Hello All, Just a query. Are Travel Agents cheaper deals that what can be booked on the net. Can anyone give me some good sites to go on and get prices for next years Phuket holiday.Only been back 1 week and we are planning the next holiday already. Thanks for your help. Jane

Try www.sanmichele.com.au for a good deal, I have booked through them twice, nothing too much trouble to them. Found them to be very competetive.

At the end of the day someone is clipping the ticket somewhere. Because of their bulk buying capabilities some travel agents can offer a better deal than on the net. It is generally cheaper to book accomodation and travel as a package than buying separately. Travel agents especially travel wholesalers who do a lot of international bookings have more clout with the airlines over fares than you and I making our one or two trips a year.

Hi JaneTravel,

I in the past would have said the exact same thing as beanb41 did, about it being cheaper to book a package, but after my very recent experience, I am not too convinced that that is still the case.

I have just booked for our family holiday to phuket for 14 nights (2 adults& 2 children) & I booked it all my self over the net and I have saved my family $1800 and that is based on the quote that the agent gave me which was based on 2006 prices. She did warn me that prices would increase slightly. So that saving of $1800 would no doubt be the min. that I have saved.

I booked my airfares through Harvey world travels web site and the made contact via e-mail to the hotel we were wanting & they gave me a fantastic deal with daily buffet b/fast included. You do have to bear in maind that doing it yourself as in booking directly with the hotel does eliminate the middle man, so to speak. If we booked through a hotel booking place like wotif, asiarooms etc, that in essence is still 'middleman' and that might increase the price.

The only thing that I went into a travel agent for, was last week to buy our travel insurance, that is it.

Having said this, I would do an internet search and get quotes from agents and compare. I always do it this way and I put all my costings and the agents in a excel spreadsheet ( I am a highly organised person ) Then go for what is cheapest and convenient for you.

I also found that agents did not have costing for July 07 whereas I could find all the costings my self on the web.

In the end you have to find what worls best for you. There is no harm in comparing.

Hope this helps & all the best booking your holiday.

Cheers

Nati

Hi Nati

Can't understand why you would bother going into travel agent for insurance when they usually add 40% to 50% onto the premiums, a good deal on insurance can be found at www.webjet.com[essential travel cover]
Al

Janetravel,

I agree with Nati - have found it much cheaper to just go through the net direct with airlines and direct to the hotels. I don't go through third parties on the net - these often come up the same price as traditional agents.

I also buy my travel insurance on the net at http://www.travelinsurancedirect.com.au/ they seem to be heaps cheaper. They are underwritten by Allianz have 24 medical phone number etc. When the Bali bomb II went we had a trip booked to Bali and they were quite happy to refund the travel insurance money very quickly. They also cover my two daughters who have Coeliac Disease without any Dr's letters. I seem to get the impression that they are a subsidury (wrong spelling) of another larger insurance company.

Nati - I would be interested to see what the prices compared with what you paid at the travel agent.

Louize

Thanks Nati, We want to go to Phuket next year in about October after school holidays, so I think I will start checking web sites after Christmas. Thanks for your thoughts. Jane

I have to agree with Nati, yes there are often great 'package deals' through travel agents, however often the hotels included are not necessarily the best or where you would really choose to stay (generally travel agents promote the hotels they get the best kickbacks from). We often book our flights directly through the Singapore airlines website as when they have website only specials they are cheaper than the price available from travel agents. We generally always book our accomodation off the net, I usually search around, get a quote and than take it to a travel agent to see if they can beat it, 99% of the time they cant. I was going to use Qantas holidays to book hotels in Bangkok in January as their advertised price was comparable to the net and I would have got frequent flyer bonus points through them. However, even though their brochures clearly stated that prices were valid through to March 2007 and showed no exclusion dates, they would not honour the price in January as it was peak season, false advertising as far as I'm concerned. So I went home and booked the same thing on the net with Sawadee.com for a cheaper price.
As far as travel insurance goes we book that online too, generally much cheaper too and often better inclusions.
http://www.travelinsurancedirect.com.au/.
Fortunately consumers are now armed with much more information than was previously available in the past and are now in a much better postion to command a better deal.

Hi Aw043,

The only reason that I did not get the insurance from webjet.com, (which I did find) was that unfortunately it was actually dearer and did not give a full breakdown of everything, like the brochures do...............I like to read the fine print.

Also I got a $20 voucher from the flight centre for my birthday, so I used that & it became cheaper still. $20 in Phuket is a nice lunch and drink

Cheers

Nati

Hi Janetravel,

No problem, I am glad I could help. I found that webjet & Harvey World Travel (HWT) had the same base rate for the airfares, but it was once you click on "continue" that you find the taxes and fees vary and the end price differs.

After christmas the prices on the net should be out for Oct 07, I am not sure that the agents will have those costing though.

I did a costing on my spreadsheet based on advertised rates that the hotel had, then I e-mailed them and asked if they had a special rates, which I did.

There is nothing to lose by asking

Also print all e-mails and take t hem with you, if you do it this way as proof of the price offered.

As for the travel insurance, like I said above, I have used Cover more from the flight centre for years, & I know what they have to offer, plus I had the gift voucher. I am sure that the other insurance agencies on line are quite reputable also. Again that is something that you should compare, along the lines of what they cover, limits & price. Sometimes, the cheaper ones don't pay out as much if the need arises, or might be difficult to deal with when it comes down to the crunch.

I have young children, so I am not prepared to take the risk with them.

Best of luck & I hope you find a fantastic deal.

Cheers

Nati