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Vacation Using an Internet Auction? |
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The site offering the travel auctions is SkyAuction.com. You must register (free) and give them your credit card information. You have an option of giving them a 'high' dollar amount that you are willing to spend. This allows them to bid for you in your absence only if someone else outbids you. If they do, your bid is raised to $1 more than their bid - up to your top limit that is confidential. The author was bidding for a week's stay in a
beautiful condominium at The Royal Palm Resort in Port Royal in Hilton
Head, SC.
What would something similar go for? Pricing around, similar packages, if you could find them on short notice, would cost between $150 and $225 per night. Let's take an average of $175 per night. $175 x 7 nights = $1225. This is quite a savings. If you look at the completed auctions on the web site, you will see that some people win vacations at even greater savings!
We sampled lunch at one restaurant in the Westin. I had a great smoked salmon/BLT sandwich and my wife enjoyed she-crab soup and a seafood salad. Prices for lunch ranged from $6.95 to about $9.95 per entree. An outdoor seafood buffet was offered in the evening at a $29.95 per person price. Pool-side dining got a little pricey with drinks running about $7-$8 each. A lunch for 2 at pool-side with drinks would probably cost $40 after tip.
Bicycles are available on premises, but everyone's recommendation is to call a local company for that who will deliver and pick up the bikes right from your condo. Couldn't be more convenient. I never did find a bicycle offering a tractor-type seat so I did not take advantage of this service. Our rental included 1 hour of free court time per
day which had to be scheduled. Our condo boasted 2 tv's and 1 vcr, a
full kitchen, and washer/dryer.
Bring your own cell phone or use the phone in the hotel lobby and save a lot over using their services. Two short calls to home cost us $25 using their regular services. The week went by too quickly. I look forward
to participating in a vacation 'auction' again. It was nothing short
of GREAT ! |
This
was for a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom with 2 Jacuzzi's. This particular auction
ended on a Friday night at 11:00 pm. At 10:00pm, I put in the only bid so
far. I offered $51. I offered a high bid of $171. There was an
additional fee of $195 which paid for maid service and all that which is
in addition to whatever the winning bid is. No other bids took place
until 10:20pm. At that time, someone else bid $60. I knew someone
else was in on the action. Since I had given a higher limit, my bid
automatically was raised to $61. Nothing else happened until
10:40pm. The other bidder(s) raised bids to about $150. I upped my top
limit to $255. By 10:55pm, the bidding reached $250. I raised my top bid
to $325. At 11:00pm, the bidding was over. I won the bid at $277 (plus the
$195 fee plus a $15 FedEx fee). My total cost ended up being $487.
We
took our time on Saturday, leaving Greenville about 1:00pm and arrived
Saturday afternoon
about
6:00pm. Check-in was available starting at 5:00pm. The unit we used
was privately owned but managed by the Westin Hotel. Because of
this, we had the privilege of using the hotel's facilities such as
swimming pool, massage services, golf, tennis, bike rentals, etc.
The condo units were in easy walk or bike ride to the Westin, but being
extremely lazy, we chose a free shuttle from our condo to the beach /
hotel. 
Bring
your own beach chairs and umbrella and save $25/day there. You can
rent a catamaran or large ocean-faring tricycle. Lifeguards are on
duty up and down the beach.
The condo units were in a rectangular shape with a large swimming pool and
beautiful landscaping in the middle. The first week of September turned
out to be a great week: the weather was generally in the mid 80's
during the day down to the low 70's at night.