The Best Time of Day to Fly for the Best Price.

Most last minute travel and business travel are between the hours of 9:00 am and 5:00 pm.  Travelling at these times is a premium on your fare.  Air travellers who book their flight departing and landing at undesirable times of the day will get a better priced air fare.

The red eye is the better price.  Leave late and land early in the morning.  Just remember to get some sleep on the plane because you will have a long day ahead of you.

Taking flights at odd time works best for personal travel as you have more flexibility.  If you are buying air fare and hotel accommodations are arranged you will want to know the check-in time of the hotel.  You may have to wait hours before you can get into your room.  Plan this part of your day so you are doing something worth while other than standing around waiting for your room to be ready.  You can store your luggage with concierge.  Now that the flight is out of the way and you want to save even more money just think if you know someone at your destination to accommodate your stay.

Staying with relatives or friends at your destination is a good way to save even more money.  Organise your arrival with who you are staying with, so you might get picked-up and they know your flight information to check on your status.  When I stay with relatives or friends,... I always leave a parting gift and buy dinner or take them out.  Don't be cheap,...you know what hotels cost.

Travelling at extreme times of the day will certainly save you on your air fare.  If you are flexible with your travel arrangement then go for it.  Keep in mind that you are arriving early in the morning,...so make arrangements accordingly.

The Best Time of the Day to Look for Airfare Deals.

 

The best time to purchase airfare for online sites is Tuesday at 3:00 pm.  This the time that all the airlines put up their best pricing and sales.  Search agent sites and then double back to the carrier’s site to compare the difference.  The carrier site just maybe lower.  Carriers like Qantas reserve the best price for their site.

You should have a Saturday night stay and a 21-day advance purchase to get the best pricing for domestic flights.  Avoid black out date for airfare sales like holidays and spring break.

When booking international flights you need to start looking 54 days before your travel date.  Check the flights out for different airports in your area as the airport fees differ from each airport which could save you money.  Book a major carrier to your country destination and a local carrier to you final point of stay will save you money.

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Airline Booking Agents (Websites) use Scarcity to make you Purchase Sooner than Later.

Here is a little known marketing directive served up from airline booking sites.  Test it yourself or remember if you witnessed it when you were looking for airfare.

This is what happens.  You are looking for airfare and you go to your favorite booking airfare site to compare rates, travel days and time.  You might find what arrangements you like and the price is just OK, but you are not ready to purchase at the time.  You think the price just might get better in the future.  Then you try again to see the pricing for your travel dates and time.  The price is gone higher and the available seats have gone down.  Humm.  You try a third time because you are now worried about the travel dates and times.  You are not so flexible and need to travel at those times.  The reality sets in and now you will have to pay more for the airfare you just looked at a day ago.  The airfare is even higher now and the seats on the carrier is also falling.  Your decision to purchase is made because you don’t want to pay more the next day and you want the seats before they are all gone. 

What really happened to your buying decision?  The marketing strategy of scarcity was used to make you purchase sooner than later.  The constant higher pricing and the lack of seats pushed you to purchase the airfare.

The site using this technique operate by putting cookies on your computer system when you visit them.  The site knows when you come back and pumps up the price and reduces the seat count.  Each time you come back to the site, you are identified and the price goes up while the seat count goes even lower.  The scarcity of the offer is now compelling you to purchase the tickets before the price gets higher and there are no seats available.

This marketing operation is common in booking and sales type sites.  There is a way to beat it and get your airfare at the best rate possible.  You need to close your browser, then go to your history and reset or whip it out and clean all your cookies.  You can do this trough your system or download programs which do this kind of maintenance for you.  I personally use a free PC tool called CCleaner.

Try this method and see if you get the original rate for the specific dates of travel.  What a surprise!!

Save your money and shop smart!

What is The Deal with Vacation Clubs and Timeshares?

Vacation Clubs and Timeshares are both ways for travellers to get great deals on vacations and save money.

The one that works for you will depend on your finances, the amount of vacation you will take in a year and the type of accommodations you want.

Vacation Clubs

The Vacation Club membership is for individuals and families who want to travel to multiple locations per year.  Vacation Clubs can offer discounts on transportation, package deals, timeshare like accommodations, curses and car rentals.

Vacation Clubs allow you to trade your vacation allotment with others for different properties.  There is more flexibility with a Vacation Club.  Here are some Vacation Clubs.

·         Atlas, The Vacation Owners Club

·         Avalon Vacation Club

·         Aviawest Resort Club

·         Club Absolute

·         Club Casa Dorada

·         Club Intrawest

·         Club Navigo

·         Club Regina

·         Disney Vacation Club

·         El Cid Vacations Club

·         GeoHoliday Vacation Club

·         Global Exchange Vacation Club

·         Hilton Grand Vacations Club

·         Holiday Inn Club Vacations

·         Hyatt Vacation Club

·         ILX Premiere Vacation Club

·         Legacy Vacation Club (formerly Celebrity Resorts)

·         Marriott Vacation Club

·         Perennial Vacation Club

·         Raintree Vacation Club

·         Ritz-Carlton Club

·         Royal Aloha Vacation Club

·         Shell Vacations Club

·         Universal Vacation Club

·         World International Vacation Club

·         WorldMark, The Club

All major hotel chains offer either a Vacation Club or something called Timeshare.  There are also smaller groups who offer their multiple resort type of timeshare.
The main difference with a Vacation Club and a Timeshare is that you purchase a Timeshare like you purchase a property.  The difference is that you have use of the Timeshare based on how many weeks in the Timeshare you contracted for.  You also pay a yearly maintenance.  This is for upkeep of the property, cleaning, insurance and incidentals.  This fee is usually around 300.00 USD/year and can increase depending on what needs to be done to maintain the property.