Feb 5, 2009 1:19 pm US/Eastern
Cheap Travel - Know Where To Look
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
The economic crisis has forced many people to cut back their spending on just about everything. That change in behavior has actually created an opportunity for anyone longing for a winter getaway. There are bargains galore if you know how to find them.
"Now is the time to take advantage of the deals," explained Anne Banas of
Smartertravel.com in Charlestown. "They are across the board, in every sector: airfare, hotel and cruise," she said. Airlines in particular are scrambling to fill their seats. "Airlines have been cutting capacity for the past several months, but even so demand is still really low. They have a lot of empty seats to fill and that means lots of deals."
Plan Your Trip:
SmarterTravel.com
TripIt.com
HOTEL DEALS
Hotels can't cut capacity so they are offering all kinds of promotions to fill their rooms. Banas' advice; don't be afraid to do a little bargaining. "Look for upgrades, free nights, even resort credits," she said. "Sometimes even spa treatments are available."
CRUISE DISCOUNTS
Cruise companies are in the same boat. So if you've always wanted to try a cruise, now is the time says Banas. "They really want to sell those cabins so they are doing a lot of really deep discounting."
Find Cruise Deals:
CruiseCompete.com
CruiseCritic.com
ShoreTrips.com
AIRLINE DEALS
According to Banas, the airline's own websites often offer the best deals. She suggests checking
Airfarewatchdog.com. The site offers promotion codes for additional discounts when booking through the airlines.
Farecompare.com is an aggregator for all of the traditional travel sites like Expedia, Priceline and Orbitz. It will do all of the comparison shopping for you. "If you know the system, you can save hundreds," explained Farecompare.com founder Rick Seaney.
Find Cheap Airfare:
Yapta.com
ExpertFlyer.com
Kayak.com
Orbitz.com
Travelocity.com
FareCompare.com
AirlineConsolidator.com
TIMING IS EVERYTHING
The day you chose to travel can also make a difference. "The best days and the cheapest days to travel are Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday," Seaney said.
Travel companies usually offer their winter sales through March, but this year many of these bargains will be good until the end of June. That's a great opportunity for many families to take an affordable vacation as soon as the kids get out of school.
HOT SPOTS
If you are looking for a deal to the islands try
Cheapcaribbean.com. Banas says Vegas tourism is way down so you can find some great deals at
Vegas.com.
The exchange rate has kept many travelers from even considering a trip to Europe. But the dollar is gaining some strength on the Euro so it's a good time to book a trip overseas. "There was a sale on British Airways for $500 round trip and that includes taxes, fees and two night's hotel," said Banas.
MORE TIPS FROM ANNE BANAS
2009 Airfare Tips
Look for Promo Codes: Airlines are increasingly resorting to promotion codes in order to bypass online travel agencies and meta search engines. This strategy also eliminates the need to pay commissions to other sites. Discounts range from $10 to 50% off published fares. To get the codes, sign up for the airlines' frequent flyer programs and emailed newsletters. These fares are never listed on Travelocity, Kayak, etc., but Airfarewatchdog lists promo codes in its blog postings as soon as they become available.
Consider the extra fees before you buy.
If Southwest has a fare of $198 round-trip and United has one for $148, and you are checking three bags, then Southwest actually has the lowest fare because Southwest charges nothing for the first two checked bags, whereas United would charge you an additional $165 each way for three. You can find baggage fee charts here.
Surprising sales sometimes appear on Saturdays and holiday weekends.
Over 2009's MLK 3-day weekend, US Air launched an unadvertised sale to Europe for May, June, August, and September travel with fares up to 60% off the previous prices. This is not the first time we've seen a Saturday morning fare massacre and while it may not happen very often, for various competitive reasons, airlines sneak in the very best unadvertised sales when they think the competition is watching the big game or taking the kids to the movies rather than monitoring what other airlines are charging (Saturdays, and holiday weekends are an obvious choice).
Search for fares throughout the day, several times a day.
Fares go up and go down throughout the day like the stock market, so if you don't like what you see at 10 AM, come back a couple of hours later and search again. Just as important as the fare, seat availability can change throughout the day. Airlines adjust the number of seats available at different fare levels, so even if the fare hasn't changed, the availability of seats at that fare may fluctuate, so you'll see a $120 fare to where you're going one minute, but the next it's twice that.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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