A survey this week from Expedia says that us travelers are hell-bent on attaining travel deals. So much so that their study of nearly 1,000 U.S. travelers indicated that 60% of trips are based simply on finding a good enough deal.
Survey methodology
Funny thing though. When I tried to read the actual survey results on my own (I’m a marketer), it was not available on-line. It appears the survey was conducted by Sniqeaway, a Trip Advisor (Expedia) company that has much to gain from positive results, rather than through an independent research company.
That’s like the current controversy on Dancing With The Stars. Is the voting rigged to keep stars on the show who drive the most advertising revenue? Unless an independent company is in charge of their voting tabulation (like Price Waterhouse) we may never know what goes on behind the scenes.
Same thing with surveys. I like to know who conducted it, how the participants were chosen and their demographics. Just to make sure there was no bias.
Deal mentality is huge
Expedia’s survey looks interesting at face value. We know that when we post a deal, your interest gains dramatically. On a day with great Hawaii deals, as many as 10,000 people look to our content.
Notwithstanding my questions, here are some other interesting statistics from their survey:
- 69% subscribe to deal newsletters (I think our email subscribers are in that group).
- 81% of deal newsletter subscribers receive 1-5 newsletters
- 19% receive more than five newslettesr
I know that my own brand loyalty long ago went out the window when it comes to airlines, hotels, and car rentals. Instead of looking for a brand, I only focus on excluding brands I tend to avoid at all cost.
What do you think about the results? Do you feel a natural high when you score a great deal? Would a better deal to Mexico keep you away from Hawaii beaches or do you still shop by destination?
Let me know how deal hunting works in your travel plans.
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Not so much for me. I love a good deal, but we go to the big island twice a year because we have 2 married daughters and their families there. I go more for the direct flights, such as Alaska from SJ to Kona. However, I was just notified that our flights in January have new departure/arrival times that are not good. I may have to shop around.
Hi Vicki,
I spent quite a while looking at your dates and didn’t come up with anything better. Keep trying. I’d probably check Hotwire and DHCR about three weeks before you leave. It will go down. While I don’t care for Alamo, especially at HNL, on a recent rental they did not charge the on airport fees which resulted in a big savings.
Thanks for your very nice comments. 🙂
Jeff
Like everyone else, I love a deal…but it is *NOT* a determining factor as to where I’m going to go on vacation. I have the unfortunate position of living on the east coast…only Maine is further east than where I live…So airfare to Hawaii is expensive. I know it’s about $800-900 round-trip with an average *deal*. so that’s what I budget. But if I were to find an airfare under that, I’ll jump on it…so far, that’s not been very often. As a result, I only am able to get to Hawaii every 3rd year or so, and it sucks! Sometimes, I wonder if I should vacation in the Caribbean islands, they are alot closer. But when I check airfare, its around $600-$700 RT…for that, I’ld rather spend the extra $200 and go to Hawaii!
I definitely look for deals, but only to places I really want to go, like the Islands. I tend to favor American Airlines, so wouldn’t say my loyalty has been dramatically impacted, as the deals I’m hunting for airfares usually center there. Of course, other airlines deals can impact pricing on American, so I keep a close eye on what’s going on with ticket pricing.
Jeff, I’ll be there January 22 to February 1. I’ve had a couple of bad experiences with Alamo, so don’t use them any longer. I also avoid pre-paying unless it’s very close to my arrival date. I plan to keep looking right up until I leave just in case a pre-paid deal comes up. I’d love to see what you can find. It’s so much fun planning the trip that as soon as I get home, I start looking for another deal right away. Wish I could travel more. Thanks so much. You guys are terrific. Probably because you live in Hawaii and absorb the wonderfulness. Vicki
My last 2 rental cars have been through Hotwire (must prepay)…8 nights Maui midsize $202.00. 9 nights Maui midsize $222.00. Beat of Hawaii also gets my vote as number #1!!! Your website is the most personal and “real”. I do not go to Mexico any more due to violence there. Seattle always has great deals to Hawaii – but one must spend some time looking and comparing. I LOVE getting a Deal! Once you’ve done the research- then spotting a deal is easy every time.
ALOHA!
Hi Rob. I tried Discount Hawaii Car Rental just the other day when I saw mention of it on Beat of Hawaii, but the deal was not as good as what I had already found. I think I started my search on Travelocity, which I often do. I like Enterprise in Honolulu and I’m paying $291 for the 10 days. I feel lucky to have found it. It’s for their smallest size car but that works well in Honolulu because parking can be small in size too. I’ll keep shopping to see if I can do any better, and I’ll keep an eye on Discount Hawaii Car Rental too just in case. I’m so looking forward to getting there. It was cold here in MN today. Aloha Vicki
Hi Vicki,
If you’d like, tell me your car rental dates, and I’ll see what I can find, just for the fun of it.
Aloha, Jeff
We are deal shoppers – definitely. Been to Hawaii 4 times since 2004. Have managed to snag $500 pp RT airfare from STL each time. Sadly, we haven’t seen anything close to that yet for our ‘hoped for’ 2011 trip.
Since the hubby refuses to do multiple stops (more than 1) to and from – our DEAL just may not exist anymore.
I will give up in mid December and reschedule our timeshare for later (much later) in the year and perhaps go in the fall. We just hate going someplace warm when it is still warm at home.
If ‘THE FARE’ doesn’t show up soon, well, we may end up in Cancun doing an All Inclusive or doing a cruise. I am one of those 5+ newsletter folks – Beat of Hawaii being my FAV.
But, sadly, in this economy – it will be THE DEAL or NO TRIP. We have NO CHOICE.