groupon iceland break

ostaragirl

Hi, I've never used Groupon before but have spotted what I reckon is a good deal on a short break to Iceland. I;m not quite sure what I'm buying? am I just booking a holiday as normal with the travel company? or am I buying some sort of voucher?

http://www.groupon.co.uk/deals/groupon-getaways/KPX-Travel/15544998?nlp=&CID%3DUK_CRM_10_0_0_10%26a%3D21

Hope the link works, any advice please?

richardw

How much is it booking flights+hotel separately?

johnmcga

Personally I'd be wary of buying a trip like this through Groupon. (Actually, that's not quite fair - I'd be wary of buying any trip like this that includes a whole bunch of activities and stuff.)

Do you know if the tours are going to be any good? Are they all things you'd actually choose to do if you went independently? And how much would the trip cost if you did book it all yourself, separately?

When I went to Iceland (admittedly a few years ago) we looked at Golden Circle tours and things, but as it turned out it didn't cost much more to hire a car and drive to places ourselves.

You might want to try a quick Google search of the company offering the deal, too (KPX Travel).

baxter1999

I would try looking at a short break on Icelandair website, similar breaks start from £300 and you can book the exact date you want.

We went with them last year and had an amazing time.

http://www.icelandair.co.uk/

apt

I agree, the Icelandair packages give you more choice. You could also fly from Glasgow. Another option if you can travel later in the year would by to check the flight prices with easyJet and book flight and hotel separately.

carmel11

My son went to Iceland he showed me pictures it was stunning

elsien

You'd be booking a holiday through the travel company with groupon acting as a sort of intermediary to bring the deal to you.
The problem is that if the travel company has miscalculated/offered too many deals, it can be quite difficult to get the money back - groupon got into trouble a little while back for not vetting companies strictly enough or for offering inflated deals.
I've used groupon before (not for holidays), not had problems and got some good deals. Other people (with things like meals that need booking) have had problems getting a booking accepted before the voucher expiry date.
I would always advise checking any deals independently and googling the company for details (such as abta/atol protection) and checking out any reviews for them. Just as a precaution.
The other thing you'd need to check is flexibiliy over dates - the booking form is for dates within a 2 to 3 week period. If you can do any of those, then fine, but what if they offer you 3 days you can't get away for? How flexible can they be with offering alternative? Just something I'd want to check before paying.
I'm not saying don't do it, I'm just saying check out all the small print first.

ostaragirl

Thank you all very much! I'm not going to do the groupon thing, seems like added stress.
I really like the look of the packages on icelandair and will be booking one of those and flying from Glasgow would make life a lot easier.
I am keen to see as much as possible and whilst the tours do appeal I'm going to check out the car hire, just a bit nervous about driving in strange places but always something I've wanted to get over.
I would love any recommendations for places to visit from those of you who have been there. I'm wanting to book for April so not sure what the northern lights will be like then but not too bothered as I see them plenty at home here but would love to visit things like a glacier, guesiers (spell?) and any other quirky places.
I have a feeling it may be expensive to eat out etc so may have to budget for that.

AlexMac

Probably too late to be of use, but my two experiences of Groupon breaks (one in the UK, one in Spain) were absolutely fine- and a genuine reduction on the rack-rate. Booking was easy- although like you I was suspicious, so in both cases I rang or emailed the hotel before buying the voucher to check that there would be no restrictions on availability.

And when I then, separately, bought a voucher for a 10-week UK-based Spanish or Italian language course, I did the same. I rang the school to check likely timing and was reassured that if their sheduled availability didn't suit me, I'd get a refund. So, no problem; in fact, a pretty slick operation! But it's your call; have a great trip!

budgetflyer

Easyjet also start Iceland flights from 21 March from EDINBURGH

Hotel prices can vary hugely between websites so it really pays to do a price comparison b4 booking.

check
https://www.trivago.co.uk
https://www.hotelscombined.com
https://www.hotelscomparison.com

which between them cover 50+ booking sites

comparisons 8 April to 11 April

Easyjet (edinburgh) £130

Icelandair (Glasgow) £585

typical price ranges
4* Centrehotel Plaza as featured on the Groupon deal £163 with Alpharooms for the 3 nights (£81.50 pp) or choose the wrong supplier and pay up to £258 (HRS)

In this instance Alpharooms ( found via hotelscomparison.com) is cheapest. Different hotel, different dates could give completely different results.

LisaLou1982

Im booked to go to iceland next month for 4 nights with my OH. We're flying easyjet from Manchester and have got flights and hotel for £400 total.

Just so you know, when i priced up the flights, we originally paid £200 for them. Now they are £550! but when i looked at the same dates via easyjet holidays, the price for the same hotel and same date flights is only another £50 more in total. So it might be worth checking what deals easyjet holidays can offer as well as just looking at the flight options.

I was very surprised!!