TravelZoo Top 20 has offered some great trips in the past few years and I’ve taken advantage of some of their promotions, including to Ireland, The Azores, and Alaska. I’ve had my eye on the China trip for a while, and over the years, I’ve watched the price drop from around $1,000 to $499 for different trips respectively.
While January isn’t the best time to see China and while a guided tour isn’t my preferred way of travel, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to finally make this trip when the price dropped to $499 from Boston (and when I roped a travel buddy in.)
After a couple of days of deliberating, we finally locked in the deal for $588 for January 16th-24th. This included roundtrip airfare from Boston on award winning Hainan Airlines, one domestic flight from Beijing to Shanghai, all hotel stays (4 and 5 star), breakfast daily, guided tours to The Great Wall, as well as local city tours in Suzhou, Wuxi and Hangzhou and all transfers.
When I broke this down after the trip, I got this:
Airfare from Boston to Beijing and Shanghai back to Boston: $636.00
Airfare from Beijing to Shanghai: $153.00
3 nights at Beijing’s Garden International Hotel: $124 x 3 = $372.00
1 night at Suzhou Grand Metro Park: $80.00
1 night at Wuxi Jiangsui: $115.00
1 night at Hangzhou’s Xinghai International Hotel: $60.00
2 nights at Shanghai’s Crowne Plaza Pudong: $125 x 2 = $250.00
Before we even start adding in meals, local excursions, transfers, etc… we’re looking at over $1600.00 if you plan it yourself. This was too good of a deal to pass up.
However, the old saying, “If it seems to good to be true, it often is,” pops into my head. There was definitely a ‘catch’ to this trip. Obviously, tourism is suffering in China and the government have stepped in and are subsidising these trips. In turn, we get a good deal but have to make the obligatory daily factory visits.
If you know what you’re getting into, then ok, but know what you’re getting into. This isn’t for everyone. As an avid, independent traveler, I much prefer to plan my own itinerary, seek out my own hotels/guesthouses/restaurants and have the freedom to choose how I spend my own time.
That being said, having the assistance with the language barrier and all our transfers was extremely helpful. And as a budget traveler, I enjoyed a little bit of luxury at such a deeply discounted price. This isn’t for everyone, but if you’re up for a different sort of adventure and want to snag a good deal, I say go for it. At the end of the day, it is all what you make of it!
