The pros and cons of on-line bookings

If your request is relatively simple then the easiest option may be to make the reservations yourself on-line. When all things go right and no changes are required, this is generally also the cheapest option. What you may not realise however is that the fine print may affect your trip dramatically. As an example, you may choose a small carrier for a connection and this carrier may not fly a route unless their plane is full or if the weather is adverse. If you are relying on this flight for a major international connection then the ramifications could be horrendous. Another obvious consideration when booking hotels and tours is that some countries have no constraints on truth in their advertising. In short there is no guarantee on what you are actually buying, if anything at all. There are a myriad of examples such as this and unfortunately your comeback in such a situation is generally zero.

This is not to say that you shouldn’t use on-line booking engines it is just that you should be wise as to who you use and how. We recommend you only use the web for simple reservations.  When combining car and hotel reservations, it is most likely that one of the holiday wholesalers will have a better option for you and we recommend that you speak to one of our consultants.

In the case of international, long-haul reservations we would point out that the booking engines are still not sophisticated enough to factor in the short term specials which are generally available. This means that in reality only simple point-to-point itineraries will generate acceptable options.

If in doubt speak to one of our consultants.