Cuba - same hotel same dates and $400 difference?

[koleso]

Hello all

We all would like to take 7 days all inclusive in Varadero but theres just something strage with the prices. Sunwing price is $400 lower than Air Canada Vacations. The only difference is the time: Sunwing departs 06:20am and Air Canada Vacation departs 16:45. Since we all got a ceremony to attend in the morning we would like to depart around 4pm and for this purpose Air Canada Vacation option is what we need but its $400 more! Is this normal? Can they match the price? Might the price reduce closer to the departure date? There are 20 of us going and it’s a bummer to overpay 8k.

TIA!

[rf134a]

Yes, it's perfectly normal. Even though it's the same resort, every provider has a different contract with the hotel and different number of seats available to the destination.

For a popular destination like Riviera Maya, you'll see that AC, Westjet, Sunwing, Transat and their subsidiaries will have different prices for the same dates and even same flight times but different prices. Transat/Nolitours might include an extra booking at the hotel, AC includes use of the in-room safes, etc to differentiate themselves.

For the resort I'm heading to in September, AC offers 4 a la carte bookings instead of 3, use of in room safes, some sort of cocktail party, in room beach towels and in room bath robes. Westjet offers the same thing but $200 cheaper. Transat offers a direct flight instead of a connection through Toronto for $600 more. Westjet also offers the same package with a 12 hour layover in Toronto for $1400 instead of $1600. So, the price range is $1400-$2000 for the exact same date and same hotel but different flight options.

[itsryan]

Hello all

We all would like to take 7 days all inclusive in Varadero but theres just something strage with the prices. Sunwing price is $400 lower than Air Canada Vacations. The only difference is the time: Sunwing departs 06:20am and Air Canada Vacation departs 16:45. Since we all got a ceremony to attend in the morning we would like to depart around 4pm and for this purpose Air Canada Vacation option is what we need but its $400 more! Is this normal? Can they match the price? Might the price reduce closer to the departure date? There are 20 of us going and it’s a bummer to overpay 8k.

TIA!

Check that the rooms are the same for the hotel, sometimes this accounts for some of the variation, otherwise (majority of the time) the difference is in the flight. You will generally pay more for westjet/air canada vacation packages as they leave at (arguably) more convienent (i.e. not 6am) times and the planes are generally nicer (newer, individual tvs, etc) with bigger seats.

[dawgbone]

Call up your local travel agent and see if they can get ACV to price match the Sunwing Package. Even if they don't do the full $400, they might be willing to knock some of the price down.

[sandy_beach]

Be sure to plan for extra time if you go with Sunwing though. Sunwing is ALWAYS delayed atleast 1-2 hours.

As for the price, you have to remember the times, naturally people would want a night flight because they leave the night before their vacation starts so they have more time in Cuba plus by the time you get to your resort it is breakfast time :) Also consider that Air Canada has new planes and Sunwing has older and not very good planes.

Have you you checked prices with air transat? They are comparible to Air Canada. I flew with Air Transat when I went to Cuba and Its pretty good.

[vero95]

if they are leaving on the same day, I would take the 6:20am flight (assuming the ceremony is the following day)
and yes it's normal to have such difference in prices. check the taxes though. sometimes they show lower prices but higher taxes
AC is usually more expensive than sunwing

[Kris81]

I've seen this when it comes to flight times.


If you arrive there early & come home late, it's usually difference. Cheaper if you arrive there late & come back early.