Travel myths exposed (Comments & Tips)

Member Name: pixie1902

Product:	Comments & Tips
Date:	20/05/01 (195 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: sort the fact from fiction!

Disadvantages: a lot of bargains are purely a marketing ploy

We all seem to be on a constant trail of bargain-hunting these days and flights and holidays are certainly no exception. Everywhere you look (teletext, Internet, Sunday papers), you are bombarded with the latest deals in travel.

But where do you start? How can you tell a real bargain? I have been working as a travel agent for several years now and this op should help separate the fact from fiction when it comes to travel.

Fact number one: with a few exceptions (promotional offers, preferred agent agreements) no travel agent has any better prices than any other. This is particularly important to remember when shopping for flights. Airlines release the same discounted contracts to each and every travel company. The prices are the same, the booking conditions are the same and even the cancellation penalties are the same. The difference lies in the individual agents. For example, a passenger intends to travel to Singapore and calls various agents for fares. Agent A quotes £400 on Air France whereas Agent B quotes £420 on Lufthansa. Is Agent A cheaper? No, both agents have the same fares but Agent B just didn't want to sell the Air France fare. Agent C then quotes £450 for Air France. This is purely a case of a higher mark-up. The base fare is the same, the mark-up is just higher. Many agents work almost purely on commission and rely on marking up flights as much as possible. One agent will mark-up 10% and another 15% and so on. If Agent A can offer Air France for £400, every consolidator in the country can.

Fact number two: no travel agency has a secret allocation of seats! Basically, if a flight is sold out - it is sold out. No amount of ringing around various agents (who are probably all sub-divisions of the same company anyway) will get you a seat. All agents all over the world book seats from exactly the same allocation. Even calling the airline themselves will not help as they are also booking from the same allocat
ion. Sometimes it may be the case that the flight has sold out of discounted tickets as there are a limited number of these on each flight. The only seats then left are at the airline's higher published fares and often have to be purchased instantly.

Fact number three: scheduled airfares do not drop nearer to the time of departure. Too many people are confused by the different principles on which chartered and scheduled air fares work. Chartered air fares are slashed a few days before departure (subject to seats still being available) as they need to sell as many seats as possible to operate the flight. This may mean selling them at much lower profit margins and gives passengers the opportunity to snap up last-minute bargains. The disadvantage of waiting until a few days before departure is that you run the risk of the seats being sold out beforehand.
Scheduled air fares, however, increase in price closer to departure date. Seats are released 331 days in advance. There are a limited number of seats at the lowest fare. These are usually the ones to be booked up first and once they've gone, they've gone for good. There is no such thing as a last-minute cancellation. If someone who bought a ticket 10 months ago for £200 cancels two weeks before departure, the seat will not go back on sale at £200 but at the current maximum selling price, which could be £800. Or if may be automatically assigned to someone who has been sitting on a wait list for 3 weeks.

Fact number four: Only the check-in staff can allocate the much-coveted exit row seats. It is a CAA regulation that the check-in staff must physically see and visually assess the person assigned a seat in an exit row as there are certain criteria that must be met before being allowed to sit there. The passenger must be over 15, be able to communicate in English effectively, not suffer any physical disability which may prevent him/her from opening the door quickly and saf
ely, etc. It is interesting when taking reservations over the phone that all male passengers claim to be over six feet tall! This doesn't help at all. The bulkhead seats in the centre block can be pre-allocated by the airlines but are only assigned to parents with infants requesting bassinets and wheelchair users. A certain number may be reserved for high-status frequent flyers but this is not always the case.

Fact number five: There is no such thing as a cheap fly-drive. 'Fly-drives' are becoming increasingly popular, particularly in the US. Many travel agents will offer prices as low as £249 for a 2-week fly-drive to the number one love it/hate it destination: Florida. Watch out! These fares are often based on 4 adults travelling and are usually for a two-week stay but with one week's car rental of the lowest grade (2-door economy). Tax, insurance, handling fees, surcharges are not included. The cost of renting a such a car for one week in Florida is well below £100.00. Divide this by four and add it to the flight price and Bingo! There's your fly-drive. However, 4 adults will not fit comfortably in the car, they will have to 'upgrade' to a higher category anyway. The rental is only for one week so they'll have to pay for an extra week. Then comes the cost of the insurance (which in the US is astronomical). Many an innocent tourist has been faced with a huge bill within an hour of getting off the plane and if they didn't expect this and budget their spending money accordingly, it can be disastrous. My tip is to book flight and car separately. It may seem expensive, but remember that 80% of the car rental price is insurance which would only have to be paid once you get there anyway.

Fact number six: There are no free child places. Nobody gives away anything free - it's just a matter of pricing policy. The 'free child' offers that we see constantly are a clever way of encouraging f
amilies to book this particular resort or with this particular operator. But the parents pay for the child in their inflated adult prices and flight supplements. It's a well-known trick. Compare the prices of resorts for adults only of the same standard and see the difference in price. Better still, book the hotel and flight separately with each supplier directly and see the saving you make. Not only did you cut out the middleman, you paid for exactly what you wanted. If you are travelling with children then the 'free child' offer is probably a good thing because you simply pay for them in the adult price. However, if you are travelling without children, it seems unfair that you should pay higher prices to cover the cost of other people's children. A real example taken from a brochure: One week in a three-star all-inclusive resort in Jamaica in April - £759. One week in a three-star all-inclusive resort in Jamaica offering massive child discounts in April - £929. These two resorts are almost next-door to each other and offer almost identical facilities and entertainments. Why the difference in price? To cover the cost of the children.

I hope that this information helps you a little through all the options available to you. My number one piece of advice - only book with ABTA-bonded agents. That way you can be sure your money is safe.

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