Buying a package only for the airfare?

Posted by lcarter2626 on 01/22/16 08:19 PM

Hi all,
Sometimes I see awesome packaged deals where the hotel, car, etc, is included with the flight, when just the flight would be more expensive if booked independently.
Has anyone ever booked such a deal and just not bothered with the hotel, etc.? I tend to not like to stay in the types of hotels included in those deals. Just wondering if that's been done or if there is some prohibition on it (like would they cancel your outgoing flight if you didn't show up and stay at their hotels? Would they even know or care once you've paid for it?)

Discuss...

Posted by Agnes

Washington DC Region, USA

01/22/16 09:08 PM

7054 posts

If a person's motivation was truly to save money, why would they blow any savings on independently purchased hotels of their own choosing if their package already covers (assumingly agreeable) lodging? The whole point of a "package" is accepting the compromises that come with it to gain the overall savings. So what if you save on airfare if you lose on hotels (if they're more expensive via independent bookings)? The only way such a scheme would work is if one could get a better deal overall by selecting those hotels that would bring the total amount (flight + hotels) to the package deal's price or better (and be as happy with the quality of the chosen hotels as what they would have gotten as part of the deal). Theoretically it's possible, I'm not sure how likely. I'm pretty sure the pricing and hotel selection (e.g. 4-star hotels) is calibrated to discourage this kind of opt-out behavior though, or to make it as unappealing as possible financially. Most people who get packaged deals think they've gotten the best deal in the world.

This kind of thing happens in the cruise industry though. The cruise itself is a loss leader (the prices are so low because they have economies of scale by cramming so many people in) while the excursions are all the profit. If you don't partake of the excursions you could get the better end of the deal and save money through your own shore arrangements.

Posted by peg

Minnesota

01/22/16 10:12 PM

83 posts

Those flights may be quite restrictive too… Make sure you're comparing apples to apples on these flights. Google the phrase "consolidator fare" and you'll see what I mean. Not saying they ARE this type of fare ...but be careful.

Peg

Posted by lcarter2626 OP

01/22/16 10:32 PM

68 posts

Well, if I got a $750 deal, flight included, from NY to Milan, car and hotel for a week in Tuscany (which we did), I might be able spend my time elsewhere in other cities than the one included in the deal and still save on the flight-alone cost.

The flights in the deal were all regular American airlines, Delta, United, etc., flying normal routes. (Not Turkish Air with a 10-hour layover in Istanbul.)

Also, sometimes a package comes with a city I don't care to see again, like Paris, so I might want to substitute a more interesting place for me and still come out about the same.

Just toying with it... I haven't seriously penciled it out.