Jul 30, 2008
When the cost of air transportation rises sharply, people tend to favor the destinations where living is cheap
As I reported in this blog on Monday, Roe Gruber's tour company, Escapes Unlimited (tel. 800/243-7227; www.escapesltd.com), has always specialized in the island of Bali, its most popular destination. But when the cost of aviation fuel and -- therefore -- air transportation began to skyrocket, she noted a strange phenomenon, which I discussed with her on my Sunday radio program last weekend. Moving into second place in terms of popularity was Argentina, the least expensive of all destinations within a 12 to 15-hour flight from most of the United States. And today her staff is handling almost as many tour passengers to Buenos Aires as to Bali.
That Buenos Aires is a suitable vacation destination for today's hard-pressed American is a point that one of our readers, Donna Cuervo, made in a response to my recent blog about "staycations". Her remarks are so apt that they should not be missed, as such responses sometimes are. Because her advice may indicate a good choice for your own next vacation trip, I'm reprinting it here:
"If a staycation is what you want, fine, but I would find it really depressing after working a whole year.
"Although I hoped to return to Paris this year and take an apartment for a month, I realized that the exchange rate would take a lot of the joy out of it for me. I'll do that another time - hopefully next year.
"But I won't stay home. If I can't take an expensive vacation, I'll take a cheap vacation. I'm going back to Buenos Aires.
"Doing the math, I find I can have five fine meals in Buenos Aires for the price of one in Paris. A decent apartment in Buenos Aires can be had for less (often a lot less) than $1,000 a month. Go a little over that, and you have something really exciting. In Buenos Aires I can attend the theatre, concerts, etc., in the best seats for low prices. In Paris I would have to sit in the balcony and bring binoculars.
"In Buenos Aires I can actually shop and buy things. In Paris I could only shop for ideas, as actual buying wouldn't make sense with this exchange rate.
"To Buenos Aires, frequent flyer tickets were available at a price of only $37 tax. For Paris, there was no availability for many months.
"While I could take a staycation and see the sights of my own New York area, the real vacation in Buenos Aires will probably be cheaper than staying home. Prices for doing things in New York can be pretty high."
Buenos Aires, anyone? Roe Gruber's Escapes Unlimited takes you there for $759 (plus fuel surcharge), including round-trip air on COPA from Miami, 5 nights at the centrally-located Regis Hotel or similar, breakfast, transfers, and half-day city tour, with extra nights only slightly more. Add $250 from New York, $350 from Los Angeles. And for an extra $122, you can overnight on the way in Panama and take a tour of the Panama Canal.
Escapes Unlimited also goes to several other unusually cheap destinations, charging as little as:
$599 to Ecuador, plus fuel surcharge: Round-trip air on COPA Airlines from Miami, 5 nights at a 3-star hotel, breakfast, transfers, half-day city tour.
$679 to Panama, plus fuel surcharge: Rainforests, beaches, nature, tribes and the Canal. Round-trip air on COPA from Miami, 5 nights at a 3-star hotel, breakfast, sightseeing. Slightly higher from other cities.
$949 to Saigon, plus fuel surcharge: Round-trip air from Los Angeles or San Francisco, with 5 nights' hotel in Saigon, transfers, breakfast daily, and a half-day city tour. Extensions to the Central Highlands, Danang, Hue, Halong Bay, and Hai On, are also available.
Write and read comments about this post.
That Buenos Aires is a suitable vacation destination for today's hard-pressed American is a point that one of our readers, Donna Cuervo, made in a response to my recent blog about "staycations". Her remarks are so apt that they should not be missed, as such responses sometimes are. Because her advice may indicate a good choice for your own next vacation trip, I'm reprinting it here:
"If a staycation is what you want, fine, but I would find it really depressing after working a whole year.
"Although I hoped to return to Paris this year and take an apartment for a month, I realized that the exchange rate would take a lot of the joy out of it for me. I'll do that another time - hopefully next year.
"But I won't stay home. If I can't take an expensive vacation, I'll take a cheap vacation. I'm going back to Buenos Aires.
"Doing the math, I find I can have five fine meals in Buenos Aires for the price of one in Paris. A decent apartment in Buenos Aires can be had for less (often a lot less) than $1,000 a month. Go a little over that, and you have something really exciting. In Buenos Aires I can attend the theatre, concerts, etc., in the best seats for low prices. In Paris I would have to sit in the balcony and bring binoculars.
"In Buenos Aires I can actually shop and buy things. In Paris I could only shop for ideas, as actual buying wouldn't make sense with this exchange rate.
"To Buenos Aires, frequent flyer tickets were available at a price of only $37 tax. For Paris, there was no availability for many months.
"While I could take a staycation and see the sights of my own New York area, the real vacation in Buenos Aires will probably be cheaper than staying home. Prices for doing things in New York can be pretty high."
Buenos Aires, anyone? Roe Gruber's Escapes Unlimited takes you there for $759 (plus fuel surcharge), including round-trip air on COPA from Miami, 5 nights at the centrally-located Regis Hotel or similar, breakfast, transfers, and half-day city tour, with extra nights only slightly more. Add $250 from New York, $350 from Los Angeles. And for an extra $122, you can overnight on the way in Panama and take a tour of the Panama Canal.
Escapes Unlimited also goes to several other unusually cheap destinations, charging as little as:
Write and read comments about this post.
Labels: argentina, budget travel, ecuador, packages, panama, vietnam
Jul 29, 2008
An 11-day tour spending 9 nights in 5 Chinese cities, including fuel surcharge and all taxes will never be cheaper than this
A San Francisco tour operator called China Focus (tel. 800/868-7244; www.chinafocustravel.com) has gained a bit of fame among avid travelers, and grown to fairly large size, because of its near-miraculous price of $999 for an 11-day air-and-land package ("Historic China") to China. I've spoken with a great many of its previous clients (including relatives of mine) and all of them have been uniformly positive about the firm and its product.
But in the face of an ever-more-expensive Chinese currency (the Yuan), and the skyrocketing price of aviation fuel, how long can China Focus maintain its $999 miracle? Turns out: no longer. That catchy figure is now offered for exactly one isolated date of departure in early December, and all other prices of China Focus have risen quite a bit.
But what they continue to offer (prices increased by about $50 to $200, and now bearing a fuel surcharge) remains a travel miracle. And it is produced by people so cordial, responsible and hard-working, that you really should consider it for your own next trip. China's prices are going up and up, and it is only if you book right away that you'll get there at a cost that anyone can handle.
On the firm's website mainpage you'll find a moving billboard on the right-hand side; from there click for further details about the "Historic China Promotion." You'll see a specially-priced version of their 11-day tour to China in January and February, 2009, spending 9 nights in five Chinese cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Ji'nan, Qu'fu, and Tai-an. It includes round-trip air to China from either San Francisco or New York, all transportation within China, all transfers, accommodations for 9 nights in those five Chinese cities (quite decent hotels), all meals, and all escorted sightseeing on every day of your stay -- a particularly comprehensive, all-inclusive tour called "Historic China" that has delighted many thousands of Americans to date.
The price: $1,049 from San Francisco, $1,249 from New York City, provided only that you pay by check or money order and thus save them the commission they'd otherwise need to give a credit card firm. The departure dates at these rates: January 6 and 13, February 3, 10 and 17, 2009. Prices go up on later dates.
But what about taxes and fuel surcharge? Those add $415 and $455 from San Francisco and New York respectively, bringing your total cost to $1,464 from San Francisco and $1,699 from New York. You can reduce the price by $100 -- if I am reading their literature correctly -- by booking prior to September 1.
It will never again be cheaper. And those prices, as best I know, aren't matched by any other tour company dealing with China.
It's important that you see China. It's an essential trip for any thoughtful person. And it can be visited in January and February as well as in any other month. Your hotels, buses, museums, temples, palaces, shops and restaurants are as well-heated as anywhere else on earth, and you will enjoy a trip that's largely free of other tourist crowds.
Turn right now to your spouse, partner or friend, and ask them to consider making the time available and going with you on an important and inexpensive trip to five Chinese cities in nine days, this coming January or February.
Write and read comments about this post.
But in the face of an ever-more-expensive Chinese currency (the Yuan), and the skyrocketing price of aviation fuel, how long can China Focus maintain its $999 miracle? Turns out: no longer. That catchy figure is now offered for exactly one isolated date of departure in early December, and all other prices of China Focus have risen quite a bit.
But what they continue to offer (prices increased by about $50 to $200, and now bearing a fuel surcharge) remains a travel miracle. And it is produced by people so cordial, responsible and hard-working, that you really should consider it for your own next trip. China's prices are going up and up, and it is only if you book right away that you'll get there at a cost that anyone can handle.
On the firm's website mainpage you'll find a moving billboard on the right-hand side; from there click for further details about the "Historic China Promotion." You'll see a specially-priced version of their 11-day tour to China in January and February, 2009, spending 9 nights in five Chinese cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Ji'nan, Qu'fu, and Tai-an. It includes round-trip air to China from either San Francisco or New York, all transportation within China, all transfers, accommodations for 9 nights in those five Chinese cities (quite decent hotels), all meals, and all escorted sightseeing on every day of your stay -- a particularly comprehensive, all-inclusive tour called "Historic China" that has delighted many thousands of Americans to date.
The price: $1,049 from San Francisco, $1,249 from New York City, provided only that you pay by check or money order and thus save them the commission they'd otherwise need to give a credit card firm. The departure dates at these rates: January 6 and 13, February 3, 10 and 17, 2009. Prices go up on later dates.
But what about taxes and fuel surcharge? Those add $415 and $455 from San Francisco and New York respectively, bringing your total cost to $1,464 from San Francisco and $1,699 from New York. You can reduce the price by $100 -- if I am reading their literature correctly -- by booking prior to September 1.
It will never again be cheaper. And those prices, as best I know, aren't matched by any other tour company dealing with China.
It's important that you see China. It's an essential trip for any thoughtful person. And it can be visited in January and February as well as in any other month. Your hotels, buses, museums, temples, palaces, shops and restaurants are as well-heated as anywhere else on earth, and you will enjoy a trip that's largely free of other tourist crowds.
Turn right now to your spouse, partner or friend, and ask them to consider making the time available and going with you on an important and inexpensive trip to five Chinese cities in nine days, this coming January or February.
Write and read comments about this post.
Labels: beijing, china, packages, shanghai
Jul 28, 2008
Even including air fare and a fuel surcharge of $400, a week on the exquisite island of Bali can be enjoyed for around $1,100
My favorite tour operator in all the world is Roe Gruber of Orange Country, California; she's a former social worker who fell in love with the island of Bali nearly 24 years ago. Her company, Escapes Unlimited (tel. 800/243-7227; www.escapesltd.com) is currently doing business among Americans eager to vacation in a place where the dollar is still strong.
Bali fits that definition. It's where a good dinner at a pleasant restaurant costs $5 to $8, where a half-day sightseeing tour for two persons costs a total of $30, where an original oil painting can be purchased at an outdoor market for $15 and $20. And it is a destination where Roe Gruber is continuing to charge only $749 per person for round-trip air from the U.S. west coast, transfers, and five nights at a friendly, locally-owned hotel.
To that remarkable price, she must now add a fuel surcharge of $350 to $400, depending on airline. But even then, the total cost of her Bali package comes to $1,100, which is more or less what you'd presently pay, including fuel surcharge, to London just for airfare alone.
I interviewed Roe Gruber on my Sunday radio program this past weekend, and was again impressed by her enthusiasm for her destinations, and by the obvious expertise she has acquired over the years. Her second most popular package is to Buenos Aires, to which she charges around the same as to Bali. And to nearly a dozen other exotic nations or cities, she charges under $1,000 for round-trip air, a five-night stay (which can easily be supplemented with extra nights), and fuel surcharge. You look at her prices, and you initially think your eyes are playing tricks.
Take a look at www.escapesltd.com.
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Bali fits that definition. It's where a good dinner at a pleasant restaurant costs $5 to $8, where a half-day sightseeing tour for two persons costs a total of $30, where an original oil painting can be purchased at an outdoor market for $15 and $20. And it is a destination where Roe Gruber is continuing to charge only $749 per person for round-trip air from the U.S. west coast, transfers, and five nights at a friendly, locally-owned hotel.
To that remarkable price, she must now add a fuel surcharge of $350 to $400, depending on airline. But even then, the total cost of her Bali package comes to $1,100, which is more or less what you'd presently pay, including fuel surcharge, to London just for airfare alone.
I interviewed Roe Gruber on my Sunday radio program this past weekend, and was again impressed by her enthusiasm for her destinations, and by the obvious expertise she has acquired over the years. Her second most popular package is to Buenos Aires, to which she charges around the same as to Bali. And to nearly a dozen other exotic nations or cities, she charges under $1,000 for round-trip air, a five-night stay (which can easily be supplemented with extra nights), and fuel surcharge. You look at her prices, and you initially think your eyes are playing tricks.
Take a look at www.escapesltd.com.
Write and read comments about this post.
Labels: bali, packages, south pacific
Apr 22, 2008
You'll want to alert any retired persons to an "extended stay" bargain in winter on Spain's Mediterranean coast
Ten years ago, when oil was selling at $20 a barrel, Orlando-based Sun Holidays was able to offer a three-week stay at a beachfront resort hotel on the Mediterranean coast of Spain, in wintertime, for as little as $999 per person, including round-trip air from the east coast of the U.S.
That was then, but things have changed, and this coming winter, eight months from now, Sun Holidays will be offering a lesser two weeks on the Mediterranean coast of Spain, including round-trip airfare, for a higher $1,325 per person, still a remarkable value. And because it flies you there non-stop from New York on Delta Airlines (a flight from New York to Malaga), in a limited number of seats set aside for Sun Holidays, it's important for would-be winter vacationers to make their decisions soon. The Sun Holidays catalogue for the upcoming winter of 2008-09 has just been issued, and is available in either a print version or on the Internet.
This is a substitute for a winter vacation in Miami Beach or Phoenix. It is available for departures in 2009 on January 14, 21 or 28, February 4, 11, 18 or 25, and March 4, 11 or 18, at the $1,325 price. It is also sold for even less ($1,295) on the departure of January 7, 2009.
Extra weeks selling for an extraordinary $215 per week per person enable the retirees booking this "extended stay" vacation to lengthen their vacation to between three and 12 weeks. (I assume that only retirees will book the program, because who else is able to take off two and more weeks in winter?)
Accommodations? They're at the big, beachfront, apartment-hotel known as the Sol Timor (where participants receive a studio apartment with private bath, kitchenette and balcony), and included in the price are 14 buffet breakfasts, one farewell dinner on the last night of the stay, a non-alcoholic "open bar" every day from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., and three sightseeing tours to communities in Andalusia. The airfare, as noted, is from New York, but there are advantageous "add-on" fares from 22 other U.S. cities.
A final lure: there's no single supplement for solo travelers on most departures.
In describing the lure of this unique program, in various classroom discussions of travel, I used to say that low-income retirees had a choice between a shabby, rusting motel in Miami Beach or Phoenix, eating in fast-food restaurants, or an exotic, high-quality stay on the Costa del Sol of Spain, eating off white tablecloths in a proper restaurant. I'm no longer confident that $1,325 per person is necessarily less than some Americans would pay to fly in winter to Miami Beach and rent a motel there for two weeks. But $1,325 is still a major value, and mature people (your relatives or friends) will surely enjoy scanning the literature for this program, which has now been successfully operated for decades. Tell them about an "extended stay" winter vacation on the Mediterranean coast of Spain, for which the contact is either www.sunholidaytours.com or tel. 800/422-8000.
Write and read comments about this post.
That was then, but things have changed, and this coming winter, eight months from now, Sun Holidays will be offering a lesser two weeks on the Mediterranean coast of Spain, including round-trip airfare, for a higher $1,325 per person, still a remarkable value. And because it flies you there non-stop from New York on Delta Airlines (a flight from New York to Malaga), in a limited number of seats set aside for Sun Holidays, it's important for would-be winter vacationers to make their decisions soon. The Sun Holidays catalogue for the upcoming winter of 2008-09 has just been issued, and is available in either a print version or on the Internet.
This is a substitute for a winter vacation in Miami Beach or Phoenix. It is available for departures in 2009 on January 14, 21 or 28, February 4, 11, 18 or 25, and March 4, 11 or 18, at the $1,325 price. It is also sold for even less ($1,295) on the departure of January 7, 2009.
Extra weeks selling for an extraordinary $215 per week per person enable the retirees booking this "extended stay" vacation to lengthen their vacation to between three and 12 weeks. (I assume that only retirees will book the program, because who else is able to take off two and more weeks in winter?)
Accommodations? They're at the big, beachfront, apartment-hotel known as the Sol Timor (where participants receive a studio apartment with private bath, kitchenette and balcony), and included in the price are 14 buffet breakfasts, one farewell dinner on the last night of the stay, a non-alcoholic "open bar" every day from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., and three sightseeing tours to communities in Andalusia. The airfare, as noted, is from New York, but there are advantageous "add-on" fares from 22 other U.S. cities.
A final lure: there's no single supplement for solo travelers on most departures.
In describing the lure of this unique program, in various classroom discussions of travel, I used to say that low-income retirees had a choice between a shabby, rusting motel in Miami Beach or Phoenix, eating in fast-food restaurants, or an exotic, high-quality stay on the Costa del Sol of Spain, eating off white tablecloths in a proper restaurant. I'm no longer confident that $1,325 per person is necessarily less than some Americans would pay to fly in winter to Miami Beach and rent a motel there for two weeks. But $1,325 is still a major value, and mature people (your relatives or friends) will surely enjoy scanning the literature for this program, which has now been successfully operated for decades. Tell them about an "extended stay" winter vacation on the Mediterranean coast of Spain, for which the contact is either www.sunholidaytours.com or tel. 800/422-8000.
Write and read comments about this post.
Labels: mediterranean, packages, spain
Jan 17, 2008
Hurry to book a blockbuster airfare sale to London -- starting at $378
The big travel news this week is an unusual winter sale on British Airways for both air (to London) and accommodations (in London). What the Brits have announced would be a real steal even if it were limited to the specially low winter airfares that BA is offering on roundtrip tickets to London: starting at $378 out of New York or Washington, D.C., $478 from Los Angeles or San Francisco (15 other departure cities are available at similar or in-between prices).
What makes the deal truly spectacular is that those prices include -- repeat, include -- a free, two-night stay in any of nine three- and four-star London hotels. That's a huge bonus in this age of high European prices and a weak dollar, when even three-star properties in London are charging as much as $200 a night for a double room.
And these aren't in the boondocks, but in such prize locations as Covent Garden, Kensington, and Chelsea, with many of the hotels belonging to prominent chains such as Jury's Inn, Holiday Inn, Marriott, Premier Inn, and Comfort Inn. Do a fast web search and you'll discover that many of the above names charge an average rate of $204 in winter. Deduct that savings from the airfare and suddenly the real cost for flying the Atlantic round-trip can amount to a mere $174.
The catch? You must book by January 24 (that's less than a week from now), and the bargain is good only for travel from January 22 through March 23.
Buried in the fine print is the note that, if you are a www.ba.com member (you can always sign up just before booking), you can get an additional $20 off. Also in that fine print are a weekend surcharge of $30, a Saturday-night stay requirement (for the roundtrip air portion; you can pick any nights of your stay on which to invoke the free hotel room), and those unavoidable various airport fees and government taxes of $165 to $240. Also, only two people traveling together get two hotel nights free; solo travelers can also book the deal, but get only one free hotel night.
There does not, however, seem to be any restriction that confines you to stay at that hotel beyond your freebie nights, after which you can either opt to continue your stay there, search out even cheaper accommodations, or take off from London to explore more of Great Britain or Europe -- the only restriction being a maximum stay of 11 months.
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What makes the deal truly spectacular is that those prices include -- repeat, include -- a free, two-night stay in any of nine three- and four-star London hotels. That's a huge bonus in this age of high European prices and a weak dollar, when even three-star properties in London are charging as much as $200 a night for a double room.
And these aren't in the boondocks, but in such prize locations as Covent Garden, Kensington, and Chelsea, with many of the hotels belonging to prominent chains such as Jury's Inn, Holiday Inn, Marriott, Premier Inn, and Comfort Inn. Do a fast web search and you'll discover that many of the above names charge an average rate of $204 in winter. Deduct that savings from the airfare and suddenly the real cost for flying the Atlantic round-trip can amount to a mere $174.
The catch? You must book by January 24 (that's less than a week from now), and the bargain is good only for travel from January 22 through March 23.
Buried in the fine print is the note that, if you are a www.ba.com member (you can always sign up just before booking), you can get an additional $20 off. Also in that fine print are a weekend surcharge of $30, a Saturday-night stay requirement (for the roundtrip air portion; you can pick any nights of your stay on which to invoke the free hotel room), and those unavoidable various airport fees and government taxes of $165 to $240. Also, only two people traveling together get two hotel nights free; solo travelers can also book the deal, but get only one free hotel night.
There does not, however, seem to be any restriction that confines you to stay at that hotel beyond your freebie nights, after which you can either opt to continue your stay there, search out even cheaper accommodations, or take off from London to explore more of Great Britain or Europe -- the only restriction being a maximum stay of 11 months.
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Labels: deals, london, packages
Oct 3, 2007
Throughout the fall and winter: two full weeks in Croatia are had for under two grand, including airfare and most meals
Though the best travel deals can come from any source, there's something to be said for tour companies run by ex-pats who specialize in their home region and enjoy close relations with the local suppliers they use. One such company is Travel Time (tel. 800-354-8728 or 718-721-1132; www.traveltimeny.com), founded more than 30 years ago by a Croat now living in Queens, New York.What makes it an even more useful resource is that independent packages to Croatia -- bundling airfare and hotels -- are hard to come by; most companies only sell fully escorted tours. Travel Time, however, offers a whole slew of packaged deals that take in the best of Croatia. If you have two weeks (that's 14 full nights in Croatia) and $1,990 to spare, you can explore the entire Dalmatian Coast, the country's stunning southern Adriatic coastline strung with island chains, lined by secluded pebble beaches, and peppered with gorgeous historic cities.
This area was once part of the Roman Empire, and the entire historic center of Split is actually converted from the ruins of Emperor Domitian's royal palace. The ancient palace's rooms are now houses and shops, its roofless corridors and open spaces now serve as city streets, and the emperor's mausoleum was converted into the cathedral. Split has become a glamorous, club-dotted hangout for various jet-setters. And as for the island of Korcula, it's renowned as the probable birthplace of Marco Polo (Venice conquered much of this coast in its glory years, and among the spoils of war were captured sailors, including young Polo). Dubrovnik, anchoring the coast's southern end, is a postcard medieval town of red rooftops curling into the sea along a spit of land.
That $1,990 per-person price is good from November through March excepting Dec. 21-31 (October trips tack on $500) and includes roundtrip airfare from New York, Newark, or Boston (departures from other cities add anywhere from $50 to $250), three nights each in Split, Hvar, Korcula, and five nights in Dubrovnik. What makes it an even better bargain is that it includes airport transfers, the ferry tickets to connect each destination, all breakfasts, and, amazingly, all dinners as well.
If you don't have two weeks to spare, there are pared-down versions of the same deal available: you can do an 11-night trip visiting just one of the islands (Hvar or Korcula) between time spent in Split and Dubrovnik starting at $1,690 per person, or just spend a week in Dubrovnik from $1,090 per person.
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Aug 16, 2007
For Orlando stays of under a week, the air-and-land packages of Southwest Airlines Vacations are unbeatable in price and value
The least expensive way to enjoy a short stay (i.e., of less than a week) in Orlando is to buy a package that includes airfare and a hotel. When your stay is for only three nights or so, too short a time for renting a vacation home, nothing beats the prices and value offered by the tour operating arm of the aggressive low-cost airline, Southwest Airlines Vacations (tel. 800/243-8372; www.southwestvacations.com).
These are available, obviously, only from cities to which Southwest flies. From each such place, the airfare to Orlando is generally the cheapest of any airline, and airfare is accompanied by equally inexpensive hotels for an unbeatable total price. Southwest's standard formula is to feature a three-night hotel stay, and its prices this autumn for that duration currently average between $250 and $300 per person based on double occupancy, depending on the origin city. (Those prices, please remember, include round-trip airfare). Even all the way from Phoenix, the price is only $314 per person for round-trip air and three-night stays at a hotel within walking distance from the popular Downtown Disney shopping area. It's like getting your hotel almost for nothing, and thus freeing a significant portion of your budget for those high-priced theme park tickets.
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These are available, obviously, only from cities to which Southwest flies. From each such place, the airfare to Orlando is generally the cheapest of any airline, and airfare is accompanied by equally inexpensive hotels for an unbeatable total price. Southwest's standard formula is to feature a three-night hotel stay, and its prices this autumn for that duration currently average between $250 and $300 per person based on double occupancy, depending on the origin city. (Those prices, please remember, include round-trip airfare). Even all the way from Phoenix, the price is only $314 per person for round-trip air and three-night stays at a hotel within walking distance from the popular Downtown Disney shopping area. It's like getting your hotel almost for nothing, and thus freeing a significant portion of your budget for those high-priced theme park tickets.
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Jul 23, 2007
It's back! Ireland for $499, including airfare, accommodations, and a car
Throughout the 1990s. a well-regarded company known as Sceptre Ireland (or Sceptre Tours) was the source of amazing fall/winter air-and-land packages to the Emerald Isle. For as little as $499 per person, they flew you roundtrip to Shannon, placed you in a car with unlimited mileage for a week, and gave you a booklet of vouchers for six nights of bed-and-breakfast accommodations at your choice of several hundred homey guesthouses throughout Ireland.Then, mysteriously, Sceptre Ireland went upscale. They remained active as ever, but no longer advertised their air-and-car packages to the public, but seemed to focus instead (or so it seemed to me) on expensive, upscale hotels booked through travel agents.
Well, they've now returned to us common folk! In a startling statement, they've announced they will again be providing air-and-land packages to Ireland for $499 (in December, January and February) and for $599 in October and November. And ingredients will be better than ever. Instead of providing B&Bs at that price, they'll be putting you up in three- and four-star hotels serving full Irish breakfast every morning. And the $499 and $599 price will be available not simply to Aer Lingus passengers from New York, but for Ireland-loving types flying there from Boston, Chicago and Washington, D.C. (Aer Lingus will soon begin flying to Ireland from Washington, D.C.).
A couple of conditions: you'll pay $499 and $599 only if you book on the internet (www.sceptretours.com). You'll pay an extra $25 per person if you phone in to one of their live reservationists (tel. 800/221-0924) -- so be sure to use the internet only. Blackout dates: December 17-31. And your car will have manual transmission; an automatic will cost $79 more.
An off-season car trip through Ireland is one of the great delights of travel. And I have the word of the president of Sceptre Tours that if you yell loudly enough, he'll substitute quaintly-Irish B&Bs for those three-star and four-star hotels. At one such farmhouse B&B, the proprietor permitted my then-four-year-old granddaughter to gather the eggs that had been laid overnight and deliver them to his wife for transformation into a full Irish breakfast. It was a magical moment of travel.
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Fifty years ago, 
Arthur Frommer is generally acknowledged to be the nation's foremost travel authority. He is the founder of the
