27 March 2013

AARP Is All New Redux: Part II

Part I for reference:

21 March 2013
AARP Is All New Redux: Part I
AARP is ‘rebranding’ itself for the umpteenth time.

More from Joop Koopman’s report:

AARP will also step up its efforts to help businesses develop “their 50-plus strategy” and create products and marketing campaigns to appeal to boomers—for example, in the highly lucrative travel business, with boomers accounting for 80 percent of high-end travel packages.

Fine and dandy.  For fun, I did two simple travel searches.  One was from Chicago to London with a hotel in the package.  Using the AARP Travel/Leisure site, I ended up on Expedia.com through the AARP overlay that claims discounts.  Itinerary and cost:

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I closed it and opened another browser instance, went straight to Expedia.com, and searched the same itinerary (travel dates, airports, hotels):

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It would be less expensive to book with Expedia directly.

imageNext, I clicked a super-duper British Excursion package advertised on the AARP Travel site – and set up an itinerary (this time traveling from NYC to London):

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However, the price was the same if you bypassed AARP and went straight to the British Airways site. 

To be fair, I’m guessing this super-duper deal is really a BA banner ad on the AARP page – although you could be fooled into thinking you’re getting a special rate from AARP.

There are good articles and travel tips on the AARP Travel Site.  But look around the web. You’ll probably find better deals.

At least for now.  If AARP overhauls its travel biz (that’s what they say they’re doing), perhaps one day it will be advantageous for members.

A few moldy posts:

20 January 2006
Boomers, Vacation, Travel

21 September 2010
Baby Boomers & Travel Companies & Irony