|
Save Money Arranging Last Minute Vacation Packages
Highlight:
If you’re planning a last-minute vacation package,
you can save by being a bit more flexible with your travel choices. Search
online and identify a benchmark cost for transportation, accommodations,
etc. Once you’ve narrowed down your accommodations options, check
out reviews about them. Research last-minute airfares and lastly, take
risks. If you’re really after savings, gamble on inexpensive but
lesser known travel providers.
Original source:
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/deals/inside/2005-02-23-column_x.htm
Summary:
- Although I generally prefer to plan my vacations a few months in advance,
my boyfriend and I decided to celebrate our anniversary with a last-minute
weekend trip.
- To escape the wet snow and murky skies of January in New England, we
headed down to New Orleans for a taste of jazz music, hurricanes on Bourbon
Street and warm, sunny weather.
By using strategies unique to booking last-minute travel, I found a good
price on a vacation package that offered us the best value for our money.
- I wanted to fly from Boston to New Orleans with as few connecting flights
as possible, stay two or three nights at a mid-range property within walking
distance of both the French Quarter and the St. Charles streetcar, and
spend about $400 per person.
- And, although I'm a staunch believer in booking vacation packages as
a way of saving money on air and accommodations, for this trip I liked
the idea of staying in a cozy bed-and-breakfast.
Using BookingBuddy.com (a sister site of SmarterTravel.com), I searched
the three major online travel agencies (Expedia, Orbitz, and Travelocity)
to get a benchmark price for airfare.
- Though you can often find lower prices on airlines' Web sites than
through a third-party agency (by circumventing the $5 to $7 service fee
that the major agencies charge), I find that getting a benchmark price
by comparing airfares on these sites is easier than checking each airlines'
site individually.
- Packages ranged from $400 (my target price) to $600 (out of my price
range), but the choice of flight schedules and hotels was mediocre.
- Still trying to find a decent hotel in our price range, I searched
last-minute travel provider Site59.
- I booked a 6 a.m. Northwest flight to maximize our time in New Orleans
and spent three nights at the Hotel InterContinental New Orleans (a AAA
four-diamond hotel).
|
