1. Always sign up for airline frequent flyer, hotel and car rental reward programs. The benefits will add up to free airline tickets, class upgrades, preferred seating assignments, free hotel stays, room upgrades, free car rentals and more. Most published fares will credit frequent flyer miles but not all unpublished fares. Always check with us before purchasing.
2. Always compare unpublished airfares/hotel rates to those published by the airlines hotel chains, and car rental companies to obtain the best value.
3. Your DEPARTURE date always determines the fare of your ticket or hotel stay. Try to travel in the low season for the best airfares and hotel rates. (November 1-31March for airfares/hotels to Europe). Avoid the high season if possible (June 1 to August 31 for Europe).
4. Business class fares are offered occasionally at unpublished rates. We also have contracts that confirm business class upgrades for full economy fares.
5. Some airlines provide a “free overnight” (hotel/meals/transfers) in their transfer city for flight misconnections as an extra incentive to fly that particular airline. Thus you can enjoy a “free” one night stay in a European city such as Prague, Vienna or Helsinki.
6. One year tickets are usually very expensive relative to shorter stays; however, some airlines offer special unpublished fares for one year stays. Remember that with groups fares are negotiable.

Unpublished Fares Advantages:

1. No advance purchase or instant purchases required
2. Reasonable one-way fares and one-year tickets
3. Generally a lower fare for longer stays than 30 days
4. Fares are offered for most USA gateways

Disadvantages:

1. Partially used tickets cannot be refunded or used towards purchase of another ticket
2. Higher penalties for changes/refunds if refundable or changeable at all
3. Less seat availability
4. More restrictions and less perks (frequent flyer miles, upgrades)

Travel Insurance
One of the problems with most cheaper airline tickets and hotel rates whether published or unpublished is that they are NON-REFUNDABLE and have hefty penalties for date changes. Nothing is more disconcerting than having to cancel, delay, or interrupt your trip because of illness or injury to yourself or a family member. Even more so if you're in some far away exotic country.

How can you protect yourself from a financial loss and give you peace-of-mind in event of an emergency before you travel or while overseas. The answer is travel insurance.

Yes, nobody plans to have a problem but it happens. Unfortunately, the airlines are generally unsympathetic to such personal problems. They think that since you purchased a cheaper ticket you have to live with the restrictions; you should have purchased a more expensive (MUCH MORE!) ticket that was refundable.

Additionally, some airlines will not reimburse passengers for delays and cancellations due to circumstances out of their control such as inclement weather and other acts of nature or the actions of governmental authorities. The cost of hotel rooms, food, and transfers might have to be borne by the passenger.

The airlines also limit the amount they reimburse for lost or delayed luggage. So you may find yourself far away from home without your luggage for a few days (or never) and only a few dollars to purchase a new wardrobe.

Travel insurance like automobile and homeowners insurance covers those unforeseen emergencies and circumstances so that if something does go wrong you don't suffer a substantial financial loss.

Actually, the premiums for most travel insurance policies are VERY reasonable and YOU decide on the level of coverage and thus the cost to you.

All travel agents can provide you with travel insurance information. Generally, they will refer you to a reliable travel insurance company that has treated their clients fairly, especially when it comes to providing compensation benefits. These policies are generally underwritten by the major US insurance companies. You can also contact your insurance company or any other on your own.

In any case, travel insurance is a SMART idea in today's travel environment.

Intermeet provides travel insurance brochures and applications with all our individual tickets and offers comprehensive group insurance policies for all its groups.