Unpacking Your Package Deal - Travel planner featuring bargains, resources and news for independent travelers

Magazines and travel sections are growing thicker with promises of stunning savings on package deals of all kinds - from weekender cruises and the old 3 days/2 nights dodge to golf and activity

packages and hard-core eco-trips. These are all-inclusive, one price covers all deals, right?

Well, not always. Even dilettante cruisers can tell you that the real costs of a cruise materialize on board the boat, and I've experienced package deals where the cost of airport transport was more than a night's hotel stay.

Package deals can be a great way to travel very affordably. More than once I've saved so much money on a package deal that I just checked into the hotel, told them we were leaving and would be back on our day of departure to sleep before our flight, and went on my way, having no intention of staying in one place for the entire trip.

Many package deals are priced extremely attractively, and common sense dictates that there has to be a catch. These can come in many forms: less flexibility, nonexistent refund eligibility, rooms without a view, hidden costs for items that you might usually think of as standard (e.g., airport transport, addressed below), and attractions that bear no resemblance to those found in the brochures.

Here's a passage from an almost random package offer:

"Vacation prices do not include local departure taxes, miscellaneous hotel charges, baggage handling, gratuities, meals, (except otherwise noted), cribs, rollaway beds, additional bedding for the children, rental car fuel, optional insurance or age/rate differentials, hotel parking fees, and other personal items. Blackout dates may apply. This offer is subject to change at any time without notice. Further restrictions may apply."

Whew! Talk about potential for hidden costs, yow! Of course, there are hidden costs in all travel, but my point is this: "all-inclusive" doesn't always mean all is included.

Hotels: How Many Stars Does It Take to Make a Black Hole?
Before purchasing your package, know enough about your lodgings that you won't be blindsided upon arrival.

What is name of the hotel? Go on the Internet and find the property, check for reviews, and know what you're getting into. Ask the packager, and perhaps even call ahead to the hotel, to ask which rooms are most attractive, which rooms are sold to packagers, if you can call and ask them for a specific room once you've bought your package, if there are any costs not included in your package (meals, pool/beach/golf course access), distances to area attractions, and the like.

And Did You Say Our Airline is Cropduster Air? Was That Crocbuster Air?
Questions to pose about air transport:

- What is the airline? What is the class of air service? Do I get frequent flyer miles, can I use frequent flyer miles?

- Are there any flights on local short-hop airlines? If so, what is the name of the airline, and on what type of plane will we fly? Are these flights reliable, on-time, and comfortable?

Meals: La Stella Quattro or La Frantumazione Rotonda (translated: The Four Star or The Ground Round)?
Some package deals also include meals, and you'll want to know whether you'll be eating fine meals at the best and tastiest restaurants in the region, or if you'll be schlepping up and down the elevators to the hotel slophall, or across the parking lot to the affiliate Ground Round chain.

Contingencies
Ask your tour operator about policies regarding delays and cancellations.

This goes two ways - first, know what happens to your money if you cancel or wish to reschedule; and second, know what happens if the airline, hotel, or packager has to cancel for any reason. What happens to your hotel if your plane is delayed? What will it cost to extend your trip in the event of plane delays?

What About Upgrades?
When traveling on a package, you may not be eligible for upgrades of any kind, at any time during your travels. Ask your agent or travel packager what class of service you have, and whether or not you can request or even purchase upgrades.

Beware "Kids Sleep/Fly Free" Deals
Unless you like sleeping four to a bed, or your kids really like backbreaking foldouts, or if you are a frontier family accustomed to sleeping, eating, changing, entertaining, and all in one room, beware Kids Free deals.

More often these deals just mean you won't pay a surcharge to have your kids sit in your seat on the plane, or sleep in your bed in the hotel. They're rarely offering you a suite with a room for your kids; they're telling you you can put them wherever you can find space.

So unless you want your stay in the four-star hotel to feel like a camping trip, ask instead if the package company or hotel offers a higher level of discount for your kids - a family suite discount at half-off for the kids, something like that.

Look for the "in the same room" comment in the fine print.

Other Things To Ask
Are hotel and airport transport arranged for and included in the price, and if not, what are the details and costs of these items?
Are there restaurants near the hotel, and if not, what are options for meals in the area?
What advertised or featured attractions, if any, are and are not included in the package price?
Ask point blank: "What is not included in the price?" If you're dealing with a reputable operator, often enough you'll get a straight answer. If you don't, you may want to consider switching agents or operators.

What If You're Really Dissatisfied Upon Arrival?
Finally, you'll want the assurance of your agent or packager that they will be there for you if you arrive at your destination and find that your room is unacceptable and the front desk won't move you, or some other such calamity. If they work with the property or airline with any regularity, agents and packagers sometimes have more clout than you do standing at the front desk begging for a new room while your kids hold in their pee back in the room because the bathroom doesn't work; get their promise that you can contact them at any time if your flights, accommodations, or other elements of your package aren't up to snuff.

Reputable Packagers
You can avoid most of the problems listed above by choosing a very reputable agent or packager (although truth be told, some of the best-known and powerfully established companies have recently been caught fleecing customers).