Take Epic Vacations on a Budget with Groupon
- Abigail Gaston
- Apr 1, 2018
- 5 min read
Groupon is a fantastic virtual destination to find reliable, cheap travel. Through Groupon Getaways or Groupon Travel (it appears the tab says “Getaways” on their regular website but “Travel” through their phone application), you can find some really amazing locations to visit all around the world for pennies on the dollar, compared to other travel websites and travel agencies.
Are you looking for cheap tropical vacations, cheap trips to Europe, Cheap domestic vacation destinations, cheap hotels, cheap travel to Asia, Cheap African Safari’s, or a vacation pretty much anywhere else? Well, if so, then you definitely need to checkout Groupon Getaways! Groupon Getaways really does have it all when it comes to cheap travel! Don’t just take my word for it; let's look at the facts! Checkout my experiences with Groupon Getaways below.
My wonderful second half, Jeff, and I have purchased two Groupon Getaway packages over the past two years. What each instantly had in common was that they were cheap travel packages that straight blew our minds! No way these amazing trips are this cheap! Each vacation offered multiple flight departure dates and options so that the trips would best fit into our schedules and geographic location, and the purchasing process was incredibly straight forward and easy, which has not always been the case regarding cheap travel competitors.
Immediately following the purchase of each Groupon vacation, I received emails confirming my purchase and directions as to my next steps to book my vacations. With each purchased trip, I worked with a travel agency to complete the booking. With our first Groupon trip, I was instructed to contact Gate1 Travel via phone and with our second Groupon trip, I was instructed to email Rewards Travel China to confirm our vacation dates, as well as provide additional information; copy of passports and photo ID.
Throughout the period between purchase and departure, the travel agencies kept regular contact with me, especially the month leading up to departure. I must say that it is a bit interesting leaving the scheduling and planning in the hands of a travel agent. I know that a lot of people utilize the expertise of travel agents daily, but this is an unusual travel planning change for me, I typically plan and book everything myself.
With our first Groupon trip, Gate1 booked our flights and hotel only and I arranged everything else. However, with our second trip booked through Groupon, Reward Travel China booked international roundtrip flights, a one-way domestic flight, five 4+ star hotels, and 8 days’ worth of activities; tours, meals, shopping trips, shows etcetera, and transportation.
When your travel dates finally arrive, what you will find through communication with other travelers is that there will be many individuals on your flight and /or in your hotel that too purchased the Groupon Getaway. During our first Groupon vacation, we met some really nice people who also purchased their vacation through Groupon. We may have seen them in the hotel and in the airport /on the plane; however, we didn’t see them much throughout the actual vacation because it was an independent travel and not a group travel vacation.
That said, our second vacation booked through Groupon Getaways was a 10 day tour of China. 64 total individuals booked this tour during the time that we did; therefore, we spent 10 fantastic days with 62 other awesome individuals, roaming Northeast China. When in China, we traveled together via bus, we ate breakfast, lunch together, and some dinners together, went on tours together, we saw shows together, we shopped together, and we enjoyed night-life together.
The point of the above two paragraphs is to get you thinking about your options on Groupon; some trips are completely independent while other trips are group tours. You really need to read the information provided within the trip details, to make sure that the vacation is right for you. If you are anything like me, I am pretty much up for traveling anywhere and trying out many different experiences and ways to travel, and if saving a dime while doing so is an option, well, all the better!
That said, Jeff is not totally keen on guided tours; he does not mind them for a certain portion of the trip, but definitely likes to have some flexibility and personal time within a travel schedule to explore on our own. This is something that can be difficult to accomplish when you are in a large guided tour like we were in during our second Groupon vacation. My suggestion; if the name of the travel agency is given, reach out to them to find out additional information. Another informative option is to check on social media for people who have already booked and went on these Groupon Getaways. I was direct messaged on Instagram regarding my experience with our 10 day China tour. The woman who contacted me stated that she found me via hashtags; how cool is that?
Jeff and I both had a wonderful time on each of our Groupon vacations. However, I want to make sure my readers totally understand what they are purchasing. With that said, I urge you to read the description of the trip very well and reach out to me to ask questions; I have done a lot of research on Groupon Getaways and, again, have been on a couple of trips myself and plan to set off on another soon, therefore, I do have some additional insight that I am more than happy to share with you. And, don't forget to reach out directly to the travel agents who own the Groupons.
If you are not familiar with Groupon Getaways, before you go, I want to give you an example of why Groupon Getaways is worth checking out for your vacation shopping; see below!
Our Trip to Iceland: $599 Per Person -
Roundtrip flights from New York Cities JFK Airport to Reykjavik, Iceland
5 nights and 6 days at Reykjavik's "Hotel Cabin" There are three hotel possibilities; we were placed at Hotel Cabin
Fun Fact: Hotel Cabin has the most comfortable pillows and beds I have ever slept in while on vacation!
Our Trip to Northeast China: $849 Per Person -
Flights from Detroit to Boston, Boston to Beijing, Beijing to Shanghai, Shanghai to Boston, Boston to Detroit
5 - 4 star or better hotels
Breakfast and Lunch daily
Bus transportation daily
Multiple guided tours
Two English speaking tour guides for the entire trip who also carried with them, Chinese Yuan to exchange with us so that we did not get charged an exchange rate fee
Please let me know if you found this post helpful by liking it below. Leave a comment if you have questions. As always, thank you for reading!
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