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Old 08-14-2015, 10:56 AM
 
Location: 42°22'55.2"N 71°24'46.8"W
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Has anyone booked a vacation through Groupon before? I am seeing deals to Europe for $800-900 which includes airfare, 1-week of hotel and rental car. That's how much it will cost me for airfare alone if I booked this myself because I'm not a frequent traveler and don't have any "points". I'm seriously considering booking this trip with my wife. If anyone has booked a vacation through Groupon, can you please share your experience? Anything to look out for like hidden fees?
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Old 08-14-2015, 11:34 AM
 
Location: Cedar Park, Texas
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Yep -- I've actually done two so far and they were FABULOUS! The first was a two-week trip to Dubai and Muscat, Oman and the second was a week in the Dominican Republic. The flights were included in the Middle East trip and they were on Emirates. The hotels in both trips were unbelievable (in Muscat, we were at the Millennium Mussanah resort--look it up online...there is NO WAY I could afford to stay there on my own!)....included tours in Dubai/Muscat were excellent, people at the booking companies were so easy to deal with. There were absolutely NO hidden fees whatsoever and everything was exactly like Groupon said it would be. It was a crazy easy and affordable way to travel, especially to more out of the way destinations that normally would cost much, much more....it was so convenient, that we've got an 11-day trip to China and Thailand booked through a Groupon deal for 25 days from now!!

Go for it!!! (And feel free to message me with any questions you have.)
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Old 08-14-2015, 07:04 PM
 
Location: Mooresville, NC
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How did your Groupon trip to the DR go?
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Old 08-20-2015, 10:35 AM
 
Location: Cedar Park, Texas
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wolf Howl View Post
How did your Groupon trip to the DR go?
It was great! The deal was for hotel only, so we booked our airfare separately. We stayed at Al Sol Luxury Village in Punta Cana (with access to their two other properties), on their all inclusive plan, and it was a fabulous time from the very beginning...beautiful property (although quiet -- definitely not Cancun-wild!) with nice nice people and delicious food. Everything was exactly like stated in the Groupon deal. No complaints whatsoever!!!

If I was retired, I'd probably wear out the Groupon site for looking at vacations....I'd definitely wear out my credit card. They have some amazing deals, especially if you're completely flexible on where and when to go.
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Old 08-20-2015, 12:50 PM
 
Location: Elsewhere
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Thanks for posting this. I am definitely not a seasoned traveler, but I am going to go to Europe for the first time, and I wondered about this.
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Old 08-20-2015, 02:04 PM
 
Location: Honolulu/DMV Area/NYC
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Just taking a look on Groupon now, the biggest issue I have is that their best international deals seem to be at the double occupancy rate. If you are traveling solo, you have to typically add at least another $500 from what I've seen. If that's the case, I'd be better off booking how I book now, which is a combination of hotels.com, budget European airlines or other budget airlines, and/or Priceline Express Deals. Don't get me wrong: even adding $500 more for single occupancy for some of those Groupon deals, one often gets a very good deal for the amenities, etc., from what I can gather. Still, I do not require too many frills and so will go for the cheapest, most comfortable option, which seems to be off of Groupon. That said, when traveling, in addition to doing what I do now, I'll still check Groupon with the hope that I'm proved wrong and find an even better deal for me.
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Old 08-20-2015, 02:57 PM
 
Location: Cedar Park, Texas
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Quote:
Originally Posted by prospectheightsresident View Post
Just taking a look on Groupon now, the biggest issue I have is that their best international deals seem to be at the double occupancy rate. If you are traveling solo, you have to typically add at least another $500 from what I've seen. If that's the case, I'd be better off booking how I book now, which is a combination of hotels.com, budget European airlines or other budget airlines, and/or Priceline Express Deals. Don't get me wrong: even adding $500 more for single occupancy for some of those Groupon deals, one often gets a very good deal for the amenities, etc., from what I can gather. Still, I do not require too many frills and so will go for the cheapest, most comfortable option, which seems to be off of Groupon. That said, when traveling, in addition to doing what I do now, I'll still check Groupon with the hope that I'm proved wrong and find an even better deal for me.
True. I've seen some that were $300 but they all do have some sort of a single supplement. My travel buddy corralled another friend to go with us to China/Thailand (leaving the other friend's husband behind!) so she wouldn't have to pay the supplement fee since my husband and I are sharing a room!

I think the Groupon deals are best for the more expensive and difficult locations ... ie India, South Africa, Middle East, Morocco, Kenya, Bali, Australia/NZ, etc. You can get KILLER deals on those trips and having some of the logistics already worked out for you makes it so much less stressful. Granted, I'm usually a plan-my-own-stuff type of traveler, but for the unbelievable cost of these trips, I can take a bit more structure that's planned by someone else, especially in those more expensive and difficult locations!

Even the extra tours for China/Thailand (Great Wall, elephant trek with lunch, etc) that we booked through the deal were only about $30-40/per person!

I'm a seasoned traveler to Europe so unless it was just super cheap and/or somewhere I've never been before, I probably wouldn't use Groupon for those trips. I feel totally comfortable there and like to have my own car to drive outside the cities. (But if you've never been or if you don't want to do much planning yourself, it would be a GREAT introduction to Europe!)
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Old 08-20-2015, 02:58 PM
 
Location: Cedar Park, Texas
1,601 posts, read 2,976,556 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mightyqueen801 View Post
Thanks for posting this. I am definitely not a seasoned traveler, but I am going to go to Europe for the first time, and I wondered about this.
Do it! Where in Europe are you wanting to go?
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Old 08-20-2015, 03:14 PM
 
Location: Honolulu/DMV Area/NYC
30,566 posts, read 18,061,935 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RooCeleste View Post
True. I've seen some that were $300 but they all do have some sort of a single supplement. My travel buddy corralled another friend to go with us to China/Thailand (leaving the other friend's husband behind!) so she wouldn't have to pay the supplement fee since my husband and I are sharing a room!

I think the Groupon deals are best for the more expensive and difficult locations ... ie India, South Africa, Middle East, Morocco, Kenya, Bali, Australia/NZ, etc. You can get KILLER deals on those trips and having some of the logistics already worked out for you makes it so much less stressful. Granted, I'm usually a plan-my-own-stuff type of traveler, but for the unbelievable cost of these trips, I can take a bit more structure that's planned by someone else, especially in those more expensive and difficult locations!

Even the extra tours for China/Thailand (Great Wall, elephant trek with lunch, etc) that we booked through the deal were only about $30-40/per person!

I'm a seasoned traveler to Europe so unless it was just super cheap and/or somewhere I've never been before, I probably wouldn't use Groupon for those trips. I feel totally comfortable there and like to have my own car to drive outside the cities. (But if you've never been or if you don't want to do much planning yourself, it would be a GREAT introduction to Europe!)
That's great! I'd definitely be more open to using Groupon if I was traveling with another person. For now, though, I enjoy traveling solo. Less headache than traveling with others I've found
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Old 08-21-2015, 07:32 AM
 
Location: Elsewhere
88,300 posts, read 84,311,090 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RooCeleste View Post
Do it! Where in Europe are you wanting to go?
Thanks for the encouragement! London, Paris, and Amsterdam. I will be meeting my daughter, who currently lives in Beijing (no, I decided not to go there, for several reasons.) When her contract is up, she is going to look at a couple of schools in Spain and France and will meet me in either Paris or London.

I know those destinations are eye-rolling mundane for seasoned travelers, but I am a British history lover and have always wanted to go there. Plus, I'm of English and Dutch descent, so those places are my heritage, though many generations ago.

And Paris is Paris. I want to walk through the streets and eat Parisian bread.
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