tips for inexpensive airfare and hotels

[Elaine]

Does anyone have any good tips for getting cheap airfare and hotel?
Let's share...



Here's what I know:

Book flilghts for weekdays rather than Fridays and weekends.
Travel in "off-seasons."

Hotels.com (http://www.hotels.com) guarantees the lowest rate and I've gotten many good deals with them. However, one time I arrived at the hotel to learn that my reservation didn't exist. We got it worked out, but now I always call the hotel after booking online to verify.

Southwest (http://www.southwest.com) usually has the best fairs, but they don't go everywhere. Also, they have a frequent flyer card (not a credit card) that is really cool.

Any other ideas?

[ca_dawson]

I've seen rountrip tickets on ebay, but I think you have to book a hotel off of a preferred list for a certain amount of days. Might work for some people. Other than that I usually end up paying full price. :(

[SarahK]

Always check the hotel's website as well. I found a better deal on our hotel for our vacation directly from their site than from any of the savings websites. Check all their special rates, I got a really good rate just for booking online and using the internet user's discount.

Also, if you join AAA, you can get some great rates as well.

[kg4eoh]

I agree with Sarah. I have often found better prices directly with the hotel then going thru the others. Also, I have had a bad experience with hotels.com double booking our reservation and charging the credit card twice. Took over a week to resolve.

also, with airlines, again try the individual airlines. Dave and I went to Las Vegas a couple years ago and our airfare was $40 less per ticket by going directly to the usair website versus the cheaper onlines ones like Travelocity, Hotwire etc.

[sandrad]

most airlines offer between 5 and 10% off flights to groups/wedding parties...I know American do.

sandrad

[Kikki]

www.overstock.com
www.travelzoo.com

These places have package trips if any of you gals are interested!

[kyzmit]

From what I've seen, you can always get the best price by going directly to the company, although it may not be the easiest way to find that price.

For example, I couldn't figure out what flights would be best without seriously looking at every single flight option they showed at USAirways.com... so I went to a bunch of "discount" flight websites, found the cheapest one that would work through them, and went back and selected the same flight combination (since I now knew which numbers to look for) and ended up paying $5 less per ticket since we didn't have the stupid handling fees from the "discount" company.

[StephandMike06]

I've had a lot of luck using the flexible days feature on Travelocity. Usually it will go roughly 3 months out (I've found getting tickets roughly 3 months in advance will get me the best prices). A lot of times with that flexible days button I can get almost the exact days if not the exact days. In the past year and a half we have gone to Florida (from Boston) 3 times and I haven't paid over $115 per ticket on any of those occasions.

I've also had a lot of luck using hotwire for hotels, just make sure to get a 3 star or better if you don't want to stay in the quality inn. I've stayed in The Windham chain and Doubletree for like $50 a night which was fractions lower than what the other travel sites wanted for the same exact hotel. Aslo as far as hotels if you find the official "tourism" website for the destination of your choice, you'll find the smaller more quaint (which I usually prefer) hotels which usually have good prices as well.

Goodluck!!!

[jinoncillo521]

you might want to check with a travel agent. my fh and i are getting married in kauai and going to maui for the honeymoon. my travel agent got us a great price...under $4000. it includes airfare from seattle to kauai, a week in a very nice hotel with a car rental for the week, airfare to maui from kauai, a week in a nicer hotel with a car rental for the week, and airfare back to seattle.

[skudo]

My wedding is going to be in Maui, so I am going to contact the airline and get group rate for my guests. They usually give you a code, and your guests will get x% off. For mine, our guests gets 5% off published rate, and for every 10 tickets purchased, we (b&g) gets one one-way upgrade to 1st class.

[jinoncillo521]

i think hawaiian airlines give 10% off. they also give great deals if you buy your tickets last minute. i think because they're just trying to fill all the seats. i had a friend who went to oahu in february-she and her boyfriend both got their roundtrip tickets for $285 each.

[skudo]

i think hawaiian airlines give 10% off. they also give great deals if you buy your tickets last minute. i think because they're just trying to fill all the seats. i had a friend who went to oahu in february-she and her boyfriend both got their roundtrip tickets for $285 each.

That's the airline I'm using!!! I guess I remember the % wrong :p

[jinoncillo521]

we're going to maui for our honeymoon but we're heading to kauai for the wedding.

[skudo]

we're going to maui for our honeymoon but we're heading to kauai for the wedding.

:D Cool. I finally have company!!! How big is your wedding going to be in Kauai?

[jinoncillo521]

we're inviting 155 people but right now we have about 50 coming...i think it's the great thing about a destination wedding--not everyone can come. where are you having your ceremony and reception? and how many will be attending?

[skudo]

we're inviting 155 people but right now we have about 50 coming...i think it's the great thing about a destination wedding--not everyone can come. where are you having your ceremony and reception? and how many will be attending?

Mine will be in Maui, and I have NO IDEA how many will attend. The wedding won't be until August next year. So far, I've only chosen the island to be marriend on, and nothing else. (I'm still very behind in the process). I'm going to send out ~150 invitations, but because one of my relative is getting married February next year in Maui, I don't expect ppl are going to come to Maui twice in a year. Hopefully about 50 will show up.

When is your wedding and when did you send out the invitation?

It's so good to be able to talk to someone who is having a reception in Hawaii. Most people have reception back in the States...

[adina_Rob]

fly the true blue jetblue! I love jetblue. Their prices are inexpensive and they have packages as well. www.jetblue.com. Plus their true blue frequent mile card is great. And they really care about their customers!

[elishecfd]

If you like to gamble the very best deals are always the last minute vacations. Some sites offer these much lower prices up to 3 weeks away. We use this feature a lot, as we're not very particular about where we go and enjoy the savings.