Black Friday and Cyber Monday Tips 2012

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are only a few days away!!! Who else is counting down the minutes with me?! Even if you are not into the electronic deals out there, there are some great travel deals to be had! My assumption is if you are reading this blog, you love a good travel deal (I know I do)! For the in-store tangible deals, you will receive a slew of circulars in tomorrow’s newspaper. Unfortunately, this is not the case with the travel deals (maybe one day, I hope)! So… where do you find these deals, and how do you know when they are available. Also, are these the best deals to be had?

Some tips to find the best travel deals during Black Friday and Cyber Monday:

1. Check out Deals We Like blog and twitter feed. I know that is self-promoting, but I will be constantly tweeting with the travel deals I find during this period. Make sure to follow me on twitter. Each day I will also compile all the travel deals I find in a blog post. Make sure to check out my previous Black Friday/Cyber Monday posts as well:
1. Reminder: Make Sure to Register for Small Business Saturday!
2. Black Friday and Cyber Monday Travel Deals
3. Black Friday and Cyber Monday Hotel Deals
2. Check out the Black Friday tab on this blog. I have a full page dedicated to the Black Friday deals that I am updating whenever a new “Black Friday” related post is written. This will help you locate all the Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals in one page and you do not have to sift through this site.
3. Read your emails! Many of the companies will be spamming your email box with many of the Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals.
4. Use social media. On Facebook and Twitter make sure to friend or follow the companies you are most interested in. Many of the travel companies will be using social media to promote their deals and have hourly promotion blasts.
5. Do your research in advance. Many of the promotions can be found prior to them being available. While the actual rate or cost might not be available, you can still get an idea of the price range. Decide in advance what you are looking for as many deals will be available for a limited time only and not give you much time to go back and forth with your decision.
6. Research other rates available. Remember that the Black Friday and Cyber Monday rates (specifically at hotels) might not be the best ones available. There are sometimes lower rates using other codes (i.e., corporate rates, AAA, etc.). Sometimes the promotional packages also include other stuff you simply do not want increasing the rate.
7. Google is your best friend. Just Googling “Black Friday Travel Deals” or “Cyber Monday Travel Deals” will pull up many news articles detailing out travel deals. Just make sure to read the ones for 2012 and not 2011!
8. Know which credit card gets you the best points. Many credit cards (as I am sure you are aware) have different bonuses as various merchants.
1. Discover More credit card: 5% cash back for online shopping purchases and department stores (Macy’s, Bloomingdales, Nordstroms, etc.) *up to $1,500 spend for the quarter
2. Chase Freedom: 5x points at Best Buy and Kohl’s *up to $1,500 spend for the quarter
3. Chase Ink Bold and Chase Ink Plus: 5x points at office supply stores (Office Depot, Staples, Office Max, etc.)
9. If you shop online use an online shopping portal. If you make any purchases online, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE go through one of the online shopping portals where you will earn extra points or cash back for the purchase you were going to make anyways. I personally like Chase Ultimate Rewards shopping portal for bonus points and TopCashBack.com for cash back. Make sure to check out a few of them to see which shopping portal offers the most points for the merchant.

Enjoy the various deals over the next week!