Travel agents demanding full payment 9 months in advance!

2mustard

This week I tried to book a holiday to Australia with a 3 day stopover in Tokyo, return trip stopover in Singapore. This was for Oct/Nov 2015,
I was amazed when the travel agent wanted full payment by 31 Jan 2015!

Is this now normal?

I have been on many long haul holidays with out ever having to pay all costs (hotels, flights etc.) 9 months before the travelling.

richardw

Was this irrespective of the airline chosen to fly with?

If so it's probably the TA's terms and conditions, try a different TA.

blindman

2mustard wrote: »

This week I tried to book a holiday to Australia with a 3 day stopover in Tokyo, return trip stopover in Singapore. This was for Oct/Nov 2015,
I was amazed when the travel agent wanted full payment by 31 Jan 2015!

Is this now normal?

I have been on many long haul holidays with out ever having to pay all costs (hotels, flights etc.) 9 months before the travelling.

I'm more shocked that you used a TA and didn't DIY :eek:

If you do feel the nedd to use a TA then Traifinders are usually good. No credit card charges IIRC.

Caz3121

Are you sure this is a package holiday and not flights plus hotels?
Many airfares require full payment within 24 hours of booking or the airline cancel them
The decision you would have is pay now and have them booked or wait until later in the year and pay the price at the time which may be more
Do you have a cc with 0% on spending that you could use?