Newcomer Vacation Europe.com Pushes Package Prices Lower

There's nothing like a little competition to push travel prices even lower. Say hello to Vacation Europe (tel. 800/780-2202; www.vacationeurope.com), a direct to consumer travel provider trying to be the Jet Blue (cool services, low prices) of the package vacation world. Having launched two weeks ago, Vacation Europe's early prices indicate paying won't be so bad either.

"The new travel consumer wants to build their own trip and compare prices themselves," says Nigel Osborne, Executive Vice President of Dynamic Leisure who owns and operates Vacation Europe and Changes in L'Attitude (tel. 800/330-8272; www.changes.com). "We want to make prices as low as possible and the vacation booking process as pleasurable as going on the vacation."

Vacation Europe's "Europe Winter Sale" is a promotion in conjunction with Air France. The package includes roundtrip airfare from New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta or Houston, five nights in a three-star hotel or above, daily breakfast and all hotel and service taxes. Package prices start at $499 to Paris, $467 to Nice, $519 to Rome, $567 to Venice and $547 to Prague. Travel dates are now through December 13, 2006 and January 9 through March 31, 2007. To lock these prices in, all trips must be booked by December 15, 2006. Air and security taxes should start at $110 and not exceed $225.

Hotels included in the packages are local three-star accommodations located close to major tourist attractions. Upgrades to four-star properties such as the Sofitel Hotels in France will also be available. In London, Vacation Europe offers upgrades to the four-star Rubens at the Palace (tel. 044 020 7584 6454; www.hotel-by-buckingham-palace.co.uk). Originally built in 1912, the 151-room Rubens is right across the street from Buckingham Palace and steps away from Victoria Station. If you like horses, several of the hotel's rooms overlook the Royal Mews where the Cavalry horses are stabled.

"We're trying to operate on a more you buy the less you pay level," explains Osborne, a 30-year travel industry veteran with experience packaging independent consumer trips. "That means if you want to add extras, those extras will cost you less."

Hammering home Osborne's point, Vacation Europe is offering a business class package deal to London where five-nights accommodations with business class travel on Virgin Atlantic Airways will cost $3,995 per person at double occupancy travel. The total cost of the airfare alone when bought through the airline can cost up to $8,000. "We get two people less than half the fare and the five-nights in a hotel for what one person would pay for the flight alone," says Osborne.

Future plans for Vacation Europe include re-launching their website with better technology and the introduction of more online travel booking options in hope of offering better prices and service than Travelocity, Expedia or Orbitz. These new products should be available to consumers in the first three months of 2007. In the meantime, you'll just have to be happy with those five nights in Nice with air and hotel for less than $500. Vacations Europe will also offer long and short term vacation rental homes, escorted tours, and a destination specialist hotline (tel. 888/573-3536) to talk to a travel representative any time you want. They also intend to be fully global, eventually offering travel options to people traveling from anyplace in the world.

Talk with fellow Frommer's readers on our Europe Message Boards today.