Is it always worth booking trips by myself or should I book through travel agency?
Is it always worth booking trips by myself or should I book through travel agency? It depends. What has worked best for me is: if I want to go to a beach resort, I just book it through an agency, if I'm planning a trip to visit a city somewhere in the world, I just book it myself.
When I book my travels I always think if I should schedule it through a travel agency or book it myself using booking.com, skyscanner.com (and others).
Every time I schedule a trip I do the same exercise: ask for quotes in a travel agency, and compare it against online prices.
I haven't done a thorough comparison for this post, so I'll just share my opinion based on my experience.
Is it always better to book trips by yourself, directly with airlines and hotels?
No.
My experience so far is that in certain specific destinations, such as beach locations with family resorts or similar, travel agencies just have better prices than if you book it yourself (either through booking.com or even through the hotel actual website).
This happens because travel agencies negotiate packages with hotels and airlines based on the number of people they expect to sell that destination too. Therefore, most of the times they're able to provide better prices because they can bundle the cost of the hotel and the airlines and give you a discount.
The same is not true for city destinations, particularly when there are low cost airlines involved. Travel agencies are more directed to a quality service, so they usually avoid low cost carriers and low cost hotels and Airbnb.
Using low cost carriers and low cost hotels is how you can save a ton of money particularly in city destinations.
Also, if you're staying for a long period of time, it may be worth exploring other cheaper alternatives and avoid expensive hotels, as well as taking advantage of flights that have lay overs (non-direct flights).
How do I book my trips through agency?
Since my experience has been that for beach destinations travel agencies prices are lower, I usually pick 3 good quality agencies and ask them for quotes of the destination I want to go.
I then pick the agency that has given me the best price. Since they usually all operate with the same hotels, differences are not very significant.
However, in the last years, I've always resorted to the same travel agency.
This is because, I've developed a good relationship with a travel agent that is very knowledgeable of the locations I've gone to, and has excellent insights of the quality of the hotels. So, I always end up trusting that travel agent, with excellent results.
Even though I like the service, and trust the agent, I always compare the prices as if I would be booking it myself.
The last time I opted for booking a beach hotel through an agency, I managed to save around €100 on a week, when comparing to the price in the hotel website!
How do I book my trips without a travel agency?
Two names here: booking.com and airbnb.com.
Most people will tell me that these have high fees, which make hotels and business owners increase prices.
However, I do prefer the confidence that these businesses provide by being the most well known players in the market.
I've had a host cancel my hotel during a trip, and immediately booking.com provided several solutions, ranging from a better (more expensive) hotel, or a cheaper solution. They also, usually have someone for you to speak with in your native language.
I just feel at ease by using these services.
I have tried others, everything went very well too, but I usually prefer these 2.
In my opinion, keeping things simple and picking services that I trust is sometimes better than saving some minor amounts.
The secret is to compare prices
Regardless of my experience, I think the secret to saving money while booking travels is to compare alternatives.
Take some time to plan and compare prices. The more you compare the more confident you'll feel with your decisions.
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