I don't know about you, but we love to travel. Better yet, we love to travel when we can get a bargain.
There are usually two types of travelers. I call them the prince/princesses and the wolves. Those who want everything handled for them are the prince/princesses. Wolves are those who search and hunt for the best prices with the skill and passion of a wolf hunting for his next meal.
There is nothing wrong with being either type. And at times we all have a need to be treated like a prince or princess. For these moments, my advice is short and simple. Have a good trust worthy travel agent. One who has been places, and can not only get you a fair price for your travel, but at the same time can tell you things to do there that you absolutely do not want to miss. One who knows not only destinations, but passport rules, visa rules, latest baggage charges, etc. Also, if you have problems, the agent is willing to go to bat for you to get the situation rectified. To me, that is the real value of a good travel agent. My wife is a very good travel agent and does all of these things for her clients.
Now for the wolves, here are your tips. I can hear your lips smacking now.
There are a multitude of websites offering the best prices on air travel, hotels, cruises, and packages (includes air, hotel, transfers or rental cars). You also see advertisements in newspapers. You want to make sure that when you compare prices, you compare apples to apples. Most advertisements show only the base price. They don't include the taxes, passenger facility charges, fuel surcharges, baggage charges, etc. These fees can add 20% - 30% to the cost of your ticket. So be careful when you compare prices, and don't get lured in with the appearance of a low price in an ad, these are usually starting prices and without the fees.
If you truly just want to go somewhere, anywhere, and want the best deal you can get, then you have to be very flexible. Mainly, you see who has airfare sales going on, choose a place, then figure out what you will do when you get there. This is spur of the moment travel and can provide you with many travel experiences. However, it does require you to do your research on your chosen destination. Otherwise, you may come back with the opinion "That was just another boring, dirty, major city". You might miss that museum, or nearby national park, nice restaurant, or wonderful store with great bargains. So do your homework. www.tripadvisor.com is a great place to search for information opinions posted by fellow travelers.
Speaking of spur of the moment bargains, Clark Howard is a local radio celebrity (WSB 750) here in Atlanta. His show is syndicated and may be on one of your local stations or on the internet. On Friday afternoons at 3:00 PM, his show is spent entirely on travel bargains, great deals. We have made many spur of the moment purchases of airfare based on information on his show, then figured out what we would do when we got there. A friend of mine once got a $188 round trip airfare to Hawaii that he heard about on Clark's show!!! Now that is a bargain and a whale of a discount!!!
However, if you have specific plans involving particular dates, then you need to begin checking airfares early and check them often to understand what the price ranges are. You monitor the prices, or have websites monitor the prices for you and notify you by email when the price drops. Just remember that these prices won't reflect all of the additional fees, just expect the final price to be about 20% or so higher.
When buying airfare, it is always a guessing game, and you are not always sure when to pull the trigger and make the purchase. Next week the airfare could go lower, but it could also go higher. If for example, you are planning a trip to London in early spring, and you see airfares are currently running $1000 each, then you know it is a good deal if you see airfare for $300. Beware, some destinations have seasonal variances. Europe is usually cheaper in the winter than in the summer. Las Vegas is higher on the weekends than on weekdays.
For the best prices on airfares, I use a couple of sources. I check Travelocity.com just to see what the price range is going to be. I like this site, because I can choose a flight, then I can see which days have seats available. I will take it up to the point of booking, then cancel out. I do this so I can see which days that bargain airfares are available, and what it will actually cost me. Also, if you have favorite cities to go to, you can set up an alert to send you an email if the price fells below a certain $ amount.
There are some downsides to using Travelocity. We used them once, and had to make a change to a ticket. Travelocity made the change, but charged us more than if we had booked it through the airline. Plus we had to go to the airport to get the new ticket. Plus, I spent about 40 minutes on the phone with them, it was a hassle. Now I just use them for information.
For domestic travel, another site is www.kayak.com. This site will check 140 different sites for you, including internet only specials. It searches places that Travelocity, Expedia, and Orbis do not pull from. Best of all this site is free, and you can click to make your purchase directly from the airline or agency.
For international travel, a good site to use is www.mobissimo.com, which is similar to Kayak.
There are also sites such as Hotwire and PriceLine, however, I have only used them for hotel purchases and have not tried them out for airfare purchases. More about these two sites in my next blog on hotel discounts.
For my last tip, the best airfares are usually midweek, not on weekends. Everyone wants to travel on Friday and come home on Sunday to get a long weekend. However, they are competing with business travelers who want to get home of Fridays, and need to leave for work on Sundays. Tuesdays seems to be the best day to get the cheapest airfare. Around holidays, you need to book early. Although, you may find some bargains on the morning of the holiday such as the actual day of Thanksgiving or Christmas. However, most airfares are going to be at a peak at these times.
Beware of spring break, especially if you are going near a beach. Discount seats sell out early. So plan ahead, don't wait until the week or even the month before.
I hope you have found this helpful. Let me know what you think about what I have posted above, or share your suggestions. We all learn from each other.
My next blog will be about finding really good deals at hotels.
Also, if you enjoy this blog, feel free to share the link with your friends and family. Here is the link for you to copy and paste into your email: mrterrycreditcardhelp.blogspot.com
May you find the deal of the day and have a wonderful vacation!!
Mr Terry
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3 comments:
Great ideas! But I would advise those "wolves" out there to insure you are using reputable companies when you book your cruise/tour, etc. Do your homework! Sometimes it is better to spend a couple extra bucks to ensure you have a fun and safe trip.
Also, remember when you piece together a trip; air, car, hotel, sightseeing and other extras add your total cost. Sometimes it is less expensive to purchase a package from a bonified Travel Agent to all of this plus at a lesser price. Also, when spending $1000 plus consider travel insurance. Many times the unforseen happens and you CAN'T get a refund if pre paid or you can't cancel (outside of window of time) you lose your money. Most of us do not have $1000 to give away. The cost of Travel Insurance is worth the piece of mind and money!
Thanks for supplying such valuable information! This will be fun for me to check on when planning a trip! Thanks!
-Your buddy's daughter, Sarah
Some more really good ideas! Especially the travel insurance. It is not expensive and you never know when an emergency will come up unexpectedly. Ask your travel agent about it.
Also, Lydia, tell your Mom, thanks for the kind words. You are a cutie!
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