Wouldn’t you rather be here?

We have all heard about Travelocity, Priceline, and various other sites with traveling deals. What we do not think about is how we can now use social media tools to acquire deals. I have been talking to all of my friends who are looking for new places to travel for some warm sunny weather.

I personally cannot wait to get in my new bikini and go to my family’s resort, Reef Village, in Belize for a week in March. I have been on a perfect bikini search, which led me to internet exploration, and I found on Mashable, by Erica Swallow, these 5 ways to find travel deals through social media, which include:

1. Twitter deals

“For starters, follow — or make a Twitter list of — the airlines you often fly and the hotels you often book.Wanderlisting is a great resource for finding not only airlines and hotels on Twitter, but also travel bloggers, publications and tips. Just a heads-up, JetBlue and Virgin Atlantic are known to tweet out some pretty sweet deals, too.

Also consider following aggregators that focus on tweeting out the latest travel deals. Two well-cited resources are @airfarewatchdog and @cheapestairfare. For city-specific alerts, you can also check out Fly.com’s Twitter list of city accounts.”

2. Facebook for loyalty-reward programs

“Facebook does come in handy when you’re a member of a hotel or airline’s loyalty membership program. If you are a Hilton HHonors member or Starwood Preferred Guest, for example, it’s a great idea to “like” the program’s Facebook Page and sit back while offers roll in.”

3. Get Social Recommendations

“Check out the latest on the block, Trippy. It lets you get your friends’ recommendations for places to visit and things to do when you’re planning a trip. After all, it’s great to get a recommendation from a friend who has already traveled the road you’re about to take. Once a trip is planned, the user can even check rates or book the trip right from Trippy’s platform.”

4. Forums Still Count

“For all the latest news and gossip regarding loyalty reward programs and travel deals, check out FlyerTalk, which deems itself “the world’s most popular frequent flyer community.” This savvy group of travelers will have you snatching up great deals in no time.”

5. Last-Minute Lodging Deals

“If you fly by the seat of your pants and have arrived in your destination city without a place to stay, there are a number of options for booking last-minute lodging. For starters, check out HotelTonight, an app that enables you to book a room at discounts of up to 70%.

Likewise, you could try using Airbnb’s iPhone app, which has a button appropriately labeled “Help! I need a place tonight!” You could also try the standby feature if you can’t find an Airbnb spot — this prompts local homeowners to send offers your way, usually at lower rates than they usually charge.

And lastly, don’t forget Foursquare. While it’s unlikely that you’ll find discounted hotel prices, you could discover some other sweet perks. I did a quick search for on Foursquare for hotels within 10 miles, and I found a special for 1,000 Priority Club Rewards Bonus Points for checking in three times at the Crowne Plaza in Times Square. For the right person, loyalty points could be a better deal than a discounted bill. Not too shabby, right?”

These are great resources for wherever you are traveling, and can save you some serious cash if you put them to use. And don’t worry I didn’t forget…my perfect swimsuit quest led me to this…ta ti ta daaaaa…this little gem!