Groupon Getaways - Do we need another deals site?

 TWiBT Reviews Groupon Getaways
Groupon + Expedia = Groupon Getaways

Groupon, a daily deals site which posts offers for anything from massages to restaurants, is teaming up the travel booking giant Expedia to provide the masses with heavily discounted travel deals.  Deals are posted usually every Tuesday and are offered for about a week before they run out.  While a discount travel deal site of this sort is hardly an original idea, competitors (aka clones) like TripAlertz, Trippo, LivingSocial, JetSetter, Overstock Vacations, Vacationist, Voyage Privé, Yuupon, and SniqueAway hardly see the level of traffic that Groupon does.

It is still way too early to tell if Groupon Getaways will stand apart or blend in with similar sites.  I’m not blown away by many of the deals on their site, but let us see how good a value these really are.

For example, one recent offer was for an all-inclusive resort in the Dominican Republic.  The offer read:
“For $268, you get a four-night stay for two, plus all-inclusive food and drinks, valid November–December 23, 2011, not including November 24–27, 2011.”

Hotel Pictures & Review at http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g147290-d150887-Reviews-BlueBay_Villas_Doradas-Puerto_Plata_Dominican_Republic.html

$268 ÷ 4 night = $67/night

$67 per night is a pretty sweet deal for this type of hotel, especially when your food is included.  A quick search on the hotel’s website show that rooms start at $98 per night.

Groupon Getaways is a good option for those who are already fans of Groupon, but I feel it does little to bring in new customers.  There are countless other daily deal sites geared towards travel, what makes this site stand apart?  The deals are decent, but nothing amazing.  The % discounted shown is usually inaccurate, as shown in our research.  Personally, my biggest complaint is that Groupon Getaways brings nothing new to the already overly crowded market of Groupon-clone sites.  Ironic.

TWiBT Frequent Flyer Mile Opportunity Alert
If you register your credit card and American Airlines AAdvantage account with the AAdvantage eShopping Mall and use that site as a portal to Groupon, you will earn 8 AAdvantage miles per dollar spent.  That’d be 2144 AAdvantage miles for booking this $268 Groupon.  Never spend a penny unless you are earning mileage for it!

Thanks for reading!
-Jason of TWiBT