Travel Deal of the Day (November 24, 2008)
If you need a rental car for Thanksgiving weekend, I would encourage you to look at the last-minute specials on car rental car company websites.
The Deal:
Due to a lack of demand from business travelers during Thanksgiving week, car rental companies will likely have a glut of cars sitting on their lots this week. There will likely be excellent deals on the last minute special sections of car rental companies’ websites. Be sure to check these websites as well as bidding websites such as Priceline or Hotwire for great deals this week. Even if you already have your car rental reservation, if there is no cancellation fee, be sure to re-check car rental rates the night before you pick up the car as rates may have decreased significantly.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Friday, November 21, 2008
Travel Deal of the Day (November 21, 2008)
If you have not booked a Thanksgiving ticket yet, consider flying one-way and renting a car one-way.
The Deal:
If you are finding that tickets are very expensive on the Saturday or Sunday after Thanksgiving, consider flying to your destination and renting a car one-way for the return. You can often find very inexpensive one-way tickets on Thanksgiving Day, but tickets on the Sunday after Thanksgiving are outrageously high. Consider doing a one-way rental for your return trip. Be sure to check with National Car Rental, which usually has competitively priced one-way car rental prices.
If you have not booked a Thanksgiving ticket yet, consider flying one-way and renting a car one-way.
The Deal:
If you are finding that tickets are very expensive on the Saturday or Sunday after Thanksgiving, consider flying to your destination and renting a car one-way for the return. You can often find very inexpensive one-way tickets on Thanksgiving Day, but tickets on the Sunday after Thanksgiving are outrageously high. Consider doing a one-way rental for your return trip. Be sure to check with National Car Rental, which usually has competitively priced one-way car rental prices.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Travel Deal of the Day (November 20, 2008)
If you are flexible with your travel dates, you can travel within Europe for free with Ryanair’s new sale.
The Deal:
Ryanair is offering completely free tickets for a variety of European routes. Normally, you still have to pay for taxes and fees with such a sale – when I priced out tickets using the sale, I actually found that you can obtain seats completely free. The sale fares must be booked by November 21, 2008 for travel from December 9, 2008 to February 12, 2009. There are quite a few blackout dates, including all travel between December 19, 2008 - January 5, 2009 and January 30, 2009 - February 1, 2009.
How:
Go to the Ryanair Sale.
The Inside Scoop:
Be aware of a few issues:
(1) You must be very flexible with your dates to find seats using this sale – check all possible days to find the free seats;
(2) Ryanair imposes multiple extra fees for baggage, seat assignments, etc. – do some research on the Ryanair website to ensure that you avoid such fees if you want to ensure that your free ticket remains free; and
(3) If you want to see a list of all destinations from your chosen departure city, go to the link above and change the country designation in the top right portion of the screen on the Ryanair website.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Travel Deal of the Day (November 19, 2008)
Disney is offering some great discounts for travel during January 2009 – June 2009, including a package providing three free nights when staying at certain Disney properties.
The Deal:
It appears that 2009 will be a great time to visit Disneyworld in Orlando. Disney is offering three nights free on a seven night package at selected on-property Disney resorts. The package is available on most nights between January 4, 2009 and June 27, 2009 (a few blackout dates apply). Disney also provides a $200 Disney gift card for stays between January 4, 2009 – January 9, 2009 and between January 19, 2009 – March 29, 2009.
How:
Full booking details are available at the Disney 2009 Promotion.
Disney is offering some great discounts for travel during January 2009 – June 2009, including a package providing three free nights when staying at certain Disney properties.
The Deal:
It appears that 2009 will be a great time to visit Disneyworld in Orlando. Disney is offering three nights free on a seven night package at selected on-property Disney resorts. The package is available on most nights between January 4, 2009 and June 27, 2009 (a few blackout dates apply). Disney also provides a $200 Disney gift card for stays between January 4, 2009 – January 9, 2009 and between January 19, 2009 – March 29, 2009.
How:
Full booking details are available at the Disney 2009 Promotion.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Travel Deal of the Day (November 18, 2008)
If you are traveling to London or anywhere in Europe, you may want to review the successful winning bids on Bidding For Travel and Better Bidding before going.
The Deal:
Bidding For Travel and Better Bidding publish rates for those people who have “bid” for hotels on Priceline and Hotwire. If you are traveling to London, you can save a tremendous amount of money, especially during the off-season, by using these bidding services. People have posted winning bids in London at 4 star hotels for approximately 48 British Pounds. This is a phenomenal deal for a 4 star hotel in London.
How:
Go to Bidding For Travel and Better Bidding to check what people have posted regarding winning bids.
If you are traveling to London or anywhere in Europe, you may want to review the successful winning bids on Bidding For Travel and Better Bidding before going.
The Deal:
Bidding For Travel and Better Bidding publish rates for those people who have “bid” for hotels on Priceline and Hotwire. If you are traveling to London, you can save a tremendous amount of money, especially during the off-season, by using these bidding services. People have posted winning bids in London at 4 star hotels for approximately 48 British Pounds. This is a phenomenal deal for a 4 star hotel in London.
How:
Go to Bidding For Travel and Better Bidding to check what people have posted regarding winning bids.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Travel Deal of the Day (November 17, 2008)
If you use Priceline frequently to book travel, you might want to consider a website that pays you for linking from that website to Priceline.
The Deal:
Websites like Ebates give you money for linking from their website to Priceline. As I have mentioned, using Priceline can save you money when booking hotels using the bidding feature on the Priceline website. You can save even more money by first going to a site like Ebates and then clicking on the Priceline link at Ebates – for US hotels, Ebates will pay you 3% of your bid price for allowing Ebates to link you over to Priceline. (Ebates pays you to do this since Priceline will pay Ebates a referral fee.)
How:
Go to Ebates and link to Priceline.
If you use Priceline frequently to book travel, you might want to consider a website that pays you for linking from that website to Priceline.
The Deal:
Websites like Ebates give you money for linking from their website to Priceline. As I have mentioned, using Priceline can save you money when booking hotels using the bidding feature on the Priceline website. You can save even more money by first going to a site like Ebates and then clicking on the Priceline link at Ebates – for US hotels, Ebates will pay you 3% of your bid price for allowing Ebates to link you over to Priceline. (Ebates pays you to do this since Priceline will pay Ebates a referral fee.)
How:
Go to Ebates and link to Priceline.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Travel Deal of the Day (November 13, 2008)
If you are looking for a fall hotel deal, here are three strategies that I think will work particularly well given the current economic climate:
(1) Keep Checking Rates at The Hotel: During times with strong hotel demand, the hotel is less likely to lower rates as your arrival date approaches – with the current economic slowdown, many hotels will lower rates as they realize that people are not purchasing rooms at higher rates. You should verify the cancellation policy that applies to your reservation and check rates at least a day or two before the cancellation policy kicks in – you may save a tremendous amount of money due to a rate decrease. It is not a bad idea if you book far in advance to check rates every couple weeks as rates may fluctuate tremendously based on expected demand for your dates. Also, experiment with booking the hotel with different check-in dates – sometimes rates vary based on the date of arrival. For instance, an arrival on Friday may allow you to obtain weekend rates, whereas weekend rates may not be quoted to you if you ask for rates with an arrival on a Wednesday.
(2) Negotiate with the Hotel: With strong hotel demand, the hotel had all the power. People are not traveling as much now, so you have far more power. Tell the hotel about the more competitive rate you found at a neighboring, comparable hotel or ask if your rate can include breakfast or some other perk.
(3) Try Every Possible Booking Channel: You may find that rates vary dramatically based on how you book a room. The hotel website, an internet travel tool such as Expedia, the hotel’s in-house reservations department and the national (800) reservations department may all quote you different rates. Be sure to check all these channels. Note that some national travel websites such as Expedia may negotiate rates that are better than what you will find at the hotel directly. Also, check the package section of travel websites – sometimes a package with a hotel and car is cheaper than the hotel room alone.
If you are looking for a fall hotel deal, here are three strategies that I think will work particularly well given the current economic climate:
(1) Keep Checking Rates at The Hotel: During times with strong hotel demand, the hotel is less likely to lower rates as your arrival date approaches – with the current economic slowdown, many hotels will lower rates as they realize that people are not purchasing rooms at higher rates. You should verify the cancellation policy that applies to your reservation and check rates at least a day or two before the cancellation policy kicks in – you may save a tremendous amount of money due to a rate decrease. It is not a bad idea if you book far in advance to check rates every couple weeks as rates may fluctuate tremendously based on expected demand for your dates. Also, experiment with booking the hotel with different check-in dates – sometimes rates vary based on the date of arrival. For instance, an arrival on Friday may allow you to obtain weekend rates, whereas weekend rates may not be quoted to you if you ask for rates with an arrival on a Wednesday.
(2) Negotiate with the Hotel: With strong hotel demand, the hotel had all the power. People are not traveling as much now, so you have far more power. Tell the hotel about the more competitive rate you found at a neighboring, comparable hotel or ask if your rate can include breakfast or some other perk.
(3) Try Every Possible Booking Channel: You may find that rates vary dramatically based on how you book a room. The hotel website, an internet travel tool such as Expedia, the hotel’s in-house reservations department and the national (800) reservations department may all quote you different rates. Be sure to check all these channels. Note that some national travel websites such as Expedia may negotiate rates that are better than what you will find at the hotel directly. Also, check the package section of travel websites – sometimes a package with a hotel and car is cheaper than the hotel room alone.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Monday, November 10, 2008
Travel Deal of the Day (November 10, 2008)
Many people are aware that TripAdvisor provides user-generated reviews of hotels and attractions. While TripAdvisor tends to be well known, I am increasingly finding that YouTube provides excellent help in planning a trip.
The Deal:
YouTube can be very helpful in finding out about an unknown city, a tourist attraction or a hotel. People from around the world post their videos on YouTube – many travelers are posting videos of their experiences at hotels or other tourist attractions. These videos can be very helpful in finding out about the “feel” of such locations. When planning your trip, check out YouTube to see if the videos can provide some guidance regarding your proposed itinerary. As with any other user-generated content site, beware that some content is posted by people attempting to push their own agenda (owners of a hotel, someone with a financial stake in a tourist attraction, etc…).
Many people are aware that TripAdvisor provides user-generated reviews of hotels and attractions. While TripAdvisor tends to be well known, I am increasingly finding that YouTube provides excellent help in planning a trip.
The Deal:
YouTube can be very helpful in finding out about an unknown city, a tourist attraction or a hotel. People from around the world post their videos on YouTube – many travelers are posting videos of their experiences at hotels or other tourist attractions. These videos can be very helpful in finding out about the “feel” of such locations. When planning your trip, check out YouTube to see if the videos can provide some guidance regarding your proposed itinerary. As with any other user-generated content site, beware that some content is posted by people attempting to push their own agenda (owners of a hotel, someone with a financial stake in a tourist attraction, etc…).
Friday, November 07, 2008
Travel Deal of the Day (November 7, 2008)
If you have not purchased your Thanksgiving tickets yet, you are in luck – due to the current economic conditions, there are many good fares available.
The Deal:
Be flexible to find excellent Thanksgiving fares this year. Try flying on Thanksgiving day and returning on Saturday November 29 or Monday December 1 to find good fares. (Actually, the best fares are on Friday November 28 or Tuesday December 2.) I just checked our fare for Thanksgiving and it actually went down, which definitely has not happened the last few years. This indicates that many seats are still available - so if you are traveling for Thanksgiving and you do not have a ticket, you may find an excellent deal.
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Travel Deal of the Day (November 5, 2008)
The Bellagio is offering a third night free promotion for stays until January 2009.
The Deal:
The Bellagio is offering a third night free promotion for various nights during November 2008, December 2008 and January 2009. The rate is $169 for the paid nights (including the free night, the average rate for a 3 night stay is $113/night).
How:
Go to the Bellagio Free Night Deal.
The Bellagio is offering a third night free promotion for stays until January 2009.
The Deal:
The Bellagio is offering a third night free promotion for various nights during November 2008, December 2008 and January 2009. The rate is $169 for the paid nights (including the free night, the average rate for a 3 night stay is $113/night).
How:
Go to the Bellagio Free Night Deal.
Monday, November 03, 2008
Travel Deal of the Day (November 3, 2008)
Want to go to Scottsdale – I have a deal for you.
The Deal:
The four-star Hyatt Gainey Ranch Hotel is offering rooms via Priceline for $60/night (some nights). This hotel goes for $300 - $400 per night during high season, so this is an incredible deal. There is no question that the slow economy is hitting this and other high-end hotels hard – if you happen to be traveling to beautiful Scottsdale, AZ, this is a great hotel at a great price.
How:
Bid for a 4 star hotel in Scottsdale via Priceline.com. (Note that there are multiple hotels that may accept your bid in that zone.) To see information about winning bids including $60 for the Hyatt Scottsdale, go to BiddingforTravel.com.
Want to go to Scottsdale – I have a deal for you.
The Deal:
The four-star Hyatt Gainey Ranch Hotel is offering rooms via Priceline for $60/night (some nights). This hotel goes for $300 - $400 per night during high season, so this is an incredible deal. There is no question that the slow economy is hitting this and other high-end hotels hard – if you happen to be traveling to beautiful Scottsdale, AZ, this is a great hotel at a great price.
How:
Bid for a 4 star hotel in Scottsdale via Priceline.com. (Note that there are multiple hotels that may accept your bid in that zone.) To see information about winning bids including $60 for the Hyatt Scottsdale, go to BiddingforTravel.com.
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