Travelzoo Launches First Ever Search for Britain?s Savviest
Traveller
LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Travelzoo
(NASDAQ:TZOO), a global Internet media company, today
announced it has launched the first ever search to find Britain?s
Savviest Traveller. Through a combination of online and social
media,
Travelzoo will identify the one person in Britain who is the best
at
finding a travel deal. The search started this week and will
continue
until 9 July, when Britain?s Savviest Traveller will be announced
to the
nation.
More than 1,000 hopefuls from across the UK have already submitted
their
entries on Travelzoo?s Britain?s Savviest Traveller website, with
each
new entrant claiming to be the undisputed champion of cheap
flights and holiday discounts. To view the very latest
submissions
or to stake a claim as Britain?s Savviest Traveller, visit the new
website at http://www.travelzoo.com/uk/savvytraveller.
Phil Salcedo, publisher of the Travelzoo Top 20, which has 1.8
million
readers in the UK says, ?We all know that there are some really
clever
people out there, with all sorts of tricks up their sleeves to
find the
best deal. Since we launched the search on Tuesday evening, we?ve
been
inundated with entries. I have to confess; I?m in awe of the
lengths
some people will go to get an amazing deal.?
Here are some of the latest and most outrageous ways people across
the
UK have found deals:
-
Incredible bargain-hunter Sabine Berendse saved £3,000 on a
family
trip to Canada and the USA, by taking an unbelievable
combination of
planes, trains and automobiles. To avoid paying high fares on
non-stop
flights to New York, Sabine and her family took a low-cost
flight from
Stansted to Iceland, flew Icelandair from Reykjavik to Halifax
and
then took an overnight train all the way to Toronto. The family
then
backtracked by bus to Niagara Falls and walked over the Freedom
Bridge
from Canada into the USA.
-
Rob McMahon could be one of Britain?s luckiest savviest
travellers.
Rob uncovered a pricing error on a popular online travel agency
site
and booked himself into a 4-star Marrakech hotel for just £1.53
per
night ? for an entire month! Gill Jay had a similar experience,
after
finding a pricing error; she booked herself and her husband into
the
5-star Sandals Ocho Rios in Jamaica, for just £8.13 for the
entire
week, a saving of £4,747.87 on the published rate.
-
Angela Stevens bought Gerry Garcia?s (lead singer of the 60?s
rock
band Grateful Dead) VW Van and drove it down to Mexico. She
lived in
the van for 6 months, occasionally giving English lessons to pay
her
way.
-
Matthew Thompson didn?t pay a penny to travel around Europe,
instead
he got a £5,000 tour of the continent for free and was paid for
his
time. Mathew realised that if he became a tour guide, he could
travel
by bus and cruise to Europe?s top destinations including Paris,
the
South of France, Florence, Venice, Barcelona, Madrid, Athens,
Mykonos
and Santorini, and get paid for doing so. Emma Davies gets paid
to
travel too. She put her teaching career on hold and signed up to
crew
a super yacht around the Australia, New Zealand and the
Polynesian
Islands. She sent her entry in from her super yacht!
-
Mike McDonagh missed his package holiday departure to Spain
because of
a motorway accident, but instead of admitting defeat and going
home,
he quickly realised he would not be the only person to miss a
departure that day. He waited patiently at the airport to see if
anyone else failed to check in. As luck would have it, another
couple
failed to turn up for a Greek Island cruise. A very canny Mike
convinced the travel rep to convert his half board package
holiday to
Spain into an all-inclusive cruise around the Greek Islands ? at
no
extra charge. Apparently it rained in Spain all week, while Mike
and
his wife enjoyed glorious sunshine in the Greek Islands.
-
And finally, the most shocking entry and one Travelzoo
absolutely
cannot endorse. A British woman, who wishes to remain unnamed,
found
out that a male acquaintance could no longer travel on a
non-refundable, non-transferrable airline ticket worth £800.
Instead
of letting the ticket go to waste, she changed her name by deed
poll
and applied for a new passport in the name of her male
acquaintance.
This allowed her to travel with a valid passport that matched
the name
on the ticket. She then changed her name back when she got back
from
holiday.
The search for Britain?s Savviest Traveller will run until Friday,
9
July, 2010. Entrants are asked to describe in under 300 words why
they
are Britain?s Savviest Traveller. The 50 most-viewed entries will
be
reviewed by Travelzoo?s panel of travel deal experts who will
select a
winner based on their originality, creativity and a canny ability
to
uncover a deal. The winner will hold the title of Britain?s
Savviest
Traveller 2010 and will receive a dream holiday for two from
luxury
travel provider Mark?s Travel.
To claim the title of Britain?s Savviest Traveller or read more
than
1,000 entries from across the UK, visit http://www.travelzoo.com/uk/savvytraveller
and go to Travelzoo?s Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/Travelzoo.UK
to learn more.
About Travelzoo
Travelzoo Inc. is a global Internet
media
company. With 20 million subscribers in North America, Europe, and
Asia
Pacific and 20 offices worldwide, Travelzoo® publishes deals from
more
than 2,000 travel and entertainment companies. Travelzoo's deal
experts
review offers to find the best deals and confirm their true value.
In
Asia Pacific, Travelzoo is independently owned and operated by
Travelzoo
(Asia) Ltd. and Travelzoo Japan K.K. under a license agreement
with
Travelzoo Inc.
About Travelzoo in Europe
Travelzoo has operated in
Europe
since 2005. Travelzoo?s European media properties, which reach
more than
4 million travel enthusiasts in France, Germany, Spain and the UK,
include the Travelzoo Top 20® email newsletter, the Newsflash?
email
alert service, the Travelzoo® websites (http://www.travelzoo.fr,
http://www.travelzoo.de,
http://www.travelzoo.es,
http://www.travelzoo.co.uk),
the Travelzoo Network?, and the SuperSearch? search tool, and the Fly.com?
search engine.
Certain statements contained in this press release that are not
historical facts may be forward looking statements within the
meaning of
Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the
Securities and Exchange Act of 1934. These forward looking
statements
may include, but are not limited to, statements about our plans,
objectives, expectations, prospects and intentions, markets in
which we
participate and other statements contained in this press release
that
are not historical facts. When used in this press release, the
words
?expect?, ?predict?, ?project?, ?anticipate?, ?believe?,
?estimate?,
?intend?, ?plan?, ?seek? and similar expressions are generally
intended
to identify forward looking statements. Because these forward
looking
statements involve risks and uncertainties, there are important
factors
that could cause actual results to differ materially from those
expressed or implied by these forward looking statements,
including
changes in our plans, objectives, expectations, prospects and
intentions
and other factors discussed in our filings with the SEC. We cannot
guarantee any future levels of activity, performance or
achievements.
Travelzoo undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking
statements
to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of
this
press release. Travelzoo and Top 20 are registered trademarks of
Travelzoo. All other company and product names mentioned are
trademarks
of their respective owners.