Back to the Deals

I'm back from my wonderful trip to New Zealand and Australia and I'm going to get right back to finding you great deals from Vancouver/Seattle.

One thing I learned on this trip is that if you like to travel serendipitously and not book accommodations very far in advance, Wotif.com will definitely be your friend. Last minute discounts (3 months prior, up to the day of check-in) can be substantial. We showed up in Queenstown, NZ without a booking, wandered into the Novotel and asked for the best rate. The clerk at the desk told us that Wotif.com had a much better rate, and since they had free internet use at a computer in the lobby we went over, booked through Wotif, and went back to the counter to check in. I think it's a bit iffy to leave it that late in the day, but you can always find something the day before. Unless there's a big event, like a big rugby game between state rivals in Townsville, Australia for example.

There are lots of specifics about the two countries that I could mention, but I won't do that here. If you want to know anything please leave a comment and I will respond. One thing that's good to know, though, is that the Visitor Information Centres in New Zealand (iSites) are amazing for travellers. The staff at every site is knowledgeable and helpful and can book tours, accommodations, etc for you. We stopped at many iSites to help us decide which sights were worth stopping at on each travel day. In contrast, the info sites in Queensland, Australia are not terribly helpful. They can do all the bookings for you and have maps and pamphlets, but the staff never seemed to know about anything other than their little town or immediate area. Twenty kms down the road was totally foreign to most of them so it was impossible to rely on them to help find tours or accommodation for our next stop along the way.

And now for a couple of deals:

$98 -- Las Vegas from Bellingham
As usual this is on Allegiant, which has various fees. Look for this route to get more competitive as Alaska Airlines has announced they will be flying this route as well.

$198 -- Orlando from SEA
Valid for 330 days. If the economy hasn't hit you hard, plan that vacation to Disney World that you have been thinking of.

$218 -- NY from SEA
Non-stop flights thru Oct 14, except peak summer.