Comparing Package Hotel Pricing to Seperate Booking

[wee-haggis]

Just curious what everyone elses experiences have taught them with regards to whether a typical brochure package (flight/hotel/car) being a better deal than individually booking the three items.
Surprisingly we found that we are close to $500 better off doing it individually online!
One important point is that the typical package vacation from the brochure is generally a "per/person" calculation (when it comes to the hotel portion) as opposed to the "per/room" calculation online.
We also found that when booking a flight online the variance from company to company for the exact same flight and airline could be as much as 30%!
I guess the suggestion here is ....shop around and be patient...do'nt jump at the first opportunity you see.

 

[mark & sandra]

Hello wee-haggis- From my experience package deals are for those who DON'T frequent these boards. You can absolutely do better booking by yourself seperately. 5 years ago we went to WDW for 4 days. We stayed at the Contemporary and spent three days in the parks. Our "package" cost us almost 3000.00 (including food) Last year 9 days at AllStar Movies with AP discount @ 49.00, full size car under 300.00, airfare FREE using credit card giving free trips after so many points. ( All tips and codes were learned on these boards and www.mousesavers.com ) Last year total about 750.00 not including food. If you can't save thousands by using the tips here, you should be ashamed of yourself. One problem I have found is that you find yourself going to Disney more frequently and for longer periods of time, albeit much cheaper though. As for jumping too soon, sometimes it pays to jump early ( car rental, and rooms) you can always cancel if you have to and once deals come out you can modify your ressie to the lower price. If you wait too long for a discount to come out, there may not be any availabilty left to use it.

 

[wee-haggis]

As for jumping too soon, sometimes it pays to jump early ( car rental, and rooms) you can always cancel if you have to and once deals come out you can modify your ressie to the lower price. If you wait too long for a discount to come out, there may not be any availabilty left to use it.
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But don't some hotels and car rental companies charge a non refundable deposit?......

My example of "jumping too soon" ...is that 2 weeks after I booked the flights ,I found it elsewhere for $50 per person less!
But...I suppose the opposite could also happen where you wait and the prices go up...
Either way...its a gamble.

 

[mark & sandra]

As for car rentals, I book the best deal on line at almost all the major companys. No credit card needed, no personal info given. As a courtesy I do cancel all that I don't plan to use well in advance. With the rooms you need to be more selective, I book no more then 2 different resorts for my planned times. I find out how far in advance I need to call to cancel with no penalty, and I adhere to it. If you absolutely, possitively wan't to stay at a certain resort, then there's no harm in booking early, if discount codes become available you can always modify your ressie. An example would be if you wanted the AllStar Sports or AllStar Music and the rate being offered was 118.00, an AP discount at these resorts can bring the price down to about 54.00, but the discount might not come out until 30 days out, experience shows to book early and then watch for deals. Now flights are a different animal altogether, many times I've had to modify my rooms and car because my flight dates were booked out. Watching for your flight dates to open up is the best way to insure you get it. I've been waiting for SW to open up past Jan. 10th for about 2 months now. They opened up yesterday at 12:00pm, by 1:00pm all the cheap flights were gone.