Waiting for last minute travel bargains may not work this year

I met with many travel sales representatives the other night at a meeting. Each one said that 2010 is enormously better than 2009. No great surprise there. People are more confident in the economy and many people who put off travel for 2009 are traveling this year.

In the United States, people feel that travel is a right. Most people work very hard and very long hours. To support a family, both spouses have to hold jobs so family time and couple time is at a minimum. A vacation will rejuvenate both.

When I spoke to the sales representative for Celebrity cruises, he was passing out a sheet of sailings to Bermuda from the Cape Liberty (Bayonne) cruise pier on the Celebrity Summit. This is the first time Celebrity has been doing regular sailings from this area to Bermuda in a number of years. At first, Celebrity was very optimistic with pricing and set pricing a bit too high for the market to bear. Time sensitive promotions and specials were announced and all of a sudden, these ships filled up.

Let me give you an example. In mid March, the June 27 sailing had an unheard of resident promotion for residents living in the Northeast and Mid Atlantic states, including NY and NJ. I booked an upgraded balcony cabin for first time Celebrity cruisers at a great rate. Two weeks later, the promotion was taken off the table. The ship had sold enough cabins that they didn't need to offer the discount anymore. That same cabin is now over $500 more than what my clients paid.

Similar stories came from the representatives from Holland America and Norwegian Cruises. It isn't only cruising. I have been waiting to see what Disney was going to announce as their next promotion but after a chat with my sales rep, she said that they, too, have noticed an increase in sales and don't have to offer the kind of promotions as they did last year. Does anyone remember the "buy 4 nights and get 3 free"? It won't be happening anytime soon again. I'm hoping that they still offer their free dining for September reservations.

I had clients book a family vacation to the Riviera Maya a few months back. Their airfare was less than $500 per person. Now, other clients want to go that same week and the price for airfare alone is over $700 each. Will you still get a bargain if you wait until the last minute? Perhaps, but don't expect to get as good a deal as last year. Those bargains are gone.