Aramis
Recycles dryer sheets
- Joined
- Sep 9, 2017
- Messages
- 57
Correct, and Google Flights is much easier to use
Google Flights uses Matrix AFAIK.
Google Flights uses Matrix AFAIK.
If I know the name and location of the property, I usually find them quite easily with a simple web search. Usually find their web page with contact info.How do you try to get to the owner directly? We used Booking.com quite a bit for our 2018 trip to Greece and the rates were pretty good, but I’m sure would have been better if we could have gone direct. We stayed at small properties with less than 10 rooms.
Not to derail this thread, but I give a big thumbs up to this advice.I book directly with airlines, hotels, rental car companies for the best deals. After all the issues last year getting refunds on travel cancelled by the airlines last year, I will never use third party travel sites such as Expedia.
How do you try to get to the owner directly? We used Booking.com quite a bit for our 2018 trip to Greece and the rates were pretty good, but I’m sure would have been better if we could have gone direct. We stayed at small properties with less than 10 rooms.
My favourite travel deal is YVRdeals.com which identifies cheap flights and mistake fares from Vancouver (YVR) and other nearby airports like Seattle and Bellingham. They also have sister sites for deals flying out of the other major Canadian cities like YYZdeals.com, YULdeals.com, etc. They only post very good deals and the better the deal, the less time you have to act of course.
The best deal the missus and I were able to take advantage of was a mistake fare that Delta ridiculously honoured flying return from YVR to LAX for $0 + $65 taxes and fees per person!
Just a reminder about mistake fares: DO NOT CALL/EMAIL AND ASK IF THIS IS A MISTAKE FARE. If the fare goes through, great. If it doesn't get honoured, oh well. In this instance, Delta acutally called me and said they were honouring the fare but asked if we would mind changing to a different departure time which actually worked out better for us.
I also leverage Flyertalk and Redflagdeals.
I used to enjoy Travelzoo a lot more but I felt the deals they were posting started to be only ok over the years.
Haven't found a great site for amazing cruise deals only standard cruise deals.
We did a late booking cruise Australia/NZ cruise. Our on line NA TA gave us a price. THen we called the RCI office in Sydney, Australia.
We booked that cruise with the Australian office for a saving of just over 30 percent for the same cabin, same date, same ship. One phone call.
Did exactly the same on some Aerolineas flights in Argentina. Called down to their call center in BA instead of booking on the web or with their 1-800 North America number. Better choice of flights and 30-35 lower price.
Needed a one way flight to Istanbul for my inlaws. Found one quickly on BA from a consolidator. Exactly half the price of the airline or other on line booking shops.
A safari was at the top of DW's list when we retired. Started dealing with a local TA who supposedly specialized. We were not getting the data we needed. Checked on tripadvisor for a name. Started dealing with a tour firm in South Africa direct. We got accurate information and a much better price. We originally delayed this trip because the SA rand was going dow.. Delaying a year saved us 15-18 percent on the currency. Made a difference to the cost of our three week stay.
Our practice was to book NA rental cars through Costco. Better price than my corporate rate. In Europe, we have always found autoeurope to be the best. But on our last pre covid trip to Greece and Cyprus we had five different rentals. Prices were all over the place. We rented from autoeurope, one direct with Budget, one through Aegean Air, and one with a local on the island. The prices for each rental were all over the map.
Not to derail this thread, but I give a big thumbs up to this advice.
After getting jerked around earlier this year on a hotel booking by a third party travel site, the hotel manager told me the same thing: Just book directly.
Lookin at South Africa when possible... would you be so kind as to share the name of the tour firm?
Lookin at South Africa when possible... would you be so kind as to share the name of the tour firm?
Have any of you used https://www.vacationstogo.com/ ?
We google the name, try tipadviser, etc. We typically stay at small properties as well.
Another thing we do is start with tripadvisor. B&Bs, inns, etc. Sometimes someone has include the owners email. Sometime we just take a chance and input the name of the hotel followed by .gr for Greece. We have been doing the exact same in Thailand for the past five years.
We are fairly flexible and often do not book terribly far ahead. IF we are unsure of a new place we may book for one night. IF we want to stay longer we either approach the owner or another place nearby. Cash. But...whenever possible we look at the room before parting with our cash.
On our last trip to Greece and Cyprus we did five flights on Aegean/Olympic. Four of the flights were booked anywhere from 2-6 days in advance. We checked prices on google air, direct with Aegean/Olympic and with expedia. Incredibly, two of the flights, same for same, were 25-40 percent less expensive when we booked on Expedia.
We found exactly the same on a number of domestic flights in Mexico booked on winter 2020 trip. Not certain why this is. We would not have booked on expedia for a small delta or if the flight was a long way off.
We did a late booking cruise Australia/NZ cruise. Our on line NA TA gave us a price. THen we called the RCI office in Sydney, Australia.
We booked that cruise with the Australian office for a saving of just over 30 percent for the same cabin, same date, same ship. One phone call.
Did exactly the same on some Aerolineas flights in Argentina. Called down to their call center in BA instead of booking on the web or with their 1-800 North America number. Better choice of flights and 30-35 lower price.
Needed a one way flight to Istanbul for my inlaws. Found one quickly on BA from a consolidator. Exactly half the price of the airline or other on line booking shops.
A safari was at the top of DW's list when we retired. Started dealing with a local TA who supposedly specialized. We were not getting the data we needed. Checked on tripadvisor for a name. Started dealing with a tour firm in South Africa direct. We got accurate information and a much better price. We originally delayed this trip because the SA rand was going dow.. Delaying a year saved us 15-18 percent on the currency. Made a difference to the cost of our three week stay.
Our practice was to book NA rental cars through Costco. Better price than my corporate rate. In Europe, we have always found autoeurope to be the best. But on our last pre covid trip to Greece and Cyprus we had five different rentals. Prices were all over the place. We rented from autoeurope, one direct with Budget, one through Aegean Air, and one with a local on the island. The prices for each rental were all over the map.
Please message me the name of your South American tour operator?