104inc.com asked:


While you’re unlikely to get an all-expenses-paid trip unless you win a game show, you can still get portions your trip for free if you book certain promotions or take advantage of some alternative modes of travel. Here are my picks for top limited-time and long-term “free” travel deals worth checking out.

1. Kids Fly Free to French Polynesia

Never considered French Polynesia for family vacation? Maybe Air Tahiti Nui’s kids-fly-free deal will persuade you. When you book two adult Air Tahiti Nui fares from Los Angeles to French Polynesia from January 12 to May 31, 2009, you’ll get two free fares for kids ages 11 or younger. The deal is valid for flights to Papeete, Moorea, Huahine, Raiatea, Bora Bora, Rangiroa, Manihi, Tikehau, and Fakarava. Adult fares start at $1,428, including all taxes. You’ll still be responsible for paying taxes on the free children’s fares.

2. Organize a Group Tour, Travel for Free

If you organize a group of people to book a package tour together, many tour companies will allow you, the group leader, to travel for free. You can choose to accept the freebie or spread some savings out to everyone in your group. Either way, it’s a good deal. Each tour operator’s group tour policy varies a bit, but most require you to put together a group with at least 10 paying individuals before you’ll get a free spot.

For example, Grand Circle Tours, a company that runs trips geared towards mature travelers on six continents, lets a group leader travel for free with 10 paid travelers on river cruises or 16 paid travelers on land tours. Go Ahead Tours, a similar operator, gives two free spots for every group of 12 or more paying guests. Be sure to ask your tour company if they offer similar deals.

3. Pay for Three Nights, Get Seven at Club Med

Club Med’s recurring “Seven-Day Weekend” package is back, promising seven nights for the price of three at eight of its all-inclusive resorts. The deal is valid at family-friendly Club Meds in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic; Cancun and Ixtapa, Mexico; Sandpiper, Fla.; Caravelle, Guadeloupe; and Buccaneer’s Creek, Martinique; as well as adult-only Clubs Meds on Columbus Isle, Bahamas, and on Turks and Caicos. You must book by December 15 and travel by February 13 to take advantage of the promotion. Seven-Day Weekend prices range from $793 per person (normally $1,190) at the Sandpiper, Florida Club Med to $1,065 per person (normally $1,610) at the Buccaneer’s Creek, Martinque Club Med.

4. Free Weekend Rental Days From Hertz

Hertz knows the only the thing better than a weekend away is a three-day weekend away. The company makes it easier for renters to take longer weekend trips by offering the first day free when you rent a car for three or more weekend days, including a Saturday overnight. The deal applies to economy- through premium-class cars rented through March 31, 2009, in the U.S. and Canada, excluding Hawaii

5. Kids-Fly-and-Ski-Free Packages

For the past several winters, United and American Airlines have partnered with popular Western ski resorts to offer kids-fly-and-ski-free vacation packages. Generally, these promotions allow children 12 and under to fly and ski for free when an adult pays for an air-hotel-ski package at a participating resort. While not all fly-and-ski-free promotions have been announced yet for the 2008-2009 ski season, Steamboat Ski Resort in Colorado is already advertising its package, which requires a two-night minimum stay at a ResortQuest Steamboat vacation rental. Valid travel dates and blackout periods apply. Be sure to check the American Vacations and United Vacations websites in the days to come to see if other resorts join the promotion.

6. Swap Homes, Stay Free

Why not swap your apartment in New York for a cottage in the English countryside? Or maybe my Utah ski condo for your second home in Costa Rica?

By participating in a home exchange, you can get free use of another person’s house if you’re willing to let them stay in yours. It’s a common practice for a certain segment of travelers who prefer staying in vacation homes over hotels and are a bit flexible with where and when they travel. Essentially, two home owners in different places agree to switch places for vacation, using one another’s homes for no charge. Home exchange websites make it easy to find and make arrangements with other home owners, with the website usually charging a membership fee in order for you to make contact with potential exchange partners. HomeExchange.com is one of the largest of such sites, including more than 24,000 listings in destinations across the globe. A one-year membership costs $100.

7. Free Universal Orlando Theme Park Passes

This coming fall and winter, Universal Orlando is giving kids ages 3 to 9 free Unlimited Admission theme park passes when parents book four or more nights at a participating hotel and buy adult Unlimited Admission tickets. Unlimited Admission passes grant the holder seven days of access to both Universal parks, Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. Passes cost $95 each for both kids and adults, so the free child’s ticket is a big savings.

To get the free passes, you must book a stay of four or more nights at one of six local hotels, including the onsite Loews Royal Pacific Resort. Valid travel dates and blackout periods vary by hotel, but all require bookings to be made by the end of December.

8. Free Airfare for Crystal Cruises Panama Canal Sailings

When you book one of three Crystal Cruises’ Panama Canal sailings, you’ll receive free airfare between Los Angeles and Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, or Palm Beach, Fla. The cruises, which range from 14 to 16 days, sail between Miami and Los Angeles, so Crystal is essentially promising a free flight home from the final port. Departures include January 6, February 16, and May 7, 2009. Cruise fares start at $3,595 per person, not including taxes and fees.

9. Skip the Hostel, Couch Surf for Free

For young budget travelers, sometimes hostels just aren’t cheap enough. In that case, why not crash for free with one of the nearly 800,000 members of the Couch Surfing Project, a worldwide network that helps travelers link up with hosts offering free accommodations. The mission of the network is to promote cultural exchange through free hosted overnight stays. Travelers can find and request stays with potential hosts on the CouchSurfing website. Hosts offer a free place to sleep and oftentimes show guests around or share advice on places to visit nearby. As a member, you can request places to stay and host guests as you please. The site has some checks in place to help ensure the safety and trustworthiness of hosts and surfers.

10. Free Meals and Attractions for Kids in Hawaii

Families staying at ResortQuest Hawaii hotels can take advantage of free meals and free attractions admissions for kids year round. There are 26 participating hotels and condo resorts located on Oahu, Maui, Kauai, and the Big Island.

Upon checking into a ResortQuest property, children ages 12 and under receive a special ID card good for the length of your stay. With the ID, kids get free meals and admissions at dozens of island restaurants and attractions when accompanied by a paying adult. For example, on Oahu, kids get in free to the Polynesian Cultural Center and Honolulu Zoo with an adult admission. On Maui, children eat free with the purchase of an adult entree at the Kobe Japanese Steakhouse and the Beach Club Restaurant.

Lizzie Scott asked:


Two things that take up big parts of any travel budget are airfares and hotel costs. To enjoying a great holiday, you do not have to make your savings suffer by getting the best travel deals with cheap travels. This article will focus on finding the best hotel deals.

The Internet has made it much easier to find great hotel deals. Begin your cheap travels by looking for some great hotel, motel and bed and breakfast deals. Booking ahead and shopping are the key successes to cheap travels. Don’t expect to show up at a hotel and get a good rate. Most hotel chains reserve their best room rates and they limit their numbers. Once the low-cost rooms are booked, they are simply no longer available.

It is also important to book ahead because it can be difficult to gauge the demand for lodging in a particular area, even if you are familiar with your travel destination. There may be special events that could increase prices.

It is also important to take advantage of any travel deals and discounts. Do not be shy to ask for discounts. Many hotel chains and independent hotels offer discounts to those in the military, senior citizens, and members of travel clubs like AAA. So be sure to ask and be sure to verify that the discount has been applied when you arrive.

Many hotel chains offer travel programs that reward loyal guests with free nights and other rewards. It is important to sign up for these travel programs whenever you can. Most of these travel programs are free. Just sign up and you could end up with a free hotel stay.

When looking for those great hotel deals, there are a number of comparison websites that let you easily compare available hotels by price, star level, and even proximity to certain tourist attractions. Always search for several of these websites since not all hotel chains participate in every comparison website.

But beware that some comparison sites do not necessarily guarantee the best price. It is best to use a number of such websites to get a true picture of the lowest prices available. If you know which hotel you would like to stay in, you could send an email to the hotel for their latest room rates. They would usually be higher rates than these comparison sites, but no harm checking on it.

Looking for the best travel deals require time and even hard work. But these little investments will keep your travels cheap and within your budget. Lodging takes a big part of your travel budget, so it is important to get the best possible hotel deal to stay within your travel budget and still be able to enjoy your vacation.

Sami Fab asked:


There are many reasons why firms offer reduced, or discounted travel deals, ranging from flights, up to packages which include several components, all inclusive in one price.

One of the main reasons for travel deals is the unsold places. Competition can also play a part in further reductions in list prices.

Before giving you a whole list of tips to get the best travel deals and discounts, I want to show you a amazingly simple but brilliant technique that you can use pretty much in most places and for most products and services.

I have used the technique all over the place it works so well it is almost unbelievable. But it is so simple that you may dismiss it without trying. I want you to be mentally prepared and be willing to give it a try, so here we go.

To get a discount or a bargain in most places, even in a high class boutique or a high street store, what you need to do is: “ASK”. Yes, just “ask”. But also I want you to remember, as they say, “… it is not what you say, but the way you say it …” that really counts.

So, to get a discount, you need to keep your intention to ‘buy’ to yourself until you’re ready to make your payment. You must always appear like you’re not convinced yet and that if the sales person doesn’t “do better” “he will lose” the deal. But you should also seem reasonably interested or else the sales person will think you’re not serious and therefore he won’t try to sweeten the deal for you.

OK, so how do you do all of the above? Easy and this is how I’ve done it for travel deals all the way to buying just 2 shirts at an up market men’s boutique – yes for just 2 shirts:

I get information on the various options (be it travel deals or shirts). I decide what I want but will only – and this is the very important part – tell the sales person about a portion of what I want. So I may show interest in just one shirt or a holiday for 2 people and not 4. I ask all my questions and show that it is just what I want (so the sales person knows he almost has sale) but … I indicate that I’m not happy with the price. For example I may have seen something similar cheaper elsewhere. Or that I am prepared to go shopping around (all sales people know, if the customer walks out they usually will not come back). Or that I have the money (you’ll see why next) but had not planned on spending that much. I let the sales person try to ’sell me the IDEA’ that it is OK to buy the product. Sometimes, they offer some free product (e.g. a pair of socks or tickets for a gallery or some show while on holiday). Then I ‘ask’ for the discount but make it clear that I will definitely buy if they give me the discount. This is how I ‘ask’ … “Look I’ll definitely take it at $X”. The sales person then says “… so you want $Y off the price?!”. They may tell you they don’t normally offer a discount outside of the sales season, etc. If they are very confident about not offering discounts, I then say “ok, I’ll take 2 shirts … this one and … that one, only if you give me them at $Z for both …”. At this stage the sales person may even say he hasn’t the authority to offer discounts. No problem, I ask them to speak to their boss. I have done this lots of times and get this: 90% of the time the boss agrees to the discount. Of the remaining 10% at least half the time, the boss offers me a counter discount which is a not as good as what I asked for but still pretty good.

Do you want to know the kind of discounts I’ve had? Well, on two shirts worth $62 I got $22 off. That is around 35%! On a travel package worth around $4,300, I got about $600 off but wait for it … I also got an upgrade from a deluxe room to a business suite in the same 5 star hotel. That suite was worth $800 per night and the deluxe room was worth $250 per night!

I had to explain the above details at length but all that I did was to display that I ‘WILL’ buy with a discount. They knew all they had to do was just one thing: give me a discount, so they did it. I made it, as they say, “a no brainer” for them.

In short just “ask” but (a) be realistic (let them make a little profit, don’t ask for 80% off) and (b) have a little flexibility as a backup plan (be ready to tell them that you’ll buy more, e.g. 2 shirts or a holiday for 4. Hey, even the sales people like to think they have got a concession form you … it is not a one-way street).

This technique works for almost everything but also works extremely well for travel bargains too. So lets get back to more tips specific to travel deals then.

Travel bargains, discounts and deals are all around you because we all travel regularly and repeatedly for holidays as well as for business and of course the travel industry competes for our dollars. Nevertheless, some research and being alert to travel deals can mean more substantial savings. Here’s how to spot and get the best travel deals:

Booking as early as possible usually entitles you to some travel discount. If you’re buying more than one ticket, a further travel discount is possible. Be flexible. Sometimes weekend flights can be cheaper than weekdays (less business travellers). Flights departing later at night can be cheaper. Depending on your timetable, consider indirect flights, which take longer, but are probably cheaper, as opposed to direct flights. Travelling other than peak periods, such as schools holidays and public holidays will probably be heaper. More often than not, holiday packages are cheaper than buying the components separately. Compare prices online, by phone, or visit individual travel agents in the high street. As all airlines overbook, consider taking a later flight which usually comes with sweeteners from the airline in the form of further travel discounts, and travel vouchers. It may also be possible to travel on ’stand by’, but it means that you’ll be called with very little notice If you’re lucky, it may be possible to travel as a ‘courier’. Some firms will pay, or subsidise your airfare in return for carrying important packages and letters. Buy travel insurance that best suits your circumstances. In case of emergencies it’ll save you lots of money.

The more time and effort you devote, the better travel deals you’ll bag. In many instances the saving could be quite substantial. So much so that you may be able to add on extra days stay. Happy travel deals.

Steve Gray asked:


Some people want to visit New York City and spend a noteworthy amount of cash in the course of “living it up.” Others are looking for a New York travel deal so that they can use their budgeted “trip money” in the most prolific way possible. It is for those of you who are in quest of a NY travel deal that this article is written.

In most substantial cities (including New York City) around the world, there is a little known secret that will help you glean a fantastic way to retain cash on your next trip to NYC. This lesser known New York travel deal is a hostel.

A hostel is a low budget accommodation that usually caters to a fun, uncomplicated traveler. A quality description is a cross between a Bed & Breakfast establishment and a dorm.

Some are located in renovated townhomes in The City, some are located in YMCAs, and some are cozy guesthouses. Some are in residential areas, while some are positioned in the center of the action in The Big Apple.

Most hostels offer the choice of a dorm-style room or a private room. Here is one of the reasons why this a New York travel deal: the dorm-style rooms are really inexpensive! Some go for as low as $15 USD per night! An amazing NY travel deal, to be sure.

However, the private rooms are also much less expensive than a typical hotel room. Some start as low as $60 USD per night. Even this is a remarkable New York travel deal. Where even discounted lodging in The City starts around $99 USD per night.

Let’s be honest, few New York tourists spend a lot of time in their hotel rooms. Most NYC tourists use their accommodations only to sleep, shower and change clothes in order to go out again.

If this is you, then think of how much extra budgeted “trip money” you will have to spend out on the town or in other areas (maybe airfare).

There are numerous hostels in New York City, and they are in every district (area) of the Metropolitan area. As with most accommodations, location will play into the price per night.

Hostels are a clean and safe substitute to a typical hotel room. Most hostels have air conditioning, complimentary luggage storage available, no curfews and 24 hour reception. Almost all will provide you with clean linens and towels for your use while there. And some even put forward a complimentary breakfast. Some hostels have a kitchen and/or laundry room that you can use as well.

Some hostels have key card access, car parking and tourist information available, as well as a “local” to get advice from. In addition, most are now offering internet access for those of you that need to be connected or want to write home to tell them how outstanding this New York travel deal is!

Then there are those hostels that provide more superior services and produce concierge services, rooms with a private bathroom, and access to workout facilities and a pool in addition to the other services.

Most hostels are 18 years old and up, some allow 16 year olds and up and there are only a few hostels that are child-friendly, but this opens up another avenue to explore for accommodations for families searching for a New York travel deal. For example, Hostelling International-New York is a child-friendly place.

A really fun hostel to stay at is the Chelsea Star Hotel (yes, it is a hostel). It happens to have been Madonna’s home in the 80″s. They have a Madonna themed room among others. The dormitory beds are about $20 USD per night and it located close to Madison Square Garden. This is a really stellar NY travel deal. Fantastic price and fantastic location.

There are over 40 different hostels around the New York metropolitan area and you can reserve them ahead of time on the internet or over the phone. For the price, convenience and service, a hostel is an awesome New York travel deal. Certainly, one you should keep in mind when planning your next trip to New York City.

Steve Gillman asked:


Would you like to get the best travel deals available? Then get ready to be open-minded and flexible. Consider going to any one of several destinations, and going at different times than you may have originally planned on, and even doing different things once you get there.

Flexibility Buys The Best Travel Deals

Almost any travel destination has “seasons” which are more crowded and therefore more expensive. Also, airfare varies widely in price from month to month and even according to the day of the week or time of day. Finally, there many activities which may be marginally more entertaining yet cost much more.

Suppose you go on trips to several destinations over the years, using the usual strategy of “I want to go here now and do these things.” On some of these trips you’ll be at the height of the season, meaning it will be expensive for hotels. Airfare will cost a lot if you happen to choose the expensive days and times. With a fixed idea about your activities, you’ll also likely pay more than you need to have a great time. You’ll miss out on some real fun that could be much cheaper.

On the other hand, what if you go somewhere during the off-season, go on the day that has the cheapest plane tickets, and start with the interesting activities that cost less? Perhaps you spend just half as much on average, even though over those years you go to all the same destinations. The savings could mean even more opportunities to travel because of the money saved.

Years ago I went to Ecuador because it was an inexpensive destination. The February departure was chosen because I found plane tickets for $258 round trip from Miami. And though I hadn’t considered taking a tour to Mount Cotopaxi, I discovered that I could do that day-long trip to walk on the glaciers of a volcano for just $15, so I went. You create your own best travel deals if you are flexible and open minded.

Best Travel Deals - The Formula

Try this simple formula for getting the best travel deals:

1. Watch a few travel programs, read some travel magazines, and make a list of six to ten places you might like to visit eventually.

2. Look for the best time to go to each. This means when it would be interesting for you and cheaper than other times - an “off-season” that is still a good time for you to visit.

3. Gather information online. How much will hotels and meals cost? What is there to do and how much you are likely to spend on each of these activities. Take notes, of course.

4. Do an online search for plane tickets before you are ready to start planning. Experiment with different days of the week for departure and return flights to find the cheapest possibilities. This can change, so you’ll be doing this again when you are ready to actually start specific planning. For now you just want an idea of the days that are likely the cheapest.

5. When it’s time to travel, pick from among your listed destinations that are off-season and search all the possible dates you might travel, to find the cheapest airfare. Actually it’s best to do this before you arrange for time off work, so you can take advantage of the best possible travel dates.

6. Purchase your tickets, do some more research, and start packing and planning.

Here’s another tip for getting the best travel deals: Book a hotel only for the day you arrive, and then find your hotels(s) once there. There are many nice, less expensive hotels that you won’t find online, and in our experience, even good package deals are never as cheap as finding your own hotels once you get there, as long as you are not coming there at a busy time. Doing this also allows you more freedom, so you can change your plans as you go, taking advantage of whatever great deals come up.

harish asked:


 

The last minute travel deals can be very cost effective to the people who frequently travel to other places for work or holiday purposes etc. They are basically offered by almost all the airlines for various popular tourist destinations like Europe, Caribbean and other such most preferred cities all around the world. Actually the airlines that offer such deals enter into partnerships with those travel agencies and operating carriers who adopt various techniques to promote the tourist destinations for business and profit motives. There are many countries and cities whose economy depends mainly on the business of tourist only. As such, the government tourist offices and various major tour operators come up with attractive and lucrative tourist deals to offer ultimate satisfaction to the people.

 

 

 

Now the main question of concern is where can a person find such last minute travel deals. Nowadays, the best and the most easiest way to get such lucrative deals is through the online shops. Another authentic and reliable way to get the information regarding such deals can be the local and the national newspapers as most of the travel agencies use these resources to promote their innovative promotional schemes and deals offered at very low rates.

 

 

 

People can also enjoy saving huge chunks of money by availing such deals as most of the times they come with a complete package of both the hotels and air tickets. Moreover, they are often offered to the people at heavy discount rates by the airlines and the hotels to accommodate the vacant seats and rooms. These offers are easily available in various occasions and seasons and a person can save as much as $500 to $1000 . People can also contact the airlines to know more about such deals and get all the facilities at discounted rates.

 

 

The travel deals for almost all the seasons may vary. There are so called high and low seasons when such deals are offered to the people to fill their trip with all the necessary facilities they deserve to to have. You can save huge chunks of money if you grab such deals at the right time.

 

 

 

First plan and then get into action. Actually great planners can grab the right opportunity when it comes to them as they are always prepared for that. However, most of the people plan their holiday trip at the eleventh hour when all the doors of profit seem to get closed. But, as this is the natural tendency of the almost 80% of the people the deals and offers are also crafted keeping this thing in mind. When a person finally decides to go for a trip, the quest for the best and the cost effective deals the starts right away. To ensure excellent comfort and pleasure to the people the booking reservations have undergone various changes.

 

 

 

The last minute travel deals are steadily becoming popular among the masses due to various reasons. As a matter of fact they are preferred most by the travellers and the hasty planners. Actually the main reason for this awesome metamorphosis is the attractive deals which can be availed by the people at very reasonable rates. Moreover, the World Wide Web with its several search engine has proved to be a great help to the people who can avail any deals and gifts from the comfort of their cozy living room. These online stores facilitate the netizens to avail various when they are in dire need at the last time.

 

 

 

You can surf these sites to find the awesome travel deals and the most cost effective hotels and cruise etc. One can comfortably save thousands of dollars as the travel agencies and the airlines search for the  Last Minute Travel deals to accommodate their cancelled or empty rooms and seats. It is always a good option to earn something then nothing as such those cancelled seats and rooms are offered to the hasty travellers at discounted prices.

 

Adam Jaylin asked:


When it comes to travel deals, going online is the best option available. Not that all the agents at the high street have suddenly taken a hiatus, but the convenience of online bookings has surely given them a break! No longer do the shoppers need to start running around even before they actually start their traveling. Comfort of the home and a computer with an internet connection is all that you require to prepare for your next travel to any destination throughout the world.

Apart from the convenience, the monetary factor is another reason why more and more travelers are being lured to book their vacations online. The vacation packages and traveling deals available online are most often than not cheaper than the ones offered by the high street agents. The facilities are much better and that too at rates that are unprecedented. Also, the advent of cashback sites make sure that you not just get the best deals but get a percentage of your cash back as well!

As you key in these three magical words ‘online travel deals’ at any search engine you get inundated with a plethora of sites that offer best and cheap travel packages and deals. If you have ample time, just spend it on performing some recce and finding for yourself the dream deal that you have been seeking for long. This kind of convenience, choice and benefits accrue only to online shoppers and web-o-holics who have the time and intention to dig out the best from the wealth of choices available.

One thing is for sure, shopping online is an addiction! More so for the travelers as the online traveling industry has witnessed unprecedented growth for some time now and as a result of excessive competition, this industry has been churning out the best and the cheapest of deals for the site-hoppers.

Adam Jaylin asked:


Finding the last minute travel deals is a normal affair in today’s time because of the easiness and profitability attached with the very nature of these deals. In fact, people actually delay their bookings and wait for the last minute travel deals because they know that these deals will readily fetch them with much cheaper and much lucrative package options that are difficult to fetch otherwise.

If you are an avid netizen, then there are numerous options that will provide you with the last minute travel deals according to your likings and suitability. All you are supposed to do is to find the best package with the help of the various available search engines. You can also find some dedicated websites that are wholly concerned with finding the last minute travel deals depending upon the requirements of the users. These online shops have carefully listed some of the choicest destinations of the world and made some really attractive packages for the costumers that can be easily availed at the eleventh hour.

However, it is indeed better to understand that not every online travel agency is reliable but there are also some websites which are a complete hoax. Hence it should be taken into consideration that the reliability of a particular online shop must be observed and only then should you finalise any deal with them.

Also, you should not select any deal that you instantly find but you must try to visit more than two or three online shops as you may notice little variations in the prices as well. And if this travel package hunting process is too much to ask for, then you can safely bank upon the various comparison shopping portals that come to your rescue in the hours of painstaking comparison and safely steer you out by helping you to grab the best possible option in your hands.

So, before you freeze the destinations and the suitable last minute travel deals, it is better to weigh the pros and cons of the specific deal and to take your pick accordingly!

Peter Sicoli asked:


Do I need a travel agent for my vacation? I guess it depends on your needs. Travel deals are available from many sources who have put together great vacation packages. Cheap travel has become an expectation, with vacation packages available all over the internet. Travel deals include cheap airline tickets, vacation packages and basically cheap travel any where in the world. When choosing any of the available travel deals you often wonder if a travel agent can provide cheap travel with any of the travel deals they have to offer.

A competent travel adviser can be your greatest asset when you’re planning a trip, and putting together travel deals for you to consider. I mean a bona fide, certified travel professional, a true travel agent. To say that a travel agent is important for your travel needs is not a popular position to take, I know. There is no shortage of travel agent stories making the rounds these days, most of them horrific in nature. There are stacks of grievances that follow the same basic narrative, cheap travel results in you get what you pay for, or do you? Most complaints about travel agents or advisors goes something like this:

I booked a trip through an online agency who had the best travel deals, cheap airline tickets and a great vacation package. Something went wrong, terribly wrong– my flight was rescheduled, my flight was over booked or there was a problem with the hotel reservation, like the reservation was never made, or it was not the hotel promised. After hours of searching for the right number to call, I phoned the company, I was transferred to half a dozen departments, or should I say I was passed off to several different people who had no interest in my problem, or no authority to do something about it, and ended up speaking with someone in OshKosh, India who I could barely understand. Five hours later, several different “agents” later I’m no closer to fixing the problem. This is a disaster and needs to be fixed.

Let me take a moment to say I mean no disrespect to online travel agencies, in fact I respect the job most of them do. Most of these agencies do a fabulous job, have great follow through, and will give you great value for your dollar, and a great vacation with your loved ones. Most of the airline seats, cruises and hotel rooms booked through these large sites are problem-free. It’s the way they address the inevitable problems, or should I say do not address the problems, that leaves something to be desired in the view of many consumers.

Good travel agents have an edge over almost any other seller of travel. Years of experience, inside secrets, and a good relationship with others in the industry. They know what travel deals and vacation packages you, the traveling public wants. They speak your language. A good travel agent will be there for you when you run into trouble, an event that is unlikely to happen.

While I may suggest a travel agent be involved for that European month long vacation, or your tip to the Middle East and of course your long waited for African Safari, a travel agent is not needed for the casual weekend trip or your summertime holiday or even spring or winter break vacations. There are lots of great bargains that can save yourself thousand of dollars, just by doing a little work on your own. These bargains are genuinely trouble free, great locations and fabulous travel deals. Finding the travel deals and vacation packages is getting easier everyday, book yours today. A few clicks of your mouse and you will have cheap airline tickets, cheap travel and a vacation package of a lifetime.

The author of this article is Peter Sicoli. Peter owns and operates JP Global Sales a successful information marketing company.

 

Stuart S. Travel asked:


 

The Internet gives you easy access to so much information that you can become overloaded. When traveling this is definitely the case. Friends and fellow travelers tell you to book your trip on line yourself – you’ll save hundreds of dollars. But is that really the case? Will you be able to access the best and lowest deals? Isn’t it quicker and cheaper to do it all yourself? Maybe – maybe not.

 

Beware the discount web site. Don’t book on the first deal you see. It may claim to be the lowest fare, but you won’t know until you look around and surfing the web for the best price may take quite a while and time is money.

 

Research of web sites stating they will give you best deal shows up many times as an incorrect claim. Many big travel web sites pay homage to their sponsors and advertisers, by showing their ‘deals’ only. In the airline industry, a number of small carriers are ignored and they may well offer the best deal for you, but you won’t know if their information isn’t displayed.

 

Prices of air flights differ wildly on the Internet. Try it and see. Go to a number of travel sites and look for fares to Sydney, Australia. See what you get. And this is what you need to do when booking your travel through the web. It might then be worthwhile to see what a travel agent can get for you. Yes they do have a booking fee imposed on your tickets but, did you know that many of the best budget deals are not available on the web? Specific web sites are only accessible to travel agents.  UNTIL NOW!  STUART S. TRAVEL is a full service on-line travel agency.

 

Remember that air fare prices change many, many times a day. It is going to be impossible to find the best deal. You need to be smart and organized and willing to spend a bit of time researching the best deal for you. Once you think you’ve found a great travel deal, remember to read the details to see if there are any restrictions. Will you be able to change your flight details? If so will it cost you? And how much? Those kinds of details. Things can change and your travel plans sometimes need to be flexible so make sure you know what it‘s going to cost you if you have to alter anything.

 

So if you are going to book your travel through the Internet remember these points: shop around and compare prices; be prepared to be flexible; ask questions; don’t believe everything you read on the websites; read the fine print; give yourself plenty of time to find the best deal and; if in doubt, don’t book it. 

 

If it all seems too confusing (which many web sites aim to be), go to your local on-line travel agent and see what deals they can do for you.

 

This article was provided by:

Stuart S. Travel / Your All World Travel Guru

http://www.stuartstravel.com sherry.hardsey@aol.com