This morning a client asked about a special that a friend saw on Groupon. It was a trip to Iceland that includes flights and a 3-night hotel stay. Now the deal has a clock that is ticking down (adding to the pressure of making a quick decision) and currently there are only 12 hours left to purchase the deal.
Here are the details: From Boston, New York (JFK), or Los Angeles, round trip flights and 3 night hotel accommodations at a list of hotels in the Reykjavik area. It’s being offered by Gate 1 Travel, a company that has fine reviews and has been around since 2012.
Because I am curious and I’m always looking for the best value for clients, I thought let me take a peek and see how the same trip would price out with my trusted, go-to vacation supplier, GoGo Vacations, established in 1951.
In order to be fair and compare apples to apples, I chose the travel combination listed on Groupon as “Option #46”: flights from JFK departing on 1/25/18, and 3 nights at the Grand Hotel in Reykjavik. (Now I haven’t researched this hotel as I would if I was actually booking for a client, but we’ll say it’s a good hotel, close to attractions, restaurants, shopping, etc.)
Groupon price is $899 per person. They don’t say what flights you have, or if it includes transfers, and everything is based on availability so in other words, the price could go up. It does include free breakfast. They have $200 per person cancellation policy, and the closer you get to the travel dates, the higher the percentage of the cancellation fee, but that’s pretty typical.
GoGo Vacations price is $744 per person. The flights are direct on Icelandair (and I am able to choose seats), the same hotel with the free breakfast for the same dates. No clock ticking down on their website, and it comes with not only my services but also 24-hour travel support where you can call and speak to a live GoGo representative in the US. So I would feel soooo much better booking with GoGo than Groupon.
Conclusion: While I personally love a good Groupon deal and have bought some deals to places like Starbucks, I would say in this case it is clear the Iceland Vacation on Groupon is NO DEAL.
If you ever want me to price out a trip for you, just ask!
Happy Travels! ~Laurie
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215-435-4151 LaurieFiveStarTravel@gmail.com
Laurie at Five Star Travel Group 