The Best Grand Canyon Tour Deals are Online

With millions of visitors every year, the Grand Canyon is one of America's hottest tourist destinations. It's rich in natural beauty, but it's also incredibly immense (277 miles long and up to 18 miles wide in places). That's one of the reasons Grand Canyon tours are so popular: unless you've been to the National Park before, it's hard to know where to go, what to see and what to do while you're there. West and South Rim tours take care of that for you. They'll make sure you get the most out of your visit to this majestic place.

Most tours are reasonably priced, especially considering what you get. But you can make them even more affordable by finding the best tour deals. Whether your trip will begin in Las Vegas or in Phoenix, Scottsdale or another central Arizona city, some great Grand Canyon tour discounts are ripe for the plucking. You just have to know where to look.

Tour deals are available for West Rim and South Rim bus, chopper and airplane tours. And best of all, it's easy to find them. Here's how:

• The best Grand Canyon tour deals are Internet-only, so book your bus, plane or 'copter tour online.


• Stay away from the big travel websites like Expedia, HotWire, Travelocity, Priceline, Orbitz and so on. A lot of travelers think these sites offer the best travel and tour discounts, but you can find better tour deals on the tour companies' own websites. In fact, that's where you'll find the best tour discounts of all. When you deal directly with the tour company, you're eliminating the middleman. Those travel websites charge a little extra so they can make a profit on the tickets they sell. Buying direct is a great way to save some cash.
• The best tour companies offer special Internet discounts on their Grand Canyon tours. So, you'll save two ways by booking on a tour company site: you'll eliminate the middle man's fee and you'll be able to take advantage of the great tour deals offered by the operators online.
• When you're booking your trip on a tour operator's website, make sure you complete the entire transaction on the site. Don't be tempted to go offline and call the company's sales or customer service telephone number - if you do you'll end up paying the full retail price. If you book and pay for your trip on the company's website, you'll qualify for the special Internet discount. But if any part of the transaction is conducted on the phone (or through the mail) you'll lose the discount and pay full price.
• Don't wait until the last minute to book your Grand Canyon tour. In addition to reducing your chances of getting the tour date and time you want, you'll pay more for your tickets. Booking your tour in advance (a minimum of seven days is recommended) will give you more choices for tour packages, dates, times, and optional add-ons.
• Likewise, a lot of travelers think it's best to book their trips at the destination. Unfortunately, you won't find any tour deals there. Above all, avoid buying your tickets through your hotel concierge or a Vegas Strip or shopping mall kiosk. You'll pay more than you need to if you do. Instead, go for the great tour discounts you'll find online.
• Promo codes exist but they are few and far between. The ones I do find I post in my newsletter. However, most have a short expiration date and often become invalid by the time readers use them. I've seen codes that drop the price from between 3 and 5 percent, which is quite a chunk if you are booking a group of three or more people. That said, I wouldn't lose any sleep knowing I had booked a trip without a code. The online deals out there are so much lower than retail that I feel fortunate to benefit from them.

Now that you know precisely how to save money on Grand Canyon tours, I strongly recommend taking those extra savings and applying them to upgrades. As this concerns the West Rim, consider adding on helicopter rides to the bottom for a Champagne picnic or a boat ride down the Colorado River. There's even options to bundle tickets to the spectacular Grand Canyon Skywalk. For South Rim travelers, I suggest taking extended 50-minute helicopter tours or bundling in a Jeep or Harley Davidson motorcycle ride.

Lastly, I get a lot of inquiries asking how safe it is to purchase tours on these websites. First, I only vouch for these sites because I've tested them myself by using them to book trips for friends and family. To date, I've never had any issues and I don't expect I ever will. I feel perfectly secure using these travel sites and one day I hope they'll be able to transact my orders over my smart phone. Now that would be super convenient!

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Make It a Grand Day!