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Adding all inclusive vacations"ALL INCLUSIVE VACATIONS"
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Web sites add to listings, make comparisons easier for all "Priceline.com adds international destinations and all-inclusive vacations, cruise compete.com searches the best prices from a dozen different discount agencies to find the best deal, and vegas.com can help with local arrangements as well as hotels." Those are just a few of the new or improved Web site developments I've seen over the last few weeks. Priceline continues to expand its range of offerings. Since I last reported, the "name your price" service has added: * All inclusive vacations (one price covers air-accommodations-meals-most activities) at self-contained resorts in the Bahamas, Curacao, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and Mexico. * More than 100 hotels in Europe, hotels in seven Caribbean resort destinations, hotels in six major Mexican destinations, and hotels in 13 of the most important destinations in Asia/South Pacific, from Bali and Bangkok to Sydney and Tokyo for all inclusive vacations. Can't find what you need? Try a Google Web Search in the box below!
* New guidance about shopping for price, with listings of recent successful bids in any price range you specify, from any one of 21 major U.S. cities. Presumably, if you bid that amount, you have a good chance of success. The basic Priceline formula for hotels remains as it has always been: You set destination and dates. Priceline then displays a range of options by quality level - you can specify one or more sub-areas of larger cities. You then "bid" the amount you're willing to pay for that accommodation, and Priceline notifies you by e-mail, within 15 minutes, whether your bid was accepted. Now comes all inclusive vacations. The formula is a little less iffy for vacation packages. You bid on specific hotels and resorts that you know in advance: The only unknowns are the airline and the exact schedule. In either case, once Priceline accepts your bid, your charge card is charged immediately for the full stay or package. The purchase is "use it or lose it," with no refunds if you cancel or want to change dates. Rival "opaque" site Hotwire's hotel and tour package inventory is still confined to the United States, Canada, Mexico, and a very few points in the Caribbean. But with Hotwire, you know the prices before you make a commitment - a major advantage for some travelers. Cruising is a great buyers' market right now, and I believe it will continue to be a buyers' market at least through next year. One way to look for a good price is through the new Web site www.cruisecompete.com. The site gives you an overview of available cruises, by specific cruise line and ship. ALL INCLUSIVE VACATIONS You then enter a request, cruisecompete comparison-shops your request around more than a dozen discount agencies, then e-mails you each quote as it is received. If you'd rather seek a good deal from among those offered at sale prices, you can check with any of dozens of individual cruise discount agencies. Last-minute prices - for sailings within four weeks or less - are especially low right now. I just checked Hotwire's last-minute listings, for example, and saw several prices to the Caribbean and Mexico at less than $50 a day per person. Given that a cruise provides transport, accommodations, meals, and entertainment at a single price, you'd have a tough time arranging resort or all inclusive vacations at anything close to those rates. As always, however, to get the best rates you have to be willing to be flexible about dates and willing to buy from what's currently on sale. Can't find what you need? Try a Google Web Search in the box below!
If you're interested in Las Vegas, one of the places to check is www.vegas.com. It provides the usual list of outstanding hotel deals. On a quick check, the deals seemed to be at about a par with those on other large discount sites. In addition to just your hotel, however, vegas.com promises "free" reservations at leading restaurants, bookings for shows - even those that say "sold out" at the box office - and reservations for golf and other activities. The site also promises "front of the line passes" to get into clubs that stick mere mortals in long lines outside the door. Personally, I can't imagine waiting two minutes, let alone two hours, to get into a club just so it can overcharge me for drinks. But I guess some travelers do - if that's you, by all means go for the pass..... Compare all inclusive vacations here /cheap airfares home |