The $200 Orbitz package discount is working again

[fishi]

Wow, how did you get the Wyndham AI that cheap? $700/week for two people before you applied the Orbitz discount?

I originally booked it for $868 with the discount. Two weeks ago the price dropped to $490, but it only stayed there for a few days. If I had booked air it would have cost more to rebook, thats why I book air with the airline. This is my forth time doing this, and every trip they either drop the price or offer a better view. I have rebooked every trip at least twice. One trip I rebooked three times, they kept lowering the price. About every two weeks they seem to change the price, it doesn't always go down. $490 is for garden view. Hopefully they will give us a good room, some of the rooms there can be pretty bad. December is slow there, so we will probably get a decent room, I hope.

 

[Diver Kat]

We have done exactly what fishi does, except we stay at Fiesta Americana .... book hotel/car using the Orbitz code, then check the prices frequently. If the price drops, I call & cancel for the $25 fee, then rebook on-line at the new lower price. One trip I think we rebooked 3 times but ending up saving over $300 - even after paying the fees. This last trip we paid $505 for a Hertz car & an ocean-view room for a week. Hertz upgraded us to the next size up car and Fiesta Americana upgraded us to the AI (since they had recently gone totally AI, but we had booked before they made the changes.)

 

[DandyDon]

We have done exactly what fishi does, except we stay at Fiesta Americana .... book hotel/car using the Orbitz code, then check the prices frequently. If the price drops, I call & cancel for the $25 fee, then rebook on-line at the new lower price. One trip I think we rebooked 3 times but ending up saving over $300 - even after paying the fees. This last trip we paid $505 for a Hertz car & an ocean-view room for a week. Hertz upgraded us to the next size up car and Fiesta Americana upgraded us to the AI (since they had recently gone totally AI, but we had booked before they made the changes.)

It sounds like they don't always charge for the changes, maybe if you do it all over the phone...?

Sometimes they charge $25 to rebook, sometimes there is no charge.

So why do you book air with the airline?

I book air directly with the airline. Rebooking air can get expensive.

That's for when you book air only, right? Still, if the fare drops, you have to pay the $150 each fee to rebook. Doesn't Orbitz have some guarantee about that?

I do know that if you shop an airline's site for the same trip on different dates, their computers will track your shopping and sometimes bump the fare on you - even tho the lower fare is still available thru Orbitz, Sidestep, etc. I have seen it happen, then gone to Sidestep to find the lower fare on the same flights, selected them, then get connected directly to the same airline site at the lower fare.

You can usually find a good price on air, if not than check Cancun.

It's always worth looking, but I've never found a fare thru CUN that was low enough to offset the extra hour or two for the bus counting waiting for it to leave, the extra hour or two on the ferry counting wait & loading time, plus the extra expenses and the risk of spending more time in Immigration. I cannot imaginable why they care so much about tracking visitors from the US?

 

[fishi]

This last trip we paid $505 for a Hertz car & an ocean-view room for a week. Hertz upgraded us to the next size up car and Fiesta Americana upgraded us to the AI (since they had recently gone totally AI, but we had booked before they made the changes.)

You did really well. $505 divided by 3 is $24 per day.

car $24 per day
hotel, with ocean view $24 per day
breakfast, lunch, and dinner for two $24 per day

At that price for food if you want to go to town for dinner its no big deal. after eating breakfast and lunch for $24 you almost feel guilty eating dinner there too.

The guys a Hertz are great. they usually have me on my way in about 10 minutes, and there super nice, getting a upgraded from those guys doesn't surprise me at all. We have hertz again this trip. when I return the car I will get to the airport 3 hours before the flight, check the bags, get tickets, then tell the guys at hertz Ill be back in about 2 hours, and I won't have much time. They always say no problem. I go down and park along the waterfront, and walk around, it's better then sitting in the airport.

 

[fishi]

It sounds like they don't always charge for the changes, maybe if you do it all over the phone...?

So why do you book air with the airline

It's always worth looking, but I've never found a fare thru CUN that was low enough to offset the extra hour or two for the bus counting waiting for it to leave, the extra hour or two on the ferry counting wait & loading time, plus the extra expenses and the risk of spending more time in Immigration. I cannot imaginable why they care so much about tracking visitors from the US?

The charge comes from the hotel. Whatever the hotels policy is. Wyndham charges $25. Park Royal had no charge. I think air is different. You will have a charge from orbitz and the airline.

From Rochester sometimes Coz can be $600 or $700, and at the same time Cancun is $278, thats the cheapest I have ever paid to get down there, and on that trip I paid $35 a night for Barracuda. I love Cozumel, it's full of deals!

 

[DiverG]

Fishi and Diver Kat, do you pre-purchase the full coverage car insurance, or get it when you pick up the car. How much is the full coverage insurance? If I ever rent a car I want to know if there is an accident I'm leaving the country with as little hassle as possible.

 

[fishi]

Fishi and Diver Kat, do you pre-purchase the full coverage car insurance, or get it when you pick up the car. How much is the full coverage insurance? If I ever rent a car I want to know if there is an accident I'm leaving the country with as little hassle as possible.

I don't get the insurance that they sell. My credit card covers me. I do have to pay a $21 airport fee, thats the only add on.

 

[DandyDon]

I don't get the insurance that they sell. My credit card covers me. I do have to pay a $21 airport fee, thats the only add on.

I think that is true of many cards, but also means that you would have to settle any damages yourself - then apply for reimbursement later with the paperwork in Spanish, right? Not going to be "leaving the country with as little hassle as possible."

I wonder what the limits are? Liability is mandatory isn't it? I hate renting cards with all the forms in Spanish.

 

[DiverG]

Don, ou have rented cars in Mexico right? What was your experience as far as renting, getting insurance etc.

 

[DandyDon]

Don, ou have rented cars in Mexico right? What was your experience as far as renting, getting insurance etc.

A few times. Once on Coz, all wrong - used the one at the Barracuda hotel with a questionable reputation, no insurance, had a beer at a bar along the way. I was really lucky.

The other times were in PDC with Easyway who has the best rates including full insurance, less 10% AAA discount. I just never want a car on Coz really. If I ever do, I think I'll go with Isis.

But then, I also like a private room package, no snoring competition, private bathroom. These married folks don't. For them, taking $200 off of a room is only $100 each - unless they do one person air & hotel, the other air & car, $200 off each.

So, if you want to share a room with your wife, have a car, take $200 off of each package, have plenty of credit card to buy your way out of a wreck (and you will be at fault until proven otherwise in a Mexican court, in Spanish), and don't mind the risk of filing with your credit card for reimbursement later - cool! You may want to keep Consular Agent in Cozumel info handy. I prefer worry free vacations and I screw up diving enough for any trip.