Seeking to tap into the pent-up wanderlust of consumers who may feel financially tapped out, TravelMuse.com introduced a Yaycations Calculator, enabling consumers to discover hidden travel budgets by calculating the annual savings in foregoing diner coffee, lattes or double mochas.

TravelMuse CEO Kevin Fliess said the Yaycations widget is part of the company's effort "to be the Pied Piper of positive thinking in the travel space." TravelMuse is a trip-planning site that earns revenue from referrals and advertising,

"We [travel industry companies] are salmon swimming upstream," Fliess said, referring to the challenging economic climate. "The more we can empower users to get them to come out of their shells, the better."

The Yaycations Calculator, sponsored by Kimpton Hotels, computes that consumers would save $910 annually if they skipped a latte five days a week. The calculator then asks if consumers want to add to the savings, and queries about the originating airport.

After making those selections, consumers choose a trip theme, such as outdoor adventures, and then can view and select package options that fit within their Yaycations budgets.

The introduction of the calculator was part of TravelMuse's upgrade of its TravelMuse Planner. The company tweaked the site's planner by integrating Google Maps; adding vertical search tools for hotels and attractions; introducing 2 million user reviews from sites including TripAdvisor, Citysearch and Yahoo Travel; and launching customized travel guides.

As part of travelers' budget-conscious focus, TravelMuse also added "Today's Hot Deals" from Travelzoo, with the deals supposedly tailored to the context of the users' search.

However, a search on TravelMuse for Guadalajara hotels didn't produce Travelzoo ads that were precise matches for that city. The Travelzoo ads displayed were for a JetBlue nationwide fare sale and a United southwestern U.S. fare sale.