Cabin fever closing in? Get away to a warm beach without draining your savings account.
One way to minimize your expenses is to swap your home for someone else's. At Holi-Swaps, you'll find a Vero Beach, Fla., resident who's looking to trade her five-bedroom home with a pool, just steps from the beach, for spring vacation in a ski area up north. At SunSwap House Swapping and Vacation Home Exchange Service, the Pink House, in the British Virgin Islands, which rents for $1,900 a week in season, is available for a free swap if you can tempt the adventurous owners with your home.
To get where you want to go and collect frequent flyer miles, check out the Web site of your favorite airline. A recent search of discount sites for early March flights from Chicago to San Juan, Puerto Rico, found $314.35 for round trip on TWA at lowestfare.com, and a $338 quote from American Trans Air at Cheap Tickets. Delay your preparations and you might find a deal at LastMinuteTravel.com.
With a cruise, one price covers most of your expenses. Over at CruiseWeb, you can find a four-day Royal Caribbean Mexican Baja cruise departing Los Angeles in February or March for only $399. And luxury Windstar Cruises is offering two-for-one specials on some of its weeklong Caribbean cruises aboard its yacht-like motor sailing ships.
Or spend spring break at ground zero in the family-friendly Ocean Wave Hotel and Apartments, just a block from the beach in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Superior Efficiencies and Deluxe Suites are $125-150 a day during March and April. With complete kitchen facilities in the rooms, you can save on meals.
