5 Travel Deals / Trends We Want More of in 2012
Looking back at some of the travel deals we got in 2011, there were some big standouts – like the remote cabin we scored in Alaska for about $50 a night.
Below, we’re highlighing five deals (okay, 3 deals and 2 trends) that really rocked our world. We want to see more things like this in 2012.
1. ASAP deals from Expedia
We love to love Expedia. Truth is, they let us down – in a big way – at one point last year, and we were bummed to have to cross our hometown favorite off the “we likey” list. But that’s old news. We are happy to now have them back among our favorites. How’d they make the leap way back to the top? By offering some deals that are better than Priceline’s Name Your Own Price. Yes, you read that correctly. Expedia is offering what they call ASAP (A Sudden Amazing Price) deals, which promise “seriously fabulous discounts every weekday.” We learned that it’s not just talk.
For our recent journey down to Portland, we snagged the Heathman Hotel for 50% off on Expedia. The room came to about $70 a night – better than we could have done using our old standby, Priceline. Plus, with Expedia, the specific hotel isn’t veiled.
Keep an eye on Expedia and especially these ASAP deals.
2. Happy Hour deals from Celebrity
Every now and then, we’ll go on and on around here about how cruise prices are low low in the current economic climate. This was never more true for us than when we got notified of a particularly amazing “happy hour” special that Celebrity Cruises was running.
For just a few hours, on only one day, Celebrity discounted a few already low cruise prices even further. One was the Transatlantic cruise that we ended up taking from Rome to Fort Lauderdale. We were able to secure a balcony cabin on the 15 day cruise for about $700 each. Yep, that’s $1400 – including accommodations and food – for the two of us.
Have cruise envy? Head over to Celebrity and sign up for their e-deals. Maybe you, too, will enjoy an all new kind of happy hour.
3. Last Minute deals from Alamo
Generally speaking, we don’t have a lot of heart space for car rental companies. However, we’re rarely disappointed when we rent from Alamo. That held true throughout 2011. We’re good judges of the car rental arena because – being away from home base so much – we no longer own a car. So, we tend to rent quite a bit on the road and in Seattle.
We just got our hands on a killer last minute special. Get this, we used an e-deal to secure a car for $30 for 3 days. We were then able to layer a $20 coupon on the rental in order to bring the cost down to $10. That’s about $3.33 a day folks. Booya (is that how you spell that?)!
Go sign up as an Alamo Insider and, just like with Celebrity, request their e-deals.
4. Price Guarantee from Alaska Air
This isn’t really a deal, but it’s such a good policy that it has to be mentioned. Actually, it’s such a stellar policy that it’s worth mentioning twice. We wrote an entire post about it (so go here for details), but here’s the short version.
Alaska Air has a cool price guarantee. You can book with confidence (isn’t that a good marketing-y phrase) because, if the price goes down at any time, you get a refund for the price difference in the form of a credit. After taking advantage of the policy throughout 2011, we can tell you it rocks and eliminates a lot of worry. No more airfare anxiety disorder (AAD) for us.
Check it out if you live in Alaska’s market.
5. Premier Travel Benefits from American Express
This, too, isn’t really a deal. We resisted upgrading to the American Express platinum card for a long time. The fee, $450, gave us heartburn. Then, a little over a year ago, American Express started to really pay attention to what travelers want. We took notice and are glad that we did.
For instance, with the platinum card, they’ll cover up to $200 worth of incidental charges incurred by the airline of your choice. Additionally, you get complimentary access to several airlines’ airport lounges in addition to Priority Pass lounges. It’d be worth it for you to head to their site to see if the premier benefits might add up for you. For us, the travel benefits (not to mention the business benefits) make the annual fee bearable.
Okay, time to get back to hammering out the plan of action for 2012.
What travel deals/trends have you seen lately? Share them below!
I sign up for email notification from inns I like. A couple of them in Tofino, BC are quite lovely – like Middle Beach Lodge and Long Beach Resort. Sometime you can get a room, albeit in off season for $99 per night – but it’s still a heck of a deal. And even in summer the first 10 people that respond can get extraordinary deals.
Supposedly Wednesday night at midnight is the best time to buy an airline ticket in the US and Canada.
Amazing car rental deal.
We, too, get those e-deals from Long Beach Lodge. Great minds….
It turns out that we typically snag the best airfares on Tuesdays or Wednesdays.
Wow, I’ll definitely sign up to these sites so I too can enjoy the sweet deals
Thanks for sharing, very useful!
Great tips guys! My husband swears by Hotwire for hotel deals.
We just scored a really good deal on Hotwire, Usually, though, Priceline (Name Your Own Price) is a better starting point.
We still haven’t used Priceline, even though we’ve heard great things about it. It just seems so… overwhelming. The Expedia ASAP deals sound like a great alternative, though – I like the fact that you can see where you’d be staying!
When I was on Expedia looking at options, I was surprised to see 50% off an uninflated rate. We couldn’t have done that well on a hotel in downtown Portland using Priceline (we know the market well). So… these ASAP deals are definitely something to watch.
Great suggestions! I’m going to check out all of these.
Happy trails,
Erika
I need to be better about looking for deals. On a recent trip, I was surprised that my rental car turned out to be so expensive! I need to look at Alamo. I also need to learn more about AmEx. I was so happy when I recently whipped it out to pay for extra luggage, and they waived it right there… I didn’t know I could also turn in charges that were actually made… thanks for sharing your secrets!
And isn’t NOT having to pay baggage fees a great feeling!
Signing up for Fare Compare’s emails was the best thing I ever did – I’ve scored tons of cheap flights because they alert me to every 1-day sale. I didn’t know that about Alaska air – that’s great news since I’m going in June – I have to pick your brain about how to find cabins like the one you stayed at!
We must talk about Alaska.
Great tips! I’m signing up for the Expedia and Celebrity email lists now!
And keep a close eye on Celebrity on Tuesdays in particular.
Very useful sites, boys! Thanks a lot! I will definitely bookmark them and use them before my next journey:)
I like the sound of those ASAP deals — will definitely check out. Here’s to lots of cool travel deals in 2012!
Hey there! These ideas and details are great. Thanks for sharing. we are getitng ready to plan a trip west and will definitely use these possibilities for planning.
Cant wait to see where you go this year!
Great tips guys! I just signed up with Celebrity…I’d love to get a deal like that someday.
The Alaska Air deal is incredible. Its great to see a company so open about that stuff!
Yes, the Alaska Air deal is killer. If the price goes down at ANY point, you get a refund in the form of a credit. See… I just repeated it because I STILL can’t believe it
Wow, Im rushing to these websites to get some of these e-deals. $3.33 per car for a car hire. Thats out of this world.
Some great recommendations there but they’re all predominantly US-based deals. Got anything for us European travel whores?
Great list! I didn’t know about the deals from Celebrity! We’re considering a cruise with them in the near future, so will definitely keep an eye out for their deals!
We’ll find a lot of fabulous offers out there if we just take the time to search. Traveling and living in luxurious hotel doesn’t have to be costly. I could definitely use your recommendations. I have been spending a lot especially that I didn’t put much value in searching.
Thanks for the list. I will sign up for the ASAP promo at Expedia. I can rest more comfortably knowing I paid at a minimum cost.
Love a good deal!!! These are awesome. Thanks for sharing!
This are great deals indeed! Looks like you have already enjoyed all of these. This is truly an amazing list!