Shopping Travel Deals

Top Ten Tips For Happy Holiday Car Hire

Travel Shopper — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 18:21:45 +0000

When organising a holiday, more often than not what can go wrong will go wrong. There is a wealth of horror stories telling of bankrupt tour operators and roach infested hotels. Car hire is not immune as the subject of these sorts of tales, however with this expert checklist you can make sure you have all the bases covered before you leave your house.

1. If you are a frequent flier with a specific airline then you may well be eligible for fantastic discounts on car hire from your service provider. Check with your airline to see if you are eligible and find out what car hire companies they affiliate with.

2. Save extra money and book online. The resources that are used to provide an online booking service are far less than over the phone, hence the savings are passed on to you. A car hire company should have an E-commerce website and if they don’t then you might want to rethink your selection. If you are a technophobe then get your 12 year old child to do it for you.

3. Check the contract carefully. There is a minefield of potential contractual nightmares regarding insurance, liability clauses, excess limits, who can drive and so on. Large car hire companies will have a relatively standard contract and infrastructure to provide support for any questions you might have. Double check and ask questions because it is easier to do it before you travel.

4. Get a confirmation number. It might seem rather obvious, but your car hire provider should give you a confirmation number to confirm your reservation. This will allow them to access your details instantly and it is also worth providing your car hire company with the details of your flight. This will protect you if your flight runs into delays, as some car hire companies might rehire the car in the event of you not turning up within a certain time.

5. Is bigger better? Some car hire companies might offer you a free upgrade on the spec of your hire car. This might seem like a blessing however double check that there are no additional contractual obligations with the upgrade. Obviously the fuel bill will be higher and for those of us concerned with the environment, the fuel consumption therefore emissions will be higher.

6. On the subject of fuel, fill it up yourself. You have to return the hire car with a full tank of gas and it is seriously worth doing that at a gas station before you return the car. The fuel surcharge by companies can severely sting your wallet, so be organised and not in a mad rush. Leave yourself enough time to fill the car up.

7. Check the vehicle before you accept the hire car. Easier said than done with screaming children but it is seriously worth it. Challenge any marks or inconsistencies with the report because if you miss them, the car hire company will not and you will pay for the pleasure of repairing their car.

8. Do not drink and drive. There are so many more important reasons why, however in this context you will be void of insurance and liable for everything that happens in an accident. The same is true if you are under the influence of drugs, so just don’t do it.

9. Check the time when the vehicle has to be returned. Another charge, similar to the fuel charge, that is a great source of revenue for car hire companies. There are no excuses for late return and you will be charged through the nose. If you are definitely going to run over then inform them in advance and they might be able to accommodate an extension at a pre-arranged rate.

10. Be organised. All these pointers will only work if you are organised about your car hire. People end up paying extortionate rates when they incur all these surcharges and they are in abundance; if you plan your car hire properly and use this list and you will not pay over the odds.

About The Author:

Tobias Bowman is a senior consultant working with a global car hire company and a veteran of nightmare holidays. Visit: http://www.budget.co.uk/

Read more articles written by: Tobias Bowman

Kaanapali Beach Hotel, Hawaii, Travel Special and Tours

Travel Shopper — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 17:13:03 +0000

Whale Watching Package

The Kaanapali Beach Hotel in Kaanapali, Hawaii is offering its 2009 Whale Encounter travel special through 04/04/2009.

Maui’s humpback whale season is right around the corner, and Kaanapali Beach Hotel’s 5-Night Whale Encounter Package is priced just right for two people!

This travel package includes:

5 nights in Partial Ocean View accommodations
Daily buffet breakfast at the Kaanapali Mixed Plate Restaurant
Compact rental car
$50 dinner credit at the Tiki Terrace Restaurant
One 12″ pizza
Whale Watch Cruise for two
Admission for two to the Maui Ocean Center
KBH logo cooler bag with two bottles of water per day
A disposable camera and two beach towels

The 2009 Whale Encounter is priced at $1585 for five nights and two people. Valid travel dates run through April 4, 2009.

Learn more on their website here.

Honeymoon In Hawaii

Maui’s white sand beaches and exotic flowers are among the most beautiful in the world.

The Kaanapali Beach Hotel is a prime destination for couples seeking to get married or to go on a honeymoon vacation.

The Kaanapali Beach Hotel has a nice oceanfront garden for the wedding ceremony. They also provide a caring, knowledgeable experts to assist with all the event planning details. The staff at the Kaanapali Beach Hotel are committed to helping their guests achieve the most memorable wedding experience possible.

Wedding and honeymoon packages start from just $950 complete for a truly affordable and Hawaiian wedding experience.

Learn more here.

Hawaii’s Volcanoes

While you are in Maui, Hawaii, enjoying the natural beauty of the beaches and the whales, a trip to a nearby volcano will add to the excitement of your vacation.

Maui is the second largest of Hawaii’s islands, behind the Big Island, and both islands are mostly inaccessible from land. When it comes to touring the islands, one of the best ways to take in the full experience is to take one of the available flying tours, by aircraft or helicopter.

Flights leave Maui daily, taking visitors for an aerial tour of Maui and the Big Island of Hawaii. These flights take visitors over rain forests, spectacular beaches including black sand beaches, scenic coastline views, dramatic cliffs, and cascading waterfalls. Tour operators also overfly the world’s largest dormant volcano (Haleakala), located on Maui, and lava flows in an active volcano area (Kilauea) on the Big Island of Hawaii.

If you are traveling to Hawaii for the Whale Encounter, chances are that you will also be able to see the whales as you are flying over Hawaiian waters.

Learn more about Maui’s Flying Tours at the following URLs:

If you decide that you would like to hike Kilauea volcano’s lava flows, there are also tour operators who help make this possible too.

Once In A Lifetime

If you only get once chance to go to Hawaii in your lifetime, you should take the opportunity to soak in all that Hawaii has to offer. Take in the whales, the exotic birds and sea life, the beautiful beaches, the Pacific Ocean and Hawaii’s volcanoes, all in the same action packed week.

110 Nights in Wrightsville Beach, N.C.

jkwalsh — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 00:19:07 +0000

Wrightsville Beach, one of the east coast’s most picturesque beaches, is celebrating its 110th anniversary by announcing “110 Nights In Wrightsville,” a contest in which 55 winners will receive a two-night trip to the North Carolina resort town.

Contestants can register at www.110NightsInWrightsville.com beginning on Feb. 1 and through March 31. Winners will be able to redeem the trip at participating hotels and vacation rentals through Dec. 31, 2009. Blackout dates run June 15 through Aug. 15.

Incorporated in 1899, Wrightsville Beach has served as a popular destination for couples, friends and families, for active and rejuvenating vacationers.

Winners will be assigned randomly to participating lodging properties and must contact those properties to confirm available dates. Some of the participating properties include Bryant Real Estate, Holiday Inn SunSpree Resort, Shell Island Oceanfront Suites, Summer Sands Suites and Silver Gull Motel.

Entries are limited to one per person and entrants must be at least 21 years of age. For complete terms and conditions, visit www.110NightsInWrightsville.com on Feb. 1.

Spring 2009 Travel Specials

Travel Shopper — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 00:07:44 +0000

As the recession sets in, commercial enterprise begins the struggle of staying afloat during an economic downtown. The days of profit taking are now in the rear-view mirror as businesses strive to stay economically viable, while the economy works to right itself. Even the most profitable, most stable companies of yesteryear are finding these times tough. We have all heard the struggles of companies such as Ford, Chevrolet and Chrysler, but other known companies such as Disney, Marriott, and United Airlines are working hard to weather this economic storm.

As a consumer, you and I will begin to see special offers thrown at us, in an effort to attract our dollars to these major travel industry providers. To date, one of the more aggressive companies in the travel discount offers has been the Walt Disney corporation. Whether you are seeking to travel to Disney Land in California or Walt Disney World in Florida, you will find a large variety of discount specials designed to attract your vacation dollars to Disney properties.

Disney World Specials

One such special currently being offered by Walt Disney World is a Buy 4 Get 3 For Free special. We originally mentioned this special in December of 2008, and the special was originally slated to end in December, but now in February of 2009, that special is still ongoing. With this package, if you buy four nights at Disney World, you will get three more nights for free. That is a wonderful special offer.

If you live near an AirTran Airways hub airport, you can get significant air travel discounts for your seven days at Walt Disney World Resorts, when you order your air travel with your Disney vacation. AirTran serves has routes into and out of airports mostly on the East Coast, but also in the Midwest and Plain states, as well as a few western airports. Visit the AirTran website to learn more specific information about the routes that they serve.

If you are planning for a Spring Break getaway, select Walt Disney Resorts are also offering a $74 per night special.

Now, my kids are too young for those dream Disney vacation deals, so I have to look elsewhere for my travel specials. My kids love visiting zoos and animal parks, so that is what we usually do on vacation.

San Diego Zoo Specials

To find the kinds of travel deals I look for, visit any of the zoo websites and you could be very impressed by the travel specials that they offer. For example, the San Diego Zoo is offering wonderful family travel packages. You can get three days and two nights for a family of four, complete with hotel rooms and zoo tickets, for only $144. This package is regularly priced at $534.

For the San Diego Wild Animal Park Safari, you can get the same three days and two nights in a hotel with tickets to the Safari, for only $164. This package also normally retails for $534.

Given that the San Diego Zoo is offering their packages for two-thirds off the regular rate, it is clear that the Zoo is willing to throw away a lot of profits, just to keep the cash registers ringing.

Don’t Be Afraid To Shop Around

Many of the travel destinations that you and I would like to visit, have an online presence in the form of a website dedicated to share information about a given destination.

If you have a travel destination that you would like to visit this summer, don’t be shy about seeing if they have a website. If you do, you might just find that the destination is offering some pretty handsome travel deals this spring and summer.

Anson Werner spends his spare time shopping travel offers and learning tricks to help him save money and get more enjoyment from his limited travel dollars. Recent finds include a 3-day/2-night vacation for two to Las Vegas for $49, and a trick for getting a free cruise for his family. Anson’s friends had always asked him about the travel specials he finds, so he decided to share his knowledge and discoveries in his travel blog at: http://www.shoppingtraveldeals.com/blog/

Free Bahamas Cruise for US or UK Residents

Travel Shopper — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 10:08:05 +0000

Learn How to Receive A Bahamas Cruise and Only Pay Port Fees! Take Yours Today!

This offer is available to UK and US residents. You will get a free Bahamas cruise for two - includes accommodations, food and entertainment.

This offer delivers a 2-night, round-trip cruise aboard the M/V Regal Empress, from Ft. Lauderdale to Nassau, Bahamas. Aboard ship, the cruise recipient will enjoy a comfortable inside stateroom, all meals, live entertainment and shipboard activities.

Cruise package does not include transportation, port charges and government taxes, service charges, Florida state sales tax, gratuities, or incidentals while on board ship. The cruise line must collect the $59 per person fee required to cover the cost of Port Fees.

Upgraded rooms and travel options are available at additional costs. Rates for third and fourth person in your stateroom, when available, may be purchased at the current cruise line rate.

Cabin Space Is Limited, So Order Now!

Click here to get all of the facts. Courtesy of the Imperial Majesty Cruise Line.

RV Travel Guide That Can Save You Ton’s Of Money

Travel Shopper — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 07:58:15 +0000

Now that gasoline prices have dropped back down to a more comfortable price, people are beginning to consider RV Travel once again. When gasoline was above $4 per gallon, people were avoiding RV travel like the plague, unless the RV owner was more well-to-do than his neighbors. The high gas prices were so daunting that many people put their RV’s up for sale, anticipating that gas prices would continue to be high for longer than they were.

Interestingly, with what I am getting ready to show you, the cost of gasoline could have been a hurdle that you would not needed to have considered, if you wanted to take your RV on vacation. Rather than sitting at home last summer, you could have used this information to offset the high cost of gasoline.

Consider the High Cost of RV Campgrounds

For the average RV owner, finding a RV campground at your vacation destination can be quite expensive. In some cases, “one week” or “one month” at a campground could easily cost $500! No wonder so many people kept their RV’s at home during the summer of 2008.

But, what if I told you that in many cases, you will only need to drive an extra couple miles once you reach your destination, in order to get your campground for free or almost free!

We are not talking about places where you would be afraid to take your family, but family-friendly campgrounds suited to RV camping that you will never find in a travel brochure.

Consider this. If a campground charges nothing to almost nothing for a parking space, how could that campground possibly afford the high cost of advertising in the travel brochure? Ah… and herein lies the secrets to saving big money on your next RV vacation.

Most often, in order to find these alternative, unadvertised campgrounds, one needs to be willing to drive a few more miles just looking for them, be willing to stop and ask questions, and sometimes, just talk to the locals. Or you can turn to someone who has done this kind of leg work for you already.

Finding Budget Travel Opportunities In The RV Community

If you shop your local bookstores, you will not be able to find very many, if any, guidebooks that are designed to show people how to save a lot of money during a RV vacation. Especially with an RV vacation, most writers assume that RVer’s have lots of money and will not be interested in a budget guidebook for RV travel. This misconception convinces many writers and publishers that there is no profit in writing budget guides for the RV traveler.

Thank goodness that there are people who like to travel in their RV’s, who have realized that frugal traveling, even in a RV, can lead to more travel opportunities, as a result of getting more mileage for one’s travel budget.

Luckily, in many prime North American destinations, including the most of the more scenic states (Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas and Utah) there are still plenty of free and low-cost, scenic, legal and safe camping areas available for the vacationing public.

The author’s of The Ultimate Budget RV Travel Guide have spent more than nine years traveling North America’s back roads searching for the free and low-cost campgrounds that help to keep them traveling in their RV nearly year around.

To simplify the guide, the author’s have broken their RV travel guide down by state or region, since they have found literally hundreds and thousands of free and low-cost RV campgrounds around the United States.

Both RV Campgrounds and Tent Camping Covered

But don’t let the term “RV campgrounds” fool you. Many of these campgrounds also accept campers who bring their own tents and travel trailers. What it boils down to is that if you like camping on your vacation, then you need to own The Ultimate Budget RV Travel Guide that has been compiled for the areas that you like to visit on vacation.

Each of these RV travel guides include: pictures of campsites, directions to the campsite, information about road conditions to the camp ground, information about the availability of utilities. The authors have also gathered and documented all kinds of useful information and tips to help you save money on groceries, dining, entertainment, entry fees, Internet, laundry and dumping your tanks. They even document where you can find the free RV dumping stations. The guides not only provide maps to the campgrounds, but also maps to nearby attractions and tourist spots.

Get The Budget RV Travel Guidebook Here

To learn more about The Ultimate Budget RV Travel Guides, click here.

Thinking about an RV rental vacation? Click here for a nice article about RV rental specials.

Insider Secrets of the Airline Industry - Save Money on Airfare

Travel Shopper — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 14:59:21 +0000

What happens when a travel agent is fired by the airline company that he had given most of his or her life? In most cases, the fired travel agent will simply go get another job somewhere else. But in this case, the fired travel agent decided to take revenge on his former employers, by exposing the inner-working of an industry!

This travel agent has written an ebook to share with us the secrets to help us to learn exactly how to get airline tickets at deep discounted prices.

When you have this information in your arsenal of knowledge, you will never again have to pay full price on airline tickets again.

Go here to learn more.

Walt Disney World Vacation Package Deals

Travel Shopper — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 11:14:04 +0000

So many families go to grandma’s house for Chrstmas that few would consider taking a family vacation to Disney World Resorts for their Christmas break. In fact, this statement is so true that Walt Disney Resorts are offering an exceptional holiday deal for holiday travelers.

Through Dec 20th, 2008, you can pay for a four-night stay and get three-nights for free. Disney’s Buy 4 Get 3 Free Special is described as:

For a family of four in a standard room;
Offer valid for most Disney resorts and other lengths of stay at varying rates for stays most nights 1/4 - 1/12, 1/19 - 4/4 and 4/19 - 6/27;
Magic Your Way Package. Tickets are for 1 Theme Park per day and must be used within 14 days of first use;
When you travel between 1/4 - 1/9 and 1/19 - 3/29/09, you’ll also get a $200 Disney Gift Card;
The number of packages allocated for this offer is limited.

This is a wonderful package deal that allows you to get the best of a Disney Vacation for nearly half the normal rate.

Year around, you can view other Walt Disney World special offers here.

Or get the Disney Insider Secrets of how to save money when ordering a Disney Vacation, from a former employee of the Magic Kingdom.

Shop Vacation Package Deals Available From The Airlines

Travel Shopper — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 15:00:26 +0000

In our previous post about finding Christmas travel deals, just in time for Christmas, we mentioned the advantage of grabbing hotel-flight deals directly from the airlines. To expand on that idea, we are presenting links to vacation package deals made available through the airline companies here:

Alaska Airlines has a surprising number of vacation pacakges available for their customers.
Beyond the American Airlines Christmas deals, American Airlines also offers a wide variety of travel deals to destinations all over the world, with a wide-range of options available.
Continental Airlines offers a few vacation packages, for a few well-traveled destinations.
Delta Airlines is offering a number of travel package deals in the United States, including Hawaii, Las Vegas, Disney and Colorado skiing packages. They are also offering travel packages for many travel destinations around the world.
Frontier Airlines is currently only offering a Christmas 2008 reduced flight fares special.
JetBlue has a wide assortment of JetBlue travel packages available to consumers.
Northwest Airlines is offering NWA Christmas 2008 travel specials, but it also offers other travel package specials here.
Southwest Airlines offers many travel packages, ranging from family vacations to Disney World to couple vacation packages to Las Vegas.
United Airlines has an entire website dedicated to their travel packages.
US Airways also has a website dedicated to travel packages, but theirs is not as comprehensive as the aforementioned.

If you are willing to spend some time shopping for the vacation package deals that might be of interest to you, there is a lot out there that could help make your next vacation, your best vacation ever.

How To Save Money During Your Christmas Vacation

Travel Shopper — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 13:32:25 +0000

While it is sometimes difficult to find vacation specials over the Christmas holiday, there are other considerations you can take into account that could help you save a lot of money. Here is a list of ten tips that might help you to save money on your next holiday vacation adventure.

Since most airlines are now charging for extra bags, taking your gifts on the airplane could very well end up costing you a lot of extra fees. In fact, most travelers will find that shipping gifts via UPS or the U.S. Postal Service will be much cheaper than trying to carry those gifts onto the airplane.
If you are going to carry Christmas gifts on the airplane with you to your destination, it is recommended that you do not wrap your gifts until you reach your destination. With the heightened security concerns at American airports, airport security will likely unwrap your gifts for you, just so that you can board the airplane. So don’t wrap your gifts before you leave, and you will not have to wrap those gifts twice. Additionally, whenever possible, you should pack loose items in clear plastic bags for the same reasons. If security needs to dig through your small items, items may be lost.
If you need hotel rooms at your destination, hotel-flight packages are generally far less expensive than buying the two items separate, in some cases as much as 75% cheaper. Even connecting flights are generally cheaper than direct flights.
Before you order those airline tickets, take some time to check the alternative travel methods including: Amtrak train, bus, or rental car. You may even find packaged Christmas vacation deals offered by specific airlines, such as those offered by American Airlines here, which is offering flight and hotel Christmas package deals for as little as $139 per night per person. (Click the links for more specific vacation discount offers.)
When talking to a travel agent, don’t give the agent a specific travel date, but instead, give a date range to the agent. Your flexibility on travel arrangements could literally save you as much as 50% on your travel arrangements.
If you are willing to catch an afternoon flight, as opposed to a morning flight, and travel on Tuesday instead of on Monday, once again, you could save a lot of money on airfare.
For holiday travel, if you are willing to travel on Thanksgiving Day or Christmas Day, you will find the airports relatively empty and the flight ticket prices extraordinarily low.
Be willing to consider alternative airports. For example, you could fly into Dallas / Fort Worth airport (DFW) or you could fly into Dallas Love Field (DAL), which is located just to the northwest of downtown Dallas. If someone is picking you up at the airport, there may be little difference to them which airport they pick you up. And, if you are catching a cab or rental car from the airport, the extra drive time will not be that much, since there is only 20 miles between airports.
When you rent a car at your destination, be sure to refill the gas tank before you return the car to the rental car agency. If the car rental company has to refill the gas tank after you drop off the car, they will charge you their gallon price, which is typically much higher than the gas station across the street from the car rental agency.
If you plan to stay in a hotel while visiting family over the holidays, ask if the hotel offers courtesy shuttles to and from the airport. This could prevent you from needing to have someone waiting for you at the airport, and it could eliminate the cost of catching a taxi cab to your hotel, which could cost quite a bit of extra cash.

Please visit our website often or register to receive our RSS travel feed, as we are constantly looking for great new travel deals and money saving tips for your travel experience.