Finding the Recession-Proof Vacation
Have you been a good boy all year long - or have you been bad? If the latter, did you at least contribute a few new categories to Santa’s naughty list? Did you make your own list, check it twice, and get gifts that meet the above average standards expected of the average gay men? Did you go home for the holidays when you’d really rather be getting it on with a dude?
If you answered "Yes" to any of these questions, you owe it to yourself to get away from it all with a fabulous winter vacation. But with the economy in the tank, is it really the responsible thing to do? EDGE put the feelers out for gay-friendly early 2009 vacation destinations - and found that you don’t have to break your little pink piggy bank to take a well-deserved break.
Come Fly With Me
Think you can’t afford jetting off to a far away locale? Think again, says gay travel expert Andrew Collins, from About.com Guide to Gay & Lesbian Travel. "The key to finding great bargains isn’t necessarily to stay near home." says Collins. "If you’re traveling within the United States, airfares have dropped significantly - and hotel rates have dropped even further than post 9/11."
Collins is an enthusiastic advocate of Priceline.com. "The deals that are showing up there are tremendous." he says, noting "I used Priceline a few weeks ago to book a hotel in Seattle and got $100 a night rate at the Hotel Monaco, run by the very gay friendly Kempton Company."
International travel isn’t necessarily out of the budge-minded gay’s reach either: "It’s cheaper now to fly to Europe, Mexico and Canada than it has been in the past three years." Once you’re there, "The currency rate in Mexico and Canada is 20 to 25 percent, which is more favorable to Americans now than a year ago."
If you’re making hotel reservations by interacting with an actual live person, "There’s great opportunity to barter and talk down rates. Some aren’t necessarily going to post or advertise lower rate, but that doesn’t mean they won’t negotiate with you." If you think asking to pay less than the asking price is only for the bold or just plain bad manners, Collins reminds us that it "never hurts to call and say ’look, I see your advertised rate. Is there any chance you can drop it a little bit?’ You can also let them know you’re only able to afford a certain amount. It never hurts to ask politely."
Good hotel rates are to be found in a handful of cities whose recent building boom coincided with the economic bust: "In terms of warm weather destinations, think about cities like San Diego, Phoenix, Scottsdale and Fort Lauderdale. These are places that had new hotels opening recently, and there are deals to be found."
Once you’ve booked airfare or reserved a rental car, Collins recommends "checking back to see if the rate has changed before your trip. With a rental car, generally, it’s not a guaranteed rate, just a reservation. Book it again and cancel the original one. With airfare, call the airline and ask them what their policy is. If it’s Southwest, you can cancel with no fee and rebook."
Photo: Andrew Collins from bout.com Guide to Gay & Lesbian Travel.
