Amazon Prime Hawaii Travel Deals Starts Today

Above, a view of Waikiki surfers and Diamond Head. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Amazon Prime is in the travel business? Who'd have "thunk" it?

Well, they are and, today and tomorrow, they are promoting some Hawaii travel deals.

According to Beat of Hawaii (from yesterday):

Big Hawaii deals are poised to be featured front and center on Amazon’s upcoming Prime Day, that will take place starting tomorrow, July 11-12. We said before that Amazon would be voyaging into the world of travel. What better place to start with than Prime Day + Hawaii. And this will be the first time ever.

Priceline will be the first travel brand to offer an exclusive Prime Day deal. The site currently runs ads throughout Amazon’s portfolio of streaming and audio products.

To read more, go here. 

Who To Use For Japan Flight Tickets?

Above, a Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 being readied for a flight to Japan. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Someone asked the question, What is the cheapest airline for flying in and out of Tokyo? over at The Independent (U.K.). Since I am not a subscriber, I could not read the article.

But it did remind me that I got my best airline ticket deals at GatewayLAX, a flight booking company. I used them for several of my trips to Japan (and for some domestic flights). The last time I used them was for my October 2015 trip to Japan.

Some examples from years ago:

Now it seems that they are out of business. The link to them I have is no longer viable and there is no trace of them through Google. 

If I were to travel to Japan in the future (I just renewed my U.S. Passport), I would likely go through Expedia, Priceline or Kayak. I have used Expedia and Priceline, but haven't tried Kayak. 

Some say going directly through an airline's ticketing sites are the best ways to getting good deals. Maybe so. I haven't tried it before. 

We'll have to wait and see what the future unfolds.

Travel + Leisure: 10 Cheap Places To Travel In The U.S.

Above, New Year's Eve on the Las Vegas Stip. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Many people have had their lives and jobs turned upside-down this year due to the pandemic (or by the sometimes ridiculous decisions by politicians in dealing with it).

Since spending money may be a little in short supply, one must plan ahead for traveling "on the cheap".

Travel + Leisure has an article on 10 cheap places to travel in the U.S. Some of their places may come as a surprise.

They begin with:

Budget travel has always existed, but it may be more popular this year, due to the upheaval caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. But being short on discretionary funds doesn’t mean you can’t travel — it just means you have to travel smart. One easy way to do that is to stay domestic and stretch your dollar as far as it’ll go by planning trips to affordable destinations in the U.S.

According to data pulled from Priceline’s top 100 U.S. destinations, the 10 destinations below offer the most affordable average daily rates at hotels at all-star levels. So, get wandering — without breaking the bank. These are the cheapest places to travel in the U.S.

To read more, go here.