Travel Deal of the Day (March 25, 2009)

There is a rather large recession going on right now – you would assume that this leads to great travel deals everywhere. I have noticed that there are some great travel deals; however, some providers have been unwilling to lower rates to a level that is consistent with the economic conditions. Here are some tips for hotels and airfare for finding good deals:

(1) Airfare: I have noticed that the best deals are on highly competitive routes – fares in markets dominated by a single carrier are not nearly as affected by overall economic conditions (of course, exceptions apply). In the past, the presence of a low-cost airline has been one of the keys to finding the best deals in a market. Now, I have seen very low airfares in some markets that are dominated by only high cost airlines. For instance, I have noticed from the Mid Atlantic region that there are $99/way fares to Florida and the same fares to Los Angeles. Given the distance between the Mid Atlantic area and California, I would tend to think that the $99 fare is a better deal.

I have not seen as many compelling “last minute” airfare deals. Usually, airlines publish airfares during midweek for travel either of the next two following weekends. (Use sites such as Smarter Travel to find such deals.) I would tend to think this is where the best deals would occur since an airline is relatively certain where it will have open seats so it should offer great last minute airfares in markets with tremendous seat availability. The recent last minute airfares as a whole have been rather unimpressive. I have found much better deals by looking for advance purchase fares in markets with tremendous competition. My general advance for finding such deals is to use sites such as Airfare Watchdog to find the best airfares from your city on any given day.

(2) Hotels: Some hotels have cut prices dramatically, and other hotels have been completely unwilling to adjust rates. I spoke with two hotels recently about a hotel stay. The hotels were similar in almost every manner – similar locations, similar hotel reviews, similar availability, inquiries relating to similar time periods, etc. One hotel discounted rates over 50% and bent over backwards to attract business, and the other hotel had an attitude of “take it or leave it.” Given this experience, I would make a few suggestions:
-Check the “specials” and “packages” sections of a hotel’s website to find any incredible packages. I have seen many hotel websites add excellent deals in the package area of a website. I would tend to think that hotels might be more willing to add excellent travel deals to this area of their websites rather than lowering rates overall as business travelers as less likely to look in this area of a website (so such discounts tend not to dilute business-traveler related revenue).
-Check TravelZoo, which frequently publishes great travel deals.
-Call a hotel’s in-house reservations manager. It can be a challenge to find this person. Often when you request “in-house reservations,” you are either connected to the national reservations line or a regional reservation office that handles reservations for multiple hotels. To “negotiate” a deal with a hotel, you need to find a contact in the hotel. These people will have far more discretion to deal/negotiate. As I mentioned earlier, some hotels still refuse to provide better deals, despite the fact that similar competitors are offering such deals. I simply recognize that such hotels do not need my business as much as other hotels.
-Ask for every discount imaginable – I recently encountered a tremendous AAA package. I was shocked this hotel even offered a AAA discount (this hotel in the past rarely offered any discounts). Ask for AAA, AARP, corporate rates, Entertainment Card, Professional Affiliations (Bar Association, Amer. Medical Association…), local chamber of commerce deals….
-Remind the hotel that you are on a travel budget. The reservations agents may be sympathetic to such a plea and work with you on a rate.
-Remind the hotel if you are a return guest.

Hopefully these tips will allow you to find a great deal. There are truly incredible travel deals right now – you just have to know where (and how) to look.