibbs is a writer from Chicago. She is very happy that her borderline-unhealthy Internet habits are rewarded with a…
Save up to 30% on this Joe Manganiello endorsed robot pool cleaner
man relaxing while beatbot cleans his pool

Summer is almost here and if your pool is still being cleaned like it’s 1995, it’s time for a change. Right now through May 31, Beatbot is offering up to $820 off the AquaSense 2 Series, along with a 3-year full replacement warranty that practically screams "peace of mind."

Whether you fancy spotless walls, leaf-free water, or just fewer hours holding a skimmer pole, the AquaSense 2 Series is an AI-powered lineup that will take on your deep end with ease. Super-Man actor, Joe Manganiello, mentioned the AquaSense 2 Ultra is, “sleek, quiet, and way better at cleaning than I ever was.”

Read more
Nanoleaf reveals two gorgeous new smart lights for your home and garden
Nanoleaf Rope Light above a couch

Nanoleaf is one of the biggest names in smart lights, offering a variety of bulbs, panels, and even a unique skylight with support for over 16 million colors. That lineup is expanding today with the launch of the Nanoleaf Rope Light and Nanoleaf Solar Garden Light -- two striking new products that look like an excellent way to bring a pop of color into your home.

The Nanoleaf Solar Garden Light is arguably the most exciting of the two, as the company hasn’t ventured into the outdoor space too often. Sold as a two-pack for $50, the Garden Light is Nanoleaf’s first-ever solar-powered lighting solution. Built with an IP65 weatherproof rating, eight LED branches that splay out from a central stem, a built-in daylight sensor to toggle the lights on and off, and support for a variety of RGB colors plus tunable whites, it should make a fun companion for most outdoor spaces.

Read more
Amazon Memorial Day sale 2025: The 35 best tech deals
Apple MacBook Air 13 M4 front angled view showing display and keyboard.

The Amazon Memorial Day sale is already up and running, which means there are some amazing discounts available for all kinds of tech products. Whether you're looking for upgrades to your home entertainment setup, additions to your arsenal of mobile gadgets, or devices that will simply make life easier, there's surely something for you from the retailer's Memorial Day deals this year.

There's a chance that you get overwhelmed with the sheer number of offers from Amazon though. To help you decide what to buy, we've gathered the 35 best tech deals that we've found below. Read on and see if anything catches your eye, but you shouldn't take up too much time because we're not sure how much longer stocks will last for these products. It won't be a good idea to wait until the final minutes of the holiday before you make your purchases -- proceed with your transactions from Amazon's Memorial Day sale as soon as you can.

Read more