plumeria

I saw this web site mentioned. I have looked at it in the past and have been interested in some of their trips. Has anyone actually used it? How do the dates work since you you seem to be bidding on a time frame not a particular week (or two). Did you have a good or bad experience with the site? Thanks for any info.

plumeria

The site I mean is luxurylink.com

TedTurner

Rules and usage suggestions are all detailed at the luxurylink website.
Simply put, if you want to bid on a vacation deal, and you have specific dates in mind, you need to call the hotel or cruise site or whomever to confirm (prior to bidding) that IF you bid and win, the dates you want are available.
Also, many of the "buy it now" deals aren't really great deals.
It's the auctions that CAN be great deals. But you need to learn what the going rate is before bidding so you can have an idea when to back out of the bidding process.
I've used luxurylink 3 times and have always been pleased. No problems at all.

HowardC

I agree with Ted. Sometimes you can do better yourself than the buy it now deals but you can do very well with auctions. Have won two at Bargain basemant prices. One was 5 nights at Wyndham Martineau Bay Vieques with breakfast every day, one dinner for two and 2 50 min massages.. Got it for $1220 for two Room rates alone were $300+. The other which we are using 7 June was 5 Nights at Jamaica Inn--Breakfast for two daily, 5 course dinner every night, evening hors d'oeuvres, airport transfers from Montego Bay, Afternoon tea (Not my bag), water sports etc, etc,. Got it for $1143 for two people. Most packages reappear weekly so good idea to watch the bidding a few times before jumping in and do research before hand to see if it is a good deal and what you want to pay. Have had two excellent experiences so far.

plumeria

OK. I understand so far, but I'm still nervous, never having bid on anything before. How do you find the real going rates? I relize you can get the hotel's posted rates online or by calling, but a lot of the time you can find better rates on wholesale or discount websites. Do you search these as well? How do you make sure you're really comparing apples to apples?
Also I'm glad you mentioned the fact that the same trips are there week after week. This had made me wonder about these particular trips. I didn't know if that ment that no one bought them. When you suggest watching these trips, what am I watching for? To see the ending price a couple weeks in a row?
Again, thank you so much for the help. I really am a novice at that type of site, but I want to be able to use it. I just want to feel comfortable doing so!

hits

I won a 7 day vacation at Ladera in St. Lucia last week. The time frame was from June 11 - Sept. 30. When I called to confirm the dates I wanted (9/15-9/22) I was told that the hotel is closed from the 9/13 - 9/30. There went my vacation at Ladera!!! I called Luxury Link to complain. The next day, the dates on the site were changed. Be sure to check the hotel availability before you bid.

MaryD

Just back from a luxurylink vacation in the Bahamas. It was perfect -- bid in December; only black out days were around Easter; called right away & got the exact days we wanted in May. Near as I can tell (other sites & people we talked to while there), we paid about 1/3 of the going price (& we got the champagne, flowers, etc -- everything they promised). I would DEFINITELY use it again. The place that we went is planning to stay with luxurylink (they're one of the properties that has a near-constant auction going) because it fills their villas & they're very happy with how it's working out. I'm sure what they make in food & drink compensates for what they "lose" on the rooms.

HowardC

It's my impression that most of the resorts you find with wholesalers and discounters are lower end properties. The majority of those on Luxury Link are very upscale. Yes you can check the resorts rates on line and by watching the bidding for a while you will get a feel for what the going price is. Suspect one of the reasons that people don't bid are that they don't know about LL or the Property up for auction. LL gives you an estimated value for the package and the resort sets a minimum bid. By watching the bidding you will get an idea of what the packages go for. I normally start bidding about 5 minutes before the auction closes and you have to keep refreshing your screen to see how the bidding progresses. We had been to Wyndham Martineau Bay in Oct and paid $225 for on oceanfront suite so I had a good idea of what I was bidding on. When we got home I saw the auction and threw in a bid just for the heck of it and won. Went in Feb on the way back from Anguilla and when some of the people found out what we were paying they were astounded. Even though there is a closing time they will hold the auction open until there are no bids for 5 minutes. You have to be flexible re travel dates, there is a $15 auction fee and they charge your credit card immediately so in effect you are prepaying your vacation.

ejcrowe

Just wanted to put my vote of confidence out there for luxurylink. I've used them twice, or rather I've won two packages--one of which I have used already and one I will use in November. The other posters and I are in accord about the relataive value on auctions vs, "Buy It Now" packages. The site is great for a little one-stop shopping to show you what is available in any given region of the world.

If you're interested in staying at any lower-end properties, you may want to browse the auctions at www.skyauction.com, which I have also used successfully. Some packages are for hotel only, some are air/hotel combos. I've bid on each type and been very pleased. A couple of years ago some more high-end places were available via skyauction (Guana Island, Curtain Bluff for examples), and even so you can bid on nice plantation hotels like Golden Lemon on this site. Good luck and have fun bidding--just don't get so caught up in winning that you overpay for anything!

plumeria

Thanks so much for all the info! I am busy looking at the site and will watch for a while to see how the trips I'm interested in turn out.
I definately want the nicer resorts, so it's good to know I should not waste my time looking at the discount websites for deals I won't find.
What I'm reading is that I should stick with the auctions and not wimp out and buy the 'best buys' or 'exclusives' if I want to get the best deals. The 'best shot auctions'.....what makes them 'best'? The fact that they are ending soon?
Again, thank you for all of the wonderful help with this.

KimM

Plumeria....I believe the "Best Shot" auction is a blind auction. In other words you and other interested parties place bids silently and the highest silent bet wins. It is just another style of auctioning....probably the property thinks they might fetch a higher price, i.e. if no one knows what the other party is bidding, they might bid a bit higher to stand the "best" chance of winning.
I have not used Luxury Link yet, but would not hesitate if the right property interested me. As the other posters said, just make sure the property is available for your dates if you are not flexible with them.

Good luck

mjulius1

We have had great experiences with Luxurylink.com. Our most resent trip was a package at Lake Austin Spa in Texas, which we bought at auction. (As other posts have advised, we checked the dates with the Spa before bidding.) While there, we ran into a guest who was the travel editor for a large southern newspaper. When she is not traveling on business, she does her shopping through Luxurylink. What does that tell you!

Jeangail

I just returned from a fabulous trip I got on Luxury Link to Cuisinart in Anguilla. It was a 5 day package (we added an additional day) which included 2 dinners and 4 spa treatments in an oceanfront jr. suite. We got it for $1265 including all taxes and service charges. The resort was very luxurious and we were treated wonderfully by everyone there. Luxury Link was very easy to deal with as well. Unfortunately the resort is no longer dealing with luxury link or I would go for it again. I also purchased a 4 nite package to the Hyatt in Scottsdale, Az. but did not get a great bargain. It was a reasonable price and at the time it was better than anything else I could get. Later on I saw better prices elsewhere but I was locked in. I was able to change my dates but I couldn't cancel. I've never been impressed with anything but the auctions and even then you have to go in educated and informed. Sometimes they list things included which are standard to every room booked anyway and not a real addition. Also, make sure taxes and service are included because that can add another 20% on to your bill. If they're not, be sure to factor that in so there are no surprises.

Patty

I've used luxurylink.com 3 times in the past and wouldn't hesitate to use them again. I had great experiences each time. I would agree with most of what has already been said and would just like to add a bit of information about the Best Shot auctions. These are blind auctions with a minimum bid determined by the resort. You do not know how much other people are bidding. There are usually multiple packages available with Best Shot auctions and all of the winners pay the same amount at the end of the auction. This amount equals the lowest winning bid. So it's possible to end up paying less than your bid amount (that has happened to me). This is also the case when multiple packages are offered under their regular auctions. This is explained under Rules & FAQ's which should be read carefully before bidding. Good luck!

SusanLynne

I know that several people on the Africa board have used LuxuryLink and have seemed quite pleased with it.

caribtraveler

ttt for Lori.

perchy

Does LuxuryLink work like eBay, where you bid, and the price only goes up by the bid increment, not your max bid? Or does the price shoot right up to your max bid?

lovethecape

topping for recent poster

DebitNM

Thanks lovethecape for the topping but since things change so much in travel, I was looking for current info. But I appreciate the help in any case

Debi

Patty

As far as I know, not much has changed with regard to luxurylink bidding. Since my previous post on this thread, I've won one more auction. You just have to know the rules for the specific type of auction you're bidding on and read through the FAQ's on the website. Also keep in mind that it's possible for bidding to be extended beyond the original closing time:

Q. Why do Single and Dutch auctions sometimes keep going after the posted closing time?
A. Single and Dutch auctions are designed with an extending bidding condition to mimic the "real world" auction gavel process of "going, going, gone", and to provide as many bidders as may desire to participate in the final exciting phases of a popular auction, to do so. Therefore, a Single or Dutch auction will close at the posted closing time or five minutes after the last bid is received, whichever is later.

I'm not aware of any max bid feature like with ebay. If there is one, I've never used it. The number that you enter is your bid. I think you just have to keep monitoring to see if you've been outbid.

Good luck!