holiday abroad with alternative travel agents

madlyn

Looking at going to Nerja in May of next year. we have been before and would like to stay at the same hotel, have found a holiday with Jet 2 but it is H/B and we like B/B and the price is higher that expected.
I have just done a VERY quick search with ebookers and Travelrepublic and the same hotel for the same period on the same airline staying B/B is around £200 cheaper.
are these "travel agents" ok? As we have always used a high street travel agents as I feel I trust them more for actually getting what we paid for and also if anything were to go wrong.
But saving is very inviting.

Ganga

madlyn wrote: »

Looking at going to Nerja in May of next year. we have been before and would like to stay at the same hotel, have found a holiday with Jet 2 but it is H/B and we like B/B and the price is higher that expected.
I have just done a VERY quick search with ebookers and Travelrepublic and the same hotel for the same period on the same airline staying B/B is around £200 cheaper.
are these "travel agents" ok? As we have always used a high street travel agents as I feel I trust them more for actually getting what we paid for and also if anything were to go wrong.
But saving is very inviting.

Have used Travel Repulic many times and not had a problem,have not used ebookers,others will come along and give you more feedback

comeandgo

Why don't you contact the hotel direct, see if you can book what you want, then get flights to suit.

madlyn

Everything we want is being offered by Travel Republic, the hotel we want on the dates we want the board basis we want and the flights are the same as.
It's just the fact that the price is so different I'm wondering is it to good to be true as I have never booked a holiday this way before.

bagand96

With Jet2 (or Thomson, Thomas Cook etc) you are booking a package holiday. You get one price and it includes flights, transfers and accommodation. Your contract is with the tour operator for the whole holiday.

With sites like Travel Republic, you aren't booking a package holiday. You are booking the individual elements separately, they are just an agent. There's no problem with this as long as you understand what you're getting. If for example the airline cancelled your flights, your hotel booking would still stand, you may or may not be able to get a refund of that. The airline would refund you of course, but you may have to find alternative flights, which Travel Republic would help with, but for example they may cost more and the obligation would be on you to pay that. That's just an example though and probably unlikely, but it is important you understand the differences.

It's not much different from you booking the flights direct with the airline, then booking the hotel direct, or via an agent. The one benefit of booking flights and accommodation at the same time via Travel Republic is you'd get ATOL protection

Alan_Bowen

It can be cheaper but as someone who posted yesterday and became very ill on holiday, it isn't the same as buying a package holiday. When you book a package the UK organiser is responsible for the faults of the suppliers such as the hotel, so you can sue in the UK. If you book the hotel though agents such as those you mention, your contract is with the hotel alone, and suing in Spain is not something that 99% of solicitors in the UK are prepared to contemplate. UK operators pay for huge amounts of insurance to cover these claims, and ultimately the customer has to pay. Getting ill is probably a very small risk, it is up to you to decide whether to take it or not.

The other risk is that in peak season hotels favour operators who book rooms for the whole season and guarantee income, so customers who book through companies such as those you mention are first to be overbooked, if you are not travelling in peak season, probably no risk at all. before you book with any third party, just look at the prices with the airline and directly with the hotel because these agents have to make a profit somehow so it is unlikely to be cheaper than really doing it all yourself

madlyn

I understand what you are saying and thanks for that.
I'm a cautious person so doing it that way is probably not the best thing, despite the savings to be made.

leylandsunaddict

Travel Republic don't have live pricing or live availability, so you can't actually book anything on the website. You just make an offer to purchase should the elements still be available and at that price.

As has already been said, Jet2 sell package holidays that come with package regs protection. Travel Republic sell elements so you have separate contracts with different suppliers for each element booked. Booking via a bedbank leaves you more likely to get bumped. Hotels double book rooms allocated to bedbanks and sell them to direct bookers who pay considerably more money for them. Sometimes you don't even find out until you get there and try to check in at reception. Hotels do bump tour operators guests as well, but nowhere near as often.

Of course it may go absolutely fine. Everything available at the same price and no hiccups.

elsien

If you book through a site such as travel republican you'll need to organise your own hotel/airport transfers. Might be worth factoring in the cost of those as well.

Ganga

elsien wrote: »

If you book through a site such as travel republican you'll need to organise your own hotel/airport transfers. Might be worth factoring in the cost of those as well.

TR do transfers as well,the prices are all listed on the web site.

Ganga

madlyn wrote: »

Looking at going to Nerja in May of next year. we have been before and would like to stay at the same hotel, have found a holiday with Jet 2 but it is H/B and we like B/B and the price is higher that expected.
I have just done a VERY quick search with ebookers and Travelrepublic and the same hotel for the same period on the same airline staying B/B is around £200 cheaper.
are these "travel agents" ok? As we have always used a high street travel agents as I feel I trust them more for actually getting what we paid for and also if anything were to go wrong.
But saving is very inviting.

You could always put your requirments into the " beat my quote " thread at the top of this page and see if they come back with a better price.