This year, I took a vacation during the week of my birthday, and it was a positive experience for many reasons:
1. I saved a bunch of money!
I am lucky and my birthday falls in the springtime. I booked a flight to Daytona Beach, Florida for the first week of April. I was able to score a hotel for 4 days/3 nights and a round-trip flight for less than $500 total (AFTER tax!)
It's usually less expensive to travel in the "off" season. So for Florida, or warmer climates, fall, winter, and early spring can get you great deals, if you don't mind a little less "tropical" weather.
I used Skyscanner to find which flights would yield the least expensive tickets. (Sometimes, booking two separate one-way trips, is less expensive than booking one round-trip flight)
I use Kayak to compare the most popular travel sites (such as Expedia, Orbitz, Priceline, etc...) and also to find a good hotel deal (or at least a ballpark for a per-night rate in the area you're staying in). I ended up booking via Orbitz, and using Ebates to get some cash back on the deal (more on Ebates later). I used Google and Yelp to look at reviews of possible hotels I could stay at.
2. I ate for free.
Since it was my birthday week, I keep accounts with some of my favorite restaurants, and get free stuff during the month of my birthday. (Some places let you sign up in the month before your birthday and will still send you something, and some send you something just for signing up!) I have to shout out Joe's Crab Shack, I got a free appetizer for signing up, and one for my birthday. I had so much food between my appetizer and the entree I got, I took food back to the hotel, and ate it later that night. They have some pretty entertaining cocktails, as well.
I recommend using Google Maps to find restaurants near where you're staying, and then signing up for their loyalty programs. Bonus tip: create a spare email to route all of your emails that you use for promotional uses only, so that it doesn't clutter up your personal (or work) email.
3. I beat the crowds.
This may be dependent on where you choose to go, but I know that Daytona Beach is a pretty popular destination spot during certain times of the year. There's Bike Week, Spring Break, Cheer and Dance Competitions, etc... I got pretty lucky and was only there during the Cheer and Dance competition week, and it didn't really affect my trip at all. There was an entire Cheerleading team in the same hotel as me and I had no idea until the day that they checked out and were loading onto their bus in front of the hotel.
Point of this post: travel close to your birthday because it's FUN, you DESERVE it, and you could save some serious $$$!
*I do not get paid to mention any of the websites I have mentioned. I actually use these sites to help me save money and plan my trips. If you sign up for Ebates by clicking my link, I will get a referral credit.
