2013
25
January
Ottawa to Bermuda | How To Get The Best Deal On Packages
25
January
Guides
The Ydeals Noise-Free Guide To Getting The Best Deal On Flight & Hotel Packages From Ottawa to Bermuda
 | There are thousands of travel sites out there, all wanting you to believe they have unique or special prices on packages to Bermuda. They don't. They use marketing noise to hide the fact that there are really only two sources of unique prices on packages to Bermuda. This guide will remove the noise and show you what those sources are, so you can stop wasting so much time searching for the best travel deal. |
What are the unique sources of prices on packaged vacations from Ottawa to Bermuda ?
Unique Source #1 - The Canadian Tour Operators
There are 2 Canadian Tour Operators that offer packages from Ottawa to Bermuda, and they are: Air Canada Vacations and WestJet Vacations.
Where should I look to get the best holiday package deal?
Well, you could just search the Canadian Tour Operator's own websites individually. But of course there are *many* Canadian-based travel sites and brands that sell packages for the Canadian Tour Operators and will search both Air Canada Vacations and WestJet Vacations simultaneously. This is the noise.
You may already be familiar with some of the sites & brands that spend the most on vacation travel advertising, such as:
| RedTag | iTravel2000 | Flight Network | Sell Off Vacations | Tripcentral | ||||
| Flight Centre | Signature Vacations | Sears Travel | Escapes | Marlin Travel |
This is by no means a complete list of all the Canadian-based travel sites. The only important thing you need to know as someone searching for the best deal from Ottawa to Bermuda is that they are all retrieving their prices from the same source, and are all trying to sell you the exact same packages at the exact same prices.
One site or travel brand can't offer a lower price than their competition, and they can't legally change the package prices themselves anyways.
In other words, it is a huge waste of your valuable time to check any more than one of the Canadian-based travel sites. A large number of Canadians out there have been fooled into thinking they are comparison shopping, since no travel site or brand will ever admit that their prices are identical to their competition.
What about my local travel agency or independent travel agent here in Ottawa?
If it's through a travel agency in Canada, or a Canadian travel agent, you can think of them as being identical to the sites I just mentioned above. They're accessing the exact same prices, and from the same sources as the sites above, and trying to sell you the exact same packages. They simply can't offer a price that's different than any other site or brand.
When should I book my trip to get the best price?
This is never an easy question to answer, as package prices are not 100% predictable. The tour operators start by setting their price at a level they think will fill the maximum number of seats, based on the demand they expect to see. If they experience less demand than they expected, they may decide to lower them. If they experience more demand than they expected, they may raise them. Unfortunately, a lot of factors that influence demand can be unpredictable.
How long a person can wait it out in hopes of a better price is a personal decision. The Canadian Tour Operators are generally more apt than other sources to offer a discount on their package prices with under 4 weeks to go before departure. But there's never a guarantee that they will.
What about last minute Bermuda package deals?
Great last minute package deals to Bermuda from the Canadian Tour Operators are not nearly as common as most people tend to think. They're certainly not as common as the last minute price breaks for warm Caribbean destinations down south, such as to Mexico or Cuba, that you often see. Still, there have been some decent last minute price cuts to Bermuda in the past.
What's a decent price on a vacation package to Bermuda?
From Ottawa, packages to Bermuda from the Canadian Tour Operators tend to bottom out at around $775 per person, after taxes, for a one week package. This is just a general guideline though, based on average demand periods of the year. And of course it can vary wildly, depending on the quality of the hotel involved in the package.
Package prices are highly affected by demand. So anytime you can think of a reason that there might be higher demand than usual for travel to Bermuda (such as dates when many people in Ottawa have vacation time) you can expect prices to react accordingly.
What about packages with non-stop flights to Bermuda?
Neither Air Canada Vacations or WestJet Vacations currently offers packages with direct flights from Ottawa to Bermuda. The flights involved with their packages usually have a layover in Toronto in each direction.
Unique Source #2 - The Flight & Hotel Combiners
The Flight & Hotel Combiners are sites that simply mash together the latest flight prices from the major airlines with the latest hotel prices in Bermuda to create a package. They tend to be U.S. based brands offering Canadian departures.
Where should I look to get the best Bermuda travel deal?
This is the noise. The flight price component of the package from the major airlines is identical for every site that offers these types of getaway packages. There may be a slight differences in their source of hotel prices, but for the most part they're all grabbing the latest hotel prices from similar sources, at similar prices.
The result is that the Flight & Hotel Combiners usually have virtually identical package prices, and people tend to waste a lot of time thinking they are comparing prices from unique sources against each other, when they're not.
Here are the Flight & Hotel Combiners that spend the most on vacation advertising, you have likely heard of at least one of them...
| Expedia | Travelocity | Book It | Orbitz | Hotwire |
How can I compare the Flight & Hotel Combiners against the Canadian Tour Operators?
When comparing packages, you always want to keep as many variables the same as possible. For example, remember that the Flight & Hotel Combiners are using the cheapest price they find from the major airlines when generating their package prices. This can sometimes mean the default flight involved is a long terrible one, with multiple layovers.
For a fair comparison, you would also want to make sure the hotel quality is similar (or ideally, the same hotel) when comparing packages to Bermuda. And of course, similar dates and number of nights, as these factors can affect pricing.
When should I book my trip to get the best price from the Flight & Hotel Combiners?
Try to remember that at the end of the day, the packages offered by the Flight & Hotel Combiners are simply made up of two components:
1) The latest flight prices from the major airlines. The major airlines don't tend to offer great last minute prices, so waiting until the last minute can backfire. I find the major airlines tend to usually offer their most decent prices around 8 weeks before departure.
2) The latest hotel prices. It's more common to see hotels offer discounts at the last minute, but then you have to weigh that against the fact that the flight price component from the major airlines can rise as the date nears, meaning the package price could go up.
So as a whole I'd probably consider the flight price component as being the limiting factor, and suggest that I'd be comfortable watching prices from the Flight & Hotel Combiners up to about 8 weeks before departure. But everyone has a different tolerance for risk.
What about holiday packages with non-stop flights to Bermuda?
At the moment, there are no airlines that offer direct flights from Ottawa to Bermuda, so as a result, there are no packages that do either.
What about booking flight & hotel separately? Is that cheaper or more expensive than a packaged vacation?
People often want to know if booking a package to Bermuda is better or worse than booking flight and hotel separately. The answer is, well, that there is no correct answer. One or the other can be cheaper or more expensive for any given situation, at any given moment. All you can do is try both and compare.
I'd suggest starting with finding the cheapest flight from Ottawa to Bermuda that you can. You may want to read the guide: Ottawa To Bermuda | How To Get The Best Deal On Flights.
Then find the cheapest hotel rates you can for your dates. Remember that packages are almost always listed as 'per person' (usually based on 2 people in a room), so you'll need to do some simple math for an accurate comparison.
The easiest thing to do is usually just to take the package price that you see on the typical Flight & Hotel Combiner sites and multiply it by 2. Jot down this number.
Now take the total cost of Bermuda flights you found (2 of them) and add it to the total cost of the hotel (across all nights) that you found on your own. Compare to the number you jotted down above.
Remember that for a fair comparison you should always keep as many variables the same as possible, including the flight quality, the number of nights, and the hotel involved.
Congratulations, you have essentially become your own Flight & Hotel Combiner, not all that different from what the large travel sites are doing.
What about a great value on packages to Bermuda from U.S. airports within driving distance of Ottawa?
If you've ever read my guide about flying out of U.S. airports within driving distance of Ottawa, you may know that I feel it could be worth the drive, when you see a package from a U.S. airport to Bermuda that's at least a certain number of dollars less per person than a similar package from Ottawa.
How much cheaper it needs to be depends on which U.S. airport you're flying from. Below, I'll list how much cheaper I feel it should be from each U.S. airport, to be worth the drive.
Packages from U.S. cities are typically similar to what were discussed under 'Unique Source #2 - Flight & Hotel Combiners'. They are packages that involve combining the latest flight prices from the major airlines with the latest hotel prices.
From Watertown, New York (ART)
I feel it could be worth the drive, when you see a package from Watertown to Bermuda that's at least $250 less per person than from Ottawa.
The only airline that flys from ART is American Airlines, and their flights to Bermuda tend to be pretty expensive, propping up the package prices. Not likely to be worth it.
From Syracuse, New York (SYR)
I feel it could be worth the drive, when you see a package from Syracuse to Bermuda that's at least $350 less per person than from Ottawa. It could happen, but flights from Syracuse are usually not that much cheaper than from Ottawa (in fact, they can be more expensive).
I think I've found a great deal on a packaged vacation to Bermuda!
Excellent! Please share it with your fellow travel lovers from Ottawa, they will appreciate it and thank you for it! You can post it in the YOW Deals Facebook group (click 'Join Group', at the top-right, when you arrive), where thousands of people from Ottawa are crowd-sourcing the best deals, and sharing great travel advice.
Or if you prefer, you can always give me a shout through the YOW Deals contact form or on Twitter @YOWdeals or through Google Plus. Great deal finds are always appreciated.
Why should I trust this Ottawa guide to Bermuda travel?
 | The info in this guide is based on my observations of the Canadian travel industry over the years, including all the thousands of websites out there, and where all the different players get their prices from and how they interact with each other. The goal is to remove the noise of travel marketing, so people can stop wasting so much valuable time searching the same prices over and over. |
But, as social proof of it's accuracy, feel free to join the YOW Deals Facebook Group (click 'Join Group', at the top-right, when you arrive) and publicly disagree with any of it, or make a comment below. Critiques are always welcome!
I think I have some info that could help improve the Bermuda vacation package guide!
Great! Please post your info in the Ottawa Facebook group above, or contact me directly. Suggestions for improvement are always appreciated. Let me know if you see something that seems inaccurate or outdated.
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