Posts Tagged ‘Travel’

What to Look For When Booking Travel Online

January 11th, 2021

When using a website to book a holiday or vacation, you should consider online travel research to price the individual components, e.g. flights, car rental, hotel etc separately to make sure you are getting a good deal. Prices can vary significantly, so comparison shopping on several sites could be a distinct advantage.

If you favor a particular hotel or airline, you may be better off going directly to the hotel and/or airline of your choice to get the best deal. Also, some travel websites are unclear about their cancellations and refunds policy; therefore if you book directly with a hotel or car rental company online, you could cancel a reservation without penalty up to 24 hours in advance.

So, when it comes to searching online consider using a travel site as opposed to a search engine like Google. Google may find the best fares but a travel website offers better searching flexibility for holidays and vacation packages and in some cases they also negotiate their own deals with real travel opportunities and packaged offers.

Generally, many service providers including travel companies are guaranteeing ‘lowest prices online’ so it is a good idea to check and compare travel websites pricing with the hotel or airline website. In addition you may found incentives to book directly with a hotel or airline, e.g. air miles or popular retail vouchers.

Also, consider reading the clauses about cancellation when booking. These will vary from site to site. Rates will vary and may come with penalties and deadlines and some cases non refundable deposits. In addition to cancellation fees be aware of potential booking fees. Travel website may charge you a booking fee, where booking directly with an hotel or airline usually does not incur a fee. But be careful here, as some sites may charge you if you use a credit card.

Finally, it is worth checking individual country sites of particular internationally based online companies to compare local prices to the company’s global website. This may prove beneficial depend on your International travel plans.

The impact of online transactions has transformed the travel industry, which is now estimated at hundreds of billions of dollars worldwide, as more and more people and travel advisors are taking advantages of some really exciting travel opportunities.