10 Great Vacation Getaways

Miami, where average daily room rates are down almost 15 percent, is just one great vacation idea during the economic slump.

Image: Ross Anania

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What this financial and economic crisis needs is a good aphorism, so let me try my hand at crafting one: When the going gets tough, the tough look at the amazing travel bargains out there and plan a vacation.

Okay, okay, I admit that one won't make Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, but the sentiment holds true. Thanks to an amazing confluence of factors, almost all of them related to our current parlous business climate, now is the time to take a vacation. Prices are approaching almost inconceivable lows, especially for premium-class air travel and deluxe hotels.

So let's put aside business travel for a week and focus on 10 great places to take a vacation right now. Would it kill you to take a holiday? After all, the crisis will still be here when you get back. And you'll be tanned and rested and ready to tackle the bad news with renewed vigor.

Hawaii

Seven consecutive months of double-digit declines in visitor arrivals has sent the islands into a panic. So has the AIG Effect, which apparently includes any resort with the word Hawaii in the name. One example: Wells Fargo cancelled a total of 11,000 room nights in May at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, an upmarket, but hardly deluxe, resort. The result? Deep discounts for travelers willing to pay cash and sizable reductions in the number of frequent-guest points that major hotel chains require for free nights. Airlines are slashing fares too. United Airlines, the largest carrier to Hawaii, is offering roundtrips for about $400 from the West Coast and about $600 from the East Coast.

London

The collapse of the financial markets has hit London hard. Hotel occupancy rates have dipped to the 70 percent range, and business-class cabins, once filled with bankers shuttling back and forth across the Atlantic, have emptied out. Then there are the vagaries of exchange rates: The British pound was commanding around $2.05 last summer, but it plunged to $1.40 over the weekend. Bottom line: London, the most popular overseas destination for American travelers even in pricey times, is now a huge bargain. British Airways' current London for Free promotion throws in two free nights in tourist-class hotels along with fares that start as low as $298 roundtrip before taxes. Summer business-class fares with an advance purchase have dropped below $2,000 roundtrip.

New York

London's twin in the financial-markets meltdown, New York, is suffering from the reverse of London's currency woes. As the dollar strengthens against the pound and the euro (which has fallen to about $1.28 from last summer's $1.60), Brits and Europeans find New York more expensive than it has been for years. That means Americans can afford to visit again as New York hotels discount lustily to offset the weak economy, the Wall Street crisis, and the disappearance of overseas visitors. Last year, travelers were paying $300 a night for a hotel and $500 for anything in the four-star category. Last month, I scored a suite with free breakfast at a big chain hotel for just $149 a night. Airfares? Over the weekend, JetBlue Airways launched a $99 one-way promotion on flights to New York from Southern California. Fares are higher from other places—but near or at post-9/11 lows.

China

Since consumption has tanked in the global recession, very few business travelers need to fly to China to buy goods from Chinese factories. The result? Empty planes and even emptier hotels, especially in Shanghai and Beijing, which overbuilt for the Summer Olympics. Alone among U.S. carriers, Continental Airlines launches a new nonstop service to Shanghai (from its Newark hub) later this month, and its introductory pricing set off a fare war. Flights to China can now be scored for as little as $800 roundtrip with a modest advance purchase. With overall hotel occupancy rates hovering around 50 percent in Beijing and Shanghai, bargains are everywhere. Room rates as low as $100 a night in newly built, four- and five-star properties with familiar Western brand names are common.

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