Beware Extra Charges with Tour Deals

I actually booked one of the deals I mentioned in a recent post about http://www.travelzoo.com, only to discover that some additional costs may raise the price quite a lot. It's probably still a deal, but I'm paying about one-third more than the advertised price.

The tour is a nine-day one to Italy in winter, from New York, advertised for $999. Most of the increased cost is for a better air fare that doesn't entail at least a full day in transit, another $100 is for all-risk insurance. Now if I decide to stay overnight in New York on either leg of the trip (very likely,) that will probably run to at least another $250.

There is always the sleep in the terminal option, one I have yet to try, but there's a first for everything. This is just another example of how advertised deals are often not as good as they sound initially--this is especially true with some cheap air fares, which often have you travelling far longer than is good for anybody.

Now I'm tempted by another cheap deal, roundtrip flights from Montreal to Bucharest, Romania in May from http://www.airfarewatchdog.com. The quoted fare was in the high $500 range, but when I checked it seemed to be at least $100 higher, still an amazing bargain. The carrier is http://www.lufthansa.com, one of my favourite airlines, so this is a definite attraction, and transit time is reasonable.

Too many deals, too little money.