Vacation
Shopping
Guide
Searching the web for travel deals can be a mind-boggling experience. There are so many choices that if you don't know where to look, you can end up spending hours researching, or even worse, over-paying.
When you want to go and how flexible you are with your travel dates, help you decide where to go to make your travel arrangements.
If the trip is last minute, your best deal is to check the major airlines for their "internet deals." These "deals" change often and are usually only good for use within a couple of weeks, but the prices are great.
If you can't find what you need, Priceline.com is a site where you actually name your own price. You'll need a credit card to bid and you're given a quick answer as to whether or not your price was accepted. There's no going back after you make the bid, so make sure it's what you want. After your price is accepted, you find out your times and what airline. I used this service last summer when I needed to fly during peak travel season, got the best price around at the time, and had no problem with service. (By the way, Priceline is now also offering tickets and hotels with the prices already named, but the deals aren't as low as if you "name your own.")
Hotwire.com is good if you don't want to bid, have a bit of flexibility on travel dates, and don't mind not knowing which airline and the exact time you'll be flying. Their search engines usually deliver the lowest going rate.
If you want more control over flights and prefer to make "packaged" arrangements that include hotels and rental cars, Expedia.com is the site to check. (A close friend used this site last year for their vacation to Kawaii, purchased a package that included airfare for three, a rental car, and a week in a four star hotel for $1,700… quite the savings and no problem with service.)
If you want to do a quick comparison, both Orbitz and Travelocity.com are other good sites to check.
Tip: In order to get the best deal, play around with the travel dates on the search. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday travel can be significantly lower priced.
If you're not sure where you want to take your vacation or even if you are, check TravelZoo.com for a great overview on going deals. Another really fun site is SkyAuction.com.
SkyAuction has packages, hotels, cruises and air fares, for all over the world. It's similar to E-bay, there's a finish time on each deal. You place your bid and compete against other bidders for the vacation. Opening bids are $1. Yes, $1. Tax and fees average an additional $195 per week, but the deals are fantastic! Most packages are offered for a several months, so you can win an auction and travel when you want. They also have "Last Minute Auctions" for travel that's more immediate, and those usually close at really great prices. We took a SkyAuction vacation last December and had no problems with service.
If you need to purchase a one-way flight, SouthwestAirlines.com, is the cheapest way to go. The earlier you book, the better the chance of getting the best deal.
JetBlue is also an airline to also keep your eye on... Although they have limited cities to which they travel at the moment, they're growing fast and their prices are so low that every time they add a city, it makes the prices drop on many of the airlines flying to the same destination.
For a speedy travel comparison, FamilyMatters.tv has grouped the major online travel search engines onto one page... so visit Quick Flight Comparisons and Quick Hotel and Vacation Package Comparisons to find out how much you can save.
Enjoy your trip!
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