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Tagged Pages Archive | Flight And Hotel Deals
2013
24
January
Regina to Huatulco | How To Get The Best Package Deals
24
January
Guides
The Ydeals Noise-Free Guide To Getting The Best Deal On Flight & Hotel Packages From Regina (YQR) to Huatulco, Mexico
 | There are thousands of travel sites out there, all wanting you to believe they have unique or special prices on packages to Huatulco. They don't. They use marketing noise to hide the fact that there are really only two sources of unique prices on packages to Huatulco. This guide will remove the noise and show you what those sources are, so you can stop wasting so much time when searching for the best deal. |
What are the unique sources of prices on packages from Regina to Huatulco ?
Unique Source #1 - The Canadian Tour Operators
There is currently only one Canadian Tour Operator that is offering packages from Regina to Huatulco, Mexico and that is: Sunwing.
Where should I look to get the best Huatulco vacation deal?
Well, you could just search the Sunwing site.
But of course there are *many* Canadian-based travel sites and brands that sell Sunwing vacation packages. This is the noise.
You may already be familiar with some of the sites & brands that spend the most on advertising, such as:
| RedTag | iTravel2000 | Flight Network | Sell Off Vacations | Tripcentral | ||||
| Flight Centre | Signature Vacations | Sears Travel | Escapes | Marlin Travel |
This is by no means a complete list of all the Canadian-based travel sites. The only important thing you need to know as someone searching for the best package deal from Regina to Huatulco is that they are all retrieving their prices from the same source, and all trying to sell you the exact same packages at the exact same prices.
One site or brand can't offer a lower price than their competition, and they can't legally change the package prices themselves anyways.
In other words, it is a huge waste of your valuable time to check any more than one of the travel sites for Canadians. A large number of Saskatchewan travellers out there have been fooled into thinking they are comparison shopping, since no travel site or brand will ever admit that their prices are identical to their competition.
What about my local travel agency or independent travel agent here in Regina?
If it's through a travel agency in Canada, or a Canadian travel agent, you can think of them as being identical to the sites I just mentioned above. They're accessing the exact same prices, and from the same sources as the sites above, and trying to sell you the exact same packages. And they can't offer a price that's any different than any other site or brand.
When should I book my trip to get the best price?
This is never an easy question to answer, as package prices are not 100% predictable. The tour operators start by setting their price at a level they think will fill the maximum number of seats, based on the demand they expect to see. If they experience less demand than they expected, they may decide to lower them. If they experience more demand than they expected, they may raise them. Unfortunately, a lot of factors that influence demand can be unpredictable.
How long a person can wait it out in hopes of a better price is a personal decision. The Canadian Tour Operators are generally more apt than other sources to offer a discount on their package prices with under 4 weeks to go before departure. But there's never a guarantee that they will.
What about last minute Mexican package deals?
The Canadian Tour Operators do occasionally make last minute price cuts on their package prices from Regina to Huatulco. Price cuts to Mexico in general are fairly common.
What's a decent price on a packaged vacation to Huatulco?
From Regina, flight & hotel packages to Huatulco from the Canadian Tour Operators tend to bottom out at around $700 per person, after taxes. This is just a general guideline though, based on average demand periods of the year. And of course it can vary wildly, depending on the quality of the hotel involved in the package.
Package priced holidays are highly affected by demand. So anytime you can think of a reason that there might be higher demand than usual for travel to Huatulco (such as dates when many people in Regina have holiday time) you can expect prices to react accordingly.
Also keep in mind that the packages from the Canadian Tour Operators have fixed lengths. From Regina to Huatulco, the most common package lengths are 7 nights and 14 nights.
What about holiday packages with direct flights to Huatulco?
From Regina, Sunwing's packages have non-stop flights to Huatulco.
What about 'all inclusive' packages to Huatulco?
Sunwing does offer packages to hotels in Huatulco that are 'all inclusive' (which are exactly the same as flight & hotel packages, but with meals and drinks included in the price). You may want to read the guide How To Get The Best All Inclusive Deals From Regina To Huatulco.
Unique Source #2 - The Flight & Hotel Combiners
The Flight & Hotel Combiners are sites that simply mash together the latest flight prices from the major airlines with the latest hotel prices in Huatulco to create a package. They tend to be U.S. based brands that generate packages for Canadian departures.
Where should I look to get the best deal on Mexican travel packages?
This is the noise. The flight price component of the package from the major airlines is identical for every site that offers these types of packages. There may be a slight differences in their source of hotel prices, but for the most part they're all grabbing the latest hotel prices from similar sources, at similar prices.
The result is that the Flight & Hotel Combiners usually all have very identical package prices to each other, and people tend to waste a lot of time thinking they are comparing prices from unique sources against each other, when they're not.
Here are the Flight & Hotel Combiners that spend the most on travel advertisements, you have likely heard of at least one of them...
| Expedia | Travelocity | Book It | Orbitz | Hotwire |
How can I compare the Flight & Hotel Combiners against the Canadian Tour Operators?
When comparing Regina vacation packages, you always want to keep as many variables the same as possible. For example, remember that the Flight & Hotel Combiners are using the cheapest price they find from the major airlines when generating their package prices. This can sometimes mean the default flight involved is a terrible one, with multiple layovers.
For a fair comparison, you would also want to make sure the hotel quality is similar (or ideally, the same hotel) when comparing packages. And of course, similar dates and number of nights, as these factors can affect pricing.
When should I book my trip to get the best price from the Flight & Hotel Combiners?
Try to remember that at the end of the day, the packages offered by the Flight & Hotel Combiners are simply made up of two components:
1) The latest flight prices from the major airlines. The major airlines don't tend to offer great last minute prices, so waiting until the last minute can backfire. I find the major airlines tend to usually offer their most decent prices around 8 weeks before departure.
2) The latest hotel prices. It's more common to see hotels offer discounts at the last minute, but then you have to weigh that against the fact that the flight price component from the major airlines can rise as the date nears, meaning the package price could go up.
So on the whole I'd probably consider the flight price component as being the limiting factor, and suggest that I'd be comfortable watching prices from the Flight & Hotel Combiners up to about 8 weeks before departure. Everyone has a different tolerance for risk though.
Is it easy to find packages from Regina to Huatulco with the Flight & Hotel Combiners?
Unfortunately not. Flights on the major airlines from Regina to Huatulco are very limited, which means packages are too. United Airlines is the only major airline that flys to Huatulco from Regina, and the flights tend to be very expensive and involve lengthy and complicated routes with multiple stopovers. You are probably going to want to stick with Source #1 - The Canadian Tour Operators.
What about cheap packages to Huatulco from U.S. airports within driving distance of Regina?
If you've ever read my guide about flying out of U.S. airports within driving distance of Regina, you may know that I feel it could be worth the drive, when you see a package from a U.S. airport to Huatulco that's at least a certain number of dollars less per person than a similar package from Regina.
Packages from U.S. cities are typically similar to what were discussed under 'Unique Source #2 - Flight & Hotel Combiners'. They are packages that involve combining the latest flight prices from the major airlines with the latest hotel prices.
From Minot, North Dakota (MOT)
I feel it could be worth the drive, when you see a package from Minot to Huatulco that's at least $425 less per person than from Regina.
Unfortunately, Minot's flights to Huatulco are generally just as expensive as from Regina, with routes that are just as complicated, so it's unlikely to ever be worth the drive.
I think I've found a great deal on a packaged holiday flight to Huatulco!
Excellent! Please share it with your fellow Regina travel lovers, they will appreciate it and thank you for it! You can post it in the YQR Deals Facebook group (click 'Join Group', at the top-right, when you arrive), where thousands of people from Regina are crowd-sourcing the best deals, and sharing great travel advice.
Or if you prefer, you can always give me a shout through the YQR Deals contact form or on Twitter @YQRdeals or through Google Plus. Great deal finds are always appreciated.
Why should I trust this Regina guide to Mexican travel?
 | The info in this guide is based on my observations of the travel industry over the years, including all the thousands of websites out there, and where all the different players get their prices from and how they interact with each other. The goal is to remove the noise of travel marketing, so people can stop wasting so much valuable time searching the same prices over and over. |
But, as social proof of it's accuracy, feel free to join the YQR Deals Facebook Group (click 'Join Group', at the top-right, when you arrive) and publicly disagree with any of it, or make a comment below. Critiques are always welcome!
I think I have some info that could help improve the package deal guide for Regina!
Great! Please post your info in the Facebook group above, or contact me directly. Suggestions for improvement are always appreciated. Let me know if you see something that seems inaccurate or outdated.
Hit Like if you like this Mexican travel guide! Click Share to show your friends on Facebook.
2011
24
October
Expedia promo to Vegas. Not as interesting as last year, but still interesting.
24
October
Those of you that have been following my posts for nearly a year might remember the Expedia flub last November that lead to packages to Vegas for as cheap as $19/person after taxes & fees for flight + hotel packages from all across Canada.
Read more
2010
19
November
Expedia.ca promo code - $300 off flight + hotel packages - ridiculous deals
19
November
UPDATE: I've just been informed this code works for flight + hotel packages to New York and Cancun too!
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2010
12
November
There's another one of those amazing deals to Rooms Negril, Jamaica - $426/person after tax
12
November
Update @ 5:11PM - Deal might be dead now, price is showing as higher now. Congrats to the ones who nabbed it.
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2010
5
November
Flight + Hotel - 7 nights - Negril, Jamaica - $465/person after tax
5
November
A Nov 10-18 flight and hotel package to Negril, Jamaica just dropped to $465/person *after* tax.
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