Travel Pricing Basics

You may already be familiar with www.orbitz.com, www.expedia.com, www.cheaptickets.com, and www.travelocity.com as travel portals that provide good travel values. These portals are well publicized and good places to start, just to research the current “best retail prices.”

Additionally, the following travel aggregators are also resouces for finding the current “best retail prices”:

• www.kayak.com
• www.mobissimo.com
• www.travelaxe.com
• www.qixo.com
• www.farechase.yahoo.com
• www.sidestep.com

The following two travel portals offer the potential for wholesale pricing, however they both conceal the vendor until after you purchase:

• www.hotwire.com
• www.priceline.com

Here’s a quick strategy for maximizing savings using www.hotwire.com and www.priceline.com: First visit www.hotwire.com and determine a “best price” Try to duplicate your criteria on www.priceline.com Click “name your price” and enter an amount that is 20% less than the HotWire price If PriceLine rejects your offer, try 15% and move from there.

To learn more advanced information on how to maximize your savings at www.priceline.com, visit www.biddingfortravel.com and www.betterbidding.com.