Travel: Great value USA, summer holiday bargains
Jun 20 2009 by Linzi Nicholson, Huddersfield Daily Examiner
AS the sterling surges to a seven-month high against the dollar, cheap packages and offers to cut living costs in the United States could attract many British families who are keen to avoid the sky-high high prices of Euroland.
The turnaround appears to have begun in March, with currency specialist Foreign Currency Direct now calculating that the average home in the US costs a British expat £21,600 less than it did three months ago.
Travel Trade Gazette (TTG), a leading magazine for the travel trade, says the pound-dollar exchange rate is no worse than it was in 2000 – and with suppliers making lots of added-value offers available, TTG reckons many British visitors won’t need to pay a lot more than they would have done in 2008, when 4.6 million visitors arrived from Britain.
With US hotels and major tourist attractions in Florida and the West Coast slashing room rates and prices to draw more business, operators are putting together packages at very attractive prices – particularly for travellers who go at short notice.
Leading High Street agent Co-operative Travel claims that bookings to Florida saw a 49% increase on last year at the beginning of June, compared to an 8% decrease at the start of May. Bookings for Spain, by contrast, showed an 11% drop.
Travel City Direct, now part of Virgin Holidays, offers 14-night room-only stays in Orlando, Florida, from £439, and 14 nights’ self-catering in four-bedroom homes nearby with a private pool from £499.
Both these offers, however, apply to June departures within 10 days’ time. Mid-July prices are around £100 per person higher.
The good news for British travellers to the US is that the pound could gain strength for the rest of the summer, reflecting rising confidence that the worst is over on this side of the Atlantic, while the US struggles with huge domestic deficits.
For Florida visitors, Keith Prowse Attractions Tickets offers what it claims to be the first Orlando all-in-one ticket to feature every major Florida theme park.
The 2009 Orlando WOW! Ticket Plus, from £489 per adult and £459 per child, has added Discovery Cove and Busch Gardens to feature nine theme parks and three water parks, including the Disney Ultimate Ticket offering 14 days’ admission to Disney World Resort.
