How to Find Luxury Travel Deals

1. LuxuryLink.com

For some of the best bargains available for luxury travel, check out LuxuryLink. This 11-year-old online travel company sells discounted luxury travel two ways—through fixed-price offers and by auction. President Diane McDavitt says deals on the latter feature discounts as much as 40 percent off the retail price. Bargains are available on everything from hotel rooms and tour packages to cruises and villa rentals (pictured above, Santorini).

2. Follow the Strong Dollar Trail
To get more luxury for your dollar, travel to countries where it's still worth something. These days, that includes most countries in Eastern Europe; Argentina, Brazil and Chile in South America; and Bali in Indonesia. LuxuryLink.com is selling a three-night package for two at the Hotel Savoy in Prague (above), Czechoslovakia, priced at $1,315. (The full price is $2,391.) It includes three nights in a junior suite; champagne and chocolates upon arrival; breakfast daily and one four-course dinner with wine, both for two; and two Prague Cards, which provide admission to 40 of the city's top attractions.

3. Rent a villa
Rather than booking several hotel rooms, consider renting a villa with friends and family. Many of the top villa rental companies even offer concierge services, giving you the best of both worlds. Villa rental companies specializing in luxury accommodations include Elite Havens, which has villas in Bali and Lombok in Indonesia; La Cure Villas, one of the oldest rental companies, with accommodations in Europe, Africa, Mexico, the Caribbean and the Americas; and Homes Away, which has villas in Eastern and Western Europe.

4. Trust a Top Travel Agent
Use a travel agent, particularly one who works for a consortium of luxury travel agencies, like Ensemble or Virtuoso. Although you will have to pay a fee for this service, it will probably be worth it. Besides saving you time, these agents can tell you where the best deals are and even offer you some of their own: Because of the volume of business these consortia give hotel companies and cruise lines, their customers frequently get benefits like room upgrades at hotels, or special excursions and activities and ship-board credit on cruises.

5. Find Discounted First-Class Fares
Try to book a "Y-Up," "Q-Up" or "Z" fare on flights in North America, which let you fly first class at a deep discount. According to airline industry experts, these fares are usually refundable and sold on a one-way basis; they are always exchangeable. To find these kinds of fares, just make sure you're using a web site that lets you search by specific fare type, like FareCompare. Another bonus: You will also usually get frequent flyer mileage credit for buying a first-class ticket.

6. Subscribe to First Class Flyer
This monthly newsletter is published by a former minor league baseball pitcher, and is designed to help readers find low-cost first and business class tickets, the best two-for-one ticket offers, and ways to get free and purchased flight upgrades. It also tracks unpublicized discounted air fares and covers the air fare wars, which often lead to cut rates. A one-year subscription is $97.

7. FlyerTalk
Check out FlyerTalk, an online community of frequent flyers, among the world's most knowledgeable travelers about the ins and outs of all types of travel loyalty programs. Forums on the site—which was started by loyalty program expert Randy Petersen—cover everything from miles and points to travel and dining tips. They even feature airport codes, a glossary of frequent flyer terms and discussions of new airport developments, such as Heathrow's Terminal Five (pictured above).

8. Rates Guaranteed in Dollars
Considering the dollar's volatility, it's wise to lock in today's exchange rate, and savvy travel agents know which hotels guarantee their rates in greenback. For some Starwood hotels in Italy, for instance, room prices are guaranteed at a fixed exchange rate of $1.3 to the Euro. These rates are not available online and can be obtained only by contacting The Luxury Collection Reservation Desk at 1-800-325-3589 and requesting promotion code BTE. And, Small Luxury Hotels of the World offers fixed dollar rates at many of its properties abroad. If your hotel belongs to The Leading Hotels of the World, refer to booking code L09 for guaranteed US dollar rates. Pictured above, the Grand Hotel Florence (a Starwood property).

9. Prepay Your Trip
One way to lock in rates—helpful in an era of the declining dollar—is to prepay for as much of your trip as possible before your departure; this is especially useful if you're traveling in Europe. Travel agents can help you do this, booking and paying for everything from hotel rooms and rail tickets to tours, meals and even theater tickets.

forbestraveler.com