Luxury Retailers' Pain Is Your Gain This Season

Luxury Travel

For those who decide to travel, the going may be less expensive. On average, gas costs are more than a dollar less per gallon than last year at this time, and rates for American Automobile Association Three Diamond hotels are down an average of 10%.

Travel discounts will continue throughout the holiday season and beyond, and they're not limited to one-day car rides to the countryside. Luxury travel company Abercrombie and Kent is offering a host of discounts on vacation packages to destinations across the globe.

The "New Zealand by Land and Sea" package, which features travel aboard a 116-passenger "Clipper Odyssey," is advertising a 50% discount to children traveling with an adult. Save $1,700 a person as you travel through India, visiting the Taj Mahal, the Rajasthan countryside and Vembanad Lake. Or explore South Africa with your family to the tune of $1,500 in savings per family member.

Luxury travel company Abercrombie and Kent offers a host of discounts on vacation packages, including South Africa.

Fashion: High-end clothes and accessories will also reach incredible lows in the next month, as department stores and designers look to unload inventory made and purchased before the economy took its latest dip.

"Retailers place orders months in advance, and this year, they overbought," said Johnson, of Customer Growth Partners. "There is way too much inventory, so sales are beginning much sooner than normal."

Saks Fifth Avenue's designer sale offers up to 40% off nearly 4,000 items online and features clothing and accessories from designers like Giorgio Armani, Oscar de la Renta and Ralph Lauren. Saks offers free shipping on orders over $200, as well as no payments and no interest for 12 months when you spend more than $2,000 with your Saks card through Dec. 11.

And Neiman Marcus' last-call online clearance features a 65% discount and free shipping with orders of $200 or more.

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