Why Airline Package Deals Are Worth Checking Out

Airline companies agree to International regulations which keep them from offering discount air fares directly. There's an agreed on fixed price they are supposed to adhere to, and almost all of them do just that... which make it very hard to get a really dirt cheap airline ticket. That's the bad news...

The good news is that the airlines want your custom really badly, and will sometimes bend over backwards to get you as a customer, but without breaking the IATA (International Association of Travel Agents) rules...

So while they aren't allowed to do cut-price air tickets as such, they can have a pally arrangement - a joint venture - with a business partner who can. And the most common way of doing this is through a Package Deal of some sort.

It works a little bit like this: 

You buy the airline ticket at the normal economy price (so they don't break any IATA rules)... The airline has a deal with a big hotel or hotel chain to give you free accommodation for a few days at time those rooms would probably be empty anyway. The airline then pays the hotel the money they weren't allowed to give you as a discount.

Everybody's happy! The hotel gets warm bodies into otherwise empty beds; the airline gets passengers into the airplane seats; the "No Discounting" rules remain unbroken... and You get a vacation for less money. Now that's a win-win situation for all parties.

The free accommodation deal is nothing to be sneezed at, because it can save you a bundle on the hotel charges you would normally have to pay. Just make sure that you aren't obligated in the contract to eat all your meals at the hotel, or something like that. For in cases like that, a two or three meals a day at hotel's restaurant prices might well be more expensive than the real cost of your 'free' hotel room.

As always, do your homework. The Internet makes it easier than it has ever been to check around, and you can get an email answered usually in less than a day at virtually no cost.