Travelzoo/groupon/living social

SB1512

FI and I are getting married in June 2013 and are thinking about honeymoon ideas. We were thinking about keeping our eyes open for travel deals from groupon/living social/travelzoo. Has anyone booked through these sites? Did you have any issues booking after purchasing the deal? I've purchased local deals and never had an issue, but am not sure about travel stuff. Thanks!

dazyabbey

Out of the three options I would probably go with Travel Zoo. Groupon and Living Social I have heard sometimes people have issues booking specific dates and there tends to be more restrictions. So you end up buying the voucher and go to 'redeem' it and find out that the dates you wanted are sold out or invalid and it is only eligible between Wednesday and Thursday or other random things. Travel Zoo actually scours the internet and finds great deals. So when you see a deal on there you book it immediatly and if there are any increase in airfare from your city you see that right away and you know that your actual dates are booked. Travel Zoo is pretty awesome and the websites they use are established and a lot of the time they have deals that are "Travel Zoo Tested" which they have actually booked.
Hope that helps!

SB1512

It does thank you! Also I've noticed a lot of the travel zoo deals include airfare while living social and groupon are usually just lodging

hz80408

You're right on the airfare OP.  With any deal, I'd double check the fine print like blackouts, additional fees and costs.  Also look at reviews of the accommodations on tripadvisor.com

We booked an anniversary trip to Ireland through Travelzoo for Sept. (we booked in June).  We reviewed all of the hotels prior to booking and also heard from two separate friends that they'd used the tour company in Ireland before and had liked them. 

I think it's a great and smart idea.  We got 7 nights hotel, direct flight, and rental car (upgraded and with insurance) all for less than what the price of the flight is if we were to book just the flight through the airline. Incredible deal!

dazyabbey

A lot of the deals from TravelZoo do include airfare but not all of them. Be sure to check before you book!
Agree with HZ, be sure to check TripAdvisor. That website is like the best friend for anyone who loves to travel!

hz80408

One other point on Travelzoo (and similar for other sites); is that the advertised price may include airfare, but not from your city.  There may be an upcharge for that, so be certain to completely price out the entire package before deciding.

[Deleted User]

FI and I are using a Groupon for our state side HM. We didn't have any trouble getting the dates we wanted, but it is important to read to fine print. We also looked the place we're staying on TripAdvisor and it has great reviews so I also recommend looking at that before booking. Our HM isn't until October so I can't say for sure there won't be any problems, but we haven't had any so far.

Karen's MOH

I had trouble with a Living Social deal I purchased and it was a royal pain to get my money back, so i would never recommend them. It wasn't entirely their fault that the company the trip was with flaked, but LS customer service was terrible. 

I've used Travel Zoo deals and had great experiences, though, only hotels, never got a package.