August Is the Season For Travel Bargains

Expedia USA

by Arthur Frommer

It's late July, the very peak of the peak season, when every bed, seat and berth is supposed to be full.

Thanks to the heat, all of Las Vegas, including Caesar's Palace, is cheap in August.But travel falls off sharply toward the end of August (when many school years have already commenced, and children have returned to their homes from camp or vacationing). And even on some earlier dates in August, softness is found in travel bookings, and bargains begin to emerge.

Last-Minute Cruises
I find many top opportunities listed on VacationsToGo.com and the other big cruise discounters, even to such places as Alaska (www.frommers.com/destinations/alaska). Here are five last-minute openings:

Aug. 18 and Aug. 25 aboard the Island Princess, seven nights in Alaska, $535.

Aug. 10 aboard Holland America's Vaandam, seven nights in Alaska, $605.

Aug. 29 aboard the Carnival Spirit, seven nights in Alaska, $599.

Aug. 14 aboard the Carnival Victory, four nights from New York City to Canada, $449.

Aug. 30 aboard the Carnival Liberty, seven nights to the Caribbean, $479.

Last-Minute Vegas
Travel to Las Vegas (www.frommers.com/destinations/lasvegas) always slumps in late August and early September because it's beastly hot there, convention activity hasn't resumed after the summer hiatus and no large groups are coming to this city of big meetings.

Late-summer bargains announced on the newsletter LasVegasAdvisor.com start with rooms for as little as $19.99 at the off-Strip-but-quite-serviceable Palace Station Hotel. And right on the Strip in late August and early September, you can enjoy weekday stays at the Tropicana for as little as $39 per room per night, the Excalibur for $50 per room per night and at the cushy Luxor for $65 per room per night. You'll get the best rates if you register with various hotels directly on their Web sites and invite them to e-mail their best offers to you.

Last-Minute Barbados
The extraordinary Best of Barbados (www.frommers.com/destinations/barbados) program, flagrantly subsidized by the Barbadian government, offers its very lowest prices in September, when one-week air-and-land packages start at $326 per person from Miami, using Bayfield House Hotel.

Remember that prices shoot upward by $100 to $200 the moment October arrives. All the major tour operators - Liberty Travel, Vacation Travel Mart and Cheap Caribbean - offer these rates and feature them on their Web sites.

Gas Rebates
And finally, keep in mind that most accommodations search engines - such as Hotels.com, BookIt.com and BedandBreakfast.com - are giving valuable gas rebates to people who book a weeklong, late-summer stay using their services.

By late August, the cost of vacationing declines all over the U.S.

Macy's Featured Products

Macy's

DKNY Women's White-StrapChronograph Watch

Price $165.00

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Lucky Brand Silvertone Peace Sign Earrings

Price $25.00

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Macy's employees raise money for Martha's Village

from The Desert Sun

Employees of Macy's at Westfield Palm Desert held a fundraiser and food drive benefiting Martha's Kitchen and Village and raised enough funds to pay for more than 19,000 pounds of food, officials said Friday. The funds were raised as part of the company's “Bag Hunger” campaign, according to Donna Paul, group sales manager Cosmetics/Fragrances.

Paul, who chaired the campaign, said that as a result of the fundraiser's success Macy's donated an additional $2,200 to the local food bank, which helps the Coachella Valley's needy.

Store officials presented representatives of Martha's Kitchen with a check, as well as the donated food items, during an employee rally on Friday, officials said, adding that every $4 equals a pound of food.

Macy's makes its way to Pearland

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Retailer sees fast-growing town as a smart place to plant a store
By DAVID KAPLAN, Houston Chronicle

Macy's
• Stores: More than 810, with 50 in Texas

• Houston-area Macy's stores: 17, including Pearland

• New Macy's store: Pearland Town Center, Texas 288 and FM 518

• Grand opening: Wednesday

• Employees: 140

• Size: 140,000 square feet

Like other major retailers faced with a weakening national economy and slumping sales, Macy's has been forced to close its underperforming stores.Most recently it announced its store in Sharpstown Center was closing.But when the chain sees a plum opportunity to open a new store, it's not going to pass it up.

The Pearland Macy's which opens Wednesday, is one such opportunity.The town's population has exploded over the past several years, and the retail market generally is considered to be underserved. The store's opening in Pearland Town Center marks a further coming of age for Pearland. Residents in the area will be getting significantly more retail Wednesday when, in addition to Macy's, other stores will open in Pearland Town Center. Dillard's will debut this fall.

Catering to locals
At Texas 288 and FM 518, Pearland Town Center is an ambitious mixed-use lifestyle center that combines fashion retail, restaurants, office space, apartments, a Courtyard by Marriott hotel and a 22-acre lake. "We couldn't be happier," said Carol Artz, president and CEO of the Pearland Chamber of Commerce. "Now we'll have selections for all walks of life, and it's exciting.""It will stop some of the economic bleeding which took place in the community in the past," Artz added.The Town Center makes Pearland even more of a retail draw for area residents south of the city, including those in Lake Jackson and Angleton, she noted.

Closer location
Until now, a Pearland resident who lived near the Pearland Town Center and who wanted to shop at a Macy's had to drive about 20 miles to the Galleria, First Colony Mall or Baybrook Mall, noted Gary Hudgins, Macy's regional vice president.

The new Macy's won't be in a mall, a departure for the Houston area. The only other Houston-area Macy's not in a mall is the former Foley's downtown. Department stores increasingly are choosing big town centers and mixed-use developments for their new locations. The mall is less of an option.

"We're not seeing any enclosed malls being built, except for the rare instance," said Michael Beyard, senior retail fellow at the Urban Land Institute."Big department stores still need to grow and by necessity are looking at town centers which, when large enough, are the 21st century version of the mall," Beyard said.

The entire department store sector has been struggling in recent years, however, and now even high-end department stores like Nordstrom are having a tougher go of it, noted Dan Skoda, managing partner of D & R Consultants and former president of Marshall Field's.


Trying to stand out
Skoda is impressed with some of Macy's recent moves, including its plan to install FAO Schwarz toy store departments inside a few Macy's initially and possibly at many more of its locations in the future.

"It's more like what department stores used to offer before the discount big boxes came along — big children's departments and big toy departments," Skoda said. "Anything Macy's can do to differentiate themselves and bring newness and excitement is a plus," he said.

In a recent report, JPMorgan analyst Charles Grom noted that Macy's is facing "tough macro conditions" and that even the luxury segment of department stores is having to get more promotional. In 2007, the company had net sales of $26.3 billion, down 2.4 percent from a year earlier.


The positive side
On the positive side, Grom wrote, Macy's remains "a solid, free-cash flow generator, and potential increases in input costs down the road could be more than offset from higher private-label penetration in new Macy doors" and "better-than-expected synergies realized from consolidation efforts."

The Pearland Macy's aims to meet the needs of Pearland families by devoting significant space to young men, juniors, children and infants departments, said Melissa Steiner, the store's general manager.


All the essentials
The store will carry all the essentials, as well as "a focus on what's fashionable, colorful and fun," Steiner said.The 140,0000-square-foot Macy's store has a clean look and is designed to be easy to navigate.

Pearland Macy's will have a home accessories section with brands such as Martha Stewart, Ralph Lauren and Hotel Collection; a bridal department and an e-Spot, a consumer-electronics vending machine that offers iPods, Cannon digital cameras, Samsung camcorders, Bang & Olufsen headphones and more. The Pearland store will not carry furniture.

Relatively new brands at Macy's include Ed Hardy, Kensie and Sweet Pea. Beginning this fall, Tommy Hilfiger will become a Macy's exclusive.With corporate offices in Cincinnati and New York City, Macy's operates more than 810 department stores under the Macy's brand and 40 under the Bloomingdale's name.

There are 17 Macy's in the Houston area.


Chosen for appeal
The developer of Pearland Town Center is Chattanooga-based CBL & Associates Properties. The more than 700,000 square feet of retail space in the town center is 85 percent leased, and 70 percent of it will be open Wednesday.Other soft goods retailers in Pearland Town Center include Barnes & Noble, Gymboree, Aeropostale, Ann Taylor Loft, Forever 21, Hot Topic, Zumiez, Brooks Brothers Country Club and Eddie Bauer.The Town Center will also contain office space, 300 luxury apartments, a 110-room hotel, a big lake and a walking trail. Pearland was an appealing spot for such a project, said Michael Lebovitz, CBL's senior vice president, chief development officer, because it is "a fast-growing city with excellent demographics in an underserved market."

10 ways to travel for less

Expedia USA

Loyalty programs,
vacation home rentals and price shopping among ways to save!

By LYNN SELDON For the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Erik Torkells, former editor-in-chief at Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel, offers these 10 tips to save money on travel:

1. Consider buying a package deal.
hotel), can be major bargains. Torkells says that, to fill rooms and seats, hotels and airlines will resort to rock-bottom prices. For obvious reasons, they don't like to publicize these rates, so they sell a certain number of rooms or seats to companies that bundle them in packages. He naturally recommends www.budgetravel.com. Find other good package deals at ajc.com/travel.

2. Rent a house or apartment, particularly for a family or group.
An easy one-stop Web site for home and apartment rentals is www.homeaway.com. If you're intrigued by house-swapping, here are three Web sites: www.homeexchange.com, www.homelink.org and www.intervac.com.

3. Negotiate!
Few price quotes are non-negotiable anymore. Ask if there are unadvertised specials or if the hotel can do better. Play up whatever you bring to the table — you're with a group, for example, or you visit often. Instead of a lower rate, you may end up with free parking or an upgrade. While www.priceline.com is now a full-fledged booking engine, it's most valuable for its bidding system. Another site, www.biddingfortravel.com, has examples of successful bids. Torkells says those looking for a cruise should check out www.cruisecompete.com.

4. Keep shopping, even after you've made a reservation.
Prices for car rentals and hotels fluctuate, so never give up sniffing out a better deal. When you locate one, snap it up and cancel the old reservation.

5. Make your weak dollar go farther.
Visit countries where the dollar still goes relatively far, such as Argentina and less-touristed parts of Mexico.

6. Whenever possible, book directly.
If you see a low rate elsewhere, ask the hotel to match it. Torkells has found that, wrong as it is, hotels are nicer to guests who seek them out than to those who come via a third-party booking engine.

7. Use the meta search engines (and other smart Web sites).
There's no one simple way to track the best fare or rate down. Torkells recommends starting with www.kayak.com and www.sidestep.com, which scour multiple Web sites for flights, hotels, cruises and car rentals. Orbitz, Travelocity and Expedia are good for getting a feel for what's out there, though Torkells notes they often don't search all airlines and they may tack on service fees.

8. Sign up for loyalty programs, especially those for hotels.
Hotels will often treat you better simply for being a member, even if you only stay one night. Also, members can choose to receive e-mail newsletters that will always have the best deals. Hotel loyalty programs can quickly lead to free nights.

9. Travel at the last minute, if possible, for the best deals.
Torkells says the best places to find last-minute deals are at the airlines' Web sites and at Expedia.

10. Don't get nickel-and-dimed at hotels.
Some add charges like checked bags, Internet service, phone calls, breakfast and fitness centers. Torkells likes mid-range hotel chains like Hampton Inn (www.hamptoninn.com) that don't charge for parking, Internet, breakfast, and other "extras" that more expensive chains often add to the bill.