Can't help but love the savings and ease of use. (opodo.com)

Member Name: Boonoiy

Product:	opodo.com
Date:	16/12/02 (708 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Brilliant to use, Very good offers, Looks very cool.

Disadvantages: None

It's true - back after over a whole month on the missing list - Boon returns with a couple of ideas and an opinion on a GREAT travel service.

So, with the birthday just passed (I'm all of 26 years old now - time to apply for the Zimmer frame and pipe.....) and ideas flying round with what to write about I thought I'd give you my run-down on the service that took me away for a great weekend in my favourite city of all - Berlin (read the op if you like - no pressure ;¬) - I've moved it to just below this one for your convenience................................).

The idea was conceived sometime back in October by myself and the other half; why not go back to the place we first met and spend a magical time with romantic strolls down memory lane for my birthday? Great ideas always come in a flash so this was what we decided upon.

Now, you can hardly fail to have heard of Opodo now can you? If you ever see 3 busses together one will have an Opodo advert on its side, if you click onto 3 websites then at least one will have a banner on there, if you breathe 3 air molecules then at least one will have one of the special subliminal message ions attached to it to make you think "Hmmmmmmmmmm, a holiday? Why not try that online booking thingy, oooh, now what's it called? Oh yeah.

So, with my mind so inundated with adverts I thought I'd have a quick look.

How's it all work then?

Firstly you land at the homepage (www.opodo.co.uk - you can get to this via .com too but who needs the extra click to get to the UK site?) and you'll see the services offered - there's basically all the things you'd expect from a travel agent there - Flights, Hotels, Car Hire, Holidays (as in packages) and Travel Guides. All nice and easy with little tabs at the top of the page to guide you merrily on your way around the site.

I used the Flights and the Hotel Booking sections for my getaway
and was incredibly impressed with the level of service I received.

Booking a flight:
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Step One: Click on flights.
Step Two: Enter Ticket type (One way or Return).
Step Three: Enter Dates and Destination/Departure airports.
Step Four: How many people?
Step Five: Any special requirements?
Step Six: Search by Lowest fare or departure time?

All completed? The we're looking for flights!!!! Yay.

OK - here's the options - here's the prices - here's the gateway to your holiday flight. Simply click on the one you'd like and you're all set to go. Payment is quickly processed and secure, there is nothing to sign up to and tie you into some kind of travel club for the stupid and rich (of which you are, of course, neither) and there is a comprehensive list of terms and conditions relating to the flight - I used Air Berlin and I got a load of stuff off their own website stuck in a pop-up when booking the flight - VERY, VERY useful.

The prices are all very cheap - laid out from lowest to highest and you can simply choose which you'd like to take.

So, you've agreed to all the T&Cs, you've entered the passenger details, the payment details and begin to get excited by talk of getting off on your hols! All cool so far. The email confirmation comes through, you print it off to show all travellers (you can book for up to 9 people) and you eagerly await the tickets.

Can you believe it? 2 days after the booking was completed I received my flight tickets, some info on the departure and luggage labels for my bags! All in a tasteful wallet with Opodo written all over it. All I needed to do now was call up the airline (they recommend 72 hours in advance) and re-confirm the flight. Done and jetting off.

Hotel Booking:
-----------------

Here's the cool bit.

When you book your fl
ight you can also book your hotel online with a simple click on the Hotels tab. Cool huh?

Again -
a really sim
ple thing to do this. Simply choose the city you'd like to book at, the dates you'd like to stay and the name of the hotel (if you wish to stay somewhere specific) - this will then let you know availability, prices and services included at the hotel and from there it's a case of clicking again, entering the card number (for confirmation of the room only - you pay on check out) and rocking-and-a-rolling your way on out to the hotel with the printed confirmation in hand. Bam - you're in.

Again you receive a confirmation email for the booking, you get contact details for the hotel (as once the booking is made Opodo are out of the loop on this) and a lovely little wish that you have a great time on your holiday.

It's all good.

Overall:
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I think I've made clear just how easy this service is to use. I was personally terrified to use an online travel agent as I thought that it would create all sorts of hassles if things went wrong anywhere along the line. Now that I have used it (on the strength of some marvellous advertising form the Opodo marketing guys - see, it does work) I would recommend it to anyone with access to the internet.

If you want to know the feeling of being totally secure in the knowledge that you've been treated well by a company, if you want to know that they're working hard to get your holiday booked (I know they're making a load of cash with it but it really is good service) and the confirmations and tickets out to you then get onto opodo.co.uk.

I found my way around the site really easily, I found the terms and conditions very well explained and I found the service I received to be impeccable.

I will definitely be using this site again to book online, I have allayed my fears and braved the world of online
holiday booking and have come out the other side unscathed and VERY much impressed.

Get online with opo
do.co.uk and book
your hols - you will not be let down.

One final note - if you're thinking of visiting Berlin (see my op - no pressure ;¬)) then don't go in the winter - over our weekend we had a high temperature of -7c and a low of -11 (and yes, they are minus signs, not just dashes).

Cold, cold, cold.

Summary: