April 18, 2024

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Condé Nast Traveler

Cold-Weather Travel Deals to Jump On: a West Coast Ski Sale from Alaska Airlines, $600 Off Group Trips, and More

It’s hard to believe, but now that it’s mid-November the holidays are barreling towards us. Proof? Early Black Friday sales are beginning to pop up here and there. Honestly, sales are the silver lining of holiday craziness, and we’re taking what we can get and reveling in them.

A noteworthy early Black Friday sale that landed on our radar this week comes from the tour company EF Go Ahead Tours. They’re steeply discounting different group travel trips—out of the 175 they have to offer—each week leading up to Black Friday. This week’s include Spain, Italy, and Greece. Another good harbinger of the holidays and cold weather: a West Coast ski special from Alaska Airlines. 

Additionally, Icelandic airline Play continues to deliver the deals—this week with affordable airfare to Stockholm and Hamburg. It’s a good time to book hotel stays, too: Expedia’s regular rotation of deals are rich with great properties this week, as are Booking.com’s, and a Florida hotel that’s a favorite with Traveler readers is offering a winter package.

Below, our list of the most valuable travel deals to book while you can. 

All listings featured in this story are independently selected by our editors. However, when you book something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission. This article has been updated with new information since its original publish date.

Cody Fitzgerald/Unsplash

Flight deals 

Plan your ski travel with this Alaska Airlines deal

With Alaska Airlines’ ski sale, you can fly to pristine West Coast ski destinations—like Bozeman, Montana, Jackson Hole, Salt Lake City, and Denver for cheap. And with your Alaska Airlines boarding pass, you can ski at resorts they’ve partnered with for free. They include Alyeska Resort near Anchorage, Bogus Basin near Boise, Eaglecrest Ski Area near Juneau, Red Mountain Resort near Spokane, Schweitzer Mountain Resort near Spokane, and Ski Marmot Basin near Calgary.

Book $59 one-way flights from Southwest’s winter sale

You know the holidays are coming when sales suddenly are appearing left and right. One such instance is Southwest, which is having a super speedy flash sale, and November 10 is its last day. Fares are as low as $59 for domestic flights, and it’s valid for travel from November 29, 2022 through March 8, 2023.

Jet off to Hamburg and Stockholm with an offer from Play

The recurring deals on flights to northern Europe from Icelandic airline Play are truly the gift that keeps on giving. On offer this week are discounted flights from the airline’s latest two destinations: Hamburg, Germany and Stockholm, Sweden. Fares are $129 for one-way flights to Hamburg from Baltimore, Boston, New York, or Washington via Iceland, or to Stockholm from Baltimore, Boston, New York or Washington via Iceland. The deal is valid through November 17, and applies for April-June and September-October 2023 travel.

23-year-olds are now eligible for United’s young adult discount

23-year-olds, everyone thinks you’re still babies! And the downside is that you often have to pay under-25 fees for car and vacation rentals (if the company or host will take you at all)—but there’s good news too: You can now fly for cheaper with United. The airline’s young adult deal has existed since 2019, but previously only included 18-22-year-olds. The five percent-off discount, which applies for certain flights, can be booked through the United app.

The Ned Nomad

The Ned NoMad

Hotel deals

Scan Expedia for fast-moving hotel deals up to 50 percent off

Expedia always offers a running list of last-minute deals on its site—but be prepared to act fast, since they move quickly and only apply to travel within the next two weeks. Right now, top discounted properties include the Ned Nomad  (20 percent off) and Pendry Manhattan West (15 percent off) in New York City, The Palazzo at The Venetian Resort (25 percent off) in Las Vegas, and dozens of others. You’ll find even more last-minute deals with hotel stays up to 50 percent off in New York City, Aruba, San Francisco, and more of our favorite places, towns, and cities. 

Browse Booking.com for even more hotel deals

For your last stays of 2022 (technically, taking place before January 3, 2023), you can take advantage of Booking.com’s Late Escapes deal. The deals start at 15 percent off and can be browsed by destination, including New York City, Paris, San Francisco, and others.

The Diplomat Beach Resort, Curio Collection by Hilton

Courtesy Diplomat Resort & Spa Hollywood

The Diplomat Beach Resort in Hollywood, Florida, is offering a valuable winter package

The Diplomat Beach Resort, a three-time Condé Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards winner, is now offering their fall-winter Warmer Sands Escape package. The deal includes a $50 nightly resort credit, early check-in, a complimentary room upgrade, discounted parking, and complimentary kayaks, paddleboards, bicycles, fitness classes, and more. It applies to stays two nights or longer, now through January 15, 2023.

Save on five-plus nights of winter travel at Marriott Hotels 

There’s nothing quite like savoring a long vacation. Select Marriott hotels—in the U.S., Canada, Latin America, and Caribbean—are offering big savings when you stay a minimum of five nights at hotels, or seven nights at resorts, and book by March 31, 2023. This deal is valid on hotel stays now through March 31, 2023, as well. Use code LTS to save.

Banyan Tree Mayakoba

Banyan Tree Mayakoba

World of Hyatt members can earn double points on select stays 

Good news for World of Hyatt members—with the Bonus Journeys offer, travelers can earn double points on stays of two or more nights at participating Hyatt hotels around the world. Register by November 15, and stay at participating Hyatt hotels any time until December 20, 2022. 

Tour Deals

Check out this early Black Friday deal from Go Ahead Tours with $600 trip discounts

The travel company EF Go Ahead Tours offers 175 different guided group trip tours around the globe, and leading up to Black Friday, it’s discounting rates in a major way. The company is releasing different deals each week. This week, bookable from November 4-10, Spain, Italy, and Greece trips are $600 off. Bookable from November 11-17, Ireland and UK tours are also $600 off. On Black Friday, the grand finale of it all, there will be a special lighting sale.

Regent Seven Seas Cruises

Regent Seven Seas

Cruise deals

Regent Seven Seas Cruises is offering a free stay on land before or after your voyage

The best way to do a cruise? With an extended stay on land in the destination to which you sailed. With one of Regent Seven Seas cruise line’s free land program, called Gift of Travel, travelers can stay overnight pre- or post-cruise in places like Umbria, Cappadocia, Athens, Madrid, London, and Copenhagen. The offer is applicable on bookings made November 1, 2022 through January 6, 2023.

Atlas Ocean Voyages

Courtesy Atlas Ocean Voyages

Your guest sails free to Antarctica on Atlas Ocean Voyages 

Your guest sails free to Antarctica on Atlas Ocean Voyages Dreaming of a 2023 voyage to Antarctica? Now might be a good time to book, considering that for trips booked with Atlas Ocean Voyages before December 31—for expeditions taking place in November 2022 through March 2023—two guests sail for the price of one. Atlas Ocean Voyages’ small, sleek, yacht-style cruises hit far-out, wintry destinations that include the Antarctic Circle and Peninsula, the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, and the South Shetland Islands, where visitors will find penguins, albatross, black sands, calderas, and hot springs. 

Save up to 50 percent off your child’s voyage with Hurtigruten 

Hurtigruten is offering a major deal for families: Travelers can save up to 50 percent off of a child’s voyage on their next family cruise with this Young Explorers deal. Take advantage of the deal on select expedition cruises and Classic Coastal Norway departures. The highest discount applies when the child occupies a cabin with at least two adults. (When the cabin has just one adult, the savings go down to 20 percent off.) This makes cruising with family members of all generations even better—and easier on your wallet.

Rocky Mountaineer

Courtesy Rocky Mountaineer 

Train deals

Couples get $400 off Rocky Mountaineer’s train and plane trips to Las Vegas 

To book an epic American Southwest journey (whether it’s with your bestie or your boo) at a steep discount, visit Rocky Mountaineer’s site before 2022 ends and purchase one of their Rockies to the Red Rocks Las Vegas with Flightseeing packages. These trips are transportation experiences you’ll get nowhere else in the world—you’ll see the Southwest from the earth and from the sky. The two-day package begins with a journey aboard the Rocky Mountaineer from Denver, Colorado to Moab, Utah, and then a flightseeing transfer to Las Vegas, floating 2,000 feet above Capitol Reef National Park, Zion National Park, and Valley of Fire State Park.