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Here Come More Travel 'Sample Sales' as Vacationist.com Launches

April 27, 2010 at 12:22 PM | by | Comment (1)

It's official! Travel "sample sales" are now a thing. They began when members-only luxury sale site Gilt.com branched out into selling discounted 5-star hotel stays and experiences on Jetsetter.com, then Jetblue had a few airfare sample sales of their own, and now Jetsetter has a full-blown knock-off in new site Vacationist. It's just barely launched, but it's got power behind it thanks to its parents: Travel + Leisure and Luxurylink.com. It is also a members-only site, free to join but you've got to know someone who is already on the inside to gain access to the sales.

So how are the sales? Well, Vacationist is boasting of 25-40% off, and we see they have a Fiji property for 17% off and New York and Chicago hotels for 34% off. It sounds tempting, until you realize that the Fiji 17% off brings the price down to $1,485 per night for a minimum stay of 7 nights. Whoa whoa whoa—what?


Confusion on the site: $112 is noted on the guestrooms page, but they're asking $184

We dismissed the Fiji offer as a flashy intro item since they just launched, and instead we turned to their Chicago hotel option: The James, where we've stayed before and know their typical room rates. Vacationist wants $184 per night for their sale price. But then, on another page, it shows rooms from $112. The latter would be a great online sale price, but no—they want $184 for it. The James can go lower than that and we know it. We are not impressed.

If you're already a Travel + Leisure or LuxuryLink customer, your email should work for access to Vacationist. If you aren't and want access, click here and you're in.

Related Stories:
· Vacationist.com [Official Site]
· Will We See First Class Airfare on Sale at Jetsetter.com in the Future? [Jaunted]
· Travel Websites [Jaunted]

[Photos: Vacationist]

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Don't book with Vacationist

I recently had a terrible experience booking with Vacationist.com. After 20+ hours on a plane I arrived at 1am in Bangkok only to hear that the luxury hotel we'd booked through Vacationist was "full." However, they had a place for us at the Holiday Inn just down the street, for the same price. I was extremely angry, so I tried to contact Vacationist to get them to sort it out. Weeks later and no reply from them. Seems like a fly by night operation they're running, best of luck getting your reservation honored.
sfgambler on October 25, 2011 at 1:15 PM #Permalink

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