I got screwed over by a Travel Agent

lea2012

photome wrote: »

Why if you go in to a TA and pay your money is the hotel then overbooked? whose fault is that?

I book nearly all my hotels direct with the hotel and guess what, they have never been overbooked

Usually the hotels. The hotel allocated so many rooms to each booking agent. Whether that be a bed bank, tour operator or direct to customers. Most hotels will allocate more rooms out than they actually have, normally to allow for cancellations and so that they can maintain the highest possible occupancy rate.

Most of the big name hotel companies do this Hilton, Holiday Inn, Travelodge, (they run on 110% occupancy rates most of the time I believe), Shangri-la etc and a lot of smaller hotels and non-chains do it too.

Of course if a hotel has direct customers they are usually the last ones to be bumped out, this is usually because they then have no one else to blame but themselves and because direct customers have often paid a higher rate than what a tour operator or booking agent has paid them and therefore they will lose less money by bumping external customers out.

Doshwaster

lea2012 wrote: »

Usually the hotels. The hotel allocated so many rooms to each booking agent. Whether that be a bed bank, tour operator or direct to customers. Most hotels will allocate more rooms out than they actually have, normally to allow for cancellations and so that they can maintain the highest possible occupancy rate. .

I was once on a business trip and needed to stop in the hotel an extra night. I asked at reception but they said they were full that night so I went to my room to look on Expedia for another hotel in the area. Guess what - the hotel I was in was available so I booked it and went back to reception. They confirmed the booking and even let me stop in the same room.

That just shows that when you get "no rooms available" it doesn't mean the hotel is full just that there are none available in the block that they have access to. In my experience a hotel being 100% full is very rare indeed and hotels will often keep a room or two empty for last minute bookings which they can charge a fortune for.

PeteDoff

Doshwaster wrote: »

I was once on a business trip and needed to stop in the hotel an extra night. I asked at reception but they said they were full that night so I went to my room to look on Expedia for another hotel in the area. Guess what - the hotel I was in was available so I booked it and went back to reception. They confirmed the booking and even let me stop in the same room.

That just shows that when you get "no rooms available" it doesn't mean the hotel is full just that there are none available in the block that they have access to. In my experience a hotel being 100% full is very rare indeed and hotels will often keep a room or two empty for last minute bookings which they can charge a fortune for.

According to Liberation, the state’s action comes after an investigation by the DGCCRF – France’s trading standards body.

It found that two clauses included in contracts may violate the hotels’ trading rights: not allowing them to sell rooms for a price lower than that stipulated on the website and forcing them to reserve the last room of otherwise fully-booked hotels for the website. - See more at: http://www.connexionfrance.com/news_articles.php?id=5211#sthash.mZxDttmE.dpuf

Alidolly

There is a place for TA. Some people do not have the time or resources to book all the elements of their holiday themselves (perhaps not technology savvy and actually own a computer - the older generation are especially reticent...though again, not all). For them, the TA acts as a one stop shop making things easier even if it means paying a little bit extra...it's peace of mind for them.

Yes there are rubbish TA's, just like there are rubbish builders, solicitors, Electricians etc (Esther and Anne made a career out of chasing those!) but there are also some excellent ones as well so tarring with the same brush is unfair and unjust.

Nick_C

Mr_Wang wrote: »

It is NEVER cheaper to book a flight through a TA UNLESS it is a charter airline. That rules out every major EU airline, every US airline every Middle Eastern Airline, and every major Asian airline and every budget airline on earth.

ALWAYS check the price direct with the airline.

This is simply not true. Expedia (an on line travel agent) often sells BA and Iberia flights substantially cheaper than if you book directly with the airline. (The BA flights may be sold as Iberia code shares.)

And for cruise holidays, you will almost always get a better deal booking through a TA than going direct to the cruise line. TAs get lower prices by block booking, or will share their commission with the customer.

Mr_Wang

Nick_C wrote: »

This is simply not true. Expedia (an on line travel agent) often sells BA and Iberia flights substantially cheaper than if you book directly with the airline. (The BA flights may be sold as Iberia code shares.)

And for cruise holidays, you will almost always get a better deal booking through a TA than going direct to the cruise line. TAs get lower prices by block booking, or will share their commission with the customer.

http://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/flights-and-holidays/flights/price-promise

Though to be fair I was talking about hard sell telesales/high street TA's. Should've been clearer I guess.

Nick_C

Have you read the T&Cs for that BA price promise? You need to be a lawyer to understand them! Then you have to pay the higher price and hope that BA agree that you have a valid claim and refund the excess within a month. What's the point? Far better to use Expedia, be sure you are getting the best price, and avoid the uncertainty.

CruisingSaver

Nick_C wrote: »

And for cruise holidays, you will almost always get a better deal booking through a TA than going direct to the cruise line. TAs get lower prices by block booking, or will share their commission with the customer.

Certainly in the past this was the case, however it hasn't been that way for a few years now. Both Carnival Corp and Royal Caribbean brands don't allow UK travel agents to discount.


However, US travel agents do still work in this way and Royal Caribbean brands allow UK residents to book through a US TA (Carnival Corp don't!).


CS

Nick_C

I took two cruises last year, one with Celebrity, the other with Azamara (both Royal Caribbean brands). Bolsover Cruise Club gave me a better price than I could get from Royal Caribbean.

I always buy an "open passage" on board. Twice last year, I had to phoned RCCL to get my booking transferred to my TA. Each time, they tried to get me to book direct, but they couldn't beat my TA on price.

dickydonkin

You were defending your points well - until this.

Mr_Wang wrote: »

Now run along and book a week in Benidorm.