I'd read about LL, so decided to give it a try in booking a potential trip to Peter Island. I'd heard that one can get better rates sometimes going through LL (or a Virtuoso travel agent). I was given-- very specifically, with all details spelled out-- a figure yesterday and today when I called back to confirm, I was given a very different bottom line (higher of course). I'm just wondering if anyone else has had experience-- good or not good-- with Luxury Link or with other discounters.
(When I book cruises, I always go through a discounter and things work very well. For our Caribbean trips, I've been used to booking directly with a resort. But I've been impressed with hearing that other folks get much better deals when they don't book directly. Disappointed that my initial try was a flop, and wondering now what to do.)
Thanks.

We had the EXACT same experience with LL- the great rate for the Caribbean property jumped to the same rate the property was offering when we checked back.

I wish their site would be more clear about that. This was i their fixed price section, not the auction section.

The thing that irked me was that the only way to find your property is to put in the exact dates, and the computer gave the lower rates for our exact dates, then a human said the rate was not actually available.

Thanks for the response. My inquiry also was for a fixed rate. And I was plenty irked too. I wonder how it is that others have had good experiences with LL. I'd sure love to find a way to cut some of the cost of those resorts. (I wouldn't feel comfortable attempting the auciton kind of thing.)

Poss,

Just curious, why wouldn't you be comfortable with the "auction thing"? I haven't bid yet on LL but have bid (unsuccessfully) a couple of times on Skyauction. I also wouldn't bid on something where I didn't know what hotel I was bidding for (i.e., like Priceline) but don't see a huge risk of bidding on auctions on LL or Skyauction, as long as I know exactly what I'm bidding on.

In the past I have used LuxuryLink with success but it was thru several auctions. You have to be very careful and know the rates (and what's included or not and the room location - beachfront, etc) when bidding since I've seen people bid more than the rack rate! In other words, do your homework.
I've also not seen many bargains with Virtuoso but they include "upgrades" that many other agencies (or the resort itself does if available) do as well or maybe combined with air there is a bit of saving. I've also found Classic Caribbean a good source but for discounts on the high end properties, you might consider joining Andrew Harper. There is a fee but you often save more than the fee just in one booking and their staff is knowledgable and extremely helpful.

One of the big reasons that I have never used Luxury Link or Sky Auction is because of their huge tax/handling/surcharge fee they tack on.

I don't see how they can tax you $32 per night when there isn't a fixed rate on the room.

I always book through my Virtuoso travel agent. If you are looking for bargains, then Virtuoso is not the way to go, but we always get a few extras like free breakfast and maybe a special gift. It doesn't sound like much but breakfast at $25 per person add up over a week. And, also my travel agent has always been amazing checking things out for me and really giving me the information I need to have the kind of trip I want to have.

I also think that you are treated differently when you book through a Virtouso. I've never had a bad experience when she's been involved, even when I've read about bad experiences others have had at the same hotels or resorts.

I am afraid of LL. Not sure why and probably unfounded but it just makes me nervous!

I've only used LL a few times for their auctions, not their fixed price stuff, and I was pleased each time with the value I received. They don't charge a hefty fee--just a one time fee of US $15.

As for the SkyAuction tax & service charge of US $32/night, look at it this way: most hotels in the Caribbean charge around 10% service charge and up to 10% for taxes. Now, I don't really care one way or the other about the tax part, but I'm glad that the fee is set up so that the hotel staff still gets their payment (at least allegedly), even if the bidder is only paying a few bucks for the hotel room each night.

I used LL auction 3 times in the 1990's,(last time 1999). I found that I saved several hundred on Caribbean trip and almost $1000 in South Pacific. The exception was Peter Island. Their 7 day special rate in shoulder and low season was the same on LL as through the resort.