Haggle Down Your Holiday Costs Discussion Area

Former_MSE_Archna · 26 May 2006 at 5:18PM

This thread is specifically to discuss the content of the

Haggle Down Your Holiday Costs: Step by Step Guide To Massive Savings Article

To discuss or ask a question about the article: click reply

This thread is now full, please read the new Holiday haggle success thread

eilz · 1 June 2006 at 11:27AM

Some package deals also charge for food on plane and transportation from airport to hotel (Take a train or hire a car). These can usually be deducted when booking if you ask sometimes saving as much as £25 each or more. I did this a while back on a trip to spain.

diddydi · 2 June 2006 at 7:34PM

Hi Martin see my rant on post 26 on Package Holidays or DIY.
You are earning a salary so why try to deny me and all the other independents from doing the same in a profession in which I, and most considerably the others, have vast knowledge and expertise which can be passed on.

MSE_Martin · 2 June 2006 at 11:05PM

diddydi wrote:

Hi Martin see my rant on post 26 on Package Holidays or DIY.
You are earning a salary so why try to deny me and all the other independents from doing the same in a profession in which I, and most considerably the others, have vast knowledge and expertise which can be passed on.

Please keep this thread for discussing the savings on holidays. To debate what you're discussing there is a full thread here.

Please also ensure you read the end paragraph of the article, which specifically mentions the issue about independents before discussing there.

richardw · 2 June 2006 at 11:16PM

diddydi wrote:

Hi Martin see my rant on post 26 on Package Holidays or DIY.
You are earning a salary so why try to deny me and all the other independents from doing the same in a profession in which I, and most considerably the others, have vast knowledge and expertise which can be passed on.

He isn't, you have hundreds of loyal customers apparently, so there is demand for your service and they are watching Eastenders when the money saving man in the stripey shirts is going on about it, so no worries.

Lilywhite · 12 June 2006 at 9:05PM

After reading Martin's article I went about booking my summer holiday for the family.

I narrowed down what I was looking for and decided on the holiday I was after. A 2 week stay in Majorca for a family of 4. I got a price of the Thomson's website and phoned round a few places quoted and soon got the price down.

I also got TRAVELMAN's details off this site and as it turned out I booked with him. He offered a massive discount off the Thomson's price and I am really, really happy with the price but I also want to make the point it was not the cheapest. I was happy to pay £25 p.p extra for peace of mind to have the holiday ATOL protected. Also, the service I got was excellent after a short conversation TRAVELMAN came back quickly with options and went out of his way to help.

As far as I'm concerned I got the best of both worlds. I got the big discount I was looking for, peace of mind and a quality service. I will definitely use him again and would recommend anyone to. It is a lesson to me to get the discount you are looking but it is not always the only option to chase the absolute lowest price when it is such a big outlay.

Money_Saver2_2 · 30 July 2006 at 9:37AM

I have used this technique several times with success. Recently we booked a holiday for a family of 4 to Florida. Initial quotes were in the region of £5000 - £6000 for chartered flights to Sanford, accommodation and car hire. By employing the technique Martin suggests we managed to get the final price down to just over £2000. This was for SCHEDULED flights direct into Orlando International, car hire and better accommodation.

For villa holidays in Florida it is a good idea to haggle over pool heating costs. Most agents will sell this as an extra at approximately £120 per week (even more in some cases) but if you haggle you can usually get if for free.

jazmad · 23 August 2006 at 1:15PM

Just thought I'd share my experience.

My wife and I wanted to go on a two week holiday to St Martin in November. On Virgin's website, they claimed they didn't have any availability. On Expedia we could get two return flights on Air France plus accomodation for £2,288.

I called Virgin's booking line to see what they had to offer. They said they did have holiday's available (the web didn't search secondary carriers or something) and that the cost would be £2,588. I told them Expedia was cheaper and was there any way they could price match.

The woman on the phone said all she could do initially was give me a web discount (£130 off - remember to ask for this if booking via phone) but if I emailled details of the Expedia quote to their price match department, they may be able to offer me more. I did this and at the agreed time, their customer services person called me back to offer it for exactly the same price as Expedia. Since we felt Virgin was the better deal (we'd heard better things about VA over Air France, transfers were included, insurance of travel operator) we took it. A five-minute phone call which saved us £300.

linden_2 · 11 January 2007 at 4:24PM

I am single and when I go on holiday I want to relax in the privacy of my own room. Whenever I see last minute or cheaper deals advertised, they are always based on two people sharing. Hotels frequently offer special deals - again, per person sharing.
Why don't hotels build more single rooms - most of theur business clients are just one person per room.
I understand package holidays are proving harder to sell - why don't the companies wake up to the singles market - there are now millions of us.
We have more disposable income; we are more flexible; it's always easier to find just one airline seat. These travel firms are wasting a huge financial opportunity.

Anyone else get angry at being excluded or exploited ?

arthurp8 · 11 January 2007 at 8:51PM

Having read the article I am intrigued to try and get some sort of discount. However since I am booking a firstchoice holiday including kids club am I still going to be able to haggle via independent agents? Or will they not sell First Choice deals?

Also thanks for the info regarding transfers eilz. The coaches are tedious - and two weeks car hire of around 200 GBP will be offset nicely by a 50GBP coach saving

budgetflyer · 11 January 2007 at 9:17PM

Try pricing it up with http://www.eclipsedirect.co.uk/ This is the direct sell part of First Choice. Often the same hotels/flights etc, but cheaper.

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