
By now, Black Friday isn’t just a day.
The annual sales blitz stretches for well over a week as airlines, cruise companies, tour operators and hotels cram the pre-Christmas offers in.
I’ve listed of some of the best Black Friday travel deals for 2022 below, and savvy travellers should also look for added value in discounted gift vouchers (eg. a €30 voucher buys a shop spend of €50, or similar).
A word of caution, of course. Always approach travel bargains as you would any other purchase – buy what you really want, pay attention to applicable dates, minimum spends or blackout days (eg. bank holidays), and check the T&Cs.
Don't forget to run the rule over claimed savings (a 25pc discount might be on a high rate that only applies in peak months, for example). And remember, there is added protection in buying from licensed and bonded Irish travel agents.
“The first and most important thing is not to get swayed by the sales spiel,” the European Consumer Centre Ireland says.
“We’re buying volumes at Christmas, but should not let ourselves be lured by the promise of huge discounts for what are ultimately poor-value or poor-quality products.”
That said, happy deal-hunting!
1. Black Flyday with Aer Lingus
Aer Lingus is offering €100 off return flights to North America (and €200 off Business Class). Book before midnight on November 29 for travel between January and March 28. It also has up to 25pc off European routes. aerlingus.com
2. Walk 15pc off a Camino
CaminoWays.com is offering 15pc off Camino packages in its Black Friday travel offer. All holidays to the end of the year have 10pc off, but if you add the code blackfriday22 at checkout (up to midnight on November 28) you can bag the extra 5pc. caminoways.com
3. Up to €200 off with TUI
TUI’s Black Friday travel offers include up to €200 off certain holidays using the code BLKFRIDAY. The discount is valid for departures from January of next year through to April of 2024. tuiholidays.ie
4. Cyber Week with Ryanair
Ryanair is running its usual Cyber Week promo, with deals spread across the week (20pc off Tues-Thurs departures was a recent example). The lowest one-way fares I’ve seen start from €7.19 (Dublin to London Gatwick). Use the fare finder tool for the cheapest routes, with best results if your dates are flexible. ryanair.com
5. Hidden Ireland & Ireland’s Blue Book
Hidden Ireland has over 30 properties around Ireland, and it’s offering 10pc off with its gift vouchers up to November 25. You can find special offers from Ireland’s Blue Book here.
It’s worth asking individual hotels about vouchers deals too, – in Dublin, for example, Number 31 and Staunton’s on the Green are offering 15pc off theirs for Black Friday. hiddenireland.com; irelands-blue-book.ie
6. Save 75pc with Celebrity Cruises
Off a second guest’s cruise fare, that is. Celebrity Cruises is also offering up to $800 in onboard credit and other special offers in its Black Friday sale. celebritycruises.ie
7. A deal to dine out on
The Hodson Bay Group has 10pc off its monetary vouchers for Black Friday, and a special offer of a four-course dinner with a bottle of wine for €79 at each of its four hotels (The Hodson Bay, Hyatt Centric in Dublin, Sheraton Athlone and Galway Bay). hodsonbaygroup.com
8. Tour America’s Black Friday hub
Tour America’s Black Friday travel deals are handily placed on one page. They include two weeks in Orlando from €879pp, departing May 31 next year – with accommodation at the Ramada Plaza (Ref: 695683). That’s the equivalent, it claims, of staying 14 nights for the price of eight, based on a family of five sharing; touramerica.ie
9. Save €100 on a ski trip
Crystal Ski is offering €100 off ski package holiday bookings when you spend €1,000 (code BLKFRI100). It’s valid on holidays departing from December 2022 to April 2024 inclusive. crystalski.ie
10. Black Friday with Cassidy Travel
Cassidy Travel has 5pc off holidays booked from November 25-28. The offer doesn’t apply to cruises, sports or events travel. It also has Christmas gift cards on sale – spend €50, and get a €75 voucher; spend €70 and get a €100 voucher, for example. cassidytravel.ie
11. A Galway getaway
The Hardiman Hotel in Galway is offering a 20pc discount on B&B stays and a two-night B&B stay with dinner on select bookings from January 10 to March 31 (book by November 28). It’s also offering 10pc added value on monetary gift vouchers for Black Friday. Elsewhere, the g Hotel has 20pc off select stays, booked between November 25 and 27. thehardiman.ie; theghotel.ie.
12. Save with Sunway
Sunway has a host of holidays on sale for Black Friday, including a week in Agadir, Morocco, reduced from €395pp to €345pp, with departures next February 15. I can see discounts of up to €100 on weeklong holidays to the Canary Islands on its site, too. sunway.ie
13. 25pc off with Emerald holidays
Emerald Star has over 900 self-drive boats throughout Ireland, Europe and Canada. Its Black Friday Sale sees discounts of 20pc on cruises to all destinations excluding Italy, on all departure dates. In Ireland, for example, a seven-night cruise departing April 1, on a Consul boat sleeping four, is €1,149 (saving €130). The sale ends on November 27. emeraldstar.ie
14. Five-star Fermanagh
Lough Erne Resort has some of the best five-star value on the island in its Black Friday deals, with up to 50pc off certain rates. Midweek B&B stays start from £119 per room with a bottle of Prosecco thrown in (the price is from £159 at weekends). lougherneresort.com
15. Take off with Travel Department
The escorted tour specialist has three Black Friday offer codes – BF25 to get €25pp off holidays of six nights or less, BF50 for €50 off holidays of seven nights, and BF75 to get €75pp off eight nights or more. The valid travel dates are January 1 to August 31 of next year. Sister company TD Active has similar deals. traveldepartment.com; tdactive.com
16. 20pc off Maldron Hotels
The hotel group now has 21 hotels across Ireland and the UK, including the new Maldron Hotel Merrion Road (above, on the site of the former Tara Towers). It’s offering 20pc off in its Black Friday sale running to Monday, November 28. Save a further €10 or 10pc by booking direct with its ‘Make it Maldron’ offer. maldronhotels.com
17. Kids sail for €99 with Royal Caribbean
The popular cruise line is offering kids’ fares of €99 on 2023 and 2024 European and Alaska summer sailings. It also has “up to” €860 off selected cruises in its Black Friday cruise sale (book before Wednesday, November 30). The cheapest European option I could see for next year is €254pp for a two-night Cyprus cruise in an inside cabin in September (ex. flights). It's worth trying through your travel agent, too. royalcaribbean.ie
18. Click... and go
ClickAndGo.com has tonnes of Black Friday offers – you can search them using its last-minute deal finder. Watch out for particularly keen pricing on its off-peak, over-55s offers. Holidays can be booked with a €1 deposit. clickandgo.com
19. Experience this!
The Celtic Ross Hotel in West Cork will be offering 20pc off “all experiential West Cork packages for 2023” this Friday, it says. “Keep an eye on our socials for booking codes”. Experiences will include a ‘Rambles round Rosscarbery’ and sea-kayaking packages. celticrosshotel.com
20. Black Friday deals with Princess Cruises
Princess Cruises has reduced fares and a low deposit of €50pp on Southampton-based itineraries for 2022. The sale runs until November 29, 2021. Fares start from €579pp for an eight-night cruise next May. princess.com
21. Montenotte Magic
Cork’s Montenotte hotel ( read our review here) is another hotel offering 20pc off its best available room rates, with flexible cancellation. It applies to stays up to December 2023. themontenotte.com
22. G Adventures getaways
G Adventures has 30pc off select holidays (ex. flights) in its Cyber Sale, for travel up to April 30 of next year. gadventures.com
23. Black Friday love
Online travel agent Love Holidays has 15pc off selected hotels up to Cyber Monday (November 28). Deposits start from €25pp, it says, and there are flexible pay-monthly plans. loveholidays.ie
24. A layover at Lyrath
Kilkenny's Lyrath Estate has 20pc off B&B rates in executive rooms for bookings made by phone (056 776-0088). The offers are available on select dates until April 30 (book by Monday, November 28). lyrath.com
25. Group hotel discounts
As well as checking the website of your favourite hotel, it's worth looking at group deals too.
Original Irish Hotels, for example, has an offers page and a 10pc discount code if you sign up to its newsletter. Radisson says it has up to 30pc off in its Cyber Sale. Flynn Hotels has 20pc off at its four hotels in a ‘ Green Friday’ offer – book by November 28 for stays on select dates to April 30.
Even if you research on sites like booking.com and hotels.com, it’s worth booking direct for further savings.
NB: All deals subject to availability, change and T&Cs