Discount Travel

It Doesn't Have to Cost a Fortune to Travel

Practically no one pays full price to travel anymore. Airlines, hotels, resorts, travel agents, cruise lines, trains, car rentals—everyone has a website. Not only that but there are a wide array of full service discount travel sites where you can book everything at one location. Often these people will offer you additional savings for booking online. The hardest part of the whole thing, is trying to figure out who is offering the best deal.

Full Service Sites

Some websites will ask you to tell them the price you can or are willing to pay to travel to a particular place. Their agents will then try to locate transportation and lodging within your range. One such site offering a full range of services for discount travel is http://www.expedia.com/. Of course they have to make money as well, but they generally charge the airlines and hotels a service charge for any bookings they find them. You can also access sites offering coupons for even greater savings.

Destination Packages

A popular travel option is a destination package. Basically this is a type of discount travel where you choose the place you want to go. Often it’s combined with an event. For example, you and your fiancé want to go to the Caribbean and get married. You would start a search for Caribbean weddings and find all kinds of sites listing the islands in the region, wedding ceremony information, and lists of activities that may interest you. Not only will you read about all the amenities on offer, you will see lots of pictures and even take some virtual tours.

Package Deals

Another form of discount travel is a package. Usually you have a destination in mind when you start checking into these, but not necessarily. You may look up "travel packages" and get some inspiration that way. These sites will offer you transportation to your location of choice, a certain number of days and nights at a hotel; all for a set price. You have to be careful to see exactly what is included. For instance you may get free breakfasts, but will have to budget for the remaining meals. If there are certain activities you want to engage in or places you want to go, find out what tickets, if any are included. If you need a rental car or other transportation, is it included in the base price?

We’ve mostly talked about the Internet, but don’t forget there are a number of excellent travel magazines available, as well as inexpensive books on specific areas. These will most likely give you a lot of information on discount travel as well.