Deal or no deal?

4. Pay attention to the details
The fine print is where you’ll find the line between a true bargain and a bogus offer. For example, Barbara Hakala was quoted a $33 per night rate at a Ramada property near Disney World recently. “That wasn’t the problem,” she says. “The problem was the hotel charged a mandatory $5 per night fee for parking, use of the in-room microwave and refrigerator,” says Hakala, a massage therapist from Springfield, Va. So her total rate was $38 a night, which is still pretty decent, but not the same deal she thought it would be. Never mind the fact that the hotel probably won’t remove the fee even if you don’t have a car and don’t need to use the refrigerator or microwave. The point is, the rate is deceptively low, and you wouldn’t know about it unless you reviewed the fine print. So read up — or pay up.

5. Use the right tools
Social media is a terrific way to determine if an offer is right for you. Shooting a message to an online forum or a microblogging site like Twitter when you have a question is one of the best ways to find out if a bargain is a bargain. I also like Yapta which can show a trend-line for air fares. “You can see the airfare pricing history on a number of flights between various city pairs,” company spokesman Jeff Pecor told me. Of course, Yapta can also monitor your flight and notify you if the price drops. But airlines make it difficult — sometimes impossible — to get a refund. One Yapta user, Mary McInnis, recently e-mailed me when the price of her United Airlines flight to Hawaii dropped from $1,332 to $857 per ticket. United deferred her refund request to United Vacations, through which she had booked her trip. United Vacations hasn’t responded to her request for a refund.

6. Assume nothing
Even basic terms like “free” and “discount” can mean one thing to you but an entirely different thing to a clever marketer bent on selling you something. Edgar Dworsky, who blogs at the site consumer Web site Mouseprint.org recently found an interesting definition of “buy one, get one free” on the Spirit Airlines Web site. You would assume anyone who takes advantage of a “buy one, get one free” offer would be able to book two flights for the price of one, right? Not right. “Spirit had a very different idea,” he says. “The free trip had to be taken separately from the paid trip, by the same person, taxes and fees had to be paid again, and the free trip had to be months later than the paid trip.” And that assumes Spirit is still in business when he qualifies for the second flight, he adds. Bottom line: ask the travel company to define its terms before you buy. Don’t make any assumptions.

Remember, behind every bargain there’s a smart travel marketer who is often using sophisticated technology to determine how much you’d be willing to pay for your next airline ticket or hotel room. Many of these people know where the line between a deceptive ad and one that’s legit is, and they dance on it — now more than ever.

“Your best bet,” Stuart MacDonald, the chief executive of the Canadian travel site Tripharbor.com, told me, “is to be an informed traveler and let common sense rule the day.”

Couldn’t have said it better myself.

Every Monday, my column takes a close look at what makes the travel business tick. Your comments are always welcome, and if you can’t get enough of my column, drop by my blog for daily insights into the world of travel.

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