The Essentials of Planning - Italy - page 579

Untours
As the name implies, Untours (www.untours.com) is an alternative-travel com-
pany that specializes in booking airfare and 2-week stays at a local apartment,
farmhouse, or cottage. You can save money by packing a few more people into a
rented apartment. They have a near cultlike following from customers who enjoy
a more concentrated, local-oriented vacation rather than a city-a-day-type tour.
Untours books locations around Venice, Rome, Sicily, and Tuscany and Umbria.
A few other things to keep in mind when booking a package:
u Prices are always based on double occupancy, so these might not be good
deals for solo travelers.
u Be sure to crunch numbers before booking: Look at the seasonal airfare to
Italy at the time you'll be going (do a search on Sidestep.com or Kayak.com)
and then subtract that to find out how much you're paying for the specific
hotel room. If you can do better, book separately. Look up the hotel's reviews
and check their rates online for your dates of travel. You'll also want to find
out what type of room you get. If you need a certain type of room, ask for
it; don't take whatever is thrown your way. Request a nonsmoking room, a
quiet room, a room with a view, or whatever you fancy.
u Packages are usually only good for the major cities: Rome, Florence, Venice,
sometimes Milan, and sometimes the ski resort areas. If you're hoping to go
to Ravenna or Perugia, this method probably won't work for you. (Though
there are fly/drives that may make sense, as car rental in Italy is the priciest
in western Europe.)
u Read the fine print. Sometimes cancellation policies on packages are ugly.
Consider getting travel insurance if you book a package but never buy it from
the packager (if the company goes belly up, you lose all your money).
u Finally, look for hidden expenses. Ask whether airport departure fees and
taxes, or fuel surcharges, for example, are included in the total cost.
Particularly with the post-9/11 security fees, these charges can add up in a
hurry to the $200+ range if you're going through multiple airports. Italian
car rentals also can add a nearly 20% tax on top of an already high rate. On
a positive note, many places offer a hidden savings --a good 10% or more
if you pay for the package with cash.
SAVING MONEY ON ACCOMMODATIONS
Throughout this guide, you'll find information on alternative accommodations—
B&Bs, monasteries and convents that accept guests, vacation rentals, and so on.
Here are three general money-saving tips for booking your accommodations in
Italy:
SURF THE WEB Such sites as Sidestep.com, Hotels.com, and Quikbook.com
can be very helpful for zeroing in on “distressed merchandise”: hotel rooms that