Los Angeles: If you don't know where you are going on vacation this year, you may not be indecisive. You might just be a bargain hunter.
Increasingly, travellers are trading the certainty of the destination for savings, Peter Yesawich, vice-chairman of MMGY Global, a marketing firm with expertise in the travel, hospitality and entertainment industries, said at the Los Angeles Times Travel Show.
Instead of saying, "I want to go to Hawaii," bargain buffs who say, "I just want warm and sunny" open their horizons. In other words, being geographically agnostic pays off. Which raises the question of where the bargains are likely to be.
At a panel discussion last weekend at the Travel Show, three bargain travel experts discussed their strategies for stretching vacation dollars.
Turmoil
Look for trouble, said Gabe Saglie, senior editor of deal site TravelZoo — not trouble you create but trouble that's been visited upon a destination. Places that have recently experienced some type of turmoil, whether it's financial (Ireland and Greece) or climatological (Thailand with recent floods) may be ripe for plucking from the bargain bin.
Japan, still recovering from the earthquake and resulting tsunami in March, also may offer some opportunities.
Look for the crowds, said John Di Scala, founder of JohnnyJet.com. This year, you may find the Mediterranean crowded with cruise ships, which means the per-night cabin price may drop dramatically.
He also suggested the Caribbean in September, which is still hurricane season but may offer some deals. ("Ships can navigate around storms," he said.)
Look for where the crowds aren't, said Doug Miller, senior vice-president of new initiatives for LivingSocial. Ski resorts suffered a well-publicised dearth of snow early in the season, and although Mother Nature has since stopped being so stingy with the white stuff, the perception that the cupboard is bare lingers.
Look for specials at resorts eager to be myth busters. Sign up for everything. Because airlines don't have as much inventory as they once did, and thus less of it to move at fire-sale prices, some take to Twitter or Facebook to announce last-minute sales of the few seats they do have.
Peruse plenty of places. Miller of LivingSocial says deal hounds will check 18 to 23 sites in the course of their research. All three experts suggested looking at the sites they work for, of course, but they also suggested Airfarewatchdog.com, Yapta.com, Kayak.com, Priceline.comand BiddingforTravel.com, Homeexchange.com (for house swapping), VRBO.com (vacation rental by owner), and FlyerTalk.com.
— Los Angeles Times
