Travel Company v Independent Booking

lozkate

We are travelling to Australia in December to watch the cricket.

When we decided to go I looked at travelling through several Australia Travel specialists including OzTalk who priced up the holiday for me, however booking independently I managed to book much better accomodation and flights for the same price as the tour company were quoting. (eg two bedroom 4* appartments for the same cost as they were charging the 4 of us for a one bedroom 3* hotel room) therefore I have booked all the flights and accomodation myself through the internet.

OzTalk have just ceased trading and as they are ABTA backed customers are
receiving refunds however looking at flight prices now travelling on the same dates customer would be paying an extra £1k for the flights alone.

Sorry for the waffle but what are the actual advantages of booking through a tour operator - I thought about booking through OzTalk as I would know that everything had been sorted but if I had I would now be in a situation where I would be much worse off.

GlennTheBaker

I suppose it is because some people like the 'security' of having everything taken care of my the tour company. Personally, I'd rather travel DIY style and pay less!

hollydays

i enjoy booking independently,its part of the fun.i recently booked holidays that involved a flight and ferry crossing.i figuredthat if one was delayed i would rather the onus was on someone else.if it was just the flight id have booked it myself.