OK, I’ll admit up front that this article is not about a "Day Trip". But I am always looking for ways to save some money, especially on vacation, and I thought that I would share this with our readers.

Entertainment Publications, Inc. makes a San Juan edition of their famous Entertainment Book, which is filled with 50% discount coupons for restaurants and attractions across Puerto Rico.

Personally, I find many restaurants on the island to be a little "pricey", but I really do enjoy going out for a meal. So, we always buy an Entertainment Book and then we are able to enjoy many meals out, and save some money at the same time. The way we figure, if we use 2 or 3 coupons we’ve covered the cost of the book and then the rest is just savings!

They only publish one book for Puerto Rico, it is called the San Juan edition, but it includes restaurant, stores and entertainment places all around the island. The coupons and offers in this book are valid from right now until October 1, 2009 (at which point the 2010 edition will be available).

What is an Entertainment Book?

If you’re not familiar with the Entertainment Books, here’s a brief primer. The book contains discount coupons for all kinds of restaurants, shopping, activities and services. Most of the discounts are buy one, get one discounts, for example, buy one meal, and get a second one of lesser or equal value for free. Most of the coupons are the tear-out variety. The coupons for the more expensive restaurants come in the form of a plastic card that you use when you pay your bill. The books usually have a number of sections, broken down by the the type of establishment. I’ll go through each of those below.

Fine Dining

The first section contains the more "fancy" restaurants. These restaurants offer buy one meal and get one free (up to a certain dollar limit) discounts. There is a sample menu for each restaurant (with prices) so you can decide if the menu looks good before you go. You need to present your registered "Entertainment Book card" when you go to pay for your meal, and they’ll apply the discount to your check. We have made a note on our restaurants page for some of the restaurants that have a coupon is in the 2009 book. Some samples from the over 70 restaurants listed in this section include

• Rio Mar Grill Room at Wyndham Rio Mar Resort- save up to $40
• Isabela’s at El Conquistador Resort – save up to $36
• La Piccola Fontana at El San Juan Hotel – save up to $32
• Ajili-mojili in the Condado – save up to $22
   

Casual & Family Dining

The second section is for casual and family dining restaurants. There are tear out coupons for these places, and their offers are usually buy one get one free (again, up to a limit). In this section, you’ll find places like Pizza Hut and Senor Frogs, and even some real nice places like El Picoteo at El Convento in Old San Juan! There are over 40 restaurants in this section.

Fast Food & Carryout

The third section is for fast food and carryout, like Baskin Robins, Burger King and Sbarro. Usually buy one get one free. There are over 60 eateries in this section.

Entertainment & Sports

The fourth section contains the Sports and Entertainment coupons. Night clubs, bowling, skating rinks, Chuck E Cheese, movie tickets, and even banana boat rides. Many of these activities were mentioned in our things to do with kids article. We have indicated attractions in that article that offer an Entertainment Book coupon.

• Beach Cats in Santurce – buy one, get one Windsurfing lesson
• Rio Mar Country Club – buy one, get one Round of Golf
   

Travel & Hotels

The fifth section contains coupons for world wide travel – hotel discounts and car rental coupons that can be used everywhere. We just recently used a coupon from our Puerto Rico Entertainment Book for a car rental in Florida!

• Hotels.com and Orbitz – hotel and travel discounts
• Avis, Budget, Enterprise, Alamo, National, Hertz – car rental discounts good both here in Puerto Rico and in the States
   

Shopping & Services

The final sections contain store coupons for shopping (Borders, Home Depot, Bakers Shoes, etc.) and services (spas, cyber-cafes, etc.) in Puerto Rico, which typically offer a percentage discount off of your purchase.

• CyberNet Cafe in Condado and Isla Verde – buy 30 minutes, get 30 minutes free
• Gibella Salon in the Hyatt Hacienda del Mar in Dorado – 20% off
• Olas Spa in the Caribe Hilton – 20% off spa services
• Zen Spa in Condado – 20% off spa services
   

How Can I Get One of These?

An Entertainment Book usually retails for $45, sometimes they offer free shipping, and usually as the year progresses they offer a discount rate. We’ve provided a link here if you are interested in looking at a sample and buying a copy of the book. And, in case you’re wondering … yes … if you buy an Entertainment Book through this link we get a little something. So come on and share the love!