Sometimes I randomly check airfare and hotels in certain destinations just to see what the prices are like and occasionally I find a great deal.  I often find better deals during the summer to places that are hot – like Phoenix, Austin, Las Vegas or Palm Springs.  Steve and I really weren’t planning to go anywhere during the month of August, which is always a pretty miserable time of year in Texas.  August is unbearably hot and humid so we end up spending most of time inside at work or inside at home.  We don’t have a swimming pool so we just hunker down and stay inside with the shades drawn like lizards.

However, in searching around recently I found crazy cheap tickets on Southwest Airlines to Austin, Texas and some great hotel rates at the Four Seasons there as well.  The Four Seasons Austin is located right on Town Lake in downtown and has a beautiful spa and access to the hike/bike trails.  Yes, it will be crazy hot in Austin which is why we plan to spend time at the hotel pool and spa that weekend.  The hotel rates are usually well over $600 a night for a basic room but they were offering a special of $399 and with a daily $100 credit that could be applied to any food, drink or spa services as well.

The airfare was less than $150 per person roundtrip so it made the weekend relatively affordable.

Our plan is to stop by a few of our old favorite Austin restaurants and bars and relax at the hotel for a long, hot weekend.  Hopefully we can chow down on some really good Central Texas BBQ and Mexican food.

I’ve been hoping for a short weekend getaway over New Years as well but so far no luck anywhere!  Airfare is high, even to nearby cities, and most hotels are showing no availability or they have minimum 5+ day stay requirements or they are just crazy expensive.

On a similar note, I just started looking at airfare for our spring 2018 which just opened up and couldn’t get over how expensive airfare to Europe was during March and April.  I started running a few random searches and suddenly up popped a crazy cheap business class airfare from Dallas to the Virgin Islands.  It was less than what I usually pay for economy class tickets to the USVI so I went ahead and pounced on it.  It was most definitely not what we were originally thinking we would do next Spring but it was just too good to pass up.  I try not to get too fixated on one destination because you never know what may be a better deal in the end. So, next Spring we will be spending 8 days in the U.S. Virgin Islands and British Virgin Islands – most likely St. John, USVI and perhaps Peter Island Resort, Guana Island or Virgin Gorda.