There’s one tried and tested way to rope travelers in: combine savings and ease into one ready to go package. If you’re one of the many people who hate scrolling through biblical lists of flight options and hotel prices, only to feel like you could’ve gotten a better deal, taking advantage of exclusive package deals is the answer. Here are the best websites for booking package deals, and why…
First: Up To 85% Off, But Why?
Package deal sites are most successful when they’ve succeeded in curating an audience that loves to travel. The best sites get great deals because they can instantly send tons of great customers to a new hotel, a place that’s slightly off season or a destination looking to bring in a new group who want to travel in as much luxury and style as their budget can swing. Rather than pay expensive advertising fees to earn customers, offering discounts to sites where customers already exist makes perfect sense- hence these (sometimes) amazing deals.
SecretEscapes is a free “membership” website which can unlock mega savings to many regions around the world. The site offers exclusive hotel deals, flight and hotel offers and even full on package holidays with tours, meals and transportation included. It’s the curation and testing of each property that makes this site shine. SecretEscapes quadruple checks each deal to ensure the lowest price, and offers links to TripAdvisor to compare prices offered on other sites. Because of their size, they are able to negotiate special rates and benefits. More fun for us.
Wondering why we didn’t mention Travelocity, Orbitz, Hotels.com, Hotwire, Trivago, CheapTickets or eBookers for great package deals? That’s because Expedia owns them all. But especially for the U.S. travel market, Expedia is tough to beat. Prices will be somewhat different on each of these Expedia sites, so it’s worth checking a couple- but most of the package deals and savings will be similar. Because of Expedia’s ridiculous power, and the inventory they carry (pre booked rooms), they can extend deals no one else can to make sure things sell. No one wants an empty room, so Expedia company deals are particularly brilliant for very last minute travel.
80% off sound good? This gem of a site leverages it’s position as a powerful, luxury inclined members site to arrange exceptional package and hotel deals, as well as little extras when you arrive. It’s very common for package and hotel prices to beat the competition, but even when the savings are minimal, the free bottle of wine, breakfast or whatever they’ve been able to negotiate for bookings via Voyage Privé can make a huge difference. There are exceptionally good deals all around the world, particularly geared towards the 4* and 5* hotel markets, with flights on non budget carriers as well.
For seriously cheap and very cheerful getaways, LastMinute.com is an excellent resource. The site is famous for it’s “flash sales”, which offer significant savings on last minute getaways. In addition, much like Expedia, LastMinute.com will have exclusive deals and inventory at certain hotels and on certain airlines, creating deals that are tough to argue with. The booking site really hits it’s stride with intra European deals, thanks to it’s numerous strong airline and hotel chain partnerships.
A place may technically be 75% off, but if it’s the same price on other sites, you might as well look into booking direct with the hotel. Many of these great package deal sites or special discount sites have extra benefits for booking thru them, but often hotels have benefits for booking direct. Short answer: find a package or discount site deal you want to book, and just compare it with other public options before booking.
