Travel Agents Say MoneySaving Is Immoral!

Finishrich

TRAVELMAN wrote:

What will you do if the Hotel is overbooked? What if the Hotel company goes bust? What if Ryaniair change your flight to next day-you won't get any compensation to speak of.

Please-all you DIY'ERS-'think outside the box'. Many ATOL Agents can match & indeed better direct quotes WITH FULL PROTECTION.

Definatley something to think about. A group of friends recently travelled with flyglobespan to Geneva. Airport was closed and they were diverted to Basel. There was no **immediate help or assistance provided at Basel and they made there own arrangements via bus and train to Lausanne where they met the private coach that should have picked them up at Geneva. Most of the group have been doing this trip for 20 years +, and so it was an inconvenience and a bit of hassle but they knew where they needed to get to and they arrived at the destination about 3 hours later than they should have. But others on that flight had no idea where they were. One Woman didn't even have swiss francs on her. Another 2 couples were to be at a dinner that night and the group offered for them to join them by train and the private coach as there drop off would only be 5 minutes out of the way. 2 of them were keen and swithered about it but the other 2 put them off and instead they waited for god knows how long on the bus to take them from Basel to Geneva Airport and them make their way to where they were going which meant doubling back on the journey they'd just made! I'd make a guess that they'd be lucky to have got to their destination that night!

** A bus was to be provided to take the passengers from Basel to Geneva Airport at some point, but don't know how long it took for that to arrive as the group had left before it arrived.

Marigold123

Just to say that the travel shop concession inside my local Asda today was advertising First Choice holidays on a folding sign-board just outside the shop, with a big notice in red felt tip saying, "We will not be beaten on price!" Some travel companies/agents are obviously happy about competing in this way!

TRAVELMAN_2

Marigold-I'll bet you a weeks worth of curry dinners & whisky (I live well!) that if you actually asked them they'll say 'we will not be beaten on price by any other high street agent'. I'm 100% sure that web & specialists & home based workers will NOT be in the uquation as they know that these companies will slaughter their prices!

Chris

MrLew

IMO the poll says it all !

It's about time the consumers had a champion and we've found it in Martin.

I have been using the techniques Martin used on the programm for a few years now and i see absolutely no immorality in playing one agent off against another. We see it all over the place. I use it to get better deals on my mortgage, mobile phone contracts, credit cards, etc and the supplier i eventually choose is more than happy to have my business at the price. Would a travel agent worry if i paid him full price with absolutely no discount...i doubt they'd even blink an eyelid. So why bleat about having to be competitive and reduce your margins ?

It's quite ironic when you think about it. We all had small titbits of money saving ways, big industry was ok with that because it wasn't seen as a threat.

This website has brought us all together to share and increase our money saving knowledge. People used to call us penny pinchers or misers, i'm sure many of those people are now members on here. I've certainly been spreading the word and the more membership increases on this site the more sway we all have. Maybe we should start an MSE cooperative ?

Knowledge is power and just 'cos MSE members now have more knowledge, many industries are now running scared.

Cheers to Martin and fellow MSE members !

Marigold123

TRAVELMAN wrote:

Marigold-I'll bet you a weeks worth of curry dinners & whisky (I live well!) that if you actually asked them they'll say 'we will not be beaten on price by any other high street agent'. I'm 100% sure that web & specialists & home based workers will NOT be in the uquation as they know that these companies will slaughter their prices!

Chris

Sounds like a delightful proposition :D and I'd take you up on it, but for the fact that I'm sure you're right.

It will pull in extra customers for them though, as a lot of people aren't going to take the trouble to shop around and haggle, which was really what I meant.:)

Marigold123

MrLew wrote:

Knowledge is power

That is so true! I've used those exact words many a time myself.

Thanks to the Internet we can now share information in completely new ways with people we have never met. I still find it amazing that we can create these pools of knowledge for everyone to dip into. We truly are living in the Information Age, but due to the huge growth of online communities, this now means something completely different from the way it was originally meant.

It's no longer the exclusive preserve of 'the establishment', (Government, big businesses, the medical profession, etc), to disseminate information, and to decide which version of the facts we get. The sharing of information is now in the hands of the individual as well, and there is tremendous potential in that.

The Internet has changed the way we think about knowledge and information forever, and that is especially relevant for the consumer at the moment, where things are developing very fast. Let's hope big businesses don't find too many ways to counter our efforts to get the best deal we can. And if they do, we'll be right up there, evolving alongside.

Fight the good fight, boys and girls!

(A lefty? Moi? Surely not! )

MrLew wrote:

Maybe we should start an MSE cooperative ?

A co-operative sounds like an excellent idea. What would you suggest?

tomek_2

Question slightly off the main topic,

Does an agent registered with ABTA offer the same protection as one registered with ATOL? what is the difference between the 2 organisations?

TRAVELMAN_2

Hi-ABTA is the asscociation of british travel Agents. In very, very simple terms it means if they go bust your money/holiday is safe.

ATOL is different-this means AIR TRAFFIC ORGANISERS LICENCE (issued by the Civil Aviation Authority-CAA) & is a licence granted for carrying an agreed number of passengers a year on that travel agent's package-by this I mean if an Agent has booked you flights with ryaniair & accom with alphabeds for example, if the sell you it as a 'package' under their ATOL Licence (always ask for a number-it can be checked on the CAA web-site) you are protected & the protection/rules/booking conditions are supplied BY YOUR AGENT. So, if for example the Ryanair flight is cancelled, it's not YOUR problem to sort out-the Agent is responsible both financially & for helping you. if this had been booked by yourself OR by an agent as a 'split contract' ie flights on 1 receipt & accom on another-YOU ARE NOT COVERED BY ATOL & it's YOUR responsibility to sort the flight problem out. Also, if accom is booked separately YOU ARE NOT COVERED. NO legislation is in place at all for the 'bonding' of accom. only suppliers-book at your own risk. Many companies have UK 'offices' but if their REGISTERED office is overseas your credit card does not cover you!

I'm not a legal expert but do package a lot of ATOL bookings & the above is my understanding. The savings are very very minimal & in fact in most cases no saving at all-OR your ATOL Agent is cheaper as ATOL gives you access to great ground Agent accom rates-not bookable by the public. Why risk it is what I say!

God...I do go on about ATOL-now-wheres my beer....(!)

Chris

peejay67

TRAVELMAN wrote:

Hi-ABTA is the asscociation of british travel Agents. In very, very simple terms it means if they go bust your money/holiday is safe.

ATOL is different-this means AIR TRAFFIC ORGANISERS LICENCE (issued by the Civil Aviation Authority-CAA) & is a licence granted for carrying an agreed number of passengers a year on that travel agent's package-by this I mean if an Agent has booked you flights with ryaniair & accom with alphabeds for example, if the sell you it as a 'package' under their ATOL Licence (always ask for a number-it can be checked on the CAA web-site) you are protected & the protection/rules/booking conditions are supplied BY YOUR AGENT. So, if for example the Ryanair flight is cancelled, it's not YOUR problem to sort out-the Agent is responsible both financially & for helping you. if this had been booked by yourself OR by an agent as a 'split contract' ie flights on 1 receipt & accom on another-YOU ARE NOT COVERED BY ATOL & it's YOUR responsibility to sort the flight problem out. Also, if accom is booked separately YOU ARE NOT COVERED. NO legislation is in place at all for the 'bonding' of accom. only suppliers-book at your own risk. Many companies have UK 'offices' but if their REGISTERED office is overseas your credit card does not cover you!

I'm not a legal expert but do package a lot of ATOL bookings & the above is my understanding. The savings are very very minimal & in fact in most cases no saving at all-OR your ATOL Agent is cheaper as ATOL gives you access to great ground Agent accom rates-not bookable by the public. Why risk it is what I say!

God...I do go on about ATOL-now-wheres my beer....(!)

Chris

Slight correction Chris,

They would be covered if they booked their flights and accommodation separately, if they were booked with two separate ATOL bonded companies.
E.G they could book their flights through Thomson and their Accommodation through any tour operator or ATOL bonded company selling accommodation only. Im talking clients booking direct here.

PJ

TRAVELMAN_2

Pee-Jay-yes you're right. Forgot to mention that!

Chris