Anyone here done a Groupon travel deal?

[travelbug]

I saw Groupon mentioned in another thread and it made me remember to ask something I've been curious about.

Have any of you ever purchased and used a Groupon travel getaway deal? If so, was there any hassle involved? How did it work out in the end?

Thanks!

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

I have not, but I did read an article in the travel section in our newspaper written by someone who did. He and his wife travelled to another country on a spur of the moment trip through Groupon Getaways. He had really good things to say about it, but he did caution that you read the fine print so you know what is and is not included (I think there were some people in their tour group who were surprised to learn that breakfast was not included). In the end he did recommend it as a great way to save on travel and he had no problems booking it or anything.

 

[disney4us2002]

We have twice used groupon for travel deals just this year. We used the first groupon deal to visit Orlando in April. The groupon deal was 3 nights in a one-bedroom at the Villas at Cypress Point for $239. We really like Cypress Point and the one-bedroom was nice although pretty little.

The second groupon deal we bought was two nights at the Historic Powhaten Resort in Williamsburg, va. They are offering this one again except for three nights and I would go back but dh can't get off work before 9/30.

The only downside I will say with both of these deals is that the resorts are timeshares owned by Diamond Resorts and they do try to push you into coming to a presentation. We politely said "no thanks" and they still tried to convince us for about 5 minutes but we were firm in our "no thanks" and that was that.

 

[shoes99]

We used the 50% off car service from Central NJ to Newark Airport. The service was provided by Central Jersey Limo in a small limo for 2 adults.

 

[andrews_dad]

We have twice used groupon for travel deals just this year. We used the first groupon deal to visit Orlando in April. The groupon deal was 3 nights in a one-bedroom at the Villas at Cypress Point for $239. We really like Cypress Point and the one-bedroom was nice although pretty little.

The second groupon deal we bought was two nights at the Historic Powhaten Resort in Williamsburg, va. They are offering this one again except for three nights and I would go back but dh can't get off work before 9/30.

The only downside I will say with both of these deals is that the resorts are timeshares owned by Diamond Resorts and they do try to push you into coming to a presentation. We politely said "no thanks" and they still tried to convince us for about 5 minutes but we were firm in our "no thanks" and that was that.

Did they offer you something more to sit through the presentation .... like theme park tickets or something?

 

[dakcp2001]

We have used them twice. Both times it has ended up with a nice trip, but no cost savings. We were surprised to learn our stay at one hotel would have been 497, we paid 500 for the week via groupon. I lost 3 bucks. The other trip wound up being the same as non groupon users spent as well.

So it was a good experience, because it let us try a resort we would not have tried, but no real savings for both of our trips which I found mildly irritating since they sell it as a great deal. And read fine print, they block out a lot of dates.

 

[andrews_dad]

I looked into a Groupon for a Vegas stay. Found a promo code for the hotel that would have had the same room for $50 less plus the promo code would have added one breakfast buffet, upgrade to a strip view room, and 2 passes for their night club.

 

[disney4us2002]

Did they offer you something more to sit through the presentation .... like theme park tickets or something?

Yeah, there was a whole huge list of stuff, like 1-day passes, 3-night stay at any other Diamond resort, $250 visa gift card, etc. I just didn't want to give them 3 hours of my time when I absolutely know we would not purchase a timeshare.

 

[cookingqueen123]

We did a great Groupon trip to Adventures Unlimited in Milton, Fl. near Pensacola. It included ziplining, kayaking and a stay in the neatest stay in a cabin that was fabulous. No TV and limited cell service. It was a significant savings off the list price.

 

[travelbug]

Hey, thanks for all the replies, everyone! It's interesting to hear your different experiences. Not sure if I'm ready to take a chance on a Groupon deal or not. I know I'd need to do some homework before doing anything though.

Thanks again!

 

[esk]

Subscribing, because I'm curious....I read an article where someone bought a Groupon for a hotel in Chicago but couldn't use it, because the hotel kept asking "are you paying with a Groupon" and when he said yes, they said they didn't have any "Groupon" rooms left for those dates. Even though the dates were not blacked out on the ad.

So I haven't bought any because I didn't want to get stuck with one that when I tried to use it, there "were no rooms left at the Groupon rate".

 

[limace]

Groupon is great at refunding your money if you get one that is unusable.

 

[BeachLove]

I have and it was a great experience. Just make sure to double check that the price you get is lower than its normal price. I've seen packages where on the companies main site it was listed for less.