Anyhoozer.com

Regardless of the site you always want to look at their special deals. Especially if you are not 100% sure where you are going and doing but just want a vacation. Websites like Expedia, Orbitz, and Hotwire will offer some great deals for air, car, and hotel packages to certain highlighted cities. There are some strict rules of booking but you will find them to be lower than if you booked each portion individually.

Hotwire also bases much of their pricing on you being flexible with your times. They provide you with a package price and once you agree they tell you what time you have to travel during those days. It is how they control the pricing and offering you the lowest prices they can. If you are flexible in this respect they do offer some great deals.

Keep in mind with Hotwire that you have to be ready to purchase if they give you a deal you cannot refuse. You are on a time limit to purchase and if you leave and come back you could typically lose that rate and get a different one. If that package price is still valid you will get that back but that is something you take the chance on.

Orbitz and Expedia offer great deals on cruises, ski packages, and more. You have flexibility with time and destinations here and although they do offer those random destinations they do also combine packages for you and are easy to use.

If you are traveling and will need air and hotel, or even air, car, and hotel then you will want to consider packaging your trip. Each website is geared to offer you better deals when you package them together. On average the price is around 30% lower when using packages versus booking each individual piece. One thing you will notice on most travel sites is the ability to add tours, shows, and other amenities that will even further your savings.

On sites such as Orbitz they do provide you extensive information about destinations, activities in those destinations, and rating information. This is a nice perk for travelers that have never been to this destination. If you are looking for information on the properties and overall location then you will find Orbitz to be very user friendly.

Expedia has a great layout and can be used for both business and pleasure. Making for a one stop shopping experience and they help you convert your rewards miles which is a perk. They have extensive maps and destination information which makes them quite valuable. You do have to become a member, but they do offer some tremendous deals.

There are many other websites out there to compare. All of them offer some of the same features but these were the top 3. Each has unique deals and all are geared toward getting you some great deals. With the touch of a finger you can now access the many great deals and book your perfect trip.

So what if you need specific destinations or times? What if you really only need air bookings? Each of these sites is still in line with this type of travel. You can purchase each piece individually with the same features and benefits of these destinations.

One thing I do when I am purchasing individually is go to the deals section first. Many times my destination will be there and I can see what restrictions are out there and if I can get one of these deals. If not then I go and search the deals for my cities in the search boxes. Don’t forget to shop around just to compare prices.

One good thing to also try is the airline websites directly. Many sites like Southwest airlines have extensive explanations of rules and restrictions on their prices making it easy to understand. In the travel world they do use a lot of jargon, but some airlines have really tried to help explain certain restrictions in easy to understand blogs.

The airline websites directly can also offer you deals and packages as they have teamed up with hotels and cars to offer overall deals as well. They may not have as many as someone like Orbitz or Expedia but they can offer some great deals.

The airlines also have the luxury of offering web only fares. These are fares they offer to someone willing to book online versus over the phone. These deals are often much lower than the regular fares making it intriguing for you to go in this direction. You can find a lot of bargains in these web only fares.

Keep in mind that shopping at each individual airline website can be time consuming. That is where Expedia, Orbitz, Hotwire, and others will search them all for you and give you the special deals. That is the true appeal to these sites and can give you that one stop shopping experience.

One last great feature of the internet is the ability to research any location you are traveling. You can get up to the minute weather information, tourist attractions, information on the state and climate, and much more. There are many tourist sites out there and Travel sites like Expedia and Orbitz do utilize some of these features but you can locate many tourist sites on search engines.

Some of the best tourist sites are going to be as simple as typing the location name and tourism. Example being Colorado Tourism and several helpful sites come up and will give you added features on this state along with best airports to fly into so you are not traveling hours upon arrival. You can even go as far as virtual tourism sites that have great pictures and details on your destination.

Travel has been made easier using the internet. No driving to a local agency to get the deals, no relying on just a few brochures to show you the locations, and no waiting on destination information. The internet has brought this all to you with the touch of a finger from the convenience of your own home any time of the day or night. You now have the capability to search competitors and make the best decisions that are right for you.

If you are looking to book your next trip then you may want to consider these keen factors. Make your trip not only enjoyable but affordable.

Melissa Aytche
You’re a Beautiful Woman
Empowering and Inspiring Women

Hotwire recommends that if you are looking for very last minute deals you have to be flexible - leaving a day earlier or later to save on fares. You also have to be willing to book immediately, because any good deals will be gone for sure if you take too much time to think. Airfares prices can literally change within minutes. Also, consider traveling in January, February, May, September or October because travel is less expensive during these months. Finally, look for hotels that are on the outskirts of major cities. They tend to be less expensive than those located right in the city.

Last Minute Travel provides detailed information on Last Minute Travel, Last Minute Travel Deals, Very Last Minute Travel Deals, Last Minute Travel Bargains and more. Last Minute Travel is affiliated with Ireland Travel Deals.

1. If you are planning a trip, go-ahead and book a reservation, the best deal you can find that has no cancellation penalties. Most car rental agencies do not have any cancellation penalties except during peak season and for specialty cars. If you are trapped due to an unexpected change in destination or you changed your mind on renting at the last second, skip this step.

2. Bring or wear your most comfortable walking shoes with you on this trip. Also, bring your laptop computer and a smile.

3. When you land, bust out your computer and hit hotwire.com or any other discount websites. most of these websites will not let you book any reservation within 2 hours of your expected pick up time, so you will have to be prepared for a possible last second delay (bring a book or plan for a light lunch or dinner at the airport, just in case). At the hotwire site, pick out a reservation for a rental car for the desired amount of time. Choose the car class just below you want if your asking for a normal sedan.

4. Hotwire, unlike Priceline, will give you the dollar amount of the best deal they can offer you right there. Use that as your baseline for your bargain hunt. At this point, if the hotwire price is more expensive, or relatively close to your reservation, it may be better to take the reservation price.

5. Take the reservation price, the hotwire estimate, and start going door to door, counter to counter for each and every agency. Your goal is to negotiate, smile, snivel, discount your way into a car for a price that is better than or equal to the best price you have. Car rental agencies report their walk up traffic statistics to the airport authority. The authority uses this data to determine which agencies will get on airport locations and the highest walk up traffic agencies are given the most prime locations. The authority gets a cut of all the business done at the airports and the best company in the best spot traditionally will give them the best revenue.

6. Don’t give up, hit em all, play off one against the other. Statements like “national gave me an offer of 18 dollars a day, can you beat that?” are NOT taboo and are very effective in getting the agent to keep you in their company. After all, a walk up is a commission paid event. If you buy from them and you have no reservation, the agent gets a nice tidy check.

7. If your original reservation is the best option, nothing lost except for 15 min of time. Simply go pick up your reserved car and begin your trip. But if your reservation is left in the dust, call and cancel it, and get ready to accept an offer at another location. Notice I said “get ready to accept.”

8. As a final attempt at a better car, say “Ill take that offer if you can give me the next car class up for the same price.” People don’t realize that this is perhaps the EASIEST thing for a car rental agent to do. Upgrades for free are almost always “personal” decisions by the agents. *note, this obviously does not work when the location is extremely busy or sold out. This works best when there is no one around and lots of cars to be had.

As you can see, there is an easy way to get better deals for rental cars even in the worst of circumstances. Some people simply give up and get “whatever” they can find. The truth is, if you plan for it, expect for it to happen, build your travel plans around attempting this, its not nearly as hard or tiring as it seems. The car rental agencies take advantage of traveler’s mental status all the time. Be ready, be prepared, and save save save!

J.W. Parker
Insider Emeritus
CarRentalInsider.com

J.W. spent many years as a manager of several car rental locations on the West Coast. His base knowledge has been applied to many car rental travel sites as an insider helping customers guide their way through the mess known as the Car Rental Industry. Although retired from the Rent-A-Car business, he still continues to monitor changes in the industry and help those who ask.

Orbitz: This conglomerate of global travel cheap airfares does have its good points. Though it doesn’t always offer the best rates, you can use this site to find which airlines go where, and the basic rate for flights. Then you can go on the airlines own websites and usually find an even better deal. Orbitz now has hotel deals as well, though, again, you can probably find better deals elsewhere, but use this site to find the average rate.

Travelocity: This site offers some great travel deals. You can usually find good prices on airfare, but just make sure you’re definitely going on this trip, because if you have to cancel at the last minute, you might not get a refund or be able to make any changes. There are often some global travel cheap airfares here.

Expedia: This site is very similar to Travelocity’s for airfare deals, and again, if you have to cancel or change your flight plans, they may not be able to accomodate you. Watch for the last minute deals, those are usually the best in travel savings.

Hotwire: This is one of those ‘name your own price’ sites. If you’re willing to fly on red eye flights or at odd times, this is the place for you, you can save a lot of money if you’re flexible in your travel. There are some very nice global travel cheap airfares here.

Priceline: Another ‘name your own price’ site. Priceline is usually pretty dependable in airfare deals, but it’s best to check the going rate at Orbitz first, and then come here to cinch the deal. Priceline has grown the past few years in their offerings, and you can plan your whole vacation here, if you’re really looking for a travel deal.

These are just a few of the places you can look for airfare deals, and there are more popping up everyday. But when you need a name you can trust, these are among the top websites on the worldwide web to find your airfare travel needs.

Wendy Pan is an accomplished niche website developer and author. To learn more about global travel cheap airfares, please visit Traveling The World Today Site for current articles and discussions.