There are several good and reliable travel sites on the Internet where you can find great travel deals and save big bucks on your next holidays.
However, getting the best deals is not always as easy as we think. Even though there are hundreds of travel sites out there, getting a bargain is not always simple.
Some of the well known sites, which I have personally used without any problem, are: Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, Cheap tickets, Ebookers and Last minute.
Still, to find a good deal within these sites is not straightforward, a digging job has to be done to find the gold, despite the easy to use and wonderful sites these brands above and other companies have.
One of the activities that should not be missed is comparing your traveling schedule among the sites of your choice, because no one has the best prices, for all routes, always. Each one has its own specials and when someone has a bargain in certain route, usually the others have not the same special price.
To do this job, there are some websites which compare among these popular travel sites for the destination of your choice and after spotting the lowest fare, you can always go back to the lowest fare site to review the conditions and make the purchase, if you wish.
Major airline sites, often have special deals which are not published through travel sites, so taking a look to the airline sites, which travel to your selected destination, could give you surprisingly good fares for your flight.
Regardless the site or sites you choose to look for your travel information keep in mind the following tips when planning your next holiday.
Book as advanced as you can. Airlines fares increase as the time for departure approaches.
Try to arrive and depart in a mid-week day. Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.
If you have flexible dates, chances to get a bargain will increase. Sometimes, a trade show or a special event will make the city of your destination very expensive for a given week, while a couple of days later or earlier, the prices could drop sharply.
For obvious reasons, avoid holidays. It is practically impossible to find a bargain during holidays, even more, airlines increase prices during holidays.
If you are traveling during Christmas, usually the Christmas day itself is cheaper than the days before. The same applies to Thanksgiving and other crowded holidays.
Try to use several websites to research your travel information, and then you will identify the most appropriate website for your needs.
When traveling to Europe from the US, try getting to a major city like London, and then use the local cheap fare airlines to travel around Europe.
When booking a hotel, use Expedia or Travelocity to see the pictures and location of the hotel, even if you book later in other site with better price.
Use as many sites as needed to book different parts of your holidays, if you get the best price in each one of them.
After you select a flight or hotel in any travel site, get [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Deals’
How to Find Cheap Travel Deals on the Internet.
Posted in 
Tags: 
Travel Deals: “It’s a Garage Sale Out There!” Part II
Just when I thought we had hit bottom (travel deals, I mean), the rates are getting lower! I have outlined the best deals I have seen through out the Caribbean, airfare sale and a special Tahiti deal that will blow your mind!
This is a MUST READ if you are thinking of taking the family on vacation between now and next Fall.
There are more kids stay free deals than ever seen before. I also notice the additional costs for upgrading to suites or having connecting rooms are being cut up to 60%!
Another change I notice is the increase in resort and cruise credits.Cruise ships always made their real profit by what they sell on the ship such as alcohol, clothes, tours, etc. Now more than ever before, the cruise lines are offering up to $300 on board ship credit.
The trend for resorts to also offer credits is growing tremendously. Resort credit used to be something I saw in the low season or an infrequent special. Resort credit can go towards spa, tours, golf, drinks and food if it is not an all inclusive, or simply fun nick knacks.
When you see these credits in the deal, always check what it is for and make sure it is valid on the dates you are going. Once verifies, just think of it like someone handed you cash towards spending money on your vacation.
Here are a few very new amazing deals for families this Spring, Summer & Fall! Some of these deals have not even been published yet, so take advantage of them and happy traveling!
Caribbean Family Vacations: I had to check this one a few times because it looked to good to be true, but it is correct:
CheapCaribbean’s 48 hour sale, all inclusive three star resorts for $48 per person, per night. Yes, all inclusive – meals, taxes, drinks, activities, kids activities, etc…many of these resorts allow children under 12 free, so all you have to pay is the airfare! I would compare the resorts on sale to a nice Holiday Inn, this resort is midway between deluxe and moderate. The deal is for travel from May – June 30, a perfect family trip before summer activites begin.
Check out all of the $48 deals for families! This sale ends 11:59pm Friday, April 3.
Apple Vacations’ Spring Savings Sale! If you do not see your gateway, they may still have it, using the booking engine on the top of the page. It is really cool as you can specify your needs when you begin (airport, amount of people, budget, amount of nights, etc) and that will reflect every deal you click on. This eliminates the irritating task of having to fill out your information over and over to shop around. The lead pricing is $459+: 60% off: All-Inclusives w/Air.
Apple Vacations charters their own planes, so the airfare is very reasonable. The add-ons for different gateways are reasonable as well. $499 per adult for 3 nights all inclusive five-star resort including airfare, two kids under 12 stay [...]
Finding Great Travel Deals Through an Online Travel Agency
With the current state of the economy, saving money is increasingly important to family, couples, and even individuals. That does not mean that you have to sacrifice your vacation, however. There are a number of online travel agencies that are offering discounts and low-cost vacations to people who may think they can’t afford to travel. In actuality, if you do your research, you can take a vacation even on a shoestring budget. Here are some tips to help you find a great travel deal from an online travel agency.
Be Sure to Ask for a discount
As the saying goes, “ask and ye shall receive” right? Actually, this tip really does work, whether you are working with an online store or brick and mortar travel agency. Plan the vacation of your dreams, and when you see the bottom line, ask how the price can be dropped. If you start with a very low budget, some agencies may not include some of the best features of a vacation, but by starting high and THEN looking for discounts, you might be able to get more bang for your buck.
Tip #2: Plan a group vacation yourself.
If you really want to save money, get a group of people together to go on vacation and plan the trip for everyone using and online travel agency. Many companies have a policy that if you’re the contact person for the entire group and ensure that everyone pays on time, you get your vacation for free, or at least get a very deep discount. Planning a vacation like this has a lot of moving pieces to keep track of, but can be a great way to travel on a budget.
Tip #3: Look for coupon codes.
When you’re planning a trip with an online company, you can often find coupon codes or deals to use to get a percentage off your trip. If you’ve worked with a company in the past, you’ll likely get rebates via email from time to time. If you haven’t, though, you can still get a discount. Simply use your favorite search engine to look for the name of your travel agency and the word “coupon” or “discount.” There are sites all over the Internet that specialize in collecting codes for discounts for different companies.
Keep in mind that you should always be wary of discounts you can only get after giving your credit card information to a third party. You may be signing up for a membership that bills your credit card automatically.
Tip #4: Book your vacation during a discount period.
Most major travel companies online have slow seasons when there are fewer people booking trips. If you book your trip during this time, you could save a substantial amount of money. Everyone books trips in the summer and around the holidays, but fewer people are traveling at other times of the year.
Tip #5: Look for packages instead of building your own vacation.
When you shell out money for a vacation, you want it to [...]
Find Online Travel Deals
Online travel deals are surprisingly easy to find and easier to land. The trick is finding one that suits your purpose. There’s always a cheaper option available. Rather than focusing solely on the economics, it would serve you better to enquire why the deal is so cheap and what you would be foregoing in order to avail the fabulous low prices. Often you might prefer to pay a bit more and enjoy a modicum of comfort and arrive safe.
Travel arrangements from booking airline tickets to fixing an itinerary, hotel accommodation, tickets for various events and venues are done online these days. The more you surf, the more choices you’re faced with. Eleventh hour bookings have become the norm, and there is a whole genre of travel sites focused on this type of clients. This has indeed grown to be a substantial part of online travel arrangements for Canadians.
Most of the major online travel sites for Canadians and Americans, such as Expedia, Travelocity and others, have fantastic package deals that give you more bang for your buck. A Package deal does not mean a group tour, but rather a deal where airline tickets, accommodation, and sometimes even a car rental all are “packaged” together for usually a lower price than you would pay for separately.
The simple secret to getting a good travel deal online is to shop around. Often you can find price differences between sites. If you are willing to do your homework, a better rate can usually be found. Another well known secret is that if you choose to book during off season periods you will definitely get fabulous rates whether it’s airline fare or an amusement park ticket. The use of certain credit cards for online bookings also helps to get discounts, as those adding up those air mile points. If booking your trip last minute is an option, you will usually get a lower price. Be prepared however to be flexible in where you want to go, your first option may not be available.
Booking hotel accommodation online can get you good discounts even at star hotels. Be careful however, some deeply discounted bookings may not be refundable in the event you decide to cancel. Hotwire.com and Priceline.com are both popular discount travel sites that offer attractive discounts on hotel rooms. Referring to itself as the king of online travel, the Priceline’s claim to fame is the “name your own price” where the buyers are free to fix their rates for hotel rooms.
With either company, you pick the price, quality, amenities, and neighborhood you want, but you are not able to choose a specific hotel. With Priceline, you bid on the hotel which meets your needs. You then find out if the price you choose was accepted and if it was, your hotel is booked. In contrast, when using Hotwire, you don’t bid on your hotel and the prices are displayed.
In any case, the deals are out there, more than ever. So get online, do your research and [...]