Want a Deal? Just Look!
In case you hadn’t noticed, the travel market is in the middle of a sea change. Instead of worrying about how to raise prices to cover fuel costs, suppliers are figuring out how to cut prices to stimulate demand. Airlines, especially, are facing that change, but you see it in other parts of the market, too. The net result: lots of deals—especially if you have some flexibility.
The extent of the turnaround is astounding, especially for airlines. Just a month or so ago, the lines were all wringing their hands about how to get enough additional revenue to cover skyrocketing fuel costs. Suddenly, the marketplace did a 180. Fuel costs dropped more than 50 percent, relieving much of the cost pressure. Instead, the weak economy suddenly applied the brakes to the demand side, with both the high-revenue business travel and fill-up leisure travel slumping. Although other segments of the travel industry were not hit as hard as the airlines by fuel costs, many of them face the same general pattern of switching from cost to demand worries.
The situation isn’t all good for consumers. In fact, many of you are undoubtedly feeling the economic pinch. But if you can still afford to travel, deals are suddenly everywhere. Today’s deals generally share several of these key characteristics:
- You have a fairly short time to buy, often a matter of a few weeks. In fact, given the time lag between when I write these reports and you read them, I often get the press releases too late to cover them at all.
- They’re narrowly focused by market area, destination, or dates.
- They’re obviously designed to fill each market segment’s specific problem—specific low vacancy periods, areas doing poorly, or whatever.
- Many allow only a short time for travel.
- Restrictions are often tighter than on year-round deals, especially on airfares.
- The biggest hotel and package tour discounts are in the mid- to high-priced categories. On the one hand, budget operators don’t have enough margin to cut prices by much; on the other, high-end suppliers are generally less vulnerable to weakness in the market.
Currently, the easiest market to report is the cruise segment. I receive a steady stream of releases touting deals in all the main cruising arenas—the Caribbean, Mexico, the Mediterranean, and even Alaska for next spring. But for cruises late this month and early next month, I see prices starting at below $50 per person per day—not only for the minimal outside cabins, but also a few oceanview cabins and even balcony cabins in that price range. Clearly, if you can accept the schedules, those fire-sale prices are tough to beat for an all-inclusive vacation experience.
Given the weakness of our economy here at home, you may be surprised to find that the U.S. dollar has actually strengthened against key foreign currencies. A euro now costs $1.25, down from over $1.60 a few months ago, the pound is down from more than $2 to less than $1.50, and the Canadian dollar, which toyed with par, is now down to about 80 cents. For now, foreign travel is far more attractive than it was last summer.
Tour packagers can’t do as much as primary suppliers, because their margins are relatively thin. But I see lots of tour releases that tout $100, $200, or even more off previously posted prices. Hawaii, in particular, is offering some good deals.
You see all sorts of airfare sales, from deals on low-cost lines to cut-rate business-class fares to Europe. They’re short-term, but prices are good.
Locating these deals is easy. Subscribe to one of the many online deal bulletins, such as the ones here at SmarterTravel.com. Keep your eyes on the travel section of your Sunday paper. Let your travel agent know what you’d like to consider. And forget about trivial senior or AAA discounts and instead search for the really big discounts available to just about anyone who can dig up the money.