Book hotel and air together or just air?

[kyandee]

Is it best to book hotel and air together or separately? Looks like the flights on the dates we want require an overnight in a different city...we dont want to have to pay for another hotel. Also going to do the love away plan if that makes a difference. Thank you

[pfb]

We book our flights separate, better pricing and choices. The resort price is the same.

Paul

[Melvin76]

Personally, I'd book the hotel first, then wait to book air fare until you get a good deal. That's what we've always done and it worked out well.

[wileeandrr]

We always book separately.

[Coloradojuli]

Not sure if this is good news, but you can stay at the airport and not get a hotel room.

I always check booking both ways. Sometimes the package might be cheaper, but the flights bite. So I have a TA who basically matches or beats the best price I can find. He books everything for me so I only have to pay for one insurance policy. You sometimes have to make the decision to bite the bullet and pay a little more for better flights. Also remember that while traveling you will be buying food. Be sure and factor that cost into your budget if you have a long layover. The better flight might be the slightly higher fare when you factor everything. I have no idea if this helped or not, but basically what I do is research to find the flight I want and then talk to my agent and see what he can do for me.

[blondie56]

we always book our hotel and then wait on the airfare mainly because we book so far in advance. The airlines change their prices so often these days, its a gamble one way or another!

[1800milesaway]

We booked through a travel agent and she was able to get us the flight times and connections we wanted. It was the same price or even a little cheaper than booking online and less hassle. Just a thought.

[aero87]

We booked our hotel and airfare separate because for us it came out cheaper that way. I think we saved about $600 that way, but it depends on where you're flying from and the rates for you individually. For us it was cheaper, for some it might be the same, and for others it may be more expensive. My advice is to do some research and compare prices before you book.

[kyandee]

bump

[randymon]

Greetings to all:

Termed "opaque" pricing, many tour operators and hotel companies are increasingly providing a discount on the hotel when packaged with airfare.

Particularly if you are booking 6 months or more in advance, our suggestion is to lock in your date using our Love Away payment plan. Then search for the best airfares. Then, come back and check out the Air/Hotel package price to see if there is a better deal when packaging both airfare and hotel.

With Love Away, you can change your reservation up to 45 days prior to departure without penalty.

[Melvin76]

Greetings to all:
Particularly if you are booking 6 months or more in advance, our suggestion is to lock in your date using our Love Away payment plan. Then search for the best airfares. Then, come back and check out the Air/Hotel package price to see if there is a better deal when packaging both airfare and hotel.

With Love Away, you can change your reservation up to 45 days prior to departure without penalty.

Randy,
Is it ONLY with the Love Away plan? What if you paid the $400 down and plan to pay the balance 46 days prior to arrival?

[Maxernie]

Randymon - We have booked with the Love Away plan (also purchased the travel insurance) & will be searching for the flights much closer to our travel dates .... I have some questions that I hope you can clear up.

1) If we find a package deal for air/hotel through another website that is less than what Couples is offering, will Couples match that price for the same flights ???

2) If there is a Wednesday special between now & 46 days out that is a better deal .... for example, it includes a resort credit or free travel insurance .... can we request those options to be included in our reservation ???

3) If we should have to cancel before 46 days out from our travel date, is the $170 for the travel insurance also refunded ???

I'm sure these things have been covered before so am sorry to make you repeat but wondered about them before our most recent trip where we booked the same way but never knew for sure how it worked.