Experiences of Trivago, Kayak, Booking.com and others

nearlyrich

We have used Travel Republic and Booking.com to book many breaks mainly in the UK and Europe, we always check with TripAdvisor on places we plan to stay. We have saved money and have loved all the places we picked. For long haul we use a Travel Counsellor who we know and he does a good deal for us and it often works out cheaper than DIY.

blindman

nearlyrich wrote: »

We have used Travel Republic and Booking.com to book many breaks mainly in the UK and Europe, we always check with TripAdvisor on places we plan to stay. We have saved money and have loved all the places we picked. For long haul we use a Travel Counsellor who we know and he does a good deal for us and it often works out cheaper than DIY.

Care to give examples?

I'd be fascinated to hear.

bigadaj

blindman wrote: »

Care to give examples?

I'd be fascinated to hear.

I think it unlikely.

I had a similar conversation with secretaries at a company I used to work for, they always boasted that their travel counsellor had access to special prices, but when they quoted me some figures for flights I found cheaper in a couple of minutes.

The real reason the comoany used them was for cash flow as they were invoiced on a monthly basis and so could delay payment for travel later than an immediate debit or credit card booking.

callum9999

bigadaj wrote: »

I think it unlikely.

I had a similar conversation with secretaries at a company I used to work for, they always boasted that their travel counsellor had access to special prices, but when they quoted me some figures for flights I found cheaper in a couple of minutes.

The real reason the comoany used them was for cash flow as they were invoiced on a monthly basis and so could delay payment for travel later than an immediate debit or credit card booking.

If there's a specific (usually luxury) resort or hotel you want then travel agents can sometimes get special rates or match prices plus provide free benefits.

If you merely want to get a good hotel somewhere then they're unlikely to be any cheaper than the online consolidators.

bigadaj

callum9999 wrote: »

If there's a specific (usually luxury) resort or hotel you want then travel agents can sometimes get special rates or match prices plus provide free benefits.

If you merely want to get a good hotel somewhere then they're unlikely to be any cheaper than the online consolidators.

Or often direct with the hotel, flexibility and looking at all alternatives is key.

callum9999

bigadaj wrote: »

Or often direct with the hotel, flexibility and looking at all alternatives is key.

Sometimes, but with the luxury resorts I was talking about specialist travel agents can generally beat whatever the hotel offers direct. It's not good business for them to be undercutting the agents who are quite possibly funneling dozens of high spending guests their way!

duchy

bigadaj wrote: »

I think it unlikely.

I had a similar conversation with secretaries at a company I used to work for, they always boasted that their travel counsellor had access to special prices, but when they quoted me some figures for flights I found cheaper in a couple of minutes.

The real reason the comoany used them was for cash flow as they were invoiced on a monthly basis and so could delay payment for travel later than an immediate debit or credit card booking.

Realistically unless you get a quote and then do the research yourself then you aren't going to know but of course they will tell you they can get you the best price ......they'd be mad to tell you anything else :rotfl:

Anything more than a totally inflexible off the shelf package isn't going to be cheaper with an agent in all but a handful of cases.