Wednesday July 23, 2008 - Good Stuff Cheap: Travel
It is hard to get a really good deal on air travel these days. I think the key to getting a good deal is to do some comparison shopping and be flexible. I did my research last month for this segment.
July is by far the busiest month for vacations so I proposed a hypothetical trip to Las Vegas on July 16 and stay thru July 22, a total of 6 days. I wanted to spend under $3000 for the vacation for two, $2000 for airfare and hotel and then a $1000 for meals, entertainment and souvenirs.
I decided to try for a high end hotel and settled on the Bellagio on the strip. The fountains outside are beautiful and are set to music and have a light display, the lobby is filled with beautiful glass and the gardens are peaceful.
I first looked to booking the airline and hotel separately. At the Bellagio a deluxe king room could be had for $229 a night or $1,444 for the stay. Now to find some cheap airfare. The cheapest I could find was on US Airways for $1,202, bringing the total to $2,646. Out of my price range.
Next I tried American Airlines website and clicked on deals. Well they had no deals for the Bellagio but I could stay at the MGM Grand which is a wonderful complex with great restaurants. That is where Emeril has one of his restaurants. The price for airline tickets and hotel accommodations for 2 people was $3,686. And it was just a plan old room, not a suite!
Next I tried United. Again, clicked on special deals. I could get 6 nights in a deluxe room at the Bellagio and airline tickets for $2,272, if I wanted the MGM Grand it was cheaper by about $200. The interesting thing I found was that the MGM charged a different price for every night with Saturday being the most expensive and Thursday being the cheapest night.
Then I tried www.Expedia.com. Same criteria, here I found the Bellagio and airfare for $1,852. But to compare apples with apples I needed a daytime flight. The Expedia flights were red eyes, trying to find a decent flight where you flew during the daylight hours the cost $2,302.
I tried the Orbitz website as well and used the package deals for the Bellagio and the price was $2,616. Next on my list was Travelocity. I could get a deluxe room at the MGM Grand comparable to the Bellagio and airfare for $2038. But if I was willing to take a standard room in the MGM Grand, the price would $1452. Less than one half of what it was for the American Airline deal!
Next I tried www.priceline.com and found I could get nonstop flights on Delta and a room at the MGM for $1416. The nonstop flights were most appealing for all of the other deals I found required changing planes at least once.
Shop around; just because they call it a deal doesn’t make it one and when I repeated this experiment last week the rates were all different and the best deal was United.
After thought: If you are willing to fly out of Hartford, Southwest has some great deals. Easy parking as well. And there are cheaper places on the strip in Vegas.
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