Posts Tagged ‘Hotels’

Hawaii used to be a luxury destination—not only was it expensive to get to, but the islands were mostly full of spendy resorts that could cost you an arm and a leg once you get there. Enter the recession. With far fewer people traveling at all this summer, nonetheless to destinations like Hawaii, planes and hotel rooms have been left partly empty, which has in turn driven prices way down. As a result of the suffering economy, airlines, hotels, travel agents, just about everyone is offering up some pretty fantastic Hawaii deals. I’ve even seen some prices so low I’ve taken a double take at the computer screen, unable to believe how cheap it is to go to paradise right now.

Once considered the more expensive, high-season time to travel, low season prices to Hawaii are hanging around well into the summer. United is offering a great sale on vacation packages to the islands right now—an unusual occurrence during the usually busy summer travel season. Hawaii is on Sale!
Exclusive rates at some of our favorite hotels. Hurry, book by 5/31.

One of the things I like about United Vacations is that they always have competitive prices, but they also put a list of their most special deals right on the front page of their site: >United Vacations
We provide complete travel packages including air, hotel, rental car and attraction tickets.

For example, right now they are offering 20% off on all Las Vegas hotels, and I have a feeling some of them might be even cheaper than that. This situation isn’t widely talked about, but being in the travel industry I can reveal that Las Vegas is really taking it on the chin this summer, and they are wheeling and dealing on their rooms like they haven’t done in a decade or more. They’ve built over 100,000 hotel rooms, and with gas prices and airfares being high lately, more people have found it easier to skip the Vegas trip. These deals won’t go on forever though.

I can’t really point this phenomenon out during the rest of the year, but the truth is that during the next couple months you can probably fly to one of these posh all-inclusive resorts and stay there cheaper than staying home: All Inclusive Vacation Deals
Enjoy 25% - 50% off or more on All Inclusive Vacation Packages. Book today!

This is really a fun time of year to be writing about these things, just as it’s a bit tough to be writing about them during the peak season, because even the sale prices then seem outrageous. Anyway, you can now book a flight to Mexico and 3 nights at one of these places starting at $387 per person. The demand to go to these wonderful resorts is low this time of year, and they have the same number of rooms, so they practically give them away. I think next year I’m going to see if my boss will let me find these deals from there instead of my normal office.

It could be that this is because we are entering that fringe travel season where everyone has booked their summer trip, and no one is thinking about a fall or winter trip yet, but prices are quite good on these packages right now: Top Vacation Package Deals at Expedia.com

They are currently advertising Florida hotels starting at $45 per night, and packages including a flight and 3 hotel nights starting at $307. That’s pretty amazing compared to anything we’ve seen in the last couple months. I know there are always cheaper hotels in Florida that are pretty nice, but the airfare part has been even more than that alone from just about anywhere past Atlanta.

Since travel this year is down a bit, these travel companies are having to offer extra promotions in order to keep their businesses rolling, and United Vacations is no exception: United Vacation Packages
We provide vacation destinations including the Caribbean, Hawaii, Las Vegas, Mexico and more.

This is a great time of year to book a Disney vacation, and they have a special deal where you get a $100 gift card and up to 40% off the Disney hotels. Hmmm…do you think perhaps they aren’t as full now as they usually are this time of year? I love it when these big travel companies get desperate because they have to offer these really good deals just to stay afloat, and we are the winners!

Here’s the thing. These really nice all-inclusive resorts in tropical areas tend to be packed and really expensive from December through April, but this time of year they are cheap, especially if you book at the last minute: All Inclusive Vacation Deals
Enjoy 25% - 50% off or more on All Inclusive Vacation Packages. Book today!

Once you click on that link you’ll see that you can get deals to the Caribbean and Mexico for up to 45% off, which isn’t too shabby. Some of us can’t afford these luxurious places during their peak season, so by going at a different time of year we can feel like royalty at a price we can afford. Another deal here gives you up to 35% off, plus it gives you free upgrades and resort credits. Add that all up and you are paying about half what someone does in February.

Do you remember that whole “Name Your Own Price” thing that Priceline started out with? Yeah, they have kind of deemphasized that in the last few years, but it’s still around and here’s an incredible offer: Name Your Own Price Hotel - See Winning Bids in Top Cities!

I think the reason Priceline has mostly moved away from that thing is that for most people you always felt like you might be getting ripped off. You’d enter a low bid and it would be rejected and they’d suggest a much higher bid, but you still didn’t know if that was at the worst hotel in that area or what.

Nope, this isn’t an April Fools joke, Expedia really does have some excellent deals on last minute hotels: Last-Minute Hotel Deals at Expedia.com

They list deals for a bunch of US cities on the page you’ll see, but if you drag down that slider thing you’ll find cities around the world that are part of this offer. Just between you and me, the best ones are the ones with the shortest time-frames.

Regular readers are painfully aware of my recent battle with Sandals resorts. They ended a great promotion last week, I fought to have it extended, and I did it! Click Here to get up to TWO FREE NIGHTS at Sandals Resorts plus Save up to 50% off !

When you click over there you’ll see that I got the “Suiteheart” deal extended until the end of the month. Honestly, I can’t take all the credit. I know many of you played a big role in this victory as well, and I consider us a team and I always have.

People often ask me if there are perks to writing this column. The truth is I often get “insider” information, but I usually can’t write about it here. Well, in this case I can: Expedia Insiders’ Select: The ultimate list of the world’s best hotels and resorts only at Expedia.com!

I’m pretty sure I’m not going to get in trouble for sharing this one, but regular readers of this column know I get in trouble from these travel companies all the time anyway.