As Mexico Rebounds, Sales Abound

There's a 95 percent chance Senior Editor Christine Sarkis is thinking about travel right now. Follow her on Instagram @postcartography and Twitter @ChristineSarkis.

Christine Sarkis is an SATW-award-winning journalist and executive editor at SmarterTravel. Her stories have also appeared on USA Today, Conde Nast Traveler, Huffington Post, and Business Insider. Her advice has been featured in dozens of print and online publications including The New York Times, Conde Nast Traveler, and People magazine. She has also shared travel tips on television and radio shows including Good Morning America, Marketplace, and Here & Now. Her work has been published in the anthologies Spain from a Backpack and The Best Women's Travel Writing 2008. She is currently working on a travel memoir.

The Handy Item I Always Pack: The Trtl Pillow. It's easy to pack and comfortable, and makes it so I can actually sleep on flights.

Ultimate Bucket List Experience: Seeing the Aurora Borealis from the comfort of somewhere warm, like a glass igloo or hot spring.

Travel Motto: Curiosity is an amazing compass.

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Mexican authorities say that resort destinations, including Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos, Mazatlan, Zihuatanejo, and Cozumel, are H1N1 (swine) flu free. And it looks like there has only been one case reported in Cancun. This is according to an L.A. Times story about what the Mexican government is doing in an attempt to restart tourism.

It’s not just the Mexican government encouraging summer visitors. Apple Vacations has announced its “biggest-ever” Mexico air-and-hotel package sale, with prices up to 70 percent off for summer and fall trips. Per person, per night rates start at $70 per night for airfare and all-inclusive accommodations.

Pleasant Holidays is advertising Mexico vacation packages from $239, plus a free rental car in Cancun or activity discounts in Los Cabos or Puerto Vallarta. The lowest rates are for three-night air-and-hotel packages with airfare from Los Angeles (LAX), though the prices seem pretty low from other destinations as well.

Funjet also has discounted rates such as $300 for a three-night air-and-hotel package with airfare between Chicago or Denver and Cancun and accommodations at an all-inclusive resort.

Though you’ll need to factor in at least another $100 for taxes and fees for each of these packages, they are still really cheap. I have no official word about this, but it seems like this might be a case where vacation packages (that bundle air and hotel) might offer the cheapest rates because it’s the easiest way for hotels and providers to quietly subsidize costs and boost visitation without undermining their own rack rates. Expect more Mexico vacation sales to start popping up soon.

On the flu front, the CDC still has its recommendation against non-essential travel to Mexico in place, but the World Health Organization (WHO) is not recommending any travel restrictions (to Mexico or elsewhere). You might also check the flu tracking map as you consider destinations. If you do decide to go, read up on what to do to protect yourself against flu transmission.

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