Looking for sweet deals? Join the club

Travel clubs have had a long, checkered history in the United States. Hundreds of clubs have been started through the years; only a few have survived. But at least three that remain are sources of well-priced trips, tours and other information.

* Ambassadair, (800) 225-9919, www.ambassadair.com, is a successful Indianapolis-based club that has more than 100,000 members. Dues are $129 the first year, $99 a year thereafter. The organization owns several airplanes and operates trips to vacation destinations all over the U.S. and the world. Most departures are from Indianapolis and Chicago, but Ambassadair serves members in other states with add-on fares and flights to the two jumping-off points.

The organization was started 31 years ago by J. George Mikelsons, who designed the club around the concept of airplane ownership. Initially, the group had a Boeing 720, which was operated for members only. With the later deregulation of aviation, Mikelsons added an independent airline to the club, ATA, acquiring a large fleet of planes that operate either for the club or for ATA passengers.

Today, Ambassadair operates trips for its members with its own airplanes nearly every other day. Members seem to like the value. Ambassadair attributes its cost advantages to aircraft used specifically for members’ needs and partly financed by membership dues. You can apply for membership online or scan its catalog by clicking on “trips” within that site.

* Club ABC Tours, (973) 338-8687, www.clubabc.com. This northern New Jersey organization claims to be the world’s largest travel club, with 350,000 members paying $35 for a two-year membership. It emerged from the period of the “affinity charter,” when entrepreneurs formed clubs to charter aircraft for tropical vacations. The club operates more than 250 packages to almost as many destinations in the United States and abroad from numerous U.S. gateways, although most trips depart from Newark, N.J., and JFK in New York.

Members receive periodic publications alerting them to upcoming trips. Those mailings and a website represent the only tour marketing the club does. It does not work with travel agents. Currently, the club has eight-day tours to London, including air, from $998; 16-day tours to Vietnam and Cambodia, including air, from $2,799; and eight days to Spain’s Costa del Sol from $649. Those prices may not be the lowest available in the marketplace, but they include high-quality lodgings, club literature says.

* Globetrotters Club, www.globetrotters.co.uk. This 50-year-old club, which charges dues of $28 a year, is unlike the first two. It operates no trips. Club members share travelogues, travel information and experiences, hospitality and friendship. At meetings in London, Toronto, New York and Texas, speakers often show photos, and members later gather at a nearby bar or pub to “talk travel” for hours more.

The emphasis is on encouraging members to travel to places with few tourists. A periodic newsletter alerts members to travel adventures in places such as the Philippines, Thailand and Tanzania.

I must disclose my bias for this organization: I recently served as the unpaid president of the nonprofit Globetrotters and am still carried on its books as a vice president. Learning about the remarkable trips that members make, I am constantly reminded of the value of authentic, free-spirited travel.

A key advantage of membership is access to the addresses and phone numbers of other members, whom you are encouraged to contact when planning a visit to their home cities. And no one feels shy about requesting use of a spare room or cot.