Cheap Vacation Travel Packages versus Independent Budget Travel
Posted on | December 15, 2009 | 9 Comments
When traveling on a budget, one of the most often asked questions is whether it is best to travel independently, reserving your own airfare, hotel stay and sightseeing reservations, or choose a package tour where everything is set up for you in advance.
Unfortunately, there is no easy answer to this question. It is largely dependent on the location you have selected and dates of travel. For instance, travel to European destinations are often less costly to book on your own, especially when the airlines are running specials of European airfares in the off-season.
On the other hand, travel to many exotic locations, like Egypt, Morocco, Kenya, South Africa, Thailand, and India, are often much less expensive when booked through a vacation package company or travel agent. That is because these tour operators often have special deals with the national airlines of these companies, and with very nice resort hotels, to provide considerable discounts in exchange for a steady flow of business.
For instance, with a little bit of shopping, you can book a vacation package from New York to Egypt for a grand total of $1,100, including airfare, an excellent hotel, daily breakfast, airport transfers, and daily sightseeing tours, including guided tours of the pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx. This is far less than you would have paid if you had booked this trip independently.
Similar deals exist for other locations, notably India, China, and Taiwan. So be sure to check on the availability of these package deals when shopping for a budget travel deal.
Of course, some great deals can be had on your own as well, and this is often a great way to go, especially if you are a solo traveler. Solo travelers often have difficulty getting those great deals on package deals, since the required single supplement can often ruin the deal.
It is also important to find out exactly what is, and what is not included, in any package you are considering. Many package deals have optional excursions built in, and these extras can add considerable cost. Be sure to ask for a detailed daily itinerary to determine if you will be left on your own if you fail to take these optional. Also ask for a detailed list of these optional excursions, including full descriptions and prices, and then carefully compare the total price to what you could find on your own.
If you are traveling on your own, be sure to start shopping early, especially if you are traveling by air. The important thing to remember is that airlines allocate only so many seats for those advertised low fares, and if you fail to act quickly, you may be out of luck. It is important to book the airfare, and the hotel, as early as possible to ensure the lowest possible prices.
Ultimately, the decision of whether to choose a vacation package deal or independent travel is up to each individual traveler. It is important to carefully compare package prices with those for independent travel to the same location. It is also important to consider your own personal travel style. Some people are more comfortable with a packaged tour, particularly to an unfamiliar location, while others relish the freedom from schedules that independent travel provides.
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9 Responses to “Cheap Vacation Travel Packages versus Independent Budget Travel”
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December 15th, 2009 @ 11:13 am
From where? Greatly affects how I would answer your question. Please edit your question to add this key detail; I'll check back later.
December 15th, 2009 @ 11:31 am
1. Encashing frequent flyer miles is one of my favorite methods to get discount air tickets on subsequent purchases.
2. Online travel services like Orbitz, Travelocity and BookingBuddy allow customers to choose selected flights whenever deeper discounts become available. Other services such as Priceline may allow customers to bid for lower price airline tickets, but they can also require immediate purchase of those tickets or a much more flexible schedule.
3. If you belong to an auto club, or to Sam’s Club or Costco, it is helpful to compare rates there too. Companies like AAA or Costco sometimes offer the best prices for plane tickets online or offline.
4. A travel agency is a time-tested source for discount air tickets. Here the agent can negotiate a package deal to lower the price of airline tickets as long as a specific hotel or car rental is booked.
5. A major airline sometimes uses discounts to encourage the use of its low-price commuter service. Occasionally airlines compete for business through 'fare wars', which may lower the price of tickets by as much as 40%.
The key is to look out for those little-known ways you can travel for cheap without having to forgo the 'luxuries'.
December 15th, 2009 @ 2:58 pm
December 15th, 2009 @ 6:51 pm
Try Expedia.com . I fly to Europe several times a year and they usually have the lowest prices when I'm looking. Other things you can do to get a lower price…try to fly between Tuesday and Thursday. Weekends are higher. Avoid traveling near a major holiday, if possible. Search for tickets at any time of day if you can be flexible. Certain times of day are more expensive than others. Are you heading to a particular city in Europe or just anywhere cheap? London often has very good flight prices but it's expensive once you get there. There are some budget carriers in Europe that you might be able to use if you are planning to travel around after you arrive. Check out http://www.ryanair.com , http://www.easyjet.com and http://www.bmibaby.com These might allow you to fly to whatever European city you find good fares to and then cheaply move to another location. It's often cheaper that way than booking a US carrier into a less-traveled destination.
December 15th, 2009 @ 10:36 pm
For the purposes of buying airline tickets, those kids are considered adults. You did not indicate your origin or destination city but check the following sites:
southwest.com
jetblue.com
orbitz.com
kayak.com
December 16th, 2009 @ 4:54 am
cheaptickets.com…. travelocity.com…. expedia.com..the old standby, priceline.com
CAREFUL… cheap means no changes or you pay huge fees to adjust your travel days! Make real sure the schedule you're buying is one you can actually use…
December 16th, 2009 @ 7:51 am
You don't really have much of a choice for domestic air travel in Vietnam, either Pacific Airlines or Vietnam Airlines are your best (and only) options. Air Asia, a large budget airline in Asia is planning on beginning domestic service in the future, but it's still a ways off, but that should help to bring down the costs and provide more options, but for now there isn't much of a choice. You can check online, but is easily arranged once you get to Saigon.
December 16th, 2009 @ 9:50 am
I have found that the cheapest way is generally by check the airlines page or hotel page, and yahoo travel seem to be the cheapest.
December 18th, 2009 @ 10:31 am
Priceline.com is the best!!!!