So many options, so little time! Planning a vacation used to be simple. You would call the airline, book your flight, then call the hotel of choice and do the same. But today, the Internet offers us additional opportunities to book travel, and perhaps save a bit of money, too. But with so many online options, how do you know what is actually going to save time and money, without adding a lot of frustration?
We tested several options, including a few popular online “discount” travel sites; direct-to-entity websites; and the old-fashioned way, calling on the phone! We used the same flight and hotel information, so that the comparison would be fair. While we can’t guarantee results would be the same with every flight and hotel combo, we can share our findings.
Our fantasy trip has us leaving Sacramento, California and traveling to Boston, Massachusetts. Our departure date is September 20th and we are returning September 23rd. We selected the Doubletree Hotel, Downtown Boston as our hotel of choice. We used the same United Airlines flight (selecting “non-refundable:” each time), and accommodations (two people, king room).
Expedia provided two options, booking each entity individually, or booking a “bundle and save” package.
Expedia individual options: hotel: $873.47; airfare: $793.20 = $1666.67
Expedia.com, “bundle and save” option $1634.38
Result: The “bundle and save” option was a bit better of the two, saving us a little over $32. The site was fairly easy to use, but we could not see the flight numbers for every flight in the list of options for our dates, so it took some searching to find the exact flights we were looking for. Additionally, Expedia partners with many other travel sites, and the constant pop-ups reminding us that we could go elsewhere were distracting.
EXAMPLE 2: PRICELINE.COM
Priceline.com hotel: $885.58; flight $793.20 = $1678.78
It was a bit annoying to try to find the same flight to compare apples to apples. Priceline does offer a bundling option, but it was not easy to navigate. We could not get the exact same flights we were searching for, so we skipped it.
EXAMPLE 3: ORBITZ.COM
Much like Expedia, Orbitz offers two options: booking hotels and flights separately, or “bundled”.
Orbitz, individual options: hotel: $873.74, flight $793.20 =1666.94
Orbitz “bundled” option: $1669.51
Result: Interestingly, the “bundled” option cost us an additional $2.57!
EXAMPLE 4: DIRECT TO WEBSITE
We went to the websites for both United Airlines and the Doubletree Hotel. Each site was very easy to use, quick and painless. We simply input the specifics and had pricing in no time!
unitedairlines.com: $893.20
doubletree website: $922.47
total: $1815.67
Result: While much easier to use, the $1815.67 total was quite a bit higher than what the travel sites offered.
EXAMPLE 5: THE "OLD FASHIONED" WAY
Call United Airlines: $843.20 (includes $25 over the phone booking fee)
Call Doubletree Hotel: $922.47 = $1765.67
OUR FINDINGS
- The quickest way to get the pricing was via the individual/direct websites for United and Doubletree.
- What took the longest? Calling!
- Most annoying? It was a toss up between going to individual travel sites and calling on the phone. The travel sites’ constant pop-ups and ads were distracting. Calling required pushing lots of buttons before finally getting to a human.
- Most affordable? The “bundle and save” option via Expedia. Savings between $32 - $181 compared to the other methods of booking.
It’s clearly worth the effort to shop around when traveling. Depending on your level of patience, savings can be fairly substantial if you spend some time researching your trip. What’s your favorite method to book a trip?
Terrie Carrozzella is the Web Designer & Social Media Manager for Sub Sea Systems. Want to contact Terrie about Sea TREK helmet diving, Clear Lounge underwater oxygen bar, or FunCat electric catamarans? Email her here!terrie@subseasystems.com
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