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How I saved $600 on my dress and trip to a destination wedding

In the old days, this blogger would have booked a fairly expensive round-trip airfare, stayed in a hotel with a continental breakfast, rented a car from a place like Avis or Enterprise, and spent way too much money on a dress. But this is the future.

I just got back from my cousin's wedding in Lake Arrowhead, Calif., where I聽had a great weekend with family I聽don't see often enough, then extended the trip a few days to visit friends in L.A., and I didn't spend a fortune to do it.

In the old days (and by "old" I mean five聽years ago) I would have booked a fairly聽expensive round-trip聽airfare, stayed in a hotel with a continental breakfast, rented a car from a place like聽听辞谤听, and spent way too much money on a dress that I likely would never have occasion to wear again.

If I'd done it the old way, this trip would have cost me $1,768. Thankfully, we live in the future, and in the future I used air miles, Turo, Airbnb and UberX to shave 42聽percent聽off that total - and I did it while wearing a sparkly designer dress from Rent the Runway. Huzzah!

Here's how I did it.

Airfare: In on American, out on United

Ontario, CA was the nearest airport to Lake Arrowhead, but聽I didn't have enough AAdvantage points to get me there. I opted to fly in and out of Burbank instead, which worked out well since聽I was planning to extend my trip by a few days anyway to visit friends who mostly live in or near that part of town.

I was just shy of the 12,500 miles I needed to get a one way ticket to Burbank鈥攃onnecting in Phoenix, because of course it does鈥攕o I topped off my account聽before booking the ticket. My cost for this leg ended up being $125.14, the cost after fees for the 3,000 AAdvantage miles I needed to qualify for a MileSAAver聽ticket, plus $5.60 to actually book it, for a total of $130.74.

Since I was paying full fare for the return trip, I opted for the cheapest flight to Chicago out of Burbank. That ended up being a United fare聽with a connection in San Francisco for $255.60.

Altogether聽I paid a total of $386.34 on airfare.

So how much would this trip have cost me without the miles? Let's assume that I flew United round trip, and that fare was聽simply the same as two聽1-way fares. That rings up at about $510.

Yes, flying in and out of LAX on a bargain airline like Spirit would have been cheaper - but it was also a lot less convenient to Lake Arrowhead and North Hollywood, where I planned to spend most of my聽time. And by the way, if you ever have the opportunity to聽fly into Burbank, take it.聽It's tiny and quiet and totally worth it to avoid the craziness of LAX. The place is a true gem.

Total聽saved: $123.66

Car Rental: Turo

Once I landed in Burbank, I would need a rental car to drive the 2-3 hours (traffic depending) to Lake Arrowhead.聽I was pretty shocked by the prices quoted by traditional car rental outfits, $350 on the low end for 5聽days with an聽ultra-basic economy-sized roller skate of a car. Yikes.

贰苍迟别谤听, formerly known as RelayRides. For roughly half the cost, I聽reserved a 2011 Volkswagen Jetta from a guy named Lee. When I needed to add an extra day to my reservation it wasn't a big deal, and it still came cheaper than a shorter trip through traditional car rental. The cost of renting a nice car through Turo聽was聽only cost $225 for a 6 day trip, and it included curbside pickup at the airport. The same six day trip through聽聽would have cost me roughly $400, or more if I wasn't able to pay in advance.

Total Saved: $175

Dress Rental: Rent the Runway

The wedding invitation indicated semi-formal attire. I have no need to own a semi-formal dress, so buying one seemed silly when I could rent something utterly fabulous from聽聽instead. After poring over a ton of user photos and sizing notes, I reserved聽a sparkly black and blue Badgley Mishka skater dress that I could never, ever justify buying in real life but which only cost $75 for a four-day rental.

When Dad heard about it, he聽thought that Mom might like to give it a try as well. She's famously picky about dresses, and we thought that maybe trying on something that was high聽quality and well structured would be a good way to go.聽We weren't ever going to convince her to rent a dress聽she'd never tried on, so the online route was out of the question, but Rent the Runway has a showroom in downtown Chicago, and she agreed to humor us.

Trying on dresses at the showroom聽was a bit like a bridal shop鈥攖hey probably don't have your size in the store, but you try on something pretty close to get an idea, then order the size you need. The聽girl attending us聽brought聽dresses for Mom to try in addition to the ones she picked out for herself. Ultimately,聽she chose a summery bright pink sleeveless dress with a structured bodice. It was a perfect fit and she seemed to like it (victory!) I loved it, and Dad gave it a thumbs up. We sent a photo to my cousin, the bride, for a third opinion, and she loved it too.聽Mission accomplished.

The showroom didn't have my black and blue dress in store, but they let me try on a different sparkly Badgley Mishka聽to confirm that I'd reserved聽the right size and assured me that their sizing was consistent across dresses.聽Putting it on, I immediately wondered why there wasn't a bottle of champagne in my hand. I was feeling fabulous and ready to party, right there, on the spot.

After some anxiety about whether or not the dress would come in time and worrying some more about whether or not it would fit,聽everything ended up being perfect.

On Saturday,聽the day after the wedding, we found聽a UPS drop box in Lake Arrowhead, and that was that.

Did I actually save money on this?聽Probably not. It's not like I was going to spend $465聽on a brand new Badgley Mishka dress if I couldn't rent it. What I actually would have done is spend $75-$100 on a dress from a less glamorous聽label at聽,聽which聽I would then own and聽likely never wear again. I'll call this one money well spent, but more or less a聽wash. Think of it more as an upgrade.

Total聽Saved: $0聽

Being a Tourist: Gas Money, Meals, and a Souvenir聽Coffee聽Mug

The original plan was to meet up with聽one of my best friends and escape to聽聽for the day. A 1-day Park Hopper costs $160 on a week day.聽Those plans fell through, though, and I was left to聽my own devices.

I opted to spend one聽afternoon at the聽聽up in Malibu. It was beyond gorgeous, and I'm kicking myself that I hadn't visited on earlier trips. The collection of ancient Greek and Roman art is superb. I felt very elegant exploring the grounds.聽Reservations are required, but admission is free. On the way back to the聽city, I pulled off the highway to dip my toes in the ocean. That was free, too. It was a glorious day that only cost me gas money and meals.

Another day I decided to hit the聽聽to see the space shuttle Endeavour.聽Admission is free here as well, though reservations are required for the space shuttle and there is a $1 processing fee. Being a nerd of precisely this variety, I picked up a $12 NASA space shuttle coffee mug at the gift shop聽the museum had set up under the shuttle's nose.

While skipping Disneyland may have been unintentional, replacing it with free activities when plans fell through saved me a bundle.

Total聽saved: $147 + untold gas money to and from Anaheim

Accommodations: Airbnb

Since didn't stay聽with my local friends, I needed to find accommodations of my own after the wedding party dispersed. There's a guesthouse I rented once up in the Hollywood Hills that I聽loved, but it wasn't in my budget this time around, and it seemed wiser to stay relatively close to聽the airport in Burbank anyway. Besides,聽聽in Burbank is pretty cheap compared to聽more glamorous parts of L.A., and I ended up closer to my friends just over the town line聽in North Hollywood. Bonus:聽Staying in Burbank meant I was perfectly positioned for a trip to Porto's. NOM.

I've used Airbnb all over the world and had some really great experiences with it, but聽I have to admit that going cheap on this one might have been a mistake. I wasn't crazy about my little room at the back of a house with some serious聽hoarder-level yard tchotchkies聽that looked like the opening scene for a horror movie. It worked out fine though, and I easily could have chosen a different place聽for about the same price, so I'll blame myself and not Airbnb for that.聽After cleaning and service fees ended up costing $308.

I honestly did not even bother looking up hotel rates when I was booking, so I'm not 100%聽sure what it would聽have cost in June. But 3 nights in mid-July at a 3-star hotel in Burbank starts at $188 per night through聽.聽July travel to L.A. is super cheap in general and June was not, let's estimate聽it at roughly $200/night for a grand total of $600.

罢辞迟补濒听厂补惫别诲:听$292

A Cab to the Airport: UberX

Since I returned the Jetta to Lee the night before my flight home, I needed a taxi to get to the airport.聽My聽Airbnb was聽pretty close to the NoHo Arts District, and聽聽tells me that a cab from there to Bob Hope Airport聽should run about $23. I went with聽聽instead and caught a ride in a bright green Kia Soul for聽$5.86.

Total聽Saved: $17.14

My Key Takeaways

In the end, I paid $1,013 for a聽trip that should have cost $1,768 by聽using air miles, staying in an Airbnb instead of a hotel, renting a car from a local family instead of a corporate rental agency, and taking advantage of free admission to some pretty cool attractions. So what can you learn from聽my cost-cutting trip?

• Do your research.聽I don't just mean聽comparing prices.聽There are good Airbnbs and bad ones.聽Read the reviews, look for verified listings, and book a superhost if you can. The same goes for Turo.
• Book聽off the beaten path.聽Burbank isn't聽at the top of anyone's list of cool places to stay, but it was definitely cheaper than Santa Monica and incredibly convenient to a great secondary airport.
• Check out free stuff to do wherever you're going.聽Los Angeles isn't exactly cheap, but there are plenty of free attractions once you're there. Get the Walk of Fame and Universal Studios out of your system if you must, but the聽Getty Villa is world class and free.
• Level up your wedding wardrobe.聽Be honest, you're not likely to wear that dress you bought for your cousin's wedding ever again, so why not spend the money to rent something spectacular instead?

This story originally appeared on .