Cheap Airfare Step 8: Packaged vacations

Air-hotel vacation packages are a simple concept for powerful savings: you buy your airfare and lodging together at a price much lower than you could get either separately

First things first: a vacation package is not an escorted tour, where they shuttle you around Europe in a hermetically sealed bus bubble of Americanism. With a packaged vacation, your trip is entirely your own—everything expect having to book a hotel separately, that is.

Packages tend to last for a "week" (which might be anything from four to seven nights), and include round-trip airfare, your lodgings, daily breakfast, and sometimes transfers from the airport to the hotel and back.

The biggest drawback to a vacation package is that most of the hotels they offer for you to choose tend to be the huge, cookie-cutter international chains or bland "tourist class" properties, in many cases at the edge of the city center, generally near the train station (ugh!).

Sure, the price is great for that sort of four-star hotel, booking these big ticket items all at once can be convenient, and it saves money over buying the airfare and that hotel separately. However, with a bit of research—and the tools on this site—you can find an even lower airfare and book yourself into an even cheaper, more characterful little pensione in the heart of the historic district.

(I should point out that Go-Today.com has actually started finding a few charming hotels in historic or interesting parts of town on a few of its packages—a small inn installed in an 18th-century palazzo in the heart of Rome's Trastevere district, for example. This is an encouraging development.)

Besides the companies listed below (which really do tend to be the cheapest by a long shot), another great place to look for package tours is from the "Vacations" or "Holidays" subsidiaries of the major airlines themselves, though you should know that some of the European carriers sell packages that are far from bargains.

Also note that many of these "Vacations" divisions are actually managed by outside companies—for example, NorthWest uses a firm called Worry Free Vacations; Virgin Vacations is actually back-ended (industry term) by the folks at Go-Today.com—and the packages rarely even use flights on Virgin Atlantic Airways! Most search-engine sites offer DIY packages as well, allowing you to book airfare, hotels, and rental cars.

The best vacation packagers

Go-Today.com (www.go-today.com) - Hands-down the cheapest and best packager of air-hotel vacations out there (along with fly-drive tours and some walking and biking tours). They seem to operate under a "we will not be undersold" attitude, and their exceptionally low rates on basic, (largely) six-night "City Breaks" reflect that. One drawback: it's Net-only; you have to pay extra for customer service on the phone.

Gate1 Travel (www.gate1travel.com) - One of the consistently cheapest tour providers around. They cover the entire world and offer a range of travel "products" from air-hotel packages to escorted tours. Also, they're based in Fort Washington, PA, just a few miles from where I live (that's just a random coincidence—I knew about them for years before I moved here—but I think it's cool).

Goway (www.goway.com) - Offers independent vacations and tours to pretty much the whole world (long specialists in Australia, Asia, and the South Pacific, they later added Africa and, as of 2010, Latin America).

The Big Three (Orbitz.com, Expedia.com, Travelocity.com) - Since the three major travel search engines all offer competitive prices on airfares, hotels, car rentals, and the rest, they can easily put together vacation packages as well. Orbitz, Expedia, and Travelocity now all prominently offer "packages" or "vacations" as a main menu option at the top of the page. The prices can be phenomenal—and the offerings often a bit more flexible than at the competition (number of nights, multiple destinations, a freer mix of lodging, transportation, and sightseeing options)—so it's well worth looking into.

Solar Tours (www.solartours.com) - Covers Latin America, Europe, Asia, Oceania, the South Pacific, and the Caribbean with both packages and escorted tours. Excellent selection of combo packages (combining multiple countries in one package, including transfers between cities).

MLT Vacations (www.mltvacations.com) - Packaging powerhouse that runs the branded and airline packaging arms of Delta Vacations, United Vacations, AeroMexico Vacations, Alitalia Vacations, Air France Holidays, and Worry Free Vacations.

Untours (www.untours.com) - Sort of like the Platinum Edition of a vacation package, taking care of all the major costs, details, and logistics but leaving you to plan your daily sightseeing and travels. For one price, you get airfare, some form of transport (rental car or train or bus pass), lodgings (usually an apartment or rental villa), and a local contact who will help you get settled in, show you the ropes, then be on-call to help with questions. You also usually have one activity during the course of the week when all other "untour" participants in your area are invited to get together.

Regional specialist packagers

Europe

Sceptre Tours (www.sceptretours.com)- Ireland, Scotland, and now Italy (used to be known as Sceptre Ireland). Fantastic air-car-B&B deal in Ireland. You can read more about it here.
Auto Europe (www.autoeurope.com) - Great rates on air-hotel packages for Europe's major cities, and you can add a car for very little. Just be sure you take a peek at the included hotels, as they have a habit of putting you up in cookie-cutter joints outside the city center (you may have to upgrade the hotel choice to get a more central pad).
C.I.E. Tours (www.cietours.com) - Ireland.
Brain Moore International Tours (www.bmit.com) - Ireland, Scotland, England, Wales.
Celtic Tours (www.celtictours.com) - Ireland, Italy, Scotland, England, Wales, Europe.
Brenden Vacations (www.brendanvacations.com) - Ireland, Scotland.
Donna Franca Tours (www.donnafranca.com) - Italy.
Tourcrafters (www.tourcrafters.com) - Italy, Spain, France, Greece, Turkey, other Mediterranean Europe.
Petrabax (www.petrabax.com) - Spain and Portugal.
Pacha Tours (www.pachatours.com) - Turkey (also Greece, Israel, Uzbekistan).
Travel Time (www.traveltimeny.com) - Croatia.
Homeric Tours (www.homerictours.com) - Greece (also Italy, Cyprus, Morocco, Jordan, Turkey, Israel, Egypt, Croatia, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Russia)
Iceland Air (www.icelandair.com) - Iceland.
Sunny Land Tours (www.sunnylandtours.com) - Croatia, Cyprus, Russia, Turkey.

North America

Southwest Vacations (www.southwestvacations.com) - USA, Mexico, Caribbean.
Funjet Vacations/TNT Vacations (www.funjet.com) - Mainland USA, Hawaii, ski packages, Mexico.
Pleasant Holidays (www.pleasantholidays.com) - Mainland USA, Hawaii, Mexico, Caribbean.
GoGo Worldwide Vacations (www.gogoworldwidevacations.com) - Mainland USA, Hawaii, Mexico.
Blue Sky Tours (www.blueskytours.com) - Hawaii.
Vacation Travel Mart (www.vacmart.com) - Mexico.
Apple Vacations (www.applevacations.com) - Mexico, Hawaii, ski packages.
Vacation Express (www.vacationexpress.com) - Mexico.
Mexico Travel Net (www.mexicotravelnet.com) - Mexico.
South American Fiesta (www.southamericanfiesta.com) - Mexico.
Solar Tours (www.solartours.com) - Mexico, Hawaii.
Maxxim Vacations (www.maxximvacations.com) - Eastern Canada
Ski.com (www.ski.com) - Ski packages.
Caradonna Dive Adventues (www.caradonna.com) - Scuba specialists in Mexico, Belize.

Latin America (South America & Central America)

Tico Travel (www.ticotravel.com) - Costa Rica, Belize, Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Panama, South America, Argentina, Ecuador, Chile, Peru, Columbia.
Marnella Tours (www.marnellatours.com) - Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Panama, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela.
Escapes Unlimited (www.escapesltd.com) - Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Nicaragua, Panama.
Capricorn Leisure Corp. (www.capricorn.net) - Argentina, Belize, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Hondoura, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Venezuela.
Tara Tours (www.taratours.com) - Belize, Costa, Rica, El, Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela.
Sunny Land Tours (www.sunnylandtours.com) - Argentina Belize, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama, Peru, Russia, Suriname.
Solar Tours (www.solartours.com) - Costa Rica, Belize, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Panama, Argentina, Chile, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, Colombia, Uruguay, Mexico.
South American Fiesta (www.southamericanfiesta.com) - Argentina, Belize, Brazil, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela, Antarctica.
Funjet Vacations/TNT Vacations (www.funjet.com) -Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Belize.
Vacation Express (www.vacationexpress.com) - Costa Rica.
Pleasant Holidays (www.pleasantholidays.com) - Mexico.
Apple Vacations (www.applevacations.com) - Mexico, Costa Rica.
Vacation Travel Mart (www.vacmart.co/) - Mexico, Hawaii, Belize, Costa Rica.
Travelspan (www.travelspan.com) - Guyana.
Caradonna Dive Adventues (www.caradonna.com) - Scuba specialists in Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica, Honduras.

Caribbean/Bahamas

CheapCaribbean.com (www.cheapcaribbean.com) - All over the Caribbean.
Funjet Vacations/TNT Vacations (www.funjet.com) - All over the Carribean.
Pleasant Holidays (www.pleasantholidays.com) - All over the Caribbean.
Apple Vacations (www.applevacations.com) - All over the Caribbean, Bahamas.
Southwest Vacations (www.southwestvacations.com) - Aruba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Bahamas.
Vacation Travel Mart (www.vacmart.co/) - All over the Caribbean, Bahamas.
Vacation Express (www.vacationexpress.com) - All over the Caribbean, Bahamas.
GoGo Worldwide Vacations (www.gogoworldwidevacations.com) - All over the Caribbean.
Travelspan (www.travelspan.com) - Trindiad & Tobago, the Domincan Republic, Granada.
Solar Tours (www.solartours.com) - All over the Caribbean.
Caribbean Airlaines/Air Jamaica (www.caribbean-airlines.com) - All over the Caibbean
Caradonna Dive Adventues (www.caradonna.com) - Scuba specialists; all over the Caribbean.
Capricorn Leisure Corp. (www.capricorn.net) - Dominican Republic.

Asia

Escapes Unlimited (www.escapesltd.com) - Bali, Bhutan, Borneo, Burma, Cambodia, China, Hong, Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Laos, Mongolia, Nepal, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Tibet, Vietnam.
Pacific Delight Tours (www.pacificdelighttours.com) - China, Japan, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar/Burma, Indonesia, India, Nepal
Asialuxe Holidays (www.asialuxeholidays.com) - Bali, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar/Burma, Phillipines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam.
Wendy Wu Tours (www.wendywutours.com) - China, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Japan.
Ritz Tours (www.ritztours.com) - China, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar/Burma, Vietnam, India.
Affordable Asia (www.affordableasia.com) - China, Thailand
China Focus Travel (www.chinafocustravel.com) - China.
China Silk Tours (www.chinasilktours.com) - China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand.
Fiji Travel (www.fijitravel.com) - Cambodia, Indonesia/Bali, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar/Burma, Thailand, Vietnam.
Travel2 (travel2-us.com/) - Bali, China, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam.
Sunny Land Tours (www.sunnylandtours.com) - Israel, Jordan, UAE.
Caradonna Dive Adventues (www.caradonna.com) - Scuba specialists in Phillipines.

South Pacific

Pleasant Holidays (www.pleasantholidays.com) - Fiji, Tahiti, Cook Islands.
Travel2 (travel2-us.com/) - Polynesia (Tahiti), Cook Islands, Fiji.
Tahiti Legends (www.tahitilegends.com) - Fiji, Tahiti, Cook Islands, Australia, New Zealand, Maldives, UAE.
Fiji Travel (www.fijitravel.com) - Fiji, Cook Islands, Australia, New Zealand.
Pacific Delight Tours (www.pacificdelighttours.com) - French Polynesia (Tahiti).
Blue Sky Tours (www.blueskytours.com) - Hawaii.
Vacation Travel Mart (www.vacmart.com) - Hawaii.
Apple Vacations (www.applevacations.com) - Hawaii.
Caradonna Dive Adventues (www.caradonna.com) - Scuba specialists in Fiji, Galapagos, Hawaii, Micronesia, Tahiti, Solomons, Tonga, Vanauatu.

Australia & New Zealand

Travel2 (travel2-us.com) - Australia, New Zealand.
Pacific Delight Tours (www.pacificdelighttours.com) - Australia, New Zealand.
Tahiti Legends (www.tahitilegends.com) - Australia, New Zealand.
Fiji Travel (www.fijitravel.com) - Australia, New Zealand.

Africa & safaris

Lion World Tours (www.lionworldtravel.com) - All over Africa.
Eyes On Africa (www.eyesonafrica.net) - This African safari generalist also offers great you standard "value safaris" (as well as photo workshops and custom trips), but also runs nearly 100 budget safaris all over sub-Saharan Africa for under $4,000. They save largely by staying in ground tents, cabins, and gueshouses rather than luxury tents and high-end game lodges (though a few are lodge trips). Land-only rates on the "budget safaris" range $1,490–$2,600 for many one-week safaris; $1,850–$3,200 for two weeks, from $3,500 for three weeks. (They can arrange for airfare for about $1,500–$2,000 from the East Coast of the U.S., $2,000 from the West Coast.) They do everything from traditional game drives to walking safaris, yacht charters to kayak adventures, plus thematic tours (cultural or animal, from flamingos to an elephant eco-lodge). Their catalogue covers Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, Madagascar, Malawi, Angola, Zambia, Mozambique, and the Seychelles.
2Afrika (www.2afrika.com) - All over Africa.
Goway (www.goway.com) - All over Africa.
Sunny Land Tours (www.sunnylandtours.com) - Egypt, Morocco.
Ritz Tours (www.ritztours.com) - South Africa, Kenya, Egypt.