How to Save Money on Vacation Travel––The Cruise & Tour Center

How to Save Money on Vacation Travel

By John Krieger, The Cruise & Tour Center, Texoma LIVING WELL Magazine

Become a Smart Consumer                                                                                                                                            

In order to be a smart consumer when it comes to planning and buying your next vacation, there is a great deal of information you need to know. The avalance of new products, the complexity of the offers and the huge amount of information available on the internet can make vacation planning a stressful, full-time job. In planning a cruise alone, every cruiseline, ship and itinerary is different and there are over 230 ships to choose from. A recent IBM study revealed that the average person spends up to two weeks planning a vacation online and over 50% end up dissatisfied with the experience and often buy the wrong vacation altogether. In 2012, 23% of online travel buyers left the internet and bought from a travel agency. The internet is a great place to shop but not to buy travel.

Use a Travel Agent

The common misperception is that if you buy your vacation direct from the supplier or from an online source like Travelocity or Expedia, you’ll get a better price than by using a travel agent. The reality is quite the opposite. A good travel agent is an experienced, unbiased source with incredible resources that can match your travel dreams with the appropriate product––often at a total price that is less than the other sources and will save you valuable time as well. From our years of experience, 50% of the people who come in to buy a vacation from our company leave buying something different than they expected.  The suppliers (cruiselines and vacation companies) do not permit anyone to sell their products at prices below the prices they establish. Your relationship with your travel agent should be as important as those with your financial planner or your CPA. Your agent’s experience is priceless and our advice is free.  Importantly, your agent will be there for you if things go wrong.

The Economy’s Effect on Vacation Travel

Another misconception is that the difficult economy means people aren’t travelling, so it’s a buyer’s market. There is significant pent up demand for vacation travel that was postponed over the last couple of years. As a result, 2013 appears to be a strong year for travel––but there are still great deals to be had.  It is estimated that 30% of 2012­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ tax refunds will be spent on travel.  Additionally, airlines, cruiselines, river cruise companies and hotels have all announced major new builds over the next two years. It is a supply and demand game. The increased supply will keep prices artificially low now and in the foreseeable future. The key is to buy well in advance of travel to get the lowest fares, best availability and hope the price goes down. Our company offers price protection: repricing your vacation if the price goes down. Due to capacity-controlled pricing, fire sales are pretty much a thing of the past.

The Boomer Effect

If you are reading this article, most likely you are a Boomer (born between 1943 and 1960) affluent and retired or close to retiring. Boomers are having a major effect on vacation travel. Boomers control 80% of discretionary wealth in the U.S. and there are 75 million of you. About 16,000 Boomers turn 65 everyday and 10,000 people are retiring everyday. Boomers have the time, the money, and the health to travel. They are looking for the unique life experiences travel offers. Boomers are sharing their wealth as they take their families with them––43% of all vacation travel today is multigenerational. Boomers are traveling in record numbers.

Think Value not Price

Aside from airlines and airfares, every leisure travel product has gotten better and actually cheaper. In cruising, the luxury lines are selling a better product today at about 50% of the fare of 10 years ago and include more freebies like airfare, shore excursions, drinks and gratuities. Always buy the best you can afford. No one remembers the price of a great vacation.

Travel Now

This is the best time to travel in history. You get added value at more reasonable prices. Remember, you can always make more money but you can’t make more time and you can’t take either with you.

To contact The Cruise & Tour Center call 214-206-4488, visit their website cruisetourcenter.com, or email info@cruisetourcenter.com.