Cheap Vacations

A Google search for “cheap vacation packages” reveals that you only have a million sites to check out! Actually that sounds a lot, but that isn’t as massive as I thought it would be. Although when you start actually looking through the vacations on offer, you start to realise either that your definition of a cheap vacation isn’t quite the same as the vendor’s definition, or that they are just using the “cheap” moniker to get business for the same old packages that everyone else has.

And there’s a thing. There used to be 4 (not sure if there still are) main Central Reservation Systems – Galileo, Armadeus, Sabre & Worldspan – and any travel agent you walked into downtown basically searches the same systems, has the same vacations, and usually the same prices, although some reps were better at searching than others! Now we’re all hi-tech and searching for our own cheap packages on the wonderful Interweb, guess what? Yup…the same four central reservations systems are in use once again.

However, there are also a number of “clearing houses” that get unique deals and of course, everyone wants their cut of the action, so the prices start to vary as the competition hots up. Some of these cheap vacations are just so cheap that I struggle to see who gets anything! You have to feel for some of the hotels who are at the wrong end of the chain. That said, I guess they have a choice, but still. My g/f recently did 7 nights in Greece with her daughter for $400 each! How is this possible I hear you ask? The line of people that need to be paid: hotelier, airline, package holiday tour operator and then you have the airport taxes on top – I have no idea!

Anyway I digress. If you got this far, you’re probably wanting to know where the best discount package vacations really are right? Well the answer’s above. They are all in one of 4 places and it’s down to the sites you choose to search. For me, I search all over, but for some reason with last minute getaways it seems I always end up booking through the same sites, so here’s the list of travel sites that always seem to end up with my money when I want a cheap vacation bargain:

Lastminute.com
Expedia.com
Orbitz.com
Laterooms.com (Hotels only)

For USA residents: In the USA, there are three principle market leaders: Expedia, Orbitz and Travelocity. As mentioned elsewhere, I use Sidestep a lot primarily for flights too.