**Best Travel Deals of All Time**
 

We all love a good deal, right?<BR><BR>I thought it would be neat to discuss the best deals we've all had when traveling.<BR><BR>It could be a plane ticket, hotel deal, package or whatever. If it's been a while since you got this deal, give us some sort of benchmark so we know just how good it was.<BR><BR>Let the discussion begin...

Great topic!<BR><BR>The best deal I have gotten is using my FF miles for a trip to Italy. I realized that it is very easy to collect the miles but a completely different story when you want to actually use them. After atleast 3 hours on the phone trying to find a complete flight there and back I consider it a "great deal" to actually make it happen!

<BR>2000 - RT from Texas to London on American for $260 on their netsaver last minute deals.

I just booked Chicago to Rome for $550 roundtrip for October.

My best deal ever was so good I posted an entire thread about it a little over a year ago.<BR><BR>http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessages.jsp?fid=2&tid=1286793<BR><BR>excerpted in part here:<BR><BR>$899 roundtrip, business class, Indiana/Michigan to Rome<BR><BR>Author: Rex ([email protected])<BR>Date: 04/02/2001, 05:36 pm<BR><BR>Message: Northwest has an incredible sale on business class seats for their nonstop flight from Detroit to Rome (minimum two seats) for departures through May 15.<BR><BR>A search on Expedia for these same seats, same dates, a price of $6195.62, as of today.<BR><BR>Now that I've grabbed my six at the sale price, (May 3-11), I wanted the entire rest of the Fodorite community to take a next shot at these seats. Maybe we'll see some blue ribbons across the aisle, huh?<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>============================ =========<BR><BR>And I have acknowledged more than once since then (but not at that time), that I have Don to thank on the cheap flights forum of www.eurotrip.com - - I think that Don has forgotten more about bargain air travel than most of us will ever know!<BR>

1997 - $78 CA to MA<BR>1999 - $390 CA to Paris<BR><BR>Both were during fare wars....gosh I miss those!

December 1985, $99 each way San Francisco to/from Brussels in a Peoples' Express 747 with more than 500 passengers. I'd do it again in a heartbeat!

NO - Paris, $37 each for two tickets.. can't beat that! Actually, I won two tickets anywhere Delta flies at a fundraiser, and only had to pay the fees. Can't wait!!!

Two free tickets direct from RDU to London Gatwick in 1997. We had been bumped from a flight back from Montreal to Raleigh, but lacked $17 on each ticket having enough to cover us on a trip to London. I was putting that on my charge card when the agent told us to forget the $34 and sent the tickets!

Oops! I forgot the most important thing. On the way back when we got to the airport, we were upgraded to 1st class, for unknown reasons.

$350.00 Tampa-Dallas-London RT, and on the way back got a courtesy upgrade to business class. Miles galore since I have Plat status (100% bonus on base miles) 5700 x 4 + 1000 web booking bonus (total-23800 miles, 25000 needed for free ticket within North America, so basically flew for free). All this last February, yes 2002.

A last minute deal for $300 round trip Boston, Copenhagen plu bus to Stockholm and Oslo, plus hotels for two weeks. Four of us bought the tickets on a friday and the following Wed. we were on our way to Scandinavia.

I had 100,000 points on my Hilton Honors card and called to book 3 nights at CDG Airport Hilton Hotel (using all the points). But the young lady who answered the phone informed me, much to my great joy, that a then-current special made the points good for a full week.<BR><BR>YES!! <BR><BR>Gerry K

<BR> Taking a voluntary bump on a early <BR> flight out of Ft,lauderdale.<BR> $1500 to fly later in the afternoon.<BR> Loved it.

northwest strike right before long planned trip to Bangok - itself a bargain @ $800 for airfare, five nights in a beautiful hotel, buffet breakfast, full day sightseeing tour, airport transfers... 1998. Anyway, due to strike, all kinds of hassles to get seats on other airlines. i wrote to NW cust svc AND World Vacations, got double miles -like 20,000 - credited on both my NW FF AND my us Air FF - throwing me into silver elite status which meant free upgrades several times - first class on domestic flights AND 2 free trips to Europe plus a few miles left for domestic flying...

Great topic.<BR><BR>The best deals I've had while traveling are:<BR><BR>1) Feb 1999 - SFO-CDG (Paris) r/t for $424 - got a free upgrade on the outbound flight to Business Class<BR><BR>2) Christmas 2001 - SJO-TPA (San Jose, CA to Tampa, FL) - Christmas eve outbound and New Year's eve return for $197 [booked on United's web site; Orbitz and other travel sites had the same exact flights for roughly $400 -- pays to check multiple sites]<BR><BR>3) 1990 - United-British Airways Round-the-world business class fare of roughly $4500; but, for $800 more, got an upgrade to the Concorde on the London-NY leg (usual one-way London-NYalone costs roughly $6000, I believe)<BR><BR>4) The very best deal, however, was my stay in London in October-December 1981. I was doing my undergraduate thesis research in England. A member of the Board of Trustees of my college was the founder and CEO of one of the largest companies in England and gave me 8 weeks of free lodging in one of their corporate apartments in the Mayfair district of London! Spoiled me rotten -- I can never look at London quite the same.<BR><BR>Thanks for bringing back some great travel memories.<BR><BR>John H.<BR>

A 10-day cruise, air from LA included, in Tahiti on Renaissance Cruse Line. $1299/pp for a balcony suite. We had a wonderful time cruising Moorea, Raitea, Huaini, Tahiti, and Bora Bora. This, of course, was 2 years ago, just before they went under!<BR><BR>This year we had free air and a free week to Cap d'Ail Marriott. Can't beat that!

Dear Cathy,<BR> Your comments bring back good memories for me too with Renaissance. Last summer I also took the Tahiti itinerary (as a single) got the balcony cabin for $1300. So I booked it as a back-to-back. Very relaxing two weeks. A native on Raiatea asked me the 2nd week if I worked on the cruise ship---she had remembered me from the week before!! Also the first time on a cruise that I was asked to join the Captain for dinner. I'm going to miss Renaissance Cruise Lines!!

ttt

A RCI (timeshare) resort rental for $234.00 for seven days all over the world all you need to do is know somebody who is in the military or works for the DOD to Take advantage of the RCI units worldwide they can get you a gift certificate for the units So go to www.afvclub.com its threw the MWR check it out I used it for seven days in Cost Del Sol Spain and seven days in Malta all five star resorts. PS&gt; no you are not buying a time share. it is resort space that your tax dollars are paying for ! and yes the gov"t owns timeshares!

ttt

This past Christmas (December 22rd to be exact) my wife and I were flying from DFW to Salt Lake to visit my mother. As often happens with flights to Utah this time of year, the geniuses at American Airlines oversold the flight, and I don't mean by a little bit but A LOT (our neareast estimate was at least 15 seats, probably more)! Of course, I have had numerous problems getting seats to Utah this time of year, so was very reluctant to give up our seats, so the bidding went up, $400 in vouchers 1st class up-grade, $500 in vouchers 1st class up-grade, this is when we got on the plane. After finding out seats (seperated of course, because American is a bunch of idiots that can't seem to put husband and wife together), they came over the intercom telling us the tragic tale of the Johnson family, a big Mormon family of six children that could not all get on this flight, they needed only two more volunteers-the price, $1000 in vouchers, 1st class upgrade leaving on a flight at 8am the next day (it was about 8pm now). My wife looked at me, yelled across two rows "I am not in THAT big a hurry to visit my mother in law" and I yelled SOLD! <BR><BR>Needless to say, my mom got over us getting in about 12 hours late, and we went to Europe with airfare paid this year (and enough voucher left over for another domestic trip later this fall).

I just booked a flight to Madrid for $418. What a deal!

A two week holiday for two to Fuerteventura in the Canaries, May 2002, flight, accommodation etc. for &pound;1 on a holiday auction website!! Couldn't believe that we were going for 50p per person but it was all perfect!

1. Chicago to Paris to London to Chicago Jan 2002 398.00 per person total. American Airlines<BR>2. Chicago to Amsterdam round trip Oct 2002 299.00 per person total. Kuwait Airlines

$299 flight JFK to Zurich, including 7 nights in a hotel in Montreaux, breakfast and dinner every day, 3 bus trips to 3 different ski resorts, 1 bus trip to Bern for a day. OK, so it was 30 years ago while in college, but even then, it was a great deal!

We got two vouchers from United for travel anywhere in the continental U.S. for getting bumped to a flight one hour later from Maui to Honolulu. We still had plenty of time to make our scheduled connecting flight from Honolulu to Denver. Just meant waiting an extra hour in Maui instead of an extra hour in Honolulu - still got home at the same time. Used the vouchers for two tickets to Florida the next year.

Family trip to ski.Tickets were cheap enough and then the agent asked if I would like to fly first class. I said of course but can't afford to. She said they had a special on--$4 each!! Icould handle that!

I have found I was able to buy open jaw tickets for a trip to Italy this fall cheaper than round trip which is allowing me to less commuting travel during my trip. I bought direct from US Air over the phone and it was substansally cheper than Travelocity, Orbitz, Expedia or even the US Air.com.

1) One bedroom Paris apartment with full kitchen, $200 a week<BR>2) FFmiles on AWA, gift cert and credit voucher on AMR, so r/t airfare to Paris from Phoenix was $267<BR>3) Once got bumped up to first class when flight was overbooked. Of course, all of first class was filled with other bumpees, so I wasn't surrounded by the rich and famous.<BR>

When Virgin Airlines first started up Boston- London we got a $99 each way fare...<BR><BR>The Boston Herald made an error in an ad and the airline honored it for that 1 day until they could print the correction in the naxt days paper (we stayed on the phone on hold for about 3 hours). 5 friends and I went to LA for 75 dollars round trip (about 1990).<BR><BR><BR><BR>

Well Mr. maybe some are not as fortunate to have traveled all over and we just might be asking the same questions because we are traveling for the first time. But thanks anyway. Obviously you are too important to help us ...

FEBRUARY 1999 LONDON TRIP: 6 nights hotel, airfare, transfers, daily breakfast, and 1 theatre ticket for $399/person!<BR> <BR>FEBRUARY 2000: Round trip plane tickets New Jersey - Rio de Janeiro (high season, a week before Carnaval)<BR>$500 (bought through a consolidator)

Two years ago in early April: Boston to Brussels, then returning to Boston from Paris, for $268 (several airlines)

Booked a roundtrip from D.C. to Milan $371 for this October... and it's direct!

carolync: who did you get the fare with?

$280 RT Boston-Rome in feb.

You had to ask the question after I had about 4 glasses of wine at a hotel in Miami and so here I am remembering no great travel deals but instead a wingback chair from Pier 1 Imports which they told me would never go on sale and I finally found for 25% off but the clerk took the price for the wrong chair and it ended up being more like 50% off and I took it before they realized their mistake. Sorry - not too many fatanbulous travel deals except the summer deal to Brussels many years ago. Anne, Love, Teeny, David - as a professional shopper, you're just making me feel BAD!!!

ttt

I have just booked a flight in September on United from Cedar Rapids, Iowa to Milan for $545. Have your travel agent contact a consolidator or go on the internet to contact one yourself.