Blue Gypsy Inc. Blog

So many "Daily Deal" sites are cropping up these days and one has to ask, how much of a deal are they really? It's hard not to blink at a deal for a luxury hotel offering 70% off on a 3 day trip, or special deals on tubing, water sports etc, not to mention the facials and more.

On some items it's easy to know that the deal is genuine. $50 worth of flowers for $25. Easy.

I tend to look at travel. Always trying to find inexpensive ways to escape, even if it's just for the weekend. But more and more I think we need to ask ourselves, if it sounds too good to be true, maybe it is. I've been looking at a deal for a Wellness Spa in Mexico. They advertise Yoga, Tai Chi, Meditation, Massage services, spa services and more... They tell you that if you purchase the daily deal you will get a 70% discount on the package...

But upon closer scrutiny, there are no rates on their website. They could tell you the rates are anything they want. In this day and age of shopping online, if you are offering certain products and services your rates should be clearly spelled out online. There are definitely exceptions to this rule. If your services are customized, if the scope of work determines your pricing, or if each quote depends on unique circumstances then by all means don't list a rate on your website.

But I'd say that if you are a hotel you're going to get better booking turnover if you have your rates, especially for packages, listed online.

As I dig deeper into this "Deal" I find that if I were to "Book directly through them" I would receive all the wellness activities: i.e. Tai Chi, Yoga, Meditation and other things as part of the booking. But on the Daily Deal site, this is not the case. Instead each class is about $45 per class. If you were to take 3 of these activities a day, all of a sudden you are increasing the cost of the trip by double....hmmm not such a deal anymore.

Now if you were going to this hotel to simply sit by the pool, then no problem. However there are daily deals for all inclusive resorts that are great for sitting on the beach or by the pool and don't hype themselves as a Wellness Resort and Retreat. In that case you are getting 50% off their true value. But if your reason for going to a Wellness Retreat is for....uh....wellness services, then this no longer looks like a good deal.

Okay end of rant. Buyers beware.