Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Cheap Flights To Las Vegas

If you want to get a vacation with a cheap flight, Las Vegas package deals can give you hotels, flights, meals, tours and entertainment at one low price. The best thing about opting for a vacation in this manner is that you have it all paid for before you go on vacation. You don't have to budget while you are there and only need to make sure you have money enough to cover the extras, such as shopping, drinks, etc.

priceline.com

There are many sites online where you can get a flight cheap to Las Vegas. This will give you extra money to spend on the hotel or gambling in the casino. Try http://www.travelocity.com and look for last minute deals that might just give you the flight and the hotel for what you would ordinarily pay for just the flight. You can also book a rental car in this way so you won't have to depend on taxis or public transportation.

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Other sites you might want to look at include http://www.expedia.com. [http://www.cheaptickets.com] or http://www.itravel2000.com. If you have lots of time and it doesn't matter when you get a flight, you can bid online for a flight on http://www.priceline.com. You may have to take an early morning or late night flight, but if you are getting the ticket at a bargain, then it is worth the loss of sleep.

Another way you can get a cheap flight without even trying is to volunteer to stay back if the flight you are on is booked. The airlines will give you a later flight and a free ticket to fly to any destination that the airline has. You can make Las Vegas your free flight and have the time of your life.

Cheap Flights To Las Vegas

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Last Minute Cruises

Obviously, if you want to go on a cruise, your best bet is to make the travel arrangements in advance. After all, taking a cruise is not the same thing as taking a spontaneous weekend vacation. Cruises are not usually thought of as the type of vacation that someone prone to spontaneous travel arranging goes for. There are however, deals to be had on last minute cruises if you know where to find them.

priceline.com

Believe it or not, the last minute cruise deals are often better than the "early bird specials" when it comes to travel arrangements. A simple google search for "last minute cruises" will bring up a number of websites all competing for your business. If you are familiar with the various cruise lines, you can also go directly to the cruise line's website to see if they have any last minute cruises being offered at special deals. Another fantastic source of last minute deals is travel agents. Travel agents are fantastic at putting cruise packages together.

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The best way to ensure that you get the best deal possible on last minute cruises is to pay attention to the following advice:

Keep a flexible schedule. If you are tied to your desk, taking off for a few days might not be an option, so if keep your schedule in mind when looking for last minute cruises. The more flexible you can be as to the departure dates and times, the more likely you are to get a deal you won't be able to refuse.

Sign up for any sort of alert program that a travel agency, website or cruise line has. Often the alert program will email its members when the cost of a cruise has dropped or if there is a special deal going on. Sometimes these alert program members are notified for "first dibs" on sale priced tickets.

You might also want to keep a few of your favorite travel websites bookmarked and check them regularly. Typically last minute cruises deals are posted in the middle of the week for the upcoming weekend. Just by checking in to these sites regularly, you might be able to find something affordable.

Make friends with a good travel agent. Make sure that the agent knows that you are a customer who likes to know about last minute cruises and are always glad to find good deals. This way the travel agent will know to keep you in mind if he or she learns of any sale prices. They might also know other ways for you to save money on your last minute plans.

Some of the best websites to have bookmarked are: Travelocity, Orbitz, Priceline, SmartTravel and, of course, Lastminutecruises.com.

Taking last minute cruises can certainly be a nice way to relax and get away from the rest of your "normal" world...if you can afford to go on them. After all, your vacation won't be nearly as relaxing if you know that you paid through the nose for it.

Last Minute Cruises

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Monday, August 29, 2011

Really Cheap Plane Tickets

To begin with, the best place to buy really cheap plane tickets is online. Travel agencies can't compete with discount ticket sites. Search Google ("cheap airfare south america", for example), or try the well-known sites, like Expedia, Travelocity, Cheap Tickets, Hotwire or Priceline.

priceline.com

Just now I checked fares from Tucson, Arizona to Traverse City, Michigan on the five sites mentioned above. The cheapest quotes ranged from 4 to 2. Nevermind which was cheapest (oh, okay, it was Expedia), because you never know from day to day which sites will find the cheapest flights.

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Check at least three places. In this case, it would mean a savings of 2. The flight durations are within minutes of each other, by the way, and the food is probably equally bad on all the flights.

Flexibility For Even Cheaper Airfare

The more flexible you are, the better your chance of getting a really cheap plane tickets. Try different departure and return dates if you can. Check the box "2 or more connecting flights". Mark the "anytime" departure, even if you don't want to leave at midnight - the savings might change your mind. Try all the options. If the savings aren't enough, you can always book first class, direct flights, or whatever you prefer.

Really Cheap Plane Tickets - More Ways

You can buy two tickets. The cheapest airfare from Grand Rapids, Michigan to Tucson, Arizona costs 1 roundtrip right now. Las Vegas to Tucson is only 1, however, and there are regular 9 specials to Vegas from Grand Rapids. It's up to you whether saving is worth booking two flights. (It saved us over 00 when we went to South America.) There is the problem of whether you'll get a refund if your timing is off on the connections (you probably won't).

Check for package deals, where you pay for plane tickets and your hotel room. I haven't had much luck with these deals, but it can't hurt to look at them.

Buying ahead of time gets you cheaper plane tickets. Any thing less than a week away tends to be expensive, although you never can tell in the mysterious realm of airfare pricing. Sometimes the "last minute specials" are the best thing going.

Priceline still has their "Name Your Own Price" feature. Make your bid, and the airlines say yes or no, depending on whether they have empty seats to fill. First search for the cheapest tickets you can find, then bid lower than that. If your bid is rejected, you can return to the website where you found the best deal and book it.

If You're Really Cheap

My wife and I once took a bus from Michigan to Miami, and flew from there to Ecuador. For us at that time, saving a couple hundred dollars was worth 38 hours on a bus. This won't save you much on domestic flights. Right now, for example, taking a bus from Traverse City to Detroit, then flying to Los Angeles, would only save about (allowing for cab fare to the airport) over flying directly.

There are other options beyond the scope of this article. Courier flights, for example, can be a great deal if you don't mind letting a company use your baggage allowance (you get carry-on only). There are also stand-by deals and last minute deals and other ways to get really cheap plane tickets. Good luck!

Really Cheap Plane Tickets

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Book Plane Ticket Secrets

Many airlines offer incentives to passengers who make their own bookings on the internet using the airlines website directly. Cheap international plane tickets are a huge commodity of those that frequently fly overseas for business or pleasure each year. Many airlines offer last minute airfare deals that can even be cheaper than student tickets; it is sometimes easier to contact the customer service line for these rates. The best selection of plane tickets will be found by doing a general search online; this will allow you to see all the multiple prices that are available.

priceline

A few years back, alot of people bought plane tickets through a travel agent or directly from the airline over the phone. Roundtrip airline tickets that involve flights at bad hours or on off days generally come at a cheaper price. Extremely cheap plane tickets will come in handy when you are purchasing flights for an entire family to go on a vacation. Airline companies are now in competition with the discount plane ticket services that have sprung about for the last ten to fifteen years. The cheapest quotes for plane tickets will occasionally vary from day to day; however, the closer you get to your flight the date the more prices can rise.

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The concept of finding the cheapest plane ticket available is not always easy to do; simply because what is considered cheap depends on the spender. The best prices for tickets may be found over the internet; a person simply has to be able to commit sometime to looking for the best flight available. The best way to shop for a plane ticket is to; know your destination, look around for the best prices, and be willing to take some serious cost savings. The cheapest quotes available will occasionally stem from third party flight finders like; priceline or hotwire, they have tendency to find cheap plane tickets.

Compare prices of the different carriers and consider flying to smaller airports to save money on plane tickets as well. As a reward to your diligence in finding your plane tickets online, you can treat yourself to spending more at your destination if you like. Compare prices on at least three different plane ticket online sites before buying a ticket that may not be the best bargain for you. Discounted international flights are not normally available on the smaller discount plane ticket web sites due to their limited destinations available. A few years ago, many people were at the mercy of a travel agent when it came time to purchase a plane ticket or other travel issues. As a reward for your online shopping, it is typical to find plane tickets discounted to five or ten percent off of the regularly priced fares.

Book Plane Ticket Secrets

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Sunday, August 28, 2011

Air Ticket

Booking air tickets is like an art. A day too late and you have to pay hundreds more than you need to. It takes a lot of sleuthing and finesse to get the right flight at the right fares and at the time when you wish to travel. You must start looking at least 21 days before travelling to get a wide range of choices in flights and fares. Be on the lookout because the cheap seats are the first to go. Try staying over Saturday night or travel midweek. Look for the flight rates on your regular flying airline and compare it to those on the websites like Travelocity.com, Priceline.com, and Expedia.com. Also check out auction sites. Many websites offer low internet fares.

priceline

It is better to fly through a secondary airport like the Orange County and Burbank are good alternatives to LAX or Newark International can be a substitute for the busy JFK and LaGuardia airports. There could be a little drive but you might be surprised by the easy use and cheaper prices of smaller airports. Always request a seat preference when you purchase your ticket otherwise you might be stuck with a middle seat if you wait till check-in. Many websites have detailed maps of the seating arrangement with the best and worst seats so you can avoid the ones that don't recline and choose the ones which have extra legroom.

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While booking air tickets for infants, keep the length of the flight and the luggage you are carrying in mind. In a domestic flight, you can carry a child on your lap if they are less than 2 years of age but you need to purchase a ticket if you travel by an international flight. They offer special meals which are low in calories or high-fiber, low-protein, low-sodium or even vegan. These meals mostly taste better than regular food. While booking air tickets, make sure they are refundable, transferable or changeable before you purchase them.

Air Ticket

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Travelocity Launches 'Top Secret' Hotels But Can You Really Save 45 Percent?

I have long been a fan of 'masked' hotel reservation sites like Hotwire and Priceline. If you are not familiar with the concept, this is how it works. Prior to making a reservation, you are given some information about the hotel you're about to reserve, but not all information. Typically, you know the general vicinity of the hotel, and the hotel's star rating. In the case of Hotwire, you are also provided with a list of hotel amenities such as pool, on-site restaurant, shuttle service to the airport, and so on. If you like the price, you can make a reservation and then learn the hotel name and specific location.

priceline

This is not for everyone. If you think you might want to cancel your reservation, don't bother using these sites as they are non-refundable most of the time. Also, if you want to join your friends or colleagues at a specific hotel, don't use 'masked' hotel booking services. But if you're somewhat flexible on your location and confident your plans won't change, then these services are great. I've been using these sites for several years and have saved a lot of money in the process.

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Travelocity is the latest to offer 'masked' hotel reservations with a service they call Top Secret Hotels. Top Secret Hotels has actually been offered on their site for some 3 or 4 months, but I wanted to let them work out the kinks before using it and writing a review.

To find out first hand if Travelocity's Top Secret Hotels was as good as the competition and could save me up to 45%, I used their service for an upcoming 2-night trip to San Francisco. My approach was simple: I would perform the same hotel search on Priceline, Hotwire and Travelocity (using both regular and Top Secret reservations). My results were quite disappointing:

Selection: First, Top Secret Hotels only has 14 cities to choose from, 10 of which are in the US and 4 from Canada. I was fortunate that San Francisco made the list. When I performed my search, there were only 2 Top Secret Hotels available in all of San Francisco. Hotwire had 25 hotels, Priceline had 158, and Travelocity's own regular reservation system had 286 hotels available. Price: The very purpose of using a 'masked' reservation system is to save money. Why else would anyone book a hotel that they cannot cancel and not know the hotel name or location? The 2 Top Secret Hotels averaged 0/night. The other sites had equivalent (or better) hotels at 50 percent or less of Travelocity's Top Secret Prices. So much for saving 45% Area: Masked hotel reservation systems don't release the exact hotel location until after you purchase, but they do give you a general area of where the hotel is situated. For example, Hotwire breaks downtown San Francisco into 8 areas and informs you prior to purchase which of these 8 areas your hotel is located. Priceline breaks downtown San Francisco into 7 areas. Travelocity -- Just one area that spans from the Golden Gate Bridge to Redwood City. In other words, book a hotel in San Francisco and you could find yourself 25 miles outside of town. Hotel Information: There was very little information about the 2 Top Secret Hotels available in my test search. Other than the hotel star rating, there were no hotel amenities or other hotel details provided, although one hotel indicated it was non-smoking. Talk about top secret! Compare this to Hotwire, where every hotel amenity is listed. In fact, with Hotwire it's possible to identify your hotel before you make a reservation by matching up the Hotwire information with HotelDealsRevealed's Hotel Inventory.

Top Secret Hotels by Travelocity obviously needs a lot of work. To give Travelocity credit, they have publically stated that they are going to grow and expand their offering. I truly hope so. They've got a long road ahead of them. In the meantime, I will keep using the other guys.

Travelocity Launches 'Top Secret' Hotels But Can You Really Save 45 Percent?

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The Cheapest Way to Fly - Cheap Tickets Around the World

There are many places you can look for cheap airfare, but for the best global travel cheap airfares, there are a few top picks, good trustworthy places you can always rely on for fair prices. Here are just a few:

priceline.com

Travelzoo: Travelzoo has the most amazing deals in travel. The only thing is, you have to be flexible in your travel plans. They carry all the most popular destination deals for all the big cities and famous tourist places of travel, and now they even offer vacation resorts and packages. To find the best deals in airfare, check out their prices for last minute travel, and you will be amazed at the low prices they offer.

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Orbitz: This conglomerate of global travel cheap airfares does have its good points. Though it doesn't always offer the best rates, you can use this site to find which airlines go where, and the basic rate for flights. Then you can go on the airlines own websites and usually find an even better deal. Orbitz now has hotel deals as well, though, again, you can probably find better deals elsewhere, but use this site to find the average rate.

Travelocity: This site offers some great travel deals. You can usually find good prices on airfare, but just make sure you're definitely going on this trip, because if you have to cancel at the last minute, you might not get a refund or be able to make any changes. There are often some global travel cheap airfares here.

Expedia: This site is very similar to Travelocity's for airfare deals, and again, if you have to cancel or change your flight plans, they may not be able to accomodate you. Watch for the last minute deals, those are usually the best in travel savings.

Hotwire: This is one of those 'name your own price' sites. If you're willing to fly on red eye flights or at odd times, this is the place for you, you can save a lot of money if you're flexible in your travel. There are some very nice global travel cheap airfares here.

Priceline: Another 'name your own price' site. Priceline is usually pretty dependable in airfare deals, but it's best to check the going rate at Orbitz first, and then come here to cinch the deal. Priceline has grown the past few years in their offerings, and you can plan your whole vacation here, if you're really looking for a travel deal.

These are just a few of the places you can look for airfare deals, and there are more popping up everyday. But when you need a name you can trust, these are among the top websites on the worldwide web to find your airfare travel needs.

The Cheapest Way to Fly - Cheap Tickets Around the World

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