Saturday, August 2, 2008

Discount Travel Packages - How to Cut the Costs

Want to keep some money in your wallet for extra spending? Looking for ways to save money on your next vacation? With the right guidelines and a few rules of thumb, you can save your money and choose to spend on your terms. In today's demanding, fast pace working surroundings, quality time with family and friends is essential. A reload of batteries is needed occasionally. The three components to saving money on a vacation will be discussed in this article.

Discount Travel Packages: Creating a Budget

The first key to planning your vacation is setting a budget. Make sure that your budget fits your vacation destination, as different cities vary significantly in expenses. Be extra careful and add at least a hundred dollars per person when you set a target. On top of that, leave about $500 dollars to spare for any unforeseen costs. Who knows, you might even be fortunate enough not to spend it. It's a great feeling to come back from a rewarding vacation with the pocket full of cash. Oddly enough, it feels as if you actually made money on your vacation...

Discount Travel Packages: The Added Value

There is a very smart way to save more money on discount travel packages. There is an industry term called "opaque hotels", otherwise known as "off the record" hotels. Some tourist websites offer bargain prices on major hotels without disclosing the name of the hotel. This way the tourist website attracts customers without actually distorting the playing field. The hotels don't expose their names, the tourist website has bargain prices, and the competition stays fair for all. You can ultimately get great prices on first class hotels when you book opaque hotels.

Discount Travel Packages: The Hush-Hush of Saving

Holidays can be full of costs and expenses to different suppliers. Somehow it seems less complicated to pay for every expense separately: tickets to the flight provider, rooms to the hotel, rental car expense, boat cruise etc. What we fail to consider is that each service provider collects a profit margin from each sale, and probably a service commission as well. These charges accumulate to thousands of dollars, which could otherwise be spent in a wiser fashion. The simple solution is to look for discount travel packages and pay one commission to one supplier. The more service providers included in the deal, the more you relatively save. According to the data that I have gathered, "LastMinuteTravel.com" travel packages include flights and hotels starting from $160. I definitely recommend this website for extra saving.

In conclusion, when arranging a vacation you should set a budget, and find valuable discount travel packages that include elite off the record hotels. If you follow these simple rules, you will save a great deal of money and hopefully have a more pleasant vacation.

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