We left our Lake Garda hotel after one hour but there's one simple reason I'd still recommend eager travellers look at the popular mystery holiday
Last year my boyfriend and I booked a £99 Wowcher Mystery Holiday but after the initial excitement of getting an Italian hotspot in the draw we had to leave the hotel after one hour. Despite ditching our stay on the first stay many may be surprised that I’d still book another, and here’s why.
The main reason is that during peak holidays, summer breaks, or bank holidays it can work out cheaper to book a Wowcher £99 holiday deal just for the flights. A cost-saving tip I realised after going to Lake Garda, Italy on a mystery ticket.
I did a little test comparing the £99 Wowcher price with flight dates this summer on destinations Wowcher fly to and it would be better value for money for travellers to pick a £99 holiday rather than buying their own flights even if they ditch the Wowcher hotel and book their own as we did. You can see Wowcher’s latest Mystery Holiday destinations included in the deals here.
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The first was Venice, Italy, where an individual one-way ticket costs £118 each in June and a return flight would be around £220 per person. Next up I checked Malaga, another destination Wowcher shoppers could get - flights at the end of June are currently £88 per person each way or around £77 per person in mid-July (around £140 for a return trip each).
I also looked at flights to Porto, Portugal with easyJet which between July 2 and July 6 is £150 per person for return flights. The surprise package that lets keen travellers book a break away without any clue where they will be jetting off too. You pay just £99 per person to enter into its mystery draw, where you’ll then be given your holiday destination.
The price includes a hotel stay and return flights from UK airports, with more than 61 destinations including Copenhagen, Paris, Budapest, and Prague on the list. Not to mention a rare few entrees will get a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ pick of Dubai, Florida, and even Thailand.
The deals site only releases a number of Mystery Holiday deals throughout the year, and eager shoppers have until tomorrow May 26 to get a ticket in its ‘Ultimate’ sale. Prices start at £99 for trips between September and December this year and go up to £129 per person if you pick a date for this coming July, not to mention the price goes up for regional UK airports too.
There are some things shoppers will want to know, which I’ve dotted down based on my own experience. The main one being, any time change, destination change, or picking a flight out of a non-London airport will cost you a fee….and it quickly adds up. The second one is that you can’t choose where you want to go.
It puts ‘luck-of-the-draw’ to the test and the hotel we got in Lake Garda, albeit a £45 taxi ride away from the nearest town, was certainly not the best of luck…and the main reason we checked out so quickly.
The icing on the cake was the fact that our given hotel was next to a motorway toll road slipway (you couldn’t write it), so we decided to book another hotel in the centre of Lake Garda and enjoy the rest of our time…..a move I’ve come to realise could actually be a little hack for keen travellers.
Yes, this meant we spent a lot more than £99 each on our trip and essentially we paid that price for return flights each but travellers could use it as a loophole to find cheaper flights during peak seasons.
If you want to travel without booking luggage we’d recommend looking at under-seat backpacks you don’t have to pay for - like this Chelsea backpack from Antler. Skyscanner can be used to compare flight prices, and sites like Expedia and OnTheBeach are currently running price drops on summer 2024 holidays.
Below are the pros and cons of booking a £99 Wowcher holiday from someone who’s done it before.
What I loved:
The added element of surprise, the mystery around not knowing where you’re going
Great to do with a group of friends or couples on a budget
Flights and hotel details are all done for you - there is an added element of ease
What I didn’t like - things all shoppers should know first:
There’s an extra fee for airports outside of London
You will pay more for better flight times (not as early to extend your amount of time away)
The standard hotels are not centrally located - Wowcher offer an upgrade fee to change
Price does not include any extra luggage for flights or transport to and from airports.
