I have been quite busy this last month or so with Planning fall trips to both Texas and Hawaii and working extra shifts at my part time job to earn some travel money. While distracted by all of this, I forgot to make reservations for Labor Day weekend. I haven’t been to the beach all summer! I did do one thing right. I managed to keep the whole three day weekend free from work, or any other kinds of outside plans.
Labor Day is already High Season in the Traverse City area in Michigan, so the rates are ridiculously high. Add in me waiting too long to make plans and now most places are booked. Ugh! Even all the tiny houses I love at the RV Resort and AirbNb’s are booked. Here’s the thing, I only need a room for some place to sleep. I don’t plan on being in it at all really.
I am not giving up hope though as I still have a few options
The Holiday Inn Express & Suites – Acme Michigan still has a few rooms left at $275 (normally about $95) a night or 40,000 IHG points. This is a pretty basic hotel and is located on the opposite side of TC that I want to visit. It doesn’t feel like a 40,000 points hotel IHG! They do offer a points plus cash option at 20,000 points + $139 per night.
I was also looking at the Dallas hotel we want to stay at in September. The plan was to use an IHG Reward night for 20,000 points to save some money on that trip. I have not booked the room yet so I checked out the rates. We could actually get a room there with breakfast for $106 for that night. I could choose to pay for that night instead of using points which would free those 20,000 points up. I could use them in Traverse City instead (I am hoarding my IHG points for Europe next year) and give us breakfast which wasn’t included with the room as a Reward Night. Although the cost savings from reversing these plans wouldn’t be that much (only about $30), the Dallas stay should then count as a September purchase toward the next IHG Accelerate Rewards Promotion.
Another possibility is that I should be getting my IHG Free Anniversary Night certificate any day now. That would cover a 40,000 points free night at the Holiday Inn Express Acme. But what if those last few rooms book up before it comes? Yikes!
There is also a little motel, The M-22 Inn, which is near my favorite beach. No frills, no amenities, but the perfect location. Walking distance to the cute little village of Glen Arbor. However they require a 2 night minimum stay at $179 per night.
We could roll the dice and show up without reservations and see what kind of last minute deals we can find. Hotels want to be full and may have lower rates on site to fill those last rooms. This is a huge risk though which could backfire and end up being very stressful trying to track down an available room with a good price.
Final Thoughts
First we weren’t really sure what we wanted to do and then I lost track of the plan along the way. I knew it was a holiday weekend during high season which meant higher prices and lower availability. At least I still have a few viable options, but I am still kicking myself for not having made our plans earlier. Lesson learned!
Plan better next year!!!
The World According to Dev 