If I asked you where you would go to find a great deal on airfare or a cruise? You would probably say Google. Not a bad answer but just try Googling “cruise deals” or “cheap cruises” and you will get millions of results. Actually, over 200 million hits. So where do you go? Well, that’s where we hope help out with a few suggestions to get you started. In this post we are going to look at how to narrow down search options for both air and cruise options. One key point here is to be somewhat flexible with your travel dates if possible.
Choosing Your Journey
When we travel, we start by thinking about what we want to experience during the trek. Then, we look for the destinations that tick most of the boxes. Lastly, we find the one that provides the best value for our travel buck. Try making a list of your criteria like adventures, places or experiences and google those first. This will help you get to a few final choices.
- European Countryside
- Bed and Breakfast
- English Castles
- Food
- Hiking Northumberland
- Stop Over Flights
You get the gist, think of the experiences that interest you and begin your planning. Once you have narrowed down your list of destinations, start your search for your air or cruise deals.
Air Deals
This is the toughie, no one, I mean no one can really figure out airline pricing strategies. To find the best priced options for your trip it takes good old fashion searching but in the right places. Most “experts” agree that six months out is the right time to book your air travel. I usually begin searching for air fares on Google Flights, it has a few good tools to help narrow down the window for flights. It also has a awesome feature that will show you a number of different destinations and the fares for those destinations for the dates selected.
My other go to sites are Expedia and Kayak. Most booking sites have tools that will allow you to track prices, sign up and be ready to book. It has been my experience that there are no last minute airfare deals. My advice is to search early and search often for the best prices.
- Kayak
- Expedia
- Google Flights
- Orbitz
If you have chosen your destination, don’t forget to search the airline websites as well, you just might run across a “mistake fare.” Recently, Cathay Pacific Airlines mistakenly priced first class fares to Hong Kong at ridiculously low fares. So, you never know what you could find.
Stop Over Programs
Take advantage of airline Stop Over Programs. These programs are designed to promote their local home bases and they offer you an excellent opportunity to make the trip to your destination one to remember. Several airlines will allow you to stop at their home hub locations to enjoy the sights and sounds. The following airlines offer free stopovers from US gateway cities, just be sure to read the fine print.
Cruise Deals
Good news here, there are some great cruise deals out there on the web but there’s a little work to narrow down your search options.
My go to website to start the search is Vacations to Go, this website has a great feature called “90 Day Ticker” which show hundreds of cruises worldwide leaving within the next 90 days. It’s a good place to start your search. If you see some good options, visit the cruise line websites an also be sure to visit a few cruise specialty travel websites, sometimes there are a few extra perks that’s not advertised otherwise.
For instance, we recently booked a western caribbean cruise through Cruise Planners and got way more free at sea specials than were available anywhere else. We also saved $1000 by being flexible with our dates. So, check out these sites to finalize your cruise vacation, you”ll be sure to find the best cruise for your vacation buck.
- Cruises Only
- Crucon
- Cruise Critic
- Cruise Planners
- Vacations To Go
One final option worth mentioning is to choose cruises on older vessels. Right now the focus is on glitzy and bigger is better but that’s not necessarily the case. Many cruise lines still have 10 to 20 year old smaller ships that have been refurbished and are almost as good as new. You can usually find some good deals on the smaller ships.
Before I leave cruise deals, I would like to highlight the importance of reading reviews. Cruise Critic is my go to website for cruise and ship reviews. Just remember to weed out the first timers and the sour grapes and you can get to the details. So, happy sailing!
Accommodations
OK, so you can either choose a hotel chain or some really unique accommodations like staying in a castle in the English countryside. It’s your choice but I’d pick the castle anytime and they’re not as expensive as you might think. The Landmark Trust in the UK is a charity that restores and maintains a number of historic homes and castles and manor homes across the country. For approximately $275 per night you can stay at Ashby Cannons. Castles and Manor homes not your style? Then try out some of the thousands of bed and breakfasts across the globe. We’re in the process of planning a trek to Hawaii later this year and have decided on the beautiful Volcano Rainforest Retreat, located on the big island. There are tons of options, just stretch yourself a bit and don’t fall back to the chains. But if you are more comfortable in a hotel there’s always the Hilton.
‘Well, that’s all for now, I hope that you’ve found this information helpful and if we can help you in your search, click here to go to our Contact Page and send us a note. Be sure to check out our Caribbean Adventures Post.
Bon Voyage!! Enjoy your adventures and Unleash The Trek!
Allen