Once upon a time holidays were planned after consulting travel guide books, travel articles from the newspaper and travel brochures from the local travel agency and then visiting the Travel Agency to make the booking. Holidays can still be planned and booked this way but the Internet plays a more prominent role when planning and, increasingly, booking a holiday.
Watching commercial free-to-air television or cable TV, especially during the day, it becomes apparent that the advertisements are primarily for insurance plans of various kinds or for holidays at home or overseas. The travel advertisements may change with companies staging a campaign for several weeks at a time but it becomes obvious that many travel options are available and that viewers can find out more by exploring the website of the travel company and in many cases, book their next holiday online.
The options for travel are numerous. TripAdvisor, Zuji, Webjet, Trivago and Hotels Combined feature frequently in advertisements. CaptainsChoice offers private jet tours and luxury cruises while Contiki Tours aim for the younger market. APT and Scenic Tours are among the companies offering river cruises and tours. Opportunities to explore northern Australia are offered by APT and other travel companies. The various states and territories in Australia have their own tourism websites, such as Do the NT and Queensland Holidays, which are a good starting point for planning Australian holidays.
Travel websites such as TripAdvisor provide information about flights, accommodation and holiday options offered by other travel websites. After comparing what is on offer and reading the range of reviews which are a TripAdvisor feature, you are referred to the travel website offering your chosen option to make an online book if you wish to do so. Travel websites such as Expedia provide information about flights, accommodation and holiday options as well as a booking service. Cruises in general, but particularly river cruises, are popular and can be booked online on the website of the company providing the cruise or on some of the general travel websites.
Many of the websites that specialise in gathering information about flights, such as Webjet, provide the opportunity to bundle with the flight hotels and transport to and from the airport. Travel insurance is available on many booking sights. Maps are used as a planning aid on many of the hotel booking websites as well as on some general travel sights. Websites such as APT provide videos and brochures to provide additional information. Most of the websites invite interested people to sign in so that they can receive newsletters alerting them to products and special offers. Increasingly travel websites have travel apps that can be downloaded.
All in all there is no shortage of information online to assist in planning a holiday. Booking the holiday can be then be done online or the details can be taken to a Travel Agency for the holiday to be booked in a more traditional manner. However the holiday is booked you will receive email communication from tour companies, if a tour has been booked, with additional information or confirming details.
Exploring their own country and the world is a popular pastime of Australians and the Internet provides many options when planning and booking a holiday.
Showing posts with label Booking holidays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Booking holidays. Show all posts
Thursday, June 19, 2014
Booking Holidays Online
There are a wide range of websites that allow you to plan and book holidays online. Booking holidays online is relatively easy -
- Make your selection,
- Fill in the details on the form provided, including credit card details and
- Confirm the booking
- Check the About Us section of the website for general information about the website and the travel company
- Check the FAQ section and /or the Help section for guidelines on using the website when planning and booking holidays
- Read the booking details carefully. The price for a flight might look really good but the departure time may not be suitable or there may be a stop-over making the trip a lot longer than a direct flight
- When booking flights, check for additional charges - government taxes, meals, baggage or for type of credit card used for payment
- Baggage arrangements can differ between airlines and at different times of the day.
- On some flights only Carry On baggage may be allowed
- Check the limits for Carry On baggage - number of items, weight and size
- Check the limits for Checked baggage - number of items, weight and size
- Check arrangements and charges if carrying Oversize items
- Read the small print. Some travel websites list the fees they charge on the home page of the website. All travel websites will have information about additional booking charges on the booking pages
- Check the conditions for what happens if you change your plans:
- There could be no refund available
- There could be an additional charge if you change the booking to another date
- Check the time needed to be at the airport before departure
- If a city or state has multiple airports check which airport the airline uses
- When booking a package holiday such as a cruise or a tour check if there will be additional costs - lunches, additional optional tours or events for example
- If booking accommodation check the Check In and Check Out times and if the accommodation will look after luggage outside these times
- If prices are quoted in a foreign currency - check the value in Australian dollars
Sunday, June 15, 2014
Travel search tools - Wotif
When booking accommodation choose the general location from the drop-down lists. In this example the search was for accommodation in Victoria for two adults on a particular date. Click the Search button.
Wotif also has a special mystery Wot Hotel deal on offer, the identity of which is provided in an email after a booking is made. Changes to the booking will not be accepted and no refunds are available for mystery Wot Hotel rooms.
Wotif can be a useful site for locating the availability of inexpensive rooms at short notice.
Travel search tools - Lastminute
Hotels, Flights and Restaurants are among the services that can be located and booked on Lastminute. The website is a 'lifestyle website' as well as a travel website. Bookings can be made for destinations anywhere in the world.
Quoting from the Lastminute website - 'lastminute.com.au
is Australia’s leading travel and lifestyle website. We give our
customers the inside track on how to find smarter, affordable,
inspirational travel and leisure solutions that help them make the most
of every lastminute. From hotels to holidays, flights to facials, and
cooking classes to car hire, lastminute.com.au is the
perfect way to source everything you need to turn your weekends and
getaways into ones to remember. Offering fabulous deals for those with
champagne taste on a beer budget, lastminute.com.au is proudly
responsible for launching the Secret Hotels® concept in Australia.'
Like other travel websites to look for hotels you fill in a form selecting the location from a drop-down list, days accommodation is required, number of guests, select minimum star rating and indicate cost prepared to pay per night. If you know the name of the hotel where you want to stay, type the name in the search box and click the Go button.
A list of hotels with accommodation prices is provided. The search can be narrowed using the options in the side-bar on the left of the screen. Clicking the image of the hotel to obtain detailed information about the rooms and prices. Click the Book button to book the selected room.
A point of difference between Lastminute and other accommodation booking websites is that it has a Secret Hotels option. Quoting once again from the website - 'Only lastminute.com.au can offer you this exclusive hotel deal from one
of our best-selling hotel partners. The other guests in the hotel would
be jealous if they knew how much less you’d paid than them for the same
room, so the hotel wants to keep it a Secret.' A special price has been arranged for selected rooms but the purchaser finds out in an email the name of the accommodation after they have concluded the booking. There is a no cancellation and no refund policy on this option,
Like other travel websites to look for hotels you fill in a form selecting the location from a drop-down list, days accommodation is required, number of guests, select minimum star rating and indicate cost prepared to pay per night. If you know the name of the hotel where you want to stay, type the name in the search box and click the Go button.
Travel search tools - Booking.com
For this exercise Edinburgh was chosen as the destination.
The website can also be searched using the Browse by Destination Theme at the top of the web page. Destination Themes include Fine Dining, Shopping, Sightseeing, Beach, Relaxation and Culture.
Saturday, June 14, 2014
Travel search tools - Hotels Combined
Hotels Combined allows users to search and compare room availability and prices from all major travel websites.
Use the search box to enter the name of a city or hotel, number of people, plus, if known, the dates accommodation required. The search in this example was for London. A long list of hotels was located. Use the boxes in the left side bar to narrow the search. Nominate star ratings or a price range. Limit the search by property type or guest ratings, hotel features or themes. The search can be narrowed by selecting a smaller area or the name or partial name of a hotel can be entered in the designated box. A search can also be narrowed by hotel chain.
The search was narrowed by choosing Southwark from the Places box. At the end of the side-bar is the option to search a map which was then selected by clicking Open Map.
From the resulting map I was able to choose a hotel within easy walking distance to the museum I wanted to visit and also not too far from sites on the other side of the river.
Hotels Combined provides a list of prices for different rooms and the name of the travel website offering the best price for the room. A list of hotel features is also provided and a summary of comments made in guest reviews is provided. Clicking on the official site link under
the name of a hotel will take you directly to the hotel's website where
more information about the hotel can be obtained. Back on the Hotels Combined website, clicking on the name of the room or clicking the Go button will take you to the travel website where you can make a booking.
Travel search tools - Webjet
Webjet is an Australian and New Zealand online travel agency. It compares flights to selected destination provided by Jetstar, Qantas, Rex, Tiger Airways, Virgin Australia and also international airlines. The website provides tabs for comparing and booking flights, hotels, holiday packages and car hire.
In this example we are comparing prices for flights from Melbourne to Cairns.
A list of flights available from Melbourne to Cairns is provided starting from the earliest flight in the morning. The price charged by each airline for particular flights are provided. There will be a wide variation of prices depending on the Airline providing the flight, time of day of the flight and whether the flight is non-stop or has a stop-over. When selecting a flight it is necessary to check the baggage limits. Some flights only allow carryon baggage. Click the View Fare Rules link under the Airline icon for information about additional charges if changes need to be made to a flight or if flights are cancelled. Select the required flight by clicking the price link for the selected Airline and time of flight.
Check your selection before going any further with the booking. You can then add bookings for hotels and car hire, if required, and add travel insurance before clicking the Book Now button. After that fill in the forms confirming the booking and providing
payment details. The final step is to use the Complete Booking button to
complete the booking.
A list of Frequently Asked Questions is provided in the Contact section of the website.
A list of Frequently Asked Questions is provided in the Contact section of the website.
Travel search tools - Zuji
Zuji purports to be 'one of Asia Pacific's leading online travel agencies'.
The coverage of locations, however, is world wide. Like Expedia, on Zuji you can book flights, accommodation and holiday packages and car hire. There is a note on the homepage of the website stating the Zuji booking charges.
Zuji's parent company is Webjet and the reviews provided in Zuji come from TripAdvisor.
The above search was for hotel rooms in Paris available on particular dates. Use the options in the sidebar on the left of the screen to narrow the search - for example select a hotel with free wifi near the Louvre. Information about available hotel rooms is provided. If you want to make a booking, click the Book Room button.
Use the Flight tab to search for and book flights. Select the airport for start and end of the flight and provide dates for one-way or return trip.
You will be presented with a list of options. In this example the flight was from Melbourne to Darwin.
Scroll through the options and check duration of the flight, whether the flight is non-stop and the time the flight leaves its original destination as well as the cost of the flight.
Click the Show Details link for each flight for additional information.
Also check for baggage information allowed for the flight and the baggage charges. Once you have made your selection you can add accommodation, car rental and travel insurance to your booking if you wish.
The Show Details link will provide the full booking price. Provide an email address for receiving a copy of the itinerary then click the Book Now button if you want to make the booking.
The How to Book page provides information using the Zuji website for booking flights and holidays.
Use the Flight tab to search for and book flights. Select the airport for start and end of the flight and provide dates for one-way or return trip.
The How to Book page provides information using the Zuji website for booking flights and holidays.
Travel search tools - Expedia
Expedia claims to be the 'World's largest online travel agency'.
Use Expedia to search for and, if you wish, book flights, flights and holidays, accommodation, cruises and car hire. The Expedia website can also be used to assist in planning a holiday.
Choose a city, for example Paris.
Use the tabs to investigate Holiday Deals, Hotels, Need to Know, Experience Paris and Suggested Itineraries. Information in Need to Know includes how to get around Paris by train, taxi, bus or boat. Experience Paris and Selected Activities provide information about a selection of sites and activities. Information about the weather and a currency converter can be found in the side bar of the website.
Use the Search for Holidays box to check the availability and price of hotels and / or flights. If looking for a hotel, select the area where you would like to stay and type in the dates accommodation is required. Fill in other information as required. In this example we looked for information about a specific hotel.
Ratings are provided for each hotel and there is also a link to reviews. Click the title link to locate additional information about the hotel. If you want to make a booking click the Book button and complete the online forms.
If you have selected the Flight + Hotel option you can also search for available flights to and from your destination and, if you want to, add the flight details to your booking. Transport charges to and from the airport can also be booked and added to the account.
You will then receive a Trip Summary.
Ensure that you read the conditions of the booking.
If you want to go ahead with the booking you will be provided with details of the hotel and / or flight and / transport that you have booked. Double check that this is what you really want. After that fill in the forms confirming the booking and providing payment details. The final step is to use the Complete Booking button to complete the booking.
If you have selected the Flight + Hotel option you can also search for available flights to and from your destination and, if you want to, add the flight details to your booking. Transport charges to and from the airport can also be booked and added to the account.
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