Mexico - Travel Deals

I’m a big geography buff so any time I see a cheap ticket deal to a destination I don’t know I am quick to take notice. Today I saw that United Airlines will fly you from Los Angeles to Zihuantanejo, Mexico for under $200 round-trip. I was familiar with Los Angeles, it is somewhere on the west coast and home to famous people who are always having their pictures snapped while they sip cocktails at nightclubs at 4am. I was not familiar with Zihuatanejo but correctly guessed that it is in Mexico. Hooray for me and hooray for United for flying there. It looks like a cool place.

Situated on the Pacific Coast about 145 miles northwest of Acapulco, Zihuatanejo is a sleepy and beautiful looking fishing village nestled around a quiet bay and pretty beaches. It is the antithesis of Acapulco. There are no high rise buildings and it is a wonderful alternative to staying in the much busier and touristy Ixtapa, which is five km away.

As for the name which I will probably never be able to pronounce correctly, it means “the place of women” in Chiuatlan. You learn something new every day.

Back in the good old days if you had $50 to spend in Mexico you could live high on the hog for weeks. That isn’t the case as much nowadays. Mexico is not nearly as cheap of a travel destination as it used to be, especially if you are in one of the resort areas like Puerto Vallarta. Still, if you get away from the tourist traps and go out to a local market you could purchase some local items for $50 and come away with a handful of goods that will forever remind you of your vacation south of the border.

Vacation packages to Mexico remain a hot item even heading into the busy travel season. United Vacations are the ones offering you the $50 bonus and they are so generous that they will give you a bill with Grant’s face on it for every person in your party who signs up to come along for the ride. Heck, they’ll even throw you a fill bills if you decide to say adios to Mexico and hola to the Caribbean instead.

The offer is good throughout the year except for those busy holiday weeks in the winter.

Back when I was in college the first thing I did each year was finalize my Spring Break plans. Forget figuring out my class schedule, never mind paying for textbooks, it was that delightful time off in the spring that was always my top priority. You would have no trouble seeing that if you took a look at my transcript. Fortunately I burned all records of my scholastic achievement so you’ll never know how awful I did on the Astronomy 101 final.

Realizing that my Spring Break planning was the exception to the usual slacker rule, it is worth pointing out that even if you haven’t made Spring Break plans – hell, even if you just want to get away from some sun and relaxation – it is still possible to purchase airplane tickets to Cancun that will cost less than the Economics textbooks you are never going to read anyway.

If you are past the age where kegstands seem like a fun way to spend an afternoon, Cancun is still large enough and interesting enough to make for a pleasant vacation destination. If you are at the age where kegstands are part of your daily ritual then get going with your airline reservations right now. Just make sure to save some matches so that you can burn your transcripts later on.

Whenever I see the name “Mazatlán” I am reminded of a friend’s 21st birthday party where we all decided that drinking margaritas all night long would be better than, say, eating anything. We were broke, we had a local Mexican dive called Mazatlán right around the corner from where we lived, and we ended up with hangovers that lasted well into our 30s.

Needless to say, this association has never inspired any of us to actual visit the real Mazatlán, which is a popular tourist region on the Pacific side of Mexico. Located across from the tip of Baja, California, it is Mexico’s largest commercial port. Chances are you won’t be visiting there while on a big cargo ship, but that is ok because the city and region have plenty of nice hotels for you to rest your weary head at night.

Frontier Airlines has flights from Dallas, Texas to Mazatlán that are about as cheap as those margaritas I drank way back when. Having never been there myself, I am still going to venture to say that you should be able to find a frosty beverage or two if you choose to visit. Just remember to known when to say when. A decade-long hangover is even worse than Montezuma’s Revenge.

If you are a child of a certain era and your parents were silly cool enough to let you watch a lot of television, you will undoubtedly think of a certain television show every time you hear the name Acapulco. Seemingly every week Gopher, Julie and Doc would lead the hearty cast of celebrities about the Love Boat to the Mexican town. Along the way there would always be hi-jinks but once the ship reached Acapulco everything would turn out just fine.

For years I thought that Acapulco was a fictional location. After much research I have discovered that it is not. In fact, it is very much a real destination and it is very much a cool place for those traveling to Mexico.

It turns out that Acapulco has been well known as a traveler’s crossroads for at least a millennium. Its name is a Nahuatl word, meaning “plain of dense reeds”. In recent years it has become a bit of a hot spot for the Spring Break crowd, which might be the reason why you can fly to Acapulco from New York for around $350 this March. At that price you might as well invite Gopher, Julie, and Doc along to keep you company.

Cheap Acapulco Hotels

For an island that is merely 30 miles long and 10 miles wide and with the highest natural point a mere 15 meters above seas level, Cozumel has a lot to offer. The popular vacation destination located off the eastern coast of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula has an incredible amount of biodiversity and some of the best scuba diving you can find anywhere in the world.

Jacques Cousteau made the waters of Cozumel famous in the 1960s and as a result there was an explosion of scuba diving around its legendary coral reefs. In 1996, the government of Mexico also established the Cozumel Reefs National Marine Park, forbidding anyone from touching or removing any marine life within the park boundaries.

In addition to the fun you can have underwater, Cozumel offers some beautiful beaches and an active nightlife geared tourists those looking to party while on holiday.

Travelocity is offering a vacation package that is a tremendous value. You can fly to Cozumel and stay at the three-star El Cozumeleno Beach Resort for three nights for about the same as you would normally pay just for an airplane ticket. The resort is located on the northern hotel zone of Cozumel and is just five minutes from downtown and it is right across the street from an 18-hole golf course.

What more could you ask for?

All Inclusive Vacations: Flight + 3 Nights Hotel From $637

The prices on airplane tickets to various destinations in Mexico are quite reasonable at the moment and undoubtedly there will be a fair number of people heading South of the Border during the Spring Break travel period. It is important for anyone flying to Mexico or Canada from the United States to be aware of the new passport regulations that go into effect on January 23, 2007.

You’ll no longer be able to cross the border with a mere driver’s license, birth certificate or baseball trading card. The government is now requiring that you show a passport upon exiting the country. I bet you are regretting not having a better passport photo taken right about now, aren’t you? Relax, I look like a cold blooded murderer in my picture and they still let me into Canada. Suckers.

The travel document initiative affects all United States citizens traveling by air within North America. It also affects certain foreign nationals who currently are not required to present a passport to travel to the United States-namely Canadian citizens, Mexican citizens, and citizens of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda. For current information please go to the U.S. Department of State Web site where you will be mesmerized by the legalese on display.

Someone must have slipped some happy pills in the coffee of the United Airlines executives because they are doing their best to make the world a happier, more smiley place. The airline has some seriously good deals on international flights with some especially tasty prices on flights to Mexico, Germany and Puerto Rico.

How tasty? Try finding a cheaper flight than the one from Indianapolis to Cancun, Mexico for $196 round-trip. That is crazy talk. Makes me almost want to move to Indy.

The Mexican good times can also be found in Chicago where flights to Mexico City are being offered for less than $300 and in Sacramento where you can fly to Los Cabos for $202 round-trip.

The party continues with all kinds of good prices on flights to Germany. There is New York to Munich for $328, Philly to Berlin for $319 and Pittsburg to Frankfurt for the incredible rate of $301. Sprechen Sie Savings?

For my friends keeping it real in the 503 area code, you need to get yourself over to Priceline and snag one of these flights to San Juan, Puerto Rico from Portland for $296. You know that offers like these won’t last so get yourself into gear and purchase your flights before January 9, 2007 or before those happy pills wear off.

Located on that thin strip of land that hangs down from mainland United States like a piece of food hanging from your chin, San Jose Del Cabo is one of the hot places to head for sunshine this winter. The Baja California resort town is a particular favorite for divers, golfers, fishermen and those who simply like to kick back and relax on some of the finest beaches that Mexico has to offer.

Without the brand name recognition of its fellow Baja city, Cabo San Lucas, San Jose Del Cabo is not quite as crowded and as a result it exudes the laid back attitude that will win even the most stressed out, fast paced person over. If you visit the area between January and March you might even get a glimpse at whales migrating southward from the Bering Strait. Whale watching tours are aplenty and this is one activity you certainly don’t want to miss if you are there at the right time of year.

One other must-see event in San Jose Del Cabo is the sunset. Watching the glorious yellow orb known as the sun crash into the sea in the horizon is the essence of beauty and romance. Make a picnic, grab a few adult beverages and sit close to the one you love. It is nature’s poetry at its best.

United Airlines has some killer deals on flights to San Jose Del Cabo. You can fly there from Chicago for less than $400 round trip and from Denver for around $300. Now you have no reason not to head South of the Border this winter.

Puerto Vallarta is an absolute delight. Unlike some other tourist destinations in Mexico (yes, I’m talking about you, Cancun), it has managed to maintain some of its small village charm despite growing into a world class place for visitors.

Puerto Vallarta was originally called “Las Peñas de Santa María de Guadalupe” (”the rocks of Saint Mary of Guadalupe”), but that was kind of a mouthful so eventually it became Puerto Vallarta (just so us gringos can show how good we are at rolling our “r’s”). The town is where the John Huston-directed movie version of the Tennessee Williams’s play The Night of the Iguana was filmed and after movie audiences saw how cute a place it could be for Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor they flocked there in numbers. According to Wikipedia: Today, there is a statue of Huston in the park on La Isla Rio Cuale in the center of the city. A nearby plaque dedicated on the 25th anniversary of the film’s release honors Huston’s contribution to the city’s fame.

Even if you aren’t a John Huston fan, you should make the journey to Puerto Vallarta. For a limited time you can fly there from L.A. for a mere $203. You won’t find a cheaper flight than that and you won’t find a better place in Mexico to visit.