When TravelZoo Calls It A Deal, Should You Listen?
When I saw this promotional Tweet yesterday from Travelzoo, announcing Hot Hawaii airfares, I clicked to see if it would be useful to our readers.
What I found was their offer from Delta showing Seattle at $330 and New York at $494.
So why aren’t these deals so “hot?”
1. Seattle. Delta’s $330 fare has already been undercut by Hawaiian Air by more than $30. Intense competition from the Pacific Northwest to Hawaii will keep fares low and might later result in $200 airfares like we had last winter.
2. New York. If you’re a Delta frequent flier, the $494 fare is fine. But if you’re not, I’d look at Continental’s non-stop for $20 less from Newark to Honolulu. Beyond the small monetary savings, you won’t waste your time being dragged through multiple airports like Atlanta or Minneapolis.
Success at the cost of credibility.
Travelzoo’s business depends on proving their value to advertisers through your clicks. On that basis, they succeeded with their Tweet. On the other hand, it was at the cost of me questioning their deal.
Bottom Line: Do your research before buying.
The way the travel industry sells tickets is to use words like sale, hot or deal. We all know that. But saying you have a good deal and actually having one is a different matter. The best deal for you depends on many factors including price, convenience, airline brand in some cases, and more.
Hello, I have been looking for a great deal from ORD to KOA, and then from LIH to ORD. Several weeks ago some friends bought their tickets for mid Jan. 2010 for $579.00, with two stops each way, which we thought were a great deal. My husband and I still weren’t sure of our travel plans at that time and passed on the deal and were hoping we wouldn’t regret it. In the last several weeks we had seen the prices for that itinerary climb. This afternoon as I checked, which I was every day, I ran across a web deal on Expedia for $525 for the same itinerary with only one stop each way in PHX. The same deal was on US Air web site. We snatched that deal and are very happy with it. Just an FYI for others. Thanks for all you help.. I love reading what you have to say each day and look forward to it.
Wendy from WI