One-day sale from Intrepid Travel starts now!

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Intrepid Travel puts together some amazing trips, and today’s deal will make them even more accessible than usual. For the next nine hours, trips will be discounted deeply … all Intrepid trips … more than 400 of them. Price cuts range from 15 percent to 60 percent in this rare opportunity.

Trips departing soonest, of course, come with the greatest price breaks. Book an excursion that leaves in July, and you can generally knock 60 percent off the price. Those taking off in August can net you a savings of 30 percent, with the rest of the year’s trips 15 percent off.

The sale starts now and runs until 7:30 PM this evening. Each includes all accommodations and land transportation, some meals and a guide.

After the jump, you’ll get a sense of how much you can save.

Inca Encounter: this nine-day jaunt from Lima to Cuzco in Peru is only $664, down from $1,660

Road to Budapest: spend 15 days going from Vienna to Budapest for $692 – instead of $1,730

Kenya Adventure: eight days in Kenya will cost only $604, rather than $1,510

Save big money on Geographic Expeditions’ tours

by Catherine Bodry on

If you’ve dismissed the idea of a guided tour due to financial reasons, award-winning Geographic Expeditions has your back. Pointing out that the travel industry employs one out of every twelve jobs, the company has lowered its prices – by a lot – in their own effort to stimulate the economy for drivers, staff, cooks, and guides.

Sample discounts include a $1,700 deduction (more than 10%) on a 17-day tour of Rajasthan, India; $1,400 (more than 20%) off of 12 days in Bhutan; and $1,200 off for 12 days in Vietnam.

It’s not budget travel by any means, but a good deal nonetheless. Check out Geographic Expedition’s website for more details. Happy trails!

Biggest Hotel Sale Ever to combat swine flu travel fears

by Jamie Rhein on

If you are after a bargain, Mexico is where it’s at. We’ve posted about how a group of hotels have a deal for those who do get swine flu from their trip to Mexico. But since that probably isn’t going to happen, there are deals for those who don’t get sick.

There’s a “Biggest Hotel Sale Ever” campaign in Mexico through Expedia. In general prices are 26% cheaper than this time last year. Resorts also have deals on spa treatments, dinners and alcohol, so check out a resort to see what you can snag.

In case you’re worried about catching swine flu, check out this AP article . As the article explains, getting swine flu in Mexico is a long shot, and people have begun to see that these deals are not to be missed.

Here’s my take. There’s a lot of sickness you can get in all sorts of places, but they don’t end up on the news. I’m not saying that swine flu is a sickness to pooh pooh, but in reality, a person can get sick by heading to any place that has a lot of people milling about. Staying home sounds boring.

Gadlinks for Friday 6.19.09

by Brenda Yun on


I don’t know about you guys, but this Friday feels like a much needed one. It’s been quite a week, especially with all of the revolutionary news from the Middle East and the world in general! My parents are embarking on their own month-long globe trot, so I hope they have happy and safe travels while I hold the fort here at home in sunny Hawaii (things could be worse!). Here’s a dose of Gadlinks to carry you through the weekend.

‘Til Monday, have a great weekend!

For past Gadlinks, click HERE.

Trax metacrawler launches with First Class Frenzy upgrade game

by Grant Martin on

The newest metacrawler in town, Trax, is wooing users with added incentive to abandon their old Kayaking ways: upgrades. The travel search engine, which is undoubtedly scrapping for market share, just launched First Class Frenzy, an online trivia game where you can answer a host of questions and virtually “move up to first class.” Winners of the online game will be entered in a drawing to win an upgrade on their next flight.

“What sort of upgrade” you ask? According to Trax knower of things Ani Custer, winners will receive one, one way, domestic upgrade good for a year on a major US carrier. One winner will be selected every month, starting on July 16th. Fair enough. If you’re not traveling on the carrier that Trax selects, you can always give away the certificate.

As far as how Trax performs as a search engine, the site has real promise. I just ran a comparison search from DTW – CDG for a week in July and Trax found a fare $75 lower (via vayama.com) than Kayak did. I’ll be sure to include it in my battery of engines next time I run a real search.