Vacations To Go

Vacations To Go advertises deep discounts on cruises and claims to have saved millions of world travelers millions of dollars. But the equation through which the website arrives at its advertised savings is a flawed one for consumers.

Rather than compare its price to the cruise line’s current price, Vacations To Go, in its cruise search results, compares its “starting price” to the cruise line’s “brochure starting price.” But that is the cruise line’s “originally listed” rate, which can be higher than the current rate it offers directly on its own website.

TINA.org looked into Vacation To Go’s pricing tactics after a reader alerted us to the website’s claim to offer a 50 percent discount on a 14-night African cruise aboard a top-rated Silversea cruise line ship:

While Vacations To Go listed the “brochure starting price” at $16,221, the reader rightly pointed out that Silversea currently lists the same cruise on its website starting at $11,520 with an early booking bonus:

The reader said:

The price Vacationstogo.com offers is often — but not always — less that the price on the Silversea website, but it is NEVER 50% off. Plus, the Silversea price includes many extras (it is an “all-inclusive price”) while the Vacationstogo.com price may or may not include everything advertised on the Silversea website.

In response to a TINA.org request for comment that cited the reader’s example, Vacations To Go only reiterated that the “brochure starting price” is the rate at which each cruise was “originally listed” by the cruise line.

When reviewing advertised savings touted on discount travel websites remember to do some comparison shopping before you book.

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