There are many bargains in travel for the person who knows where to look and how to take advantage of existing programs. Of course, I am not talking about taking a winter vacation to Galveston Texas and spending your weekend in a cardboard box on the beach. I am also not referring to a tree house on the shores of Lake Michigan in the dead of winter.
Where Do You Look For Travel Bargains?
Just a couple decades ago, travel shoppers would go to their local travel agency to find discount travel services and discount travel packages.
Many people have known for years that if you buy a plane ticket from the airline company, then chances are solid that you will always pay full price for that ticket. However, the average travel agency can acquire that same airplane fair at a discount – in essence so that the travel agency can profit from the difference, but many travel agencies will pass those savings to the consumer.
Travel agencies also offer another advantage to consumers in that they have the ability to look at airline fares from a number of different airlines. Often it can be much cheaper to fly to Chicago and change airplanes to catch another flight to New York City, than it would be to take the direct route to NYC. Travel agencies have the ability to see those discounts that others will not see.
Discount travel packages are often available by grouping a set of people into the same vacation plan. The elderly and retired most commonly take advantage of this option, but they are not the only ones. From Las Vegas, people will join together to fill a bus for the ride to Hoover Dam or the Grand Canyon. All around the country, people will board a bus and ride it to a casino closer to home. Tour groups frequently catch a flight to Europe and share a bus trip tour around Europe.
By getting three-dozen distant strangers to share the costs of a particular tour schedule, travel costs can definitively be lowered. Costs are reduced because the tour can be priced according to the real costs of the journey, as opposed to the inflated costs designed into a package to pay for the empty seats. But, do you really want to build your next vacation around the strict schedule designed by the tour operator?
What If You Don’t Want To Share Your Vacation?
The truth is that there are plenty of travel savings out there for people who are a bit more independent than the people who fill tour buses.
To pose the question again as to where to get actual travel savings, many people in this day and age turn to the Internet travel companies for travel discounts.
The travel companies are in a grand advertising battle, fighting for your business. Expedia, Travelocity, Yahoo Travel, Travel.com, Orbitz, Priceline and others are fighting for your travel dollars. But, who really offers the best travel deals?
People have many opinions about who has the best travel deals available online. If you listen to William Shatner, you would look no further than Priceline for those travel deals. But, I am here to tell you that if you want the real travel deals, don’t stop at Priceline.
Big Dollar Advertising Requires Big Dollar Sales Markups
Consider this. In order for Expedia, Travelocity, Yahoo Travel, Travel.com, Orbitz, and Priceline to be household names, they have to spend millions on advertising to put their names into your subconscious mind.
How much of your travel package cost will be used to sell their services to the next person? In other words, how much are you overpaying for travel, in order to know who these companies are?
Cheaper Travel Can Be Found When You Escape The Beaten Path
If you know what to look for and where to look, you can find travel packages that are much less expensive than you can get with a tour operator or the top six travel companies shown above – and you will not have to share your trip with three dozen people you don’t even know and probably will not like.
To prove my point, let me give you a couple of examples.
On the Pacific side of Baja California Sur, in the town of Cabo San Lucas, Las Cabos, Mexico, there is a 5-Star Resort called Hacienda del Mar Vacation Club. At this resort, you can get a one-bedroom condo for 8 days and 7 nights, and you can spend your days and nights overlooking the Pacific Ocean. At Priceline, this package will cost $2088.38. At Travelocity, this same package will cost $1976.59. If you know where to shop, you can get the same one-bedroom condo for 8 days and 7 nights, for a mere $645.
Located on 600 acres in the greater San Diego, California area, Welk Resort San Diego offers unique accommodations in the form of vacation rentals with a variety of amenities and resort activities. You can get a one-bedroom villa suite in the most complete resort setting, which provides a golf course and a private theater. For an 8-day, 7-night package at Welk Resort, Expedia will charge $2064.43; Orbitz will charge you $2236.40, and Travelocity charges $2063. If you know where to shop, you can get this package for as little as $298.
In Conclusion
There is a little known secret that can literally save thousands of dollars on your next vacation, perhaps even step up the value you receive in exchange for your limited vacation dollars.
By: Maureen M. Heiden
Archive for the ‘Articles’ category
African Travel Tips when visiting Namibia
March 9th, 2010
Namibia’s name was derived from Namib desert, which is believed to be the oldest desert in the world. This unique geological feature is renowned for the pristine and haunting quality of its landscape. It’s this feature that characterizes the country most, and is home to some of the country’s top tourist destinations, notably Sossusvlei, Sandwich Harbour and the Skeleton Coast Park.
Far from being lifeless and barren, the desert features an unusual variety of desert-adapted flora and fauna, including a large number of endemic plant, bird, reptile and insect species. Many of these species are of particular scientific interest and attract scientists from all over the world.
CAPITAL: Windhoek
CLIMATE: Namibia has a dry climate typical of a semi-desert country where droughts are a regular occurrence. Days are mostly warm to very hot, while nights are generally cool. Average day temperatures in the summer vary from 20°C – 34°C and average night temperatures in the winter vary from 0°C – 10°C. There are vast differences between the arid southern desert and semi-desert areas and the tropical north-east with its abundant summer rains. The best time to visit Namibia is Apr-Oct.
CURRENCY: 1 Namibia Dollar = 100 cents. Rands are accepted as legal tender. Traveller’s cheques are accepted almost everywhere. German Marks, USD or Swiss Franc traveller’s cheques are recommended. In general, credit cards are accepted by most hotels as well as in Namibia Wildlife Resorts where MasterCard, Visa, (Diners Club and Amex not always), Namibian Dollars, Rand traveller’s cheques and bank guaranteed cheques are accepted. Credit cards aren’t accepted for fuel.
ELECTRICITY: 220 volts, 50Hz. Plugs are 3-pin round.
HEALTH: A yellow fever vaccination certificate is required from travellers over 1 year of age coming from infected areas. Visitors are advised to take pre-arrival precautions against malaria (risk exists Nov-Jun in the northern regions such as Ovamboland and the Caprivi Strip as well as in Omaheke and Otjozondjupa and throughout the year along the Kavango and Kunene rivers), hepatitis A, polio and typhoid. Tap water is safe.
LANGUAGE: English is the official language. In shops, hotels and restaurants, Afrikaans and German are often spoken.
PUBLIC HOLIDAYS: New Years’ Day (1 Jan); Independance Day (21 Mar); Good Friday (9 Apr); Easter Monday (12 Apr); Labour Day (1 May); Cassinga Day (4 May); Ascension Day (20 May); Africa Day (25 May); Heroes Day (26 Aug); Goodwill Day (7 Oct); Human Rights’ Day (10 Dec); Christmas Day (25 Dec); Boxing Day (26 Dec).
SHOPPING: woodcarvings; basketry; pottery; fur coats & jackets, especially Swakara; gold jewellery; individually-designed hand-woven carpets and wall hangings made from karakul wool; Namibian semi-precious stones and diamonds; Herero dolls.
SOCIAL CONVENTIONS: There is a Christian majority. Western customs and courtesies are observed. Business suits are worn in winter; in summer, safari suits are acceptable.
TIME DIFFERENCE: GMT +2 (GMT +1 during Apr-Aug)
TIPPING: 10 percent of the bill is customary.
TOP TEN ATTRACTIONS DESCRIPTION:
Windhoek:
The capital; a small, bustling city with a ‘continental’ atmosphere; many sights including the Gibeon Meteorite Fountain, National Art Gallery of Namibia, Tintenpalast, Namibia Craft Centre and National Botanical Garden; shopping.
Fish River Canyon:
One of Namibia’s most spectacular geological phenomena; contains Ai-Ais Hot Springs, rugged mountainland, Fish River Canyon (second largest gorge in Africa) and Huns Mountains with isolated and otherworldly landscape and wealth of interesting xerophytic plants; seasoned hikers regard the 4-5 day trail as one of southern Africa’s major challenges.
Sossusvlei-Namib:
Naukluft Park Monumental dunes lie at the end of an erosional trough formed by the Tsauchab River; they are star-shaped.
Etosha National Park:
Namibia’s first conservation area and one of the largest game reserves in Africa; its definitive feature is the Etosha Pan, a vast shallow depression of approx. 5000km²; elephants here are reputed to be of the largest in Africa; of the 114 mammal species found in the park, several are rare and endangered; bird life is interesting during rainy season.
Skeleton Coast Park:
An aura of mystery and impenetrability surrounds this park with its many shipwrecks, dense coastal fogs and cold sea breezes; of special interest are the clay castles of the Hoarusib, the salt pans near Agate Mountain, the seal colony at Cape Frio and the remains of shipwrecks along the coast.
Caprivi Strip:
Lush riverine forests and seasonal flood plains; some of southern Africa’s top birding spots, especially the Caprivi Game Park; known also for its arts and crafts e.g. pots and baskets with their distinctive beauty and symmetry; shop at Lizauli Traditional Village and variety of craft centres; other activities include angling e.g. tiger fishing and game viewing on boat cruises.
Luderitz-Kolmanskop:
Namibia’s most famous Ghost Town, situated in the Sperrgebiet approximately 10km from Lüderitz; the museum recounts the history of this abandoned mining community.
Swakopmund:
Popular because of its old-world charm and relaxed atmosphere; distinct German colonial character; historical buildings and modern aquarium; renowned for kudu leather shoes.
Cape Cross Seal Colony:
Home to the biggest and the best-known of the 223 colonies of Cape fur seals which breed along the coast of South Africa and Namibia; during Nov/Dec breeding season as many as 150,000 seals gather here; off the coast are protected bird islands.
Epupa Falls:
One of Namibia’s prime tourist spots; a series of cascades where the Kunene River drops 60m over a distance of about 1,5km, dividing into a multitude of channels and forming a myriad rock pools; it is possible to swim in these pools, but keep a lookout for crocodiles.
By: Gerald Crawford
Perth Australia travel guide and information
March 8th, 2010If you are longing for a great holiday which has some difference, then you may like to visit Perth.is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. With a population of 1,650,000 (2009), Perth ranks fourth amongst the nation’s cities, with a growth rate consistently above the national average. The Western Australia offers a very warm welcome to the guest and a great climate too.
Perth is an isolated place which is far and diverse enough to give a great place to rest away from the busy life. Although, it is an isolated city but it has numerous things to offer. It has superb attractions which has been attracting millions of tourist each year from all over the world. Here are few Perth information which can help you to know about this place better.
Perth offers numerous activities to carry out for the visitors. These Perth activities enable a great holiday and loads of fun. Some of the most adventures and fun-filled activities include swimming, sunbathing, snorkelling, tennis, scuba diving, golf and a lot more.
Not merely the Perth activities are amazing, but the Perth events are also something which is a must to see and experience.
Here are few recognized Perth events which are very famous in Perth:
Perth Fashion Festival
Crafts and Antique and Collectors Fair
Stewart Park Music Festival
WA Wine & Food Festival
These Perth events are the best events which any person can experience. It includes huge gathering and great food. The music festival is also a superb event especially for those who are very fond of music. Food and wine festival can be great for the food and wine lovers as it offers a huge range of wine list from all over the world.
The holiday inspirations website is recognized and trusted home for information on holiday destinations. The website gives you the detailed information about the destinations. A Perth Holiday can be a lifetime experience. If you are planning your holiday trip to Perth and looking about the details then you can find the same on the holiday inspirations website. The website provides you information on Perth Activities, Perth Events and all other Perth Information.
