Let's Save a Bundle
By GORP Travel Expert Rob Sangster
If you assume it costs a fortune to travel to exotic places, and money matters, you may decide it's just too expensive. The result? One more trip to old, reliable Florida.
Would cutting the cost of your dream trip by a third or a half, say $1,000, make it affordable? Well, I'll show you how to save that much and more. Saving money means you can travel farther and longer without interfering at all with having a great time.
Since one of the biggest expenses in most travel budgets is the airline ticket, that's the place to start in saving money. Our goal is to never again pay full fare for an airline ticket.
A seat unoccupied when an airplane takes off is a 100 percent revenue loss to the airline. They confirm that by their"last minute" sale prices. These can be great deals so consult the airline Web sites. Unfortunately, they usually come too late to permit travelers to plan a trip abroad and, like so many incentives from the airlines, come with lots of strings (i.e., potential penalties) attached.
However, airlines protect their profits in another way. They allocate blocks of tickets to firms known in this country as "consolidators." These quasi-travel agencies then sell those tickets to the public at prices far below those we usually hear about.
To avoid outraging customers who pay full fare, airlines don't advertise this practice — and that's why so many potential travelers have never heard of consolidators. As soon as you know how to find the right consolidators, you can save as much as 60 percent off regular airfares.
Where can you find these great deals? Consolidators advertise in newspapers, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times, and in periodicals such as Travel Weekly. Check your favorite bookstore or library.
Some of these consolidators sell only through tour operators or travel agents, but most of them sell directly to individuals. When you see an ad that includes the word "consolidator," either call the numbers listed or take the ad to your travel agent and ask for a ticket at or near the advertised price.
Most travel agents can and will buy the ticket for you, although they may mark it up slightly. After all, consolidator fares do not appear in the computer reservation system so travel agents must make a little more effort than with standard tickets. Just be sure the agent doesn't buy at a consolidator price and sell to you at just a small discount off retail.
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