Need help tracking down a great travel deal? Then put our expert investigator on the case. The Deal Detective will sleuth out the best bargains that fit your needs.
Dear Deal Detective:
Dear Natalie
,
What a fun question! It's great that you're starting to think about your trip this early, especially since you're so wide open about where you can go. Bear in mind, though, that there's not much incentive for travel providers—especially the airlines—to discount their services six months ahead of time. Consequently, advertised deals aren't as plentiful as they will be in December or January, and it's way,
way
too early to book airfare unless it's part of a discounted package deal. This doesn't mean there aren't still some great deals to be had, though. It just means you need to know what to look for.
Since you're on a grad student's budget, my first goal was to find you a deal that maximized every single dollar. Often the best way to do that is by choosing a vacation provider that will bundle your airfare and hotel together for extra savings. One of the very best at this is go-today.com, a reputable discounter that I've mentioned in this space before.
You said you're interested in Europe, so I priced out go-today's six-night
Paris at its Best
package. Using Detroit as my departure city and March 5 as my departure date, I found a price of $975 per person for you and your two friends. This includes round-trip airfare, six nights' accommodations in a triple at the
Paris Opera Hotel
in the 9th Arrondissment (a great location from which to explore the city), daily continental breakfast, and all hotel and airfare taxes. With the money left over you can extend your return date beyond the six nights if you want to stretch your vacation out for the full two weeks and see more of France or the Continent.
For a taste of Eastern Europe, EuropeanDestinations.com's
Prague & Budapest
package is a simply amazing value. This trip features round-trip airfare, three nights in a triple at a three-star hotel in each city, and an overnight stay in a sleeper train between Prague and Budapest. Also using Detroit as my departure city and March 5 as my departure date, I found a price of $880 per person, including all taxes. At that price you could add a night or two in each city to extend the length of your trip and still come in under budget.
Many people have never heard of the
Azores
, but I'm seeing more and more great deals to these subtropical Portuguese islands.
Azores Express
' current six-night airfare-and-hotel promotion, starting at $894, is good for travel through October 2008. While it's only valid on Tuesday and Friday departures from Boston, you could easily catch a flight from Detroit to Boston for under $300 and still slide in just under your $1,200 budget.
You don't say whether or not you and your friends are the active type, but if you're up for a little adventure then consider G.A.P Adventures'
Inca Discovery
guided trek to
Machu Picchu
in Peru. The price is $895 for any of G.A.P's March or April departures, so you'd probably need to go just a hair over your budget for a flight into Lima. It's too early to price out flights to Peru at this stage, though; you wouldn't find a good deal. If you are interested in this trip, use a fare-tracking tool like Expedia's
Fare Alert
and watch for prices to come down. My guess is you'll find the best sale prices near the end of 2007 or the very beginning of 2008.
Last but not least, if you and your friends are the independent type you can save an absolute fortune by backpacking and hostelling for a few weeks anywhere in Europe, especially in March and April, which are considered shoulder season. The best strategy is to fly into a major European hub like London, Paris, Rome, or Frankfurt, because these cities have the most competition for good prices. You can then use a European ultra-low-cost carrier (
Ryanair
or
easyJet
, for example) to get around, or buy a
Eurail pass
to save on train travel. It shouldn't be difficult to find availability and really low prices in any of the
top hostels
at that time of the year, and an
ISIC student discount card
will also come in handy.
Natalie, thanks for the opportunity to find these deals for you. I really enjoyed it and I hope you and your friends find it useful.
To my other readers: If you need help finding a deal for
your
next trip, please
email me your request
. Be aware that due to the volume of requests I receive, I cannot always personally respond to every email (although I do try). The more compelling your question—and the more specific you are with your departure city and desired travel dates—the better the chance you'll be selected for an upcoming case.
All prices, dates, and booking details listed here were valid at the time of publication. Some information may have changed since that time.