Vacation Package

Vacation Packages: Are They Worth The Money?

Many travel agencies and websites will offer different vacation packages which will sometimes include hotel accommodations, airfare, car rentals and show tickets. Are these vacation packages offering you a discount? I decided to find a few vacation package offers both on the web and through a travel agency that tickled my fancy. Then I jumped on the web myself to see if I could put something together that was similar but better in price.

What I Found

The first vacation package offered me a roundtrip airline ticket to Ft. Lauderdale, FL. From Fort Lauderdale, I was to board a luxury cruise liner and set sail to the Virgin Islands and Mexico. After returning to Fort Lauderdale, I would fly to Orlando and enjoy 3 days and 2 nights at a hotel located in the Magic Kingdom. They did not offer me theme park tickets but did offer me coupon voucher booklets.

So I decided to try and put the vacation package together myself. I tried to put it together the best that I could exactly as it was shown to me. The only differences were room locations on the boat and travel dates. Everything else was exactly the same from the flight times to the cruise liner. I even found some theme park tickets online that were discounted and good for the rest of the year.

How much did I save, you ask? Probably a few hundred but it did take me some time to research and put it all together. In the end, there wasn' t that much of a difference if you take into consideration all the time and effort it took me to put it all together. If you happen to be on a budget, it may be ideal for you to put your own vacation package together. Those extra hundred dollars could be used on an extra night at your favorite vacation spot.

The second vacation package was a roundtrip ticket to Branson, MO. This package included airfare, car rental, hotel accommodations, and theatre tickets. They also offered me dinner for two at a trendy restaurant and horse-back riding vouchers. When I tried to put the package together on line, the only way I could' ve matched the price was to really downgrade all of my special amenities.

The flight I found had two layovers instead of the direct one that was offered to me. I also had to downgrade the hotel from a high-end resort to a low-end chain. Finding theatre tickets and good seats was a bit of a hassle. This vacation package was a little harder to put together than the previous one and in the end, I didn' t save any money.

Putting a vacation together requires a good amount of organization, planning ahead, and researching. If you are internet savvy, you can do this all in no time but will you get a better price than if you just purchased a pre-planned package?

The answer is yes and no. Some vacation packages are well worth the money, especially if you are going somewhere that is not a hot spot. However, if your destination is a popular one, you can put the vacation package together yourself and save a little bit of money in the process.

(c)  Vacations - Tyler's Articles 2006